Photograph & Christmas Cards Proves 1962 Alcatraz Escapees Survived, Family Says
(CBS SF) -- New evidence in a History Channel documentary could help investigators crack the infamous Alcatraz prison escape.
In 1962, convicted bank robbers Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris broke out of Alcatraz and tried to the cross the San Francisco Bay.
Alcatraz officials said the men drowned in the frigid Bay waters, but History Channel interviews with family of the Anglin brothers suggests otherwise.
Their nephews have publicly released Christmas cards with the brothers' names on it three years after their escape.
It's reignited interest from the U.S. Marshal Service to uncover what happened to the escapees, who would be in their mid-80s if they were alive today.
"This is absolutely the best actionable lead we've had," Art Roderick, a retired US marshal who was lead investigator on the case for 20 years, told The New York Post.
A friend of the Anglin family also handed over a photo he allegedly took of the escaped brothers on a farm in Brazil.
Newly-discovered photo shows 1962 Alcatraz inmates in Brazil 13 years after infamous escape. http://t.co/QYxh2Xg1Ha pic.twitter.com/f1pP8BPN9f
— Paulo Sa Elias (@paulosaelias) October 13, 2015
That friend claims the Anglin brothers told him they body surfed behind a ferry leaving Alcatraz before being picked up by an accomplice boat. It's currently one of the most popular theories supporting their escape to freedom after digging out of their cells with spoons.