Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 15, Episode 3 - The Alcatraz Escape - full transcript

Narrator: A spoon
proves mightier than the bars

at supposedly
escape-proof Alcatraz prison.

Hoes: It's one of these myths
that go around for decades
already...

that everyone wants
to be solved.

Narrator: It's the most iconic
prison escape in
American history.

On the night of June 11, 1962,

3 Alcatraz inmates set out
in a raft made of raincoats

into the treacherous waters
of San Francisco Bay.

They were never seen again.

Babyak: They disappeared,

so you couldn't ask
for a better ending, right?



Keep it going forever.

Narrator: Now Dutch scientists
Olivier Hoes,

Rolf Hut, and Fedor Baart
want to determine

what happened to
the escaped convicts.

Man: New science
on an old mystery.

Woman: They claim
they solved the mystery
of Alcatraz.

Narrator: They've come
to San Francisco...

Hut:
You don't want to have to, like,
paddle for your life

in a last bid
while you're dragged out there.

Narrator:
to test their theory.

And ride their own raincoat raft
to freedom.

Humphreys: They have one shot
at it, and it's gotta work.

Most people want them
to make it.

People want people to be a hero.



And so you have
a very difficult challenge.

You make it...

that's a hero story.

Announcer: "Secrets of the Dead"
was made possible in part

by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting

and by contributions to your PBS
station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

Narrator: In Holland, 10 million
people live below sea level,

a precarious setting
that's made the Dutch

world leaders
in flood management.

So when coastal engineer
Olivier Hoes

was called to San Francisco
to predict how rising sea levels

will impact that city
in years to come,

it was just another job.

The actual bay is, what,
a shallow, just 4-5 meters deep.

But in the center,
it gets much deeper,

It's about 20-30 meters deep.

Every time when that
when the tides go in or out,

there's one big valley of water
flowing in and out every time.

Using state-of-the-art
hydraulic software,

Olivier created one of the
most sophisticated flow models
of San Francisco Bay ever built.

Hut: So I saw his screen
with all the little arrows
for the water movement,

and then Alcatraz, bang,
in the middle,

and I thought, this is a story

and a research
waiting to happen.

Narrator:
Colleague Rolf Hut realized

if you could use
3-D computer modeling

to forecast
future bay conditions,

you could also use it
to look into the past.

Hut: Science is about
finding stuff out.

So this is a historical study.

Normally we study
future scenarios...

What could happen if...

And that's where we build
all our models for.

Science is about using expertise
in research

that's actually relevant for
policy-makers and the future,

but it helps us
understand something

as cool as
the escape from Alcatraz.

Narrator: Alcatraz, "The Rock."

This Civil War fort turned
maximum security prison

was said to be unbreakable.

The men sent here, men like
Whitey Bulger and Al Capone,

were just as tough.

Babyak:
You're talking about 25,000 men

in those days in federal prisons
and 250 on Alcatraz.

So they were the most
aggressive, most assaultive,

sometimes
the most mentally ill 1%.

Narrator: Jolene Babyak was just
15 the night of the escape.

Her dad was acting warden.

In 1962, she called
Alcatraz Island home.

Babyak: The siren woke me up.

I was late for school,

and you know, my first thought
obviously was,

"That can't be
an escape attempt."

But of course I knew that
in my heart that it was.

I met my mother on the stairs,

and she was
all kind of pumped up,

and she said, "Get dressed,
there's been an escape."

Narrator: At sunrise
the next morning,

it became clear that "The Rock"
had been broken.

Convicts Frank Morris
and John and Clarence Anglin

had used sharpened spoons
to dig through their cells.

They left false grills
and dummy heads behind as cover.

Climbed up
a 3-story utility corridor,

punched through
a ceiling ventilation shaft,

and ran across
the cellblock roof.

Then they scrambled down
a 4-story stove pipe,

evaded guard towers,

made their way
down an embankment,

and slid into the frigid waters
of San Francisco Bay...

leaving behind
a handful of artifacts

and one of America's
most enduring mysteries.

Mahoney: If they made it, why,
one hell of an achievement,

I'll tell you that.

Babyak: Everybody was rooting
for Morris and the Anglins,

and they still are.

Narrator: Unlike many
at Alcatraz,

Morris and the Anglins
weren't violent offenders.

They were low-end bank robbers

sent to "The Rock" after
repeated escape attempts

at other prisons.

Babyak: Morris was
an interesting character.

He'd been in prisons almost
every day since he was 13.

Dyke: He also had
what was listed on the test

as the highest I.Q.

Narrator: John and Clarence
Anglin grew up sharecropping

alongside
14 brothers and sisters.

They'd robber their bank
using a toy gun.

Babyak: Morris kept
the Anglins in line

because I think they were
boisterous and cocky

and wanted everybody to know
that they were cool.

Baart: It's the best way
to escape,

but the question is

the best place is
still to go here because...

Narrator: To tackle the mystery
of what happened

to Morris and the Anglins,

the Dutchmen used
old tidal charts

to build a 3-D model

that re-creates the currents
from the night of the escape.

Baart: The tide is taking
all the water out and...

Narrator: They then called in
friend and colleague

Fedor Baart, an expert
in particle tracking.

Hut: Particle sounds
really technical,

but in this case,
that would just be a raft
with 3 people in it

and what would happen
given the tides,

where would it go?

Baart: I took the computer model
from Olivier here and put a...

Asked the computer model
that simulates human behavior.

And actually adds
battling behavior.

That's the thing that I created.

Narrator: The resulting model
enabled them

to track the paths
of 50 virtual rafts

launching from Alcatraz
on the night of the escape.

What they discovered is
the first scientific proof

the men could have survived.

Hoes: Our study revealed
that the timing was crucial

to get to the shore
on the other side.

That is actually dependent
enormously on when they left.

Narrator: To escape and survive,

the inmates would have had to
launch during a narrow window

between 11:30 p.m.
and 12:00 midnight.

If they did, the findings
suggest the inmates could have
ridden the outgoing tide

to an unexpected place.

For decades, common wisdom said
that the escapees

headed for the landmass
nearest Alcatraz...

Angel Island.

But the Dutchmen think this
would have been a fatal mistake.

Based on the currents,

that trajectory would have
swept the men out to sea.

Hoes: The actual finding is
that they could use the tides

to leave Alcatraz just on time

so that they didn't have
to paddle that far.

So Horseshoe Bay was
the most likely destination

according to our research
and not Angel Island.

Narrator: The first morning
of their investigation.

The team is headed
to Horseshoe Bay,

near the foot of
the Golden Gate Bridge.

5 days from now, the tides
and currents will match

what the inmates faced
back in 1962.

Fedor, Rolf, and Olivier plan to
launch their own homemade raft

and put their theory
to the ultimate test.

Hut: So they launched
over there,

near the chimney, right?

And the tide would
have taken them here
into Horseshoe Bay.

Baart: Yeah, the currents
would take you

right into this bay.

Yeah, but if you time it wrong,

you got this funnel...

Baart:
Being sucked out.

You're being pulled out

and you just die of
hypothermia over there.

Or sharks.

Hoes: I'm actually more
concerned about these boats.

Hut: Oh, you mean
the big cargo boats.

Exactly. Because if we
are in the middle of the
shipping lane...

Then we have the right of way

because we don't have power.

That's how it works,
right?
Uh-huh.

I'm more concerned
about the boat,

actually putting the boat
into the water

and having it stay afloat
for an hour.

Baart: If you look at
the San Francisco Bay,

it's actually
a quite interesting bay

because it sucks
in all this water

and spits it out
through this narrow channel

just below
the Golden Gate Bridge.

Narrator: A deep
underwater canyon

cuts right in front
of Horseshoe Bay.

It creates a narrow,
300-foot-wide wall of water

flowing in and out
through the Golden Gate.

This intense band of current

poses the biggest risk
to the team.

Hoes: It looks more or less like
a highway of water

that's going in and out
every time.

And one of the things
that we have to take care of

is that we have to pass that
highway as soon as possible

when we leave Alcatraz.

Otherwise we will be taken out
to the ocean.

Narrator: Fedor believes
that even if they hit
the wall of water,

the human urge to survive
will generate the power needed

to paddle through it.

Baart:
We knew that it would be

the hardest part
of the survival.

I estimated that people
would make a leap of faith.

And so the last 100 meters,
paddle really fast.

But I'm wondering now
if it's even possible

if you have that urge to survive
to make that last 100 meters.

Narrator: If Morris
and the Anglins did hit the bay

in the Dutch team's timeline,

would their raft
have stayed afloat

for the hour the computer model
says it would have taken

to reach Horseshoe Bay?

The only way to find out
is to build

the most historically accurate
raft possible

and launch in the same
tidal conditions.

Hut: And at that time,
the raft needs to be done.

So that creates
a limited timeframe

to actually build it
and let it dry.

It puts some tension
on the team,

which may have not been
representative of what
the inmates had

because they had 6 weeks,

but it puts some tension on
the team to get it done on time.

Narrator: To build their raft,

the team has called on
Eric Humphreys.

A longtime
Nantucket boat builder,

he's now chief of animatronics

for the shop that creates
Macy's magical Christmas
window displays

in New York City.

I made this the other day.

Look at that, huh?

Sparks.

Narrator: Still,
Eric's first love is the sea.

Humphreys: My day job currently
is, I, uh...

I make glittery elves.

But I've always loved boats.

I've always been a sailor
since I was a little kid.

Narrator: The raft needs to be
more than just buoyant.

They want to build a raft
as close to the original
as possible.

Hoes: It would be nice to see
how they made their raft,

whether they stitched it or not.

What kind of glue they used.

Exactly.

Narrator: So before
they launch into construction,

Eric and Olivier need to see
the artifacts

the escapees left behind.

So here is photographic
documentation

from the escape.

Humphreys:
"Various tools

made or stolen
for escape."

This is a whole
treasure trove
of things.

Narrator: After the escape,

the FBI recovered more than 80
homemade tools

and other items the inmates
spent months constructing.

Female guard:
Including files,

spoons to chisel things away.

Humphreys:
Hey, look, and drill bits.

Man, these guys liked
building stuff.

Have you ever made
your own wrench?

I have nev... I've made
so many things in my life,

I've never made my own wrench.

Humphreys:
The thing that struck me
about those artifacts

was the attention
to odd details.

Maybe if I was sitting
in prison all day

contemplating this,
they would seem normal to me.

What is that, a periscope?

The thought was
they stick the periscope

out the little holes
in the ventilator

to see if anyone's looking.

Hoes:
The periscope is not something

that you really need
if you tried to escape,

and they put a lot of effort
in making this periscope.

And the same counts
for the other tools.

Guard: This is one
of two paddles.

One was found
on the cellblock
top roof,

the other one was found
floating in the bay.

Hoes: The thing
that strike me most

was that the paddles had
large bolts on the backside.

I can imagine that in the dark
if you did not pay attention

and you have these bolts
sticking out to your raft,

then you might make a leak
in your raft

without even
having left Alcatraz.

Well, what could be used
as a cutting board?

Humphreys: I bet you they cut
the raft pieces on that.

Look, those are knife marks.

Narrator: Above all, Eric
and Olivier want to confirm

what the raft was made of

and gather clues
about how it was constructed.

They've already found
a vintage raincoat

based on archival photos.

The question is,
will it match the real thing?

Humphreys: Oh, here it comes.
Here it comes.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think
we nailed it on the raincoat.

The buttons are the same,
the sleeves are the same.

What was that label?

Yeah, there should
be a label right there.

Yep, that's it.

Hoes:
Ours is the 18561.

Humphreys: Our label
seems to match.

Look at that.

This is where he goes
crying now.

Look at that,
there's your brother, baby.

Narrator: Raincoats like these
were common on "The Rock,"

even on sunny days.

Ha ha! The joke on Alcatraz was
that the birds were better shots
than the guards.

So guys would sometimes wear
their raincoats out to the yard,

and it would be a simple matter
of wearing your raincoat out

and then taking it off
and somebody else picking it up.

Oh, and the inflator.

That's what I was curious about.

A straw.
A straw.
Look at that.

You can actually see
their teeth marks on it.

Narrator: Incredibly,
the inmates crafted
more than just the raft.

They also made life vests.

Humphreys: I'm thinking about
getting out of prison.

I'm just gonna
build that raft and go.

I'm not gonna screw around
with a life jacket.

So this is a pontoon
from the raft

that wasn't actually used,
correct?

Correct.

The pontoon remnant had
what was clearly hand stitching.

I don't know.

I get the feeling like this was,
like, some kind of test.

So I'm wondering
if they just wanted to see

what was the best
construction technique

given the materials they had.

The ingenuity kind of goes
counter to what you hear
about a lot of these guys.

Some of these guys
are claimed not to be,

you know, the sharpest pencils
in the box,

and here they are,
they're making their own tools,

they're making periscopes,
they're making,

you know, rafts in prison attics

and somehow not getting caught.

And I don't know if that speaks

to these guys
being really clever

or everyone watching them
being really, you know,

not so clever.

Babyak: It became so elaborate,
right?

A raft and then life jackets
and, you know,

paddles and masks.

It just got bigger and bigger,
right?

There's safety
in that sophistication.

And that's often the case.

The exciting fun part
is the inside the prison,

the bragging rights, the ego,

the fun, the hope.

But once they hit land,
not so fun.

Narrator: The visit has
offered up interesting clues.

The inmates may have stitched
the raft and used straws
or hoses to inflate it.

But how they glued the raincoats
together remains a mystery.

I'm interested in this glue.

It's liquid plastic
for book repair.

Humphreys: I don't know
what that means,

but somebody knows
what that means.

Narrator: Day two of
constructing the raft.

Eric and Olivier have asked
adhesives chemist Bill Leach

to come by and help them
figure out

what kind of glue might have
been on Alcatraz in 1962.

Leach: What they used

and would the prisoners
have something similar
to it.

You're gonna be
dealing with materials

that don't absorb
water or solvent,

so it's gonna have
to be a surface bond.

It's going to have
to bond materials

that are likely to
stretch a little bit.

Narrator: Glue that stretches

normally serves
an industrial purpose.

It makes sense they'd have
access to it

because "The Rock"
wasn't just a prison;

it housed Alcatraz Industries,

cranking out furniture,
shoes, and gloves

for the U.S. Army.

Humphreys: My understanding
is they had carpentry,

they had some sort of boot shop
for rubber boots,

and some sort of furniture shop.

So they may have been
fairly bright guys

who had connections,

and somebody
would have told them,

"Don't go to
the furniture department
for your adhesive;

go to the shoe
department."

Narrator: There they would have
found a waterproof glue

perfect for the job.

Leach: Yes, here we go,
here we go. Poly...

polychloropene.
Bingo.

Narrator:
polychloropene,

otherwise known
as contact cement.

Humphreys:
And the contact cement,

which seems the most likely
that they would have,

because not only do they need
lots of it to make a raft,

there needs to be so much of it

they can steal
this large quantity of it

without people going,
"Where's all the glue?"

Narrator: But according to
at least one Alcatraz guard,

stealing glue on "The Rock"
might have been easier
than it seems.

Mahoney: They really didn't
keep track.

The other penitentiaries
I was at

we kept track of
the contact cement.

But at Alcatraz,
we really didn't.

My recollection was
one-gallon cans,

and they might have gotten
some of that old used glue, too,

in those cans.

Narrator: With stolen
contact cement,

the inmates would have needed
more than 50 raincoats

to build their raft.

But for Eric and Olivier,

vintage raincoats
aren't an option.

Humphreys:
We've looked at making the raft

out of the actual jackets
that the prisoners used,

but one, they're kind of, you
know, very difficult to find,

and two, the material seemed to
be after, what is it, 50 years?

It seems to be rotting.

I think this is the closest
we can possibly find

for modern equipment.

It's the same thickness.

It says it's PVC.

Leach: PVC.

That's important

because that's what
it would have been

in 1962.

You gonna come with us?

Oh, I'm busy that day.

We'll get you
a little drink umbrella.

Narrator: With glue
and materials set,

they have 3 days left to craft
a historically accurate design

and get the job done.

Humphreys:
I think some people are slightly
nervous about the timing of it.

I'm not. In my job,
there's always a deadline,

and it's always something
that no one's done before

and there's always problems,
but in the end, it gets done.

It's kind of like
an all or nothing, you know?

If you're gonna be a bear,
be a grizzly.

Well, raincoats?
Humphreys:
Raincoats.

That this is the actual
raincoat that they used.

I've got some documentation.

Humphreys:
Yeah, right here.
Oh, here.

OK.
"The conspirators
realized

"that once
they had reached
the water's edge,

"it would be no mean feat

inflating a 14x6 foot
life raft by mouth."

That's a really big raft.

5 jackets.
5 jackets.

Two jackets.

And 10 jackets for the floor.

So that's 22 jackets at least.

I'm gonna use
the sleeve here
for our test.

We're gonna make a tiny,
miniature pontoon out of this.

Ugh, this is fumes some.

I don't know about you, buddy,

but I am feeling them.

How do you want to seal it

after the straws are in there?

Hoes: So I kept
folding backwards

and put it under, for example.

Humphreys:
Pretty clever.

Wow.
And it's holding air.

Briefly.

Uh.

Yeah, right here.

This is what
I was worried about.

Narrator:
Making the pontoons airtight

is turning out
to be a challenge.

There's your leak.

This seam's no problem.

This is filled up...

It had nothing to do
with the straw.

It was leaking
through all the seams.

That is, um...
disappointing.

Baart: And so if you look at how
Olivier and Eric built a raft,

there's a lot of choices
you can make

to make it better.

And all these choices
that you can make

try to stick to the historical
accurate side of them,

and that makes the raft
less floatable.

But it makes it
much more realistic.

We're gonna have to
figure a better way
of sealing that.

Narrator: Although
the actual raft was never found,

the stitched life vests
recovered after the escape

were surprisingly well built.

Humphreys: After the escape,
they found these life vests.

They wanted to test them,
so they put weights on them,

inflated the life vests

until it lifted the weights
off the floor,

and they held air for hours,
which is kind of amazing.

Narrator: Eric now thinks
the stitching on the life vests

was probably critical to the
evolution of the raft itself.

Who knows how many life vests
they made?

That could have been the,
you know, 400th life vest,

and the first one didn't work.

It looked like our bags
that we tried,

and I assume once they've
got that worked out,

they transfer that knowledge

and use it to build a large,
ocean-going raft.

And at first everyone
just kind of ignored it

because, you know, stitching's
kind of a pain in the butt,

and we're hoping
it was, like, a mistake,

but it's becoming clear
that the stitching is necessary

to keep the air in.

Narrator: As Eric pushes ahead
with building the raft,

the others are meeting someone
deeply interested in their work.

That thing gets sucked
into this current.

It's really strong.

Narrator: More than 50 years
after the escape,

the U.S. Marshals Service
is still hunting Morris
and the Anglins.

Mike Dyke has been on the case
for the past 13 years.

Dyke: Every piece of evidence
that comes up,

every lead that comes up
is evaluated,

even if something coming up
this long after the escape

could determine whether we need
to continue to focus efforts

on looking for live people

or try to find remains of people
who might have washed ashore,

you know, 50 years ago.

Narrator: They're excited
to share their own findings,

but they really want to gather
details from Marshal Dyke

about the time the raft
hit the water.

Dyke: There's no way
to know for sure.

That's a big variable,
when they left.

There was a noise at 10:30,
so that's assuming...

That's what time we assume
that they finally were able
go get out the top.

Yeah, and then they
had to go over the roof

and down that pipe.

Humphreys:
Over a fence.

Over the fence.
Over the fence.

And they would have had to get
the raft over the fence

without puncturing it
on the barbed wire.

And then inflating it.

So you're at least
looking at an hour.

Dyke: It could have been.
It could have been that long.

Yeah, so then
the 11:30 window.

Hoes: If the escape
is this time,

then it actually ends up here.

This is our
current scenario
to go with.

Dyke: The 3-D model
was really useful

because previously there was
a couple cartoon-type drawings
of it.

Other than that, you don't see
an actual live view

of what the currents
were doing that night.

So this is helpful
in understanding what
happened that night

and hopefully come up with
a more viable answer

to what I've been doing
for the last 13 years.

Hut:
So at 10:30 a noise was heard.

That's what the marshal told us.

That gives us an anchor point.

So it's really important
that we know

what happened step by step

so we can determine
when they entered the water.

Narrator: To accurately
re-create the timing
of the escape,

the Dutch team is heading
back to "The Rock"

for expert insight.

Hut: Our research really focused

on re-creating
the tidal situation

that these escapees experienced,

but to know that, we need input
from the historians at Alcatraz

to know what happened
step by step

so we can determine
when possibly they could
have entered the water.

Narrator: Rolf and Olivier
are meeting Alcatraz historian
John Martini...

Martini: That's where
Clint Eastwood and
the others come down

in the movie
"Escape From Alcatraz."

Narrator: who will help them
retrace the path of the escape.

Martini: This is the access
to the cell house.

So this was the cell
of Alan West,

who some people consider
to have been the fellow

who came up with
the whole concept.

Narrator: Of all the characters
involved,

Alan West is the least known
but arguably the most important.

Babyak: West didn't get
mentioned in the newspapers

because he didn't go.

You know, he got stuck behind.

Narrator: Unable to
punch through his cell

in time to join Morris
and the Anglins,

it was West who told the FBI
the details of the plan,

including the fact

that the men intended
to paddle to Angel Island.

Dyke:
There was a misconception

that Morris was the mastermind
of the whole plan.

More than likely,
West at least initiated it.

He was the most dangerous.

I mean, a prisoner had told me
West didn't walk,

he slithered.

That's the hole
that they excavated
to get out.

They drilled a great big
rectangular perforation

in the wall,

and then once they had
weakened the wall,

then they were able
to break out large

and relatively rapidly.

Narrator: Chiseling through
a foot of concrete

was a tough
and potentially noisy job.

But thanks to the prison reform
movement of the early '60s,

Alcatraz was now offering
art classes and music hour.

Babyak: The music hour then just
became a cacophony of sound...

and probably when they did
a lot of their digging.

Oh, lonely in there.

The concrete up here
is really bad.

Narrator: Despite "The Rock" 's
fearsome reputation

for being inescapable,

by spring 1962, the aging prison
was falling apart.

Babyak: The toilets
in the cell house

were plumbed with saltwater.

So saltwater was coursing
through those pipes
for over 50 years.

Plumbers would go in there
to fix them,

and they would disintegrate.

Martini: So you were
constantly having
flooding saltwater.

And that would destroy
your concrete and your rebar.

Martini: Want to go
into the...

Corridor?
Corridor?
Sure, let's do it.

Baart: Wow.

The actual weakest spot
in the concrete

is close to the vents
where they got through.

Narrator: Saltwater erosion
and shoddy construction
along the base of the wall

meant that convicts were digging
through the weakest spot
of their cells.

Martini: Once they got out here
into the utility corridor,

basically it's like
a jungle gym of pipes

and supports straight up
3 stories plus

to a flat, open area
at the top of the cell block.

Narrator: Every night
for 6 weeks,

the inmates climbed 3 stories
through this web of pipes

to a hidden walk.

Martini: We're standing
on the roof of the
top tier of cells,

and then above us
is the roof of the
actual cell house.

This is just a void.

This is where they set up
their workshop.

Narrator: Here they would build
the raincoat raft,

periscope, drills, life vests,

and tools that would make theirs

the most sophisticated escape
in American history.

West had convinced the guards

to let him work unsupervised
in the loft

during daytime hours.

Part of Alan West's
whole cover story

for being up here

was that he was painting,
and he indeed was.

If you look right here
at the ceiling,

this is where Alan West
left off painting.

You can actually see
the brush strokes.

Narrator: West wasn't just
looking for a place
to build a raft.

He was looking for a way
to get out of the cell block

and onto the roof.

Mahoney: They volunteered
to do this cleanup

up on top of the cells.

Well, because they knew
that if they could get up there,

maybe look at those holes
in the ceiling

that they could maybe
go out of there,

and they were certainly... could
figure it was old and rusty,
and it was.

It was right on target, mm-hmm.

Narrator: The holes
in the ceiling were
old ventilation shafts.

And the one above the loft
workspace wasn't just rusty,

it was the only one
not cemented in place.

Martini: And they hit
on the idea of...

convincing the guards that
they needed to put blankets

to close this area off.

Babyak: That was one of
the things about Alcatraz,

was it was spotlessly clean.

I mean, they polished
those floors.

If you look at pictures of it,
they were shiny.

One day West goes up
to the top of the block,

and with a little broom he,
you know, moved some dust down,
you know.

And it didn't take long for the
lieutenant to walk over there

or for a guard or for a prisoner
to complain...

"Hey, there's dust in my cell!
What's going on up there?"

And so West just doubles back
and he says,

"You know, I got to work up
there and it's really dusty.

Maybe we could hang
some blankets."

Mahoney: Normally we put a guard
with 'em at all times,

but he said, "Oh, just go
and check on them now and then."

Not a good idea,

not with an Alcatraz convict.

Everyone was under the gun
24 hours a day.

Hut: But then there
was no guard here
watching him.

Martini: No. The feeling
seems to have been

once he was let up here
and he was locked in,

you know, what could
he possibly do?

Where could he possibly go?

Hut:
I mean, they're on Alcatraz.

What could possibly happen?

What could possibly go wrong?

Narrator: On the night
of June 11, 1962,

it was go time.

By 9:30, West was having trouble
breaking through the last bits
of his cell

when Frank Morris appeared,
asking for water.

Dyke: He was thirsty,
wanted a glass of water.

So he handed him
a glass of water

through that little hole
in the back of his cell

that he was still working on,
and that was about 9:34.

Narrator:
It was the last time

anyone would see Frank Morris
alive.

Martini: There was a giant crash
sometime around 10:30,

which is apparently when the
ventilator cap was pushed off.

So at 10:30,
a noise was heard,

and everybody goes
with the story

that that is the vent cover
that falls onto the roof.

Martini: And this is
the footprint of the pipe.

This is the route down,

and the FBI photographs show
little black footprints

running around down here

as they were waiting for
the other guys to come down.

It's almost like a Bugs Bunny
or something.

Except this was deathly
for real.
Hut: Yeah.

Essentially what they were doing

is they were following
their nose towards the water.

Hoes: What's
your best guess

for them leaving Alcatraz?

11:15, 11:30?

And that's just a guess.

That would fit really nice
with our model result.

So then... because that is
really in the time frame,

that if they went
into the water,

they had the best chance
to reach Horseshoe Bay.

Narrator: Back at the shop,
time is running out,

and they haven't even
successfully inflated
their first pontoon.

Humphreys:
I went shopping.

Black tape like they had.

Hoes: All right.

I got hoses and tubes.

It's gonna be like
a raft hookah.

Narrator: They know the inmates
used stitching.

Whoa.

You can hardly tell
I've never sewn before
in my life.

All right, first pontoon.

Think it's gonna hold air?

Let's inflate.
Let's do it.

Narrator: The moment of truth.

If it doesn't hold air,
they'll never make
their tidal window.

If I pass out,
leave without me,
man.

Save yourself.

Narrator: The stitching, it
seems, was the missing element.

Hoes: I don't see
bubbles for air.

Humphreys: All right,

I think we've built a raft...

I think it's gonna leak
like a freaking sieve,

and we're gonna spend
the entire time
pumping it up.

Hell, you can probably
even blow into it
fast enough.

I have more respect for them

after attempting the work myself

in, you know,
relatively ideal
conditions.

If I need more glue,
I can go get more glue.

I don't have to
sneak it in from
the cafeteria,

and no one's gonna
shoot me... probably,

so... and I'm
having trouble.

I don't think we're fitting
3 people in this thing.

If they were my size,
it will fit.

What are you saying?

Saying too much pizza?

All right.

Narrator:
With the pontoon design set,

it's a scramble to get the rest
of the raft built,

leaving just one day
for the contact cement to dry.

Across town, Rolf and Fedor
have one last place to test
their theory

before facing the bay itself.

This swimming pool

is representing
the entire Pacific.

Kendall:
Yeah, yeah.

So this is
a large physical model

of the San Francisco Bay
and delta system.

Hut: The tidal cycle
over there is only 15 minutes.

So what if I go out
one hour after low tide?

And then 15 minutes later,
you can test

what if I go out
two hours after low tide.

Kendall:
It's used in missing person
cases in particular.

When a body washes up
on shore somewhere,

the question is often asked,

"Well, where did this person
enter the water?"

And so the ability to go through
a 12-hour tidal cycle
in 15 minutes

and watch where things go is one
of the beauties of this tool.

Hey, guys, look what I built.

A little boat,
a little release mechanism.

Kendall:
Uh-huh.

Some tape, some Super Glue,
some office supplies.

But I think the tide
is going out right now,

which would be
when we said that they went.

I'm just gonna put it in.

This is my kind of science.

Kendall: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Hut: We just had our floaty
going with the tides.

So this would be
without paddling.

If they just let the raft
take them where it
would take them.

Yeah. So this is
the tidal slack point.

It should be.
Slowing down

Narrator: Slack tide is the
brief window of slowing current

that happens between
the incoming and outgoing tides.

Kendall: You've got to
really time it around
the slack water.

If it's not slack water,

everybody goes out the Gate.

Yeah, I think if they went out
the Golden Gate,

it was probably history
for them.

Narrator: On the first attempt,
without paddle power,

the raft is swept out to sea.

Hut: And you see exactly
the same thing as in the model.

You go straight into the middle
of the Golden Gate Bridge,

out into the Pacific and die.

What we did
in our computer model

is we looked at
the difference between

what if you just go
with the flow

versus what if you paddle.

But then of course,
I cannot put paddling mice

or I think even ants
at that scale on it.

So we did a final attempt,
and in the final attempt,

Fedor was holding an office fan

that mimicked
the northwards effect

that paddling could have.

Kendall: Yeah, so this is
when I think they had a chance

because the currents
are not that strong.

Hut: It's not
that strong.

Narrator: The second time,
Fedor uses an office fan

to simulate the forward motion
of men paddling the raft.

So I'm just going to give
a bit of northern movement.

Baart: In the last
hundred meters,

I had to turn up the knobs
to full speed.

Narrator: When the raft
approaches the strong band
of current

blocking it from Horseshoe Bay,

Fedor cranks up the fan.

Hut: As if that last rush
of adrenaline

and, "Oh, my God, we're gonna
die" rush of adrenaline

gave them enough energy to do
a final paddle and make it.

Baart: Oh, nice!

Kendall: Oh!

Hut: Nice!

Hey, there you go.

There we go!

That's how you do it.

Baart:
It was interesting to see
that this float

actually ends up exactly
where we predicted.

Hut: Yeah, I want to see
you do that in two days.

For real.

If you've got any kind of speed

and the vessel doesn't sink,

looks very doable to me.

Would you be able to make it?

Given that the boat holds
and that there's no freight,

whatever going in between.

But from just a flow
and water movement perspective,

doable.

We might live.
Ha ha!

Narrator:
What they've seen here

suggests their computer model
is right.

If the escapees
were able to get past

the invisible current of water
blocking Horseshoe Bay,

they could have survived.

It also may have solved
another mystery.

After the escape, searchers
found paddles and other debris

near Angel Island,

which gave rise to the theory
the men made landfall there.

But the Dutch model shows
that when the tide's reversed,

items dropped in the surf
off Horseshoe Bay

are pushed right back
to Angel Island.

Hut: Oh, here,
yeah, look.

This is, uh...
this is...

Narrator: As they wrap up,

the team gets a text
from Olivier

over at the tech shop.

Hoes: So these are
the pontoons.

So the final thing
is that the floor

has got to be glued
on top like that,

and it's got to all be inflated,

and it holds 3 men.

There's gonna be 3 chambers:

a stern, aft chamber,
and two large chambers in front,

and they'll have
their own inflator hose.

So this way, each individual
paddler can have
their own hose,

and you blow into it to
keep ahead of any leaks
that may occur.

Narrator: With the raft
finally done,

they've asked Marshal Dyke
to come by and take a look.

Hut: That seems
smallish.
Dyke: Wow.

It gets bigger.

Wow.
That's pretty big.

Hoes: That would fit
the 3 of us.

I have 100% confidence
there will be zero leaks.

Dyke: You know, they used
a similar-type glue.

The dimensions we believe
were accurate.

I believe it was
a very realistic portrayal

of, you know,
how things would've ended up.

So you think you'd
get in this thing?

I don't believe I would.

Oh, come on.

Given the trailing boat and...

If I was desperate,
I would get in it.

Humphreys: I think if anything's
gonna fail on the raft,

it's gonna be a seam
or it's gonna get ripped

on some unforeseen piece
of metal someplace.

Hoes: I don't think
that's gonna happen.

Humphreys: There's gonna be
some huffing and puffing

into those tubes,

but I really do think
it's gonna make it.

Narrator: By 7 p.m.
the next evening,

they're headed to Alcatraz.

The window to launch
is between 8:00 and 8:30,

a rare interval when the bay's
complex tidal conditions

will match those from the night
of the escape.

Dines:
Usually around sundown when
the inland valley pulls off,

this strong onshore breeze,
you know, fades,

and it gets nice.

This year is an El Nino Year

and the weather is
a little bit unusual,

so the prevailing conditions
may not prevail.

As a result of what we're noting

is that the wind is a little bit
more south than usual,

from the south, with an early
bit of the ebb kicking in,

the chop is getting
a lot rougher.

Narrator: The water is rough.

Winds are blowing at 25 knots.

The team worries their raft
won't stand a chance.

Hut: Those are pretty big waves,

like some 60 centimeters
to a meter waves

with foam caps on,

and it's pretty scary
for a little boat like us.

So we're gonna wait as long
as we can

within that tidal window.

Hope that the sun going down,

temperature difference
between the sea and the land
going down a bit

that the wind would ease
so that we have conditions

that are as near
as we can achieve today

to what happened
back in the day, '62.

I think it's a fair test
of the concept.

You know, the guys that
made the escape originally,

you know, maybe they were able
to pick a night
where it was calm.

I don't really know.

But I think that if they're able
to pull this off today

with all the challenges
that are present,

it really is
a strong affirmation

that, yeah, absolutely
this could be done.

Narrator: San Francisco Bay
isn't known for calm waters.

With winds now hitting 30 knots,

this will be the most realistic
attempt ever.

Dines: I think that
that's the problem

with a lot of re-creations

is they kind of pick
a perfect day.

This is a very typical day,
and the challenges are real.

Hut: Well, it's now 10 to 8:00,

but it's still pretty rough
out here.

Yeah, like 8:15 we'll probably
go into the water.

We got to start
filling up the raft then.

When you guys
first get into the boat,

just give us an OK,
so international OK.

Any type of
major medical emergency,

fist up in the air.

Fist up in the air for me
means end of this mission,

it failed,
get back into the boat.

Hut: When I saw the raft
coming together

and being inflated
for the first time,

I grew more confident.

But just before we launched
our little raft,

all that confidence went away
when I saw these big waves.

How are we gonna do this, guys?

It's not that we can change
anything now,

so let's just do this,
see where we end up.

Go.

Careful.
Don't let go.

We're going!

Go, go, go!

Narrator: Like Morris
and the Anglins,

their raft has never
been tested.

Hut: Can I go in?

Narrator: Will it hold up
or disintegrate

under the weight of 3 grown men?

OK, guys.

All right,
it's 10 past 8:00.

All clear!
We're in the boat!

Let go!
Let got!

Humphreys:
And they're off!

Good luck, guys!

See you in an hour!

Looks like it's holding air.

I mean, they're huffing
and puffing,

but they're going
the right direction

and they ain't sinking.

Their hair's dry.

What more could they want?

Narrator:
According to their model,

they will have to hit
Horseshoe Bay around 9 p.m.

That's when the tidal slack
will slow the outgoing current

and give them the best chance

to paddle through the underwater
torrent blocking their way.

Baart: When we were floating
in the bay,

I really felt this is
a great thing we're doing,

putting science into reality.

Humphreys: We're about, what,
15 minutes in, 10 minutes in?

They're a good long ways
from Alcatraz,

probably 20% there.

There's a little bit of water
in the boat, they said,

and that's only from when
they got in.

I think the thing's holding up.

It looks like getting out
of Alcatraz is easy.

Hut: Yeah, everything
is leaking, but we are
holding up fine.

Humphreys: They only got one guy
paddling, though.

The other two people are
inflating the raft constantly

to keep up with the leaks
that are in it.

Narrator: As darkness sets in,

the seas don't calm,
they get rougher.

Humphreys: They're about to hit
some pretty good swells,

the biggest we've seen so far.

I'm not sure if it's
wake from a ship

or it's just current
going through this part
of the channel,

but I think they're gonna get
a little bit wetter now.

Narrator: At 50 minutes in,
they're hitting the wall of
current they feared.

Tidal slack hasn't slowed it
nearly as much as they'd hoped.

The Dutchmen are at risk
of being drawn out to sea.

Humphreys: 6-0 minutes.

Waves are getting
a little stronger,

and I believe they are
starting to get sucked

towards the Golden Gate,

so if they want to make land,
they have to, uh,

they have to paddle like crazy
right now.

According to the captain,
if you're gonna make it,

y'all got to paddle that way

because we're starting to drift
towards the bridge.

Narrator: If they do get pulled
under the bridge,

this experiment
could turn deadly.

Humphreys: I think
they're getting tired.

Olivier had a cramp
in his leg or his arm,

had to rest a little bit.

And you know, it's not over yet,
but these guys...

These guys got to paddle.

You guys see this boat over
there, they got their light on?

Aim for that light over there,
that bright one!

Narrator: Horseshoe Bay now lies
less than 200 yards ahead.

Humphreys: So we're about
an hour and 5 minutes in.

According to GPS, we're making
about 2.5 knots

mostly from the current.

Unfortunately
it's all towards the bridge

and not towards land.

It looks they're still trying
to keep up the inflation.

They just have one guy, Olivier,
paddling.

I can see their destination,
very, very close.

And they have stopped paddling
and have just gone to inflating.

I don't know if that means
they're just getting tired

or the leak is getting
more serious.

You are losing ground.

If everybody can't paddle,
I think...

Humphreys: We're about
an hour and 10 minutes in.

We just had a chat with them

and told them
they all need to paddle.

We just don't want them
too close to the bridge.

And if they get too close
to the bridge,

it's kind of game over.

Narrator: Exhausted
and accelerating toward
the Golden Gate,

an upheld fist signals
it's time to turn back.

Humphreys: We're gonna go over
and pick 'em up now, I think.

We're coming!

Hut: Pick us up!

Humphreys: We're coming
for you guys!

Pull yourself in.

Fedor's in!

It's stuck in the raft.

Hold the rim!

I'm holding it, OK?

There you go.

All right.

Hoes: Get
the raft in!

Jesus!

Hut: Look, I'm calling it,
we are dead!

Dines: We got 'em all aboard.

Everyone's safe.
We got the raft.

The raft's feeling light.

Hut: They could
have done it.

It's just that one guy paddling,
two guys blowing

is not enough to get the speed
to the north.

And you can see that
in our model.

It's like a big calm going in,

and then... and we should have
been maybe to the north

of that current
before it went so narrow.

Like if you, uh,
if you just get south of it,

then, uh, then basically
you are basically doomed.

Humphreys: And that's what
science is all about,

you just learn more.

If you just have one data point,
one story,

that's not really science.

You need to have
multiple data points

so that you can see
what the influence of
different factors is,

so what we just did
is given the exact
tidal circumstances,

our data point says they would
have drifted to the Gate.

Baart: We tried to believe
this would take over an hour,

so that was correct,

but I thought we, uh, we would
have a bit more time

to get in here.

So the things we computed
actually happened,

but I think we are mainly
missing this leap of faith

and the spirit to survive,

and I think if you are
really escaping,

you have much more adrenaline.

So now this comes
to this experience,

I still think they would
have been able to make it.

Ah, so, um, a bit unfortunate.

But, uh, look what we did.

We managed to do it for 95%.

We were approximately 50 meters
from the Golden Gate.

Hut: 95% is usually
scientifically
significant, right?

Humphreys:
These guys were very capable.

I think the raft could have
theoretically made it,

but I don't think it did.

I think they're dead.

I think they're floating
out there or on the bottom...

for the same reason everyone
else says, "Where are they?"

Narrator: For the team,
it's been a disappointing

but insightful night.

For former prison guards,

the results reinforce
a gut instinct they've had

for over half a century now.

Based on the smallest of
evidence pulled from the bay

just days after the escape.

Mahoney: I was given authority
to go out and start looking
for them.

You're going around and around
and around.

They'd see these items floating,

and then they would retrieve it
and bring it in

and try to dry it out.

And we got surprisingly enough
quite a few correspondence

that they had maybe with
their parents or loved ones,

things that were very dear
to them.

It could be a photograph
of their father or mother

or a loved one,
maybe their girlfriend.

It's items that they would
really want to keep with them,

but I think they had
to give it up.

Narrator: More than 50 years ago
3 men took a desperate gamble.

Mahoney: And I've talked
to many, many people,

and they really hope
they made it.

Interviewer:
How do you feel?

Oh, hell, I...

Well, I wouldn't mind.

It would be all right.

I'd like to know
what happened to them.

Narrator: But tonight the bay
is holding its secrets close,

and the mystery of Alcatraz
continues.

"Secrets of the Dead"

was made possible in part by

the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting

and by contributions
to your PBS station

from viewers like you.

Thank you.