FBI has released a letter purported to be from Clarence Anglin who escaped Alcatraz prison alongside his brother John and another inmate Frank Morris in 1962. Clarence wrote to the agency offering to serve another year in prison in exchange for cancer treatment in a letter dated 2013 but was only released to the public this week.

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The letter read
“My name is John Anglin. I escape [sic] from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother Clarence and Frank Morris. I’m 83 years old and in bad shape. I have cancer. Yes, we all made it that night but barely! ‘Frank passed away in October 2005. His grave is in Alexandria under another name. My brother died in 2011.

If you announce on TV that I will be promised to first go to jail for no more than a year and get medical attention, I will write back to let you know exactly where I am. This is no joke this is for real and honest truth.”

KPIX

Alcatraz was built as an escape-proof jail in its own island in the San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles from the mainland. Surrounded by strong currents, it makes escape from the prison more of a suicide attempt. Only 36 people are known to have attempted fleeing from the prison although none has been known to have successfully made it to the mainland.

John Anglin

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All is known except the mystery of the Anglin Brothers and Morris who are suspected to have staged the only successful breakout in 1962. This unsolved mystery has been the subject of the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz

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While Authorities maintain that the trio drowned, some members of the Anglin family have claimed that the three men survived and have made contacts with them over the years.

Alcatraz which translates to ‘Island of gannets’ was originally built in the 1850s as a military fortress and prison for inmates who were mainly made of Unionist deserters and Confederate sympathizers during the civil war.

It operated until 1933 when the United States Department of Justice acquired it and converted it into a penitentiary in 1934. Since then, it has housed some of the most infamous criminals in Us history including Al Capone and the Boston mobster Bulger. The prison was, however, shut down in 1963, almost three decades after it was commissioned.

The island has now been converted to a tourist sight. Most of the landmarks remain in good condition including the Main cell house, Dining hall, Library, and the parade grounds. The warden’s house is however in ruins.