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Massive Search Underway for Escaped Alcatraz Convicts

June 12, 1962 - The search for three escaped Alcatraz convicts — Frank L. Morris (left) and brothers John (right) and Clarence Anglin (center) — was joined today by agents of the FBI, the Coast Guard, the California highway patrol, sheriff’s deputies, and policemen of various cities in the area. No trace of the fugitives was found. Warden Olin D. Blackwell, who abandoned a fishing trip to return to the prison, was asked if the men might still be on the island. “I just don’t know,” he said. At least 20 convicts previously tried to escape from Alcatraz, but none got off the island and survived. Six were slain, three drowned, and the rest were captured. The most spectacular escape attempt in the 25-year history of the prison occurred in May 1946, when 13 convicts seized a cell block and held off even the marines for two days. Two guards and three prisoners were slain. Two other convicts were later executed for their role in the attempt. Morris, known as an escape artist, is under a 14-year sentence for the burglary in 1955 of a Louisiana bank. The burglary was carried out after Morris escaped from the Louisiana State Prison at Angola, where he was serving a 10-year term for armed robbery. John Anglin is under a 15-year sentence for the robbery of an Alabama bank in January 1958. Clarence Anglin is under a 10-year sentence for the same robbery.

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