A trove of Alcatraz records has revealed secret FBI findings about a little-known sighting of the first two inmates to escape from the infamous prison.
The collection of news clippings and historical photographs was shared with DailyMail.com by the Genealogy platform My Heritage to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Sunday, August 11, 1934.
Among them was a brief newspaper article from a 1939 issue of the Kentucky New Era revealing that the two Oklahoma bank robbers — 27-year-old Theodore “Ted” Cole, nicknamed “Teddy the Terror,” and 33-year-old Ralph Roe — had supposedly been seen in Pueblo, Colorado, after escaping from Alcatraz on December 16, 1937.
An ex-convict He claimed to have played cards with the couple, prompting the FBI’s Oklahoma City office to step up search efforts for the duo.
‘Although no law enforcement officer has seen the desperate Oklahomans since they disappeared in the fog on December 16, 1937, Nat J. Pieper, head of the FBI in San Francisco, admitted that the search persisted in all offices,’ reads the July 6, 1939 article.
An aerial view shows Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary or “The Rock” across from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Alcatraz Island is 1.25 miles (2.01 km) off the coast of San Francisco
Bank robbers Theodore ‘Ted’ Cole, 27 (left) and Ralph Roe, 33 (right) escaped from Alcatraz in 1937.
The New Kentucky New Era published an article about Ted Cole and Ralph Roe on July 6, 1939.
The Lewiston Tribune wrote at the time: “Dead or alive, they were the only two men to elude guards and reach the sea in an escape attempt since the island became a prison in 1934.”
Cole and Roe had been transferred to Alcatraz after two failed escape attempts at other prisons. They were assigned to the prison’s carpet shop and later used a file to cut through the iron bars of the prison’s windows, before fleeing into the water.
The men were reportedly found in dense fog and stormy conditions, leading authorities to believe they drowned, but no bodies were ever found.
The couple’s brazen escape was later overshadowed by the most famous – and most audacious – escape from Alcatraz prison in its 29-year history, carried out by the notorious Trio of bank robbers: Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin, who escaped on June 11, 1962.
The brothers and Morris dug tunnels into their cells, slipped through ventilation shafts and through an unguarded service door before fleeing into the shark-infested bay on a handmade raft.
Morris, who worked as a prison barber and was known as the mastermind behind the operation, had even created dummy heads out of plaster and human hair to fool the night guards into appearing as if they were still in their cells.
Their bodies were also never found, leading to speculation about where they might have ended up and whether they might still be alive to this day.
MyHeritage.com has since published digitally enhanced color photographs of the trio and shared a selection of old newspaper clippings from the time of their daring escape.
The Sarasota Journal published an article on June 11, 1962, illustrating growing concerns as the search for the missing men continued two days later.
Under the headline “Three Alcatraz Inmates Still Free,” it explained how air, sea and ground patrols were scouring the Bay Area for the escape artists.
Before Alactraz finally closed its doors in 1963, there were a total of 14 separate escapes involving 36 inmates.
According to reports, 23 were captured, six were shot and killed during the attempt, two drowned and five were never found..
Frank Lee Morris was one of three who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962. Morris was the alleged mastermind behind the operation. Enhanced photos were generated with MyHeritage in Color
Clarence Anglin (pictured), his brother John, and Morris escaped from Alcatraz on the night of June 11, 1962, after executing a meticulous escape that involved digging through the walls of their cell.
The three escapees used doll heads to fool prison guards and a homemade raft made from raincoats in what has been described as the “most daring” prison break in US history. Pictured: One of the escaped inmates, John Anglin
The article that was published in The Sarasota Journal on June 13, 1962 about the search for the missing convicts
MyHeritage also shared a series of news articles published in the months leading up to Alcatraz’s opening.
‘A penitentiary in San Francisco Bay from which escape is said to be impossible,’ The Southeast Missourian reported on June 30, 1934.
The mannequin was created from plaster to replicate a human head with real hair, eyebrows and eyelashes.
Other reports detailed the incredible measures the prison had taken to prevent escapes.
A February 1934 issue of the Evening Star reported that the federal government at one point was considering installing a “mysterious invisible magnetic field trap” that “would sound an alarm if a prisoner ventured too close to unguarded doors or walls.”
The men placed the doll heads in their beds to fool the prison’s night guards.
On April 5, 1934, the Spokesman Review added that “walls that see and doors that talk” would probably be installed.
The news clipping also cited additional ways in which the prison would be made inescapable, including how “specially trained guards trained in criminology, psychology, wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu will be in charge of that prison.”
The director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons told the media at the time: “We want something smarter than thugs to handle these dangerous men.”
When Alcatraz finally opened its doors in August 1934, the press went wild again.
What further fueled the media frenzy was the arrival on August 22, 1934, of the most famous inmate in the prison’s history: gangster Alphonso “Al” Capone.
The Lewiston Morning Tribune wrote: ‘Scarface Capone and 52 other prisoners slept tonight in their cells on Alcatraz Island.’
Sanford Bates, director of the federal Bureau of Prisons, said the former Chicago gangster had been sent to the so-called “Devil’s Island” in the United States.
The Brownsville Herald headlined another story: “100 Criminals Locked Up in Island Prison,” adding that among the “trainload” of convicts brought in was the notorious “George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelley.”
Police photo of Al Capone arriving at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on August 22, 1934
The Lewiston Morning Tribune article from August 20, 1934 reported on how Alcatraz was preparing for the arrival of Capone and the other prisoners.
A news clipping from The Sportsman Review
Roi Mandel, MyHeritage’s head of research, told DailyMail.com: “As we mark the 90th anniversary of Alcatraz, MyHeritage’s deep research into the historical record, including our vast OldNews archive (a collection of millions of historic newspaper articles), sheds new light on the stories that defined this infamous prison.”
“From its reputation as an escape-proof fortress to daring escapes, these valuable historical records allow us to reexamine and preserve Alcatraz’s legacy. By using these invaluable resources, we continue to unravel the myths and mysteries that have captivated the world for decades,” he added.
He added that the animated images shown above were created from still photographs using a feature called Deep Nostalgia, which aims to provide a realistic representation of how a person might have moved and looked if they had been captured on video.
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