Frank Lee Morris

Frank Morris was an American criminal best known for his role in the elaborate 1962 escape from the maximum-security federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island, California. Alongside brothers Clarence and John Anglin, Morris meticulously planned and executed a jailbreak on the night of June 11, 1962.123

The inmates used tools fashioned from stolen spoons to enlarge the grille openings in their cell walls, creating papier-mâché dummy heads with real hair to fool guards during head counts. They navigated through utility corridors and up the cellblock to the roof, then used a ventilation shaft and an exterior pipe to reach the ground. From there, they cut through the perimeter fence and made their way to the water's edge.1

It remains uncertain whether Morris and the Anglin brothers successfully reached the mainland. Fragments of their makeshift raft and life vests were found on Angel Island, their intended intermediate destination. While the FBI closed its case in 1979, concluding they likely drowned, the U.S. Marshals Service continues to investigate. The escape is believed by some to have contributed to the decision to close Alcatraz prison less than a year later.123