Abby Connolly
Using a homemade drill made out of the parts of a broken vacuum cleaner, the prisoners began to loosen the air vents in the back of their cells, creating large holes in the wall. They would cover the holes with objects like cardboard and suitcases until they were ready.
Behind the cell walls was an unguarded utility corridor, which the three prisoners used as a secret workspace. It was there that they built a makeshift raft out of stolen gear and materials like 50 raincoats. They also built wooden paddles and rigged a musical instrument to use to inflate the raft. They used pipes to climb up to the ceiling, where they pried open the ventilator to make their escape.
FBI; pictured above shows how the men arranged the fake heads to trick the guards into thinking they were fast asleep
On the night of June 11th, they broke through the ventilator, climbed off of the roof and over the fence, then presumably escaped on their raft off the northeast shore of the island. No one has been able to find the three men since. It is widely presumed that they are dead, although some believe they could still be alive. The case was closed by the FBI in December of 1979. Creepy, right?
To read more about this clever escape, visit the link here.
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