Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Page 15 of the scanned file: a Department of Justice, United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas form letter dated October 22, 1960, to the Sheriff of Leavenworth County, in re John William Anglin, our #77350-L, stating that he will be transferred that day to the United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, California, and that a detainer is on file; footed "Transfer of Detainer."
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John Anglin's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 1476 (National Archives catalog entry)

Catalog entry for the Alcatraz case file of register no. 1476, with 465 digitized pages. The description gives receipt on 24 October 1960 and an end date of 11 June 1962, the date of the escape; the catalog remark reads presumed dead.

Date
1960-10-24/1962-06-11
Kind
finding-aid
Source
National Archives Catalog
Retrieved
2026-10-12
NAID
117695645
Rights
A catalog description of a Bureau of Prisons inmate case file (Record Group 129), a United States government record, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The catalog marks the file unit use and access "Unrestricted"; the parent series (NAID 622809) is marked "Restricted - Possibly" for copyright (newspaper clippings) and privacy, so the contents of a file need a page-by-page check.

The catalog title is “ANGLIN, JOHN WILLIAM - Alcatraz Number 1476.” The file unit belongs to the series Comprehensive Case Files of Former Inmates Incarcerated at U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz, California, in the Records of the Bureau of Prisons at the National Archives at San Francisco. The catalog lists 465 digitized pages. The pages have not been read for this archive.

The catalog description gives these fields: offense “BANK ROBBERY”; received at Alcatraz 10/24/1960; transferred 06/11/1962 to “DEATH”; remark “PRESUMED DEAD.” Those are the catalog’s entries, not readings of the file.

As with his brother’s file, the death date in the catalog is NARA’s, not a finding; the Bureau of Prisons says the three men who disappeared from their cells on 11 June 1962 “are officially listed as missing and presumed drowned” (BOP Alcatraz history). The brother’s file is NAID 117695644.

itemComprehensive Case Files of Former Inmates, U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz (National Archives series)National Archives series description of the extant Alcatraz case files on about 1,550 men. Only a few file units are digitized. The series' own inclusive dates are an accession span; the bulk dates of the Alcatraz records are 1934 to 1963.itemNational Archives numerical list of former Alcatraz inmates, register numbers 1 to 1576The National Archives at San Francisco's numerical index of former Alcatraz inmates: register numbers 1 through 1576, each with a name. It prints no dates of confinement and no cell.itemAlcatraz (Federal Bureau of Prisons history page)The Bureau of Prisons' history page on Alcatraz names Al Capone among the well-known criminals who did time there, and says most of its prisoners were not well-known gangsters.itemMemorandum Eddy to Evans, 12 June 1962: Frank Lee Morris, John William Anglin and Clarence Anglin, escaped federal prisoners (FBI Vault)An FBI memorandum of 12 June 1962 recording that at 7:28 p.m. no trace of Morris and the Anglin brothers had been found at the prison, on the island, on the mainland or in the water; an addendum says the Coast Guard found a paddle in the bay.itemClarence Anglin's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 1485 (National Archives catalog entry)Catalog entry for the Alcatraz case file of register no. 1485, with 525 digitized pages. The description gives receipt on 16 January 1961 and an end date of 11 June 1962, the date of the escape; the catalog remark reads presumed dead.