For months leading up to the escape the Anglin Brothers and Morris enlarged the vent holes in the backs of their cells to access a utility corridor. They covered their work by making replicas of the vents out of cardboard and painting over them to make them look real. They also made dummy heads to lay in their beds while they were out of their cells. The escapees collected prison issue rain coats and made life preservers and a raft to get off the island. The night after the escape there was a paddle used by the escapees recovered from the bay between Angel Island and Tibouron. Two days after the escape a life preserver used by the escapees was recovered on Cronkhite Beach just outside the Golden Gate Bridge. Two days after the escape there was an Olive Drab packet full of photos and papers belonging to the Anglin Brothers recovered from the bay approximately ½ mile east of Alcatraz. 10 days after the escape there was another life preserver found in the bay approximately 50 yards east of Alcatraz. On July 17, 1962 a freighter reported seeing a body wearing prison-type clothing floating face down approximately 15 miles Northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge. This body was not recovered. All three subjects have a history of escape attempts from both state and federal prisons. In 1978 the U.S. Marshals Service assumed investigative authority of the Alcatraz escape case from the FBI. In the media, there have been several claims people have made, stating that they were either related to the escapees or knew where they were. There have also been media claims from people claiming that they themselves were one of the escapees living in a foreign country. Thus far there has been no evidence that any of these reports are true. The Marshals Service receives on average one lead every two months regarding this case. These leads come from all over the country and include possible sightings in Central and South America.
