Two brothers who escaped Alcatraz half a century ago survived the attempt and not only married and had children after embarking on new lives in Brazil – but may still be alive, their nephew claims.
Bank robbers Clarence and John Anglin made it off the prison island in 1962 after digging a tunnel out of their cells with teaspoons and throwing themselves into the treacherous waters of San Francisco Bay in a makeshift dinghy.
The FBI had maintained the brothers drowned while fleeing 'The Rock' in the middle of the night, along with career criminal Frank Morris.
But their nephew Ken Widner, 54, told Daily Mail Online that he is certain his uncles made it to South America – and established family lives there.
Survived? This photo purports to show Clarence (left) and John Anglin (right), two bank robbers who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962, standing on a farm in Brazil in 1975, their nephews claim
He spoke out after a History Channel documentary which made public a photo given to his family 20 years ago – and recently forensically analyzed.
The family always had a hunch that the daring escape was successful.
Speaking at his home in Gainesville, GA, he said: 'The family had always believed that the brothers had gone to South America. It's hard to say how we knew; but we did.
'It was thought some family members knew before Fred Brizzi [a friend of the brothers who claimed to have met them in Brazil in 1975].
'We always felt our Uncle Robert knew they survived. Then, on his deathbed, he admitted to being in touch with them for the first 25 years after they escaped.'
The secret was disclosed by Robert Anglin shortly before his death in Ruskin, Florida, in October 2010, aged 84.
Ken said he would now love to go to Brazil to track down his uncles Clarence and John, who would now be 84 and 85 respectively.
He thinks they could still be alive as other family members have survived into their nineties.
'I hope they are still alive as I would love to meet them and I would love for my mother to see them one last time,' he said.
Ken believes Brazil would not extradite the brothers to the U.S. because they married and had children in the country, so becoming residents.
He said: 'We believe that they had wives and children.'
So far, no potential relatives in Brazil have reached out to the family.
It is, however, the case that Brazilian law on extradition prevents non-nationals who have Brazilian wives or children from being sent abroad for trial without their consent.