There were strong rumors about them sending letters to their mother and even a possible photo surfacing in Brazil... who knows? But I agree with you; I also believe they managed to escape.
I believe that the men actually escaped from Alcatraz and made it to the mainland for their success. I Frank Morris was so detailed in planning the prison escape and into the waters of San Fransisco Bay, he would not have simply ended his plan at that point; he would have planned for how they would get to solid land and travel thereafter. I would suspect that there was actually an accomplice who had a motorboat out in the Bay who took them to their freedom. This possibility was not really examined in an adequate way and would not have been all that impossible to have been done. The boat and other things washed up on shore were simply discards of the escape. Once on land, they likely had road transportation to wherever. The police investigation of the escape ran cold after the men made it into the water and the discards were found. Publicly the officials, who wanted to have a reputation of being in control, had to say that the escapees simply died in the water and were swept out to sea.
I would like to believe that they indeed survived the escape and lived as productive members of society
There were strong rumors about them sending letters to their mother and even a possible photo surfacing in Brazil... who knows? But I agree with you; I also believe they managed to escape.
I believe that the men actually escaped from Alcatraz and made it to the mainland for their success. I Frank Morris was so detailed in planning the prison escape and into the waters of San Fransisco Bay, he would not have simply ended his plan at that point; he would have planned for how they would get to solid land and travel thereafter. I would suspect that there was actually an accomplice who had a motorboat out in the Bay who took them to their freedom. This possibility was not really examined in an adequate way and would not have been all that impossible to have been done. The boat and other things washed up on shore were simply discards of the escape. Once on land, they likely had road transportation to wherever. The police investigation of the escape ran cold after the men made it into the water and the discards were found. Publicly the officials, who wanted to have a reputation of being in control, had to say that the escapees simply died in the water and were swept out to sea.
I agree with you. A Mythbuster episode also proves that it is possible to swim back to the coast.
I believe your last sentence was the most plausible outcome.