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By Root 811 0

were called to the line where they could be easily counted, and Wilson was missing. A hasty search was made but he was not found so a call was put into the control center advising that Wilson was not present. The alarm was sounded on the island and in the matter of a few minutes the Evening Watch Officers and several officers on their day off arrived on the launch. These men were all pressed into service and started searching around the East end of the Island since it was felt that Wilson had gotten through the fence surrounding the end of the dock. Searchers immediately found an area near the bonfire Wilson had been attending where the fence was pried up which would permit him to crawl through and follow the sea-wall around until he was out of eyesight of #1 Tower Officer.

The FBI, plus the San Francisco Police Department, Coast Guard, Fort Mason and Presidio Military Police were immediately notified and our escape plan put into operation. All posts were covered and ten searching parties from two to three men each were sent out to several predetermined areas. The Coast Guard immediately sent two patrol boats which surrounded the island regularly, and the FBI sent a large number of officers to Fort Mason and the Fort Mason Dock, as well as Dock #4 where our launch lands. San Francisco Police covered the waterfront and the piers opposite Alcatraz, and they in turn notified the various Sheriffs and Highway Patrol. By all estimates Wilson had about a ten-minute start before searchers were out on his trail. He certainly did not have much time to secrete himself in that period, but was able to avoid detection until 2:55 A.M. the next morning.

My wife and I arrived at Dock #4 at 5:15 P.M. and quickly saw the activity around the dock and the patrolling by the Coast Guard Boats at Alcatraz. One of our officers notified me immediately that Wilson was missing, and it was the first thought of everyone that he had probably been able to secrete himself on the water barge and might have reached the mainland. Until I had talked to Mr. Jones after arriving on the island, I was convinced he was probably on the barge, however, Mr. Jones was so positive that he had seen him throwing the rubber tire on the fire at approximately 3:40 P.M. that I was convinced then he was hidden somewhere in the island.

Approximately 65 men from all services in the institution were searching the island from about 4:00 P.M. until midnight. The entire island was covered, and from midnight until 2:55 P.M. we had approximately 25 men involved in the search.

Mr. Christopherson, one of our industrial supervisors found Wilson flattened up against a depression in the rock along the beach at 2:55 A.M. and yelled to Mr. Norris who was near him that he had found the escapee. Wilson was very wet as though he had been in the water, but he was not unduly cold, and apparently had not been in this condition for a long period. When I talked to Wilson after his capture, he told me he had hidden himself in a depression in the rock around the east end at least 35 to 40 feet from the beach, and I am inclined to believe that he may have been in this hideout until some short time before he was captured. Upon investigating this and while Mr. Willingham was here, it was found that a person could lay in this crevice and could not be seen either from the beach, the water or from the area above. We had to let an officer down by a rope to get into this hole to determine just what type of area it was. Wilson might have reached this area by climbing an 8” sewer pipe from the beach. He is a strong, rugged fellow and if he was able to climb the pipe he could have gotten into the depression and be completely hidden.

Wilson refused to tell a straight story of his activities while he was in hiding, so it is difficult to believe what he does say, however, it is incredible that we could not find this man in the hours that we searched when we were positive he was in that area, so I am inclined to believe he was able to get into this rocky hideout approximately 40 feet up from the beach