Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [212]
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 and still not be seen from the parade ground level above.
A press diagram showing the escape path of Floyd Wilson (Note that this photo was taken prior to 1956 and not reflective of the actual landscape during the period of the escape attempt). His attempt for freedom was thwarted when he was found huddled in a small wave-carved cave (described as a small depression in the rock formation) after nearly twelve hours.
We set up lights around midnight that covered the complete east end of the island so far as the banks were concerned, and they were a big help in keeping the area involved covered.
Wilson is now in isolation and the case was brought before the Grand Jury on Wednesday the 25th, which was rather rapid action. Two of our officers, Mr. Christopherson and Mr. Black, who were in charge of the Dock on Monday, were called to testify. I have been unable as yet to determine if they brought forth an indictment, but I don’t think there is much doubt but what they have indicted him.
Wilson had on his person a three-foot length of sash cord and some middleweight wrapping cord, perhaps 25 feet long. No doubt he planned