A unsolved 1962 escape from Alcatraz that’s now getting international attention could have Upper Midwest connections. A letter from someone claiming to be one of the inmates who gave authorities the slip, says he spent years on the run in Fargo and Minot, North Dakota — and will reveal his location if he goes to jail for no more than a year and gets cancer treatment. Jolene Babyak, whose father was acting warden during the escape, tells K-F-G-O News she doubts the letter is real. “It was bogus. Short of fingerprints or actual DNA, it’s just another guy writing a letter,” she says.
The 1962 escape is the only successful one in the history of the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. North Dakota U-S Marshal Daniel Orr says the case remains an open investigation.