The original three heads that survived the escape — having remained in the cells when the escape was discovered — are now held in climate-controlled conditions. Their deterioration has been significant: the decades of storage, combined with the damp air of Alcatraz’s storage environment (the island remained damp even after the prison closed), have left the objects fragile enough that they were described by one FBI analyst as literally falling apart when handled. Fragments are held together. The faces, in photographs taken over the years, retain only a rough approximation of human features — the paint faded, the papier-mâché settling into a rougher texture than its original appearance.
In 2018, the FBI’s laboratory at Quantico produced three-dimensional replicas of the original heads using 3D scanning and 3D printing technology. The replicas captured the original dimensions and surface features before further deterioration could obscure them. Human hair was provided by FBI lab employees to replace the original barbershop hair that could no longer be stabilized. The replicas were donated to the National Park Service, which administers Alcatraz as a historic site, for display alongside movie props from the 1979 film — which requires noting: visitors who see heads on display at Alcatraz today may be looking at the FBI’s 3D-printed replicas rather than the original objects, or at movie props, not the actual evidence. The distinction matters for understanding the physical history of the escape.
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## June 11, 1962: Lights Out
The evening of June 11 proceeded normally by the standards of the Alcatraz routine.
The last meal of the day had been served. The count had been taken. Inmates had returned to their cells. At 9:30 PM, lights were turned off in the cellblock.