Conclusion of the Investigation
The circumstances of the prison break were still being examined. A body was spotted by a passing boat near the Golden Gate Bridge a month later. The body was said to have been dressed in Alcatraz inmate garb, but when authorities went in search of it, they turned up empty-handed. Over the years, a few additional hints surfaced, but they proved to be quite insignificant. By the end of the year 1979, the FBI had come to the conclusion that the detainees had perished in the cold bay, and on December 31 they formally closed the case.