Life on the run isn’t easy.
Or is it?
As one brazen fugitive has shown, it is possible to have some fun while avoiding arrest, one
Facebook check-in at a time.
And as another has likely concluded, capture means nothing, as he has escaped on more than
one occasion.
They have crawled through tunnels, hammered through walls, and even walked through open
doors to freedom.
Find out about those around the world who have been sentenced for their crimes but somehow
remain on the loose in this episode of The Infographics Show, Worlds Most Successful
Prison Fugitives Still On The Run.
Nothing spells success to a man on the run quite like an open declaration by police that
they are no longer actively searching for you.
Such is the case of John Patrick Hannan, given the distinction of the world’s most successful
fugitive after surpassing the longest time spent evading capture, attributed to previous
record holder Leonard Fistco of 45 years and 11 months.
Hannan got his start earning this title over 60 years ago by successfully scaling the walls
of Verne Prison in Dorset, England with the use of knotted together bedsheets.
Wanted for car theft and officer assault, he has eluded any consequences for his actions
ever since.
In fact, police stopped their on-going investigation and effectively threw in the towel for his
capture decades ago.
There is reason to believe the now 83-year-old has fled to his native Ireland.
In a last-ditch effort to apprehend him, police once addressed Hannan himself and suggested
he do the right thing and come forward to face accountability.
Unsurprisingly, he decided not to “write in,” as they requested.
John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris, if still alive, have been frustrating law
enforcement for almost just as long.
These three made a prison break from California’s Alcatraz over 50 years ago, in June of 1962.
What makes their escape exceptionally impressive is that the prison was surrounded on all sides
by the frigid waters of the San Francisco Bay.
Not only did they have nerves of steel to take the plunge, but they pulled off an intricate
and well-thought plan that defied all odds in order to make it possible.
First, the men created dummies in their likeness that they placed in their beds.
Then, they journeyed through some holes they had made in their cells, down a corridor,
and to the outside where they collected a raft that they had previously inflated with
a musical instrument.
If they didn’t succumb to the elements and get swept away with the current, they succeeded
where dozens had failed in breaking out of a prison that had earned itself the name of
“the Rock.”
Omid Tahvili falls short of Hannan and the Alcatraz escapees when it comes to time spent
eluding authorities.
However, he can take pride in another statistic.
This is that he has been captured many times.
He has also escaped just as many.
Even upon being locked up in the maximum-security Port Coquitlam prison, he was able to break
free after bribing a security guard.
Dressed as a janitor, mopping the floor as he went, the lure of cold, hard cash bought
Mr. Tahvili his escape from where no one had ever escaped before.
He continues to be sought for his role in organized crime as a Persian gang member within
the otherwise thought of as peaceful country of Canada.
Among other offenses, he has engaged in kidnapping and assault as well as fraudulent activities
that cost elderly US citizens as much as millions of their hard-earned money.
Tahvili may still be in Canada to this day.
He may also have fled the scene of his crimes for Europe or the Middle East.
Fugitive Glen Godwin is yet another man on the run who, like Omid Tahvilli is an adept
escape artist.
Convicted of murder in California, he was determined to avoid his punishment of 26 years
to life.
He initially plotted to break out of the Deuel Vocational Institute and flee, but upon getting
caught, was transferred to Folsom State Prison, renowned for its impenetrable security.
In fact, in the over one hundred years the prison has been open, few have ever succeeded.
Police suspect Godwin had some help in joining these few.
Assistance or not, Godwin managed to sneak through several prison yards and then navigate
1,000 feet of drain to make it to freedom in 1987.
Unfortunately for him, he was back behind bars later that same year, though this time
they were those of a Mexican jail.
His latest offense was trafficking drugs and he was set to carry out his subsequent sentence
in Guadalajara.
Remarkably, Godwin again made a run for it, avoiding this newest sentence.
He even committed further criminal offenses before his escape with the murder of a fellow
inmate a few months prior.
Due to the nature of Godwin’s crimes, he landed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list
in 1996.
$100,000 is on the line for anyone with information that would help lead to his capture.
He has remained at large for more than two decades.
Fellow criminal Rafael Caro Quintero of Mexico, shares the distinction of appearing on the
FBI’s Ten Most-wanted.
A drug lord known as the “prince” of Mexican narcos, officials are offering an astonishing
$20-million for information on his whereabouts.
As money talks, with a reward of this amount, it is impressive he has not yet been caught.
Convicted for drug trafficking and the murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
agent in 1985, U.S. representatives were in shock when after 28 years served of his 40-year
sentence, a judge temporarily freed Quintero on a technicality.
However, before he could be arrested a second time, he had disappeared.
It is believed he was still actively engaged in drug-trafficking while incarcerated and
remains involved today.
Further, he has been named the co-leader of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel once headed by
the now incarcerated Joaquin Guzman.
Authorities hope Quintero will soon share Guzman’s present role as well as his last,
joining him behind bars as an answer for his crimes.
Quintero, likely like many of the others, went off the grid to avoid arrest.
However, one fugitive, namely Shaun Davidson of Australia, has kept in contact both with
police and with his many Facebook followers throughout his time on the run.
The Australian had been incarcerated in Bali before crawling through a tunnel just shy
of 16 inches wide and 40 feet long, fleeing capture with three others.
Somewhat confusingly, he only had six weeks left of the sentence that he earned by using
another individuals’ passport as his own.
However, it seems that his escape has granted him much wanted notoriety that he would not
be receiving otherwise.
In addition to taunting law enforcement with Facebook check-ins and messaging INTERPOL
for his capture updates, Davidson has quite humorously poked fun at his escape.
On his 100th day on the run he plastered his face on a gingerbread cookie with the quote
“You’ll never catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.”
He has also created his own “wanted posters” using his face and the description of “not
sure, but we’re close” for his possible whereabouts.
Due to these antics, Davidson has amassed thousands of followers who like and comment
on his many posts.
One such follower is even believed to have begun a GoFundMe for the fugitive, although
this was shut down with only $65 worth of donations.
Davidson, who though by no means is a fugitive who tops the lists for time spent on the run
or number of escapes made, has made the most of his every minute since climbing through
his man-made tunnel.
Some might even argue he is loving life on the run a little too much.
Despite his use of social media and repeated online presence, he continues to evade authorities;
he remains on the loose as of his June 19, 2017 escape.
Fugitives all around the world have avoided capture for years.
Some have disappeared for decades without so much as a trace.
Others have been caught, but then escaped again.
Rewards of thousands to multiple millions have failed to bring in some, while even the
constant use of technology and social media have not betrayed the location of others.
Each of these criminals has succeed at life on the run.
Do you agree that Patrick Hannan is the most successful of all?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called Why Your Money Isn't Safe In Your Bank
Account!
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See you next time!