Throughout history, humans—and even animals—have defied captivity in the most extraordinary ways. Whether escaping from ruthless captors, breaking out of high-security prisons, or outsmarting powerful regimes, these daring individuals risked everything for freedom. Some relied on sheer wit and cunning, while others displayed extraordinary physical endurance and bravery.
From a slave couple who disguised themselves to flee oppression to a prisoner who squeezed through a tiny food slot, these 50 astonishing tales of escape will leave you in awe. Each story is a testament to the unbreakable human (and sometimes animal) spirit, proving that no cage, prison, or obstacle is truly escape-proof.
1 Fu Manchu’s Clever Zoo Escape
In the 1960s, an orangutan named Fu Manchu escaped his enclosure at a zoo by picking the lock on a door. Moreover, he repeated this clever feat for several weeks while zoo staff tried every measure yet remained stumped. Eventually, they caught him in the act using a hidden piece of wire.
2. In 1998, someone dragged a 10-year-old girl in Austria into a car and kidnapped her. Subsequently, the case remained unsolved until 2006, when she knocked on a door and declared, “I am Natascha Kampusch.” Notably, she had just escaped from the secret cellar of a local technician who had abused her for eight years.
3. After Amanda Berry disappeared in 2003, a self-proclaimed psychic named Sylvia Browne appeared on television and declared that Berry was dead and “in water.” However, Amanda Berry was found to be alive when she escaped in 2013 from the home of a man who had imprisoned her and two other women for over a decade.
4. In 2002, Erica Pratt experienced abduction and confinement in a basement when she was seven years old. Nevertheless, she escaped her kidnappers in less than 24 hours by gnawing through the duct tape that bound her hands and feet, kicking out a panel on the basement door, punching out a window, and then screaming for help.
5. In 2002, at the age of 15, Kara Robinson suffered kidnapping and assault by serial killer Richard Evonitz for 18 hours. Nevertheless, she manipulated him into feeling at ease and managed to escape. Later, she assisted the police in capturing him because she had memorized key details of her surroundings.
6 Nun Fakes Death to Escape
A 14th-century English nun, bored with her monastic life and driven by carnal desires, faked her own death to escape. Additionally, she colluded with other nuns to create a dummy that they buried in her place. Later, people discovered her living “indecently” in a neighboring town, and authorities remain uncertain if she ever returned to the nunnery.
7. During the Boer War, the Boers ambushed a young Winston Churchill on a South African train, captured him, and sent him to a prison camp. Nevertheless, he escaped and evaded a massive manhunt by hiding in a mine for days. Subsequently, he liberated 180 soldiers from the prison and returned home as a hero.
8. North Korean former soldier Oh Chong Song defected to South Korea in 2017 by crashing his car into the DMZ and evading his pursuers under a shower of bullets from North Korean soldiers.
9. In 2012, Choi Gap-bok, a Korean yoga master, escaped from prison by squeezing through the food slot at the bottom of his cell door. Notably, the slot measured 5.9 inches tall and 17.7 inches wide. Furthermore, he applied skin ointment to his body and slipped out while three guards slept.
10. In 1848, a slave couple escaped to the North by disguising the woman-a light-skinned Black individual-as the man’s owner and the man-with darker skin-as her valet. Since she was illiterate at the time, they placed her arm in a sling to avoid needing a signature and pretended that she was sick. An acquaintance even nearly recognized them once during their travel north.
11 John Paul Scott’s Swimming Escape
John Paul Scott escaped from Alcatraz by swimming all the way to San Francisco, making him the only inmate to achieve this feat. Nevertheless, teenagers discovered him unconscious beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, and authorities promptly recaptured him. Moreover, experts had deemed such an escape impossible because of sharks, cold water, sharp rocks, and the daunting distance.
12. In 1999, a woman named Cynthia Vigil escaped from serial killer David Parker Ray, who had held her captive for three days. Initially, she bided her time until he departed for work, after which she utilized a key his girlfriend had left behind to free herself from her chains. Subsequently, she fought his girlfriend by stabbing her with an ice pick before running away. Consequently, the authorities arrested David.
13. In 1963, Heinz Meixner executed one of the earliest escape attempts to bypass the Berlin Wall. Initially, he removed a convertible’s windshield and deflated its tires as low as possible. Then, he hid his fiancée and her mother, drove up to the boom barrier, sped under it, and escaped into West Berlin.
14. A woman named Jennifer Asbenson survived an encounter with serial killer Andrew Urdiales. Initially, he assaulted her, bound her, and placed her in the trunk of his car. However, she broke free and ran away. Subsequently, he chased her wielding a machete, but she signaled a passing truck and escaped. Notably, Urdiales had eight victims.
15. Typically, escaped mental patients simply return home and resume their everyday activities.
16 Albert Spaggiari’s Audacious Motorcycle Getaway
During his trial, renowned French bank robber Albert Spaggiari presented a fictitious coded document as evidence. While the judge was examining the document, he jumped out of a window, landed safely on a parked car, and escaped on a waiting motorcycle. Ultimately, he vanished without a trace.
17. The Lykov family fled to the Siberian wilderness to escape religious persecution by the Bolsheviks. Moreover, they lived in complete isolation for 40 years, remaining unaware of World War II until people discovered them in 1978.
18. In 1889, a lion escaped from a traveling show in Birmingham and ran into the sewers. When an angry mob formed, Frank Bostock, the owner, secretly led another lion out the back. Later, he returned with the lion in plain view and earned hero status. Remarkably, the escaped lion remained in the sewers.
19. Rudolf Vrba, a Slovak Jewish biochemist, faced deportation to Auschwitz during World War II. In 1944, he and another man planned their escape after noticing that searches for missing prisoners lasted only three days. Consequently, after fleeing, they hid in a hole outside the inner perimeter fence for three days, and on the fourth day, they successfully got away.
20. During the 19th century, Australia’s most famous bushranger, Joseph Bolitho Johns-also known as Moondyne Joe-escaped prison so frequently that authorities built a special high-security facility for him. Interestingly, a confident jailor declared, “If you get out again, I will set you free.” Remarkably, Moondyne Joe managed to escape from this secure prison, and although authorities recaptured him two years later, the jailor honored his promise.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Japanese Monkeys’ Tree Catapult Escape
In 2010, a group of 15 monkeys escaped from a research institute in Japan by using trees to catapult themselves over a 17-foot-high electric fence one by one. Remarkably, they executed their escape with coordinated precision.
22. South Korea trained a secret military unit, known as Unit 684, to assassinate North Korea’s leader. Initially, the government recruited civilians to an island, where harsh training tragically claimed the lives of seven members. Consequently, desperate to escape, the unit revolted in 1971 by killing 18 guards and fleeing to mainland South Korea.
23. Upon imprisonment, American psychologist Timothy Leary received psychological tests designed to place inmates in jobs best suited to them. Interestingly, Leary had designed several of these tests himself and used that knowledge to secure a low-security gardening assignment, from which he eventually escaped.
24. A con artist named Steven Russell escaped from prison by using laxatives to simulate the symptoms of AIDS. Subsequently, he called the prison while posing as a doctor and requested that prisoners volunteer for an experimental treatment. Once he left Texas, he sent death certificates to the prison, falsely stating that he had died.
25. In 2013, a wild male tiger approached a tiger enclosure at an Indian zoo. Attracted by a captive female, the zookeepers allowed him inside through a door in the enclosure. After staying for a month, he escaped by jumping the fence, and he later returned a few weeks afterward.
RE: Fact #7 (Young Churchill’s Heroic Prison Escape ) – Churchill hid during the day and traveled at night, sneaking food and drinking from streams. Starving, he took a gamble and knocked on a coal mine manager’s door. And guess what? The manager was English – John Howard. Churchill said it felt like a miracle, like he’d been rescued from drowning.
That’s seriously lucky!
RE: Fact #18 (Birmingham Lion’s Daring Sewer Hideout ) – It’s awful, people get tiny lion cubs, then when they grow up, they just ditch them. It’s heartbreaking.
Hey, remember: baby lions might seem cute as pets, but they get HUGE.
RE: Fact #12 (Cynthia Vigil’s Bold Escape ) – Cynthia Virgil was one of his victims. David Parker Ray, the Toybox Killer, was a real monster. He turned a trailer into a torture chamber, raping and torturing women there. They never found any bodies—he supposedly tossed them down mineshafts. He’d also drug some women so bad they couldn’t remember anything. His daughter and wife were caught helping him. One woman got away years before, but the cops didn’t believe her, and her husband dumped her because of it.
A woman got away years ago, but the cops didn’t buy her story. Her husband even dumped her, calling her a liar.
Seriously, Stacy? Not buying it. You were totally at some weird music fest, getting high and flirting around.
I’d be devastated if my husband didn’t believe me and then divorced me. That’s crazy! Poor thing.
He’d lock them in a trailer, playing a tape detailing what was coming and what they’d already done to others. That transcript’s online—seriously messed up stuff. The FBI probably made agents listen to it to desensitize them to the horrors of the job.
His girlfriend, who drugged victims, got out of jail without parole.
Seriously, don’t listen to that tape. I learned my lesson the hard way after reading about the toybox killer—it’s seriously messed with me ever since.
RE: Fact #1 (Fu Manchu’s Clever Zoo Escape ) – I heard that putting an orangutan in your enclosure is a good way to test its security. It’s not even the first time I’ve heard of them picking locks – I read about it in The Parrot’s Lament.
Trap something smart enough to get really freaked out and try to bolt.
RE: Fact #17 (Lykov Family’s Isolated Wilderness Escape ) – Reminds me of this article I read about some really isolated Afghan nomads. They had no idea about the American or Russian invasions, or even the Taliban.
RE: Fact #44 (Elan School’s Torturous Escape Environment ) – I bet there are tons of messed-up cults we don’t even know about.
Man, there’s this one case that’s still open, they locked kids in completely dark rooms with no windows… I can’t remember what it was called, it’s driving me crazy! I can’t even search for it because I’ve forgotten the name.
RE: Fact #36 (Mark DeFriest’s Clever Key Escape ) – His stepmother ratted him out to the cops for using his dad’s tools. That’s awful.
That’s messed up. His dad’s tools should’ve gone to his mom unless his dad’s will said otherwise, but the son stole them. The stepmom was awful, and the son was clueless. And seriously, the worst part of this whole thing is that awful judge who keeps sending him back to prison.
RE: Fact #22 (Unit 684’s Deadly Revolt Escape ) – That’s messed up! I’ve never heard of that before.
RE: Fact #27 (Joseph Dekenipp’s Risky Valentine’s Escape ) – Chivalry’s not dead, it’s just serving a long sentence.
RE: Fact #49 (Cincinnati Freedom’s Incredible Fence Escape ) – The Fugitive was pretty loosely based on the real story.
Getting Harrison Ford was a really smart move.
Christopher Walken nailed that blank stare, like a cow, but couldn’t manage a convincing moo—too many syllables! So the studio just scrapped it and rewrote the scene.
RE: Fact #37 (Gordon’s 80-Mile Freedom Escape Journey ) – Seriously, how cruel do you have to be to see someone hurt like that and think they deserve more punishment?
RE: Fact #18 (Birmingham Lion’s Daring Sewer Hideout ) – Captain Arthur Dallas famously bit the dust trying to bag a similar critter in the Nostromo’s vents.
RE: Fact #30 (Kidnapped Filmmakers Outsmart Kim Jong ) – I saw an interview with Trey Parker and Matt Stone – apparently, this was almost a subplot in Team America, but they thought it was too crazy.
Kim Jong-il wasn’t happy with his movies back in the early 70s. Compared to what everyone else was making, his felt really boring and lifeless. He figured his actors and crew just weren’t into it.
RE: Fact #14 (Jennifer Asbenson’s Harrowing Escape ) – I heard a podcast about her, and it was just heartbreaking how no one believed her. So awful.
RE: Fact #35 (Edet Couple’s 24-Year Slave Ordeal ) – Twenty-four years of his life were messed up, and they only have to pay for six? That’s seriously unfair. I wish the government would give him free education, a great place to live, a huge apology – basically, everything to make up for those lost years.
I mean, why should the government get involved? Shouldn’t the slave owners lose everything—all their money and stuff—and give it all to the man so he can go home?
In America, they’d lose everything they own to him in a civil suit, unless they’re super rich.
RE: Fact #41 (Alex Batty’s Off-Grid Abduction Escape ) – He also fibbed about where he started, so the cops couldn’t easily find his mom and grandpa. He was trying to keep them out of trouble. It must be really tough for him.
What got them arrested?
They snatched them because they weren’t the legal guardians.
RE: Fact #5 (Kara Robinson Outsmarts Serial Killer ) – Later, she was in a criminal justice class, and the teacher talked about her case without realizing she was there.
Trading’s full of these compliance talks, right? They always bring up this one guy who messed up a script, accidentally sending a ton of crude futures orders. He practically single-handedly moved the price of crude two bucks in a flash! Crazy thing is, he was sitting right next to me. And every time I hear the story, it gets more and more messed up. The truth? It’s way worse than you’ve ever heard.
That happened to me, too! In college, I took a psych class. Before I bombed it, we had to write about a key childhood memory – a really specific, life-changing one. Only the teacher – I forget if he was a prof or adjunct – was supposed to read it. Then, I took the class again a year later, and he used my story as an example from a past client. He looked right at me when he finished, and I’m pretty sure my face was a total disaster. Crazy, huh?
If they’d had them write an essay about it, she’d be the main source.
Professor: No sources! Her: I *am* the source!
RE: Fact #38 (Captain Knox’s Exotic Herb Discovery ) – Even though they couldn’t leave the kingdom, the crew got pretty good treatment. Young Knox even managed to become a farmer, loan shark, and street vendor.
Want a dime bag?
The very first person ever caught selling weed in the West.
Tough life.
No way! Medieval monks were totally stoned, probably dealing drugs on the side. It’s hard to format this on my phone, but check out a picture of cannabis in an 11th/12th century herbal—they used it for medicine and to get high all across Eurasia.
RE: Fact #49 (Cincinnati Freedom’s Incredible Fence Escape ) – How’d a cow jump a six-foot fence?
This one’s a real high jumper.
This one jumps over a couple of fences.
RE: Fact #10 (Slave Couple’s Clever Disguise Escape ) – What’s the deal with “slinging signatures”?
They put her arm in a sling—said her writing hand was broken. So everyone just let her skip the signatures.
RE: Fact #2 (Natascha Kampusch: Abducted, Then Escaped ) – Her vanishing really messed Austrian society up. I was a kid then, running around with my friends until dark. Then she disappeared – that’s when I first heard about stranger danger, and it was the last time I got in a car with anyone I didn’t know. School was all about not talking to strangers, and my mum kept a super close eye on my sisters. The day Natascha turned up, I was working a 12-hour shift at the airport. Just as I was about to go home, the whole place went quiet. The boss blurted out over the airport radio, “Holy crap, guys, did you hear the news?” The train ride home was crazy. Everyone was staring at each other – like that missing girl, the one everyone knew but no one knew, had somehow connected us all. I called my mum; she was in tears. My sisters too. I didn’t know then that I’d driven past the train station where the kidnapper was about to kill himself a few hours later. What a wild day to end a wild story.
So, she left the vacuum on, zipped out while he was on the phone, and he didn’t even notice! She ran like crazy, flagging down people to call the cops, but they totally blew her off. Then, somehow, when she *is* found, it’s a huge deal? Doesn’t seem right, does it?
It’s not that strange, considering how people are. The bystander effect is a thing, and unless she was seriously hurt or undressed, people might’ve thought she was just drunk, messing around, or something.
Thinking about that national loss of innocence thing… man, it makes me wonder what it’s like to live somewhere so peaceful that a big crime sticks around in people’s memories for ages, instead of being forgotten in a week.
I can’t imagine one crime ever bringing everyone together again. It’s just not gonna happen.
I lived in Vienna a couple of years ago. One of my roommates told me this crazy story – apparently, no one let their kids walk to school for ages afterward. He really remembers it, because it was so unsettling and they never really found out what happened until she got away.
These stories totally changed parenting in Europe and North America—and childhood too. Helicopter parenting’s probably a direct result. Even though kids rarely get abducted, the thought was just too terrifying. Some people pointed out that car accidents are way more likely, and that letting kids roam free is worth the risk to help them grow confident and independent. That’s true, but how could any parent live with themselves if something happened? It’s worse than a car crash, you know? It might not be logical, but who can blame them?
RE: Fact #44 (Elan School’s Torturous Escape Environment ) – I spent nearly two years at that awful school as a kid. It was a nightmare. I’m in my early forties now, and most of the friends I made there are gone. This whole “bounty hunter” thing? Totally real—the school used a service to get kids there. Basically, they’d grab you in the middle of the night and drive you to Poland Springs, Maine. Escaping was almost impossible, and some people who tried were killed. The whole place was insane, the way they treated people. There’s a documentary, “The Last Stop,” I hear it’s pretty accurate.
My ex, a drug user, was sent to one of those tough-love schools for troubled teens by his parents. He’d tell me wild, messed-up stories about it. While we were together, every couple of months he’d hear that another guy from that place had kicked the bucket – usually an overdose. He died himself around a year after we split, probably from drugs. He was only 28, and he went to that school for high school. It’s insane that places like that existed so recently.
Seriously, congrats on making it to 40! That’s huge.
The troubled teen industry’s still hanging in there, sadly.
RE: Fact #25 (Indian Tiger’s Daring Cage Breakout ) – That escaped part? Holy crap, it’s terrifying. Like, “Where’s the giant tiger that’s supposed to be locked up?”
Tigers live around here, so they’re not escaping from anywhere.
People who live near tigers aren’t exactly worried about them going extinct. It’s pants-shittingly terrifying for them.
They forgot to say Tiger totally cleared an 18-foot wall!
A tiger at the SF zoo escaped its enclosure recently because some jerks were throwing stuff at it. The tiger was killed, which is awful, but those teens had it coming.
Yep, they totally would. I was at the zoo once, and the tiger cage was seriously flimsy—twelve feet of iron bars and then another eight feet of that chain-link stuff on top. The tigers were watching us—my kids, my wife, and me—from a distance, super interested. I told the kids they were probably fixing it up, and we got outta there fast.
I read this article about a Viet Cong guy spilling the beans. He said they were totally freaked out by tigers—guys would go pee at night and vanish. It was always super quiet afterward, because tigers don’t advertise their kills.
RE: Fact #31 (Kazimierz Piechowski’s Daring Nazi Escape ) – Authoritarians are weak because they rely on fear to control people.
So, this buddy of mine, right? He strolled into a store one time, decked out in a safety vest and a walkie-talkie. He just sauntered into the back, grabbed a whole pallet of beer, and walked right out. Nobody even batted an eye! He even went back for the trolley to load it into his van.
A couple years back, working hospital security, my boss was a real character – rich guy, didn’t need the job, you could tell. He started managing security, strutting around in a suit, no ID or anything. One day, he waltzes into the unlocked pharmacy, grabs a cartload of meds, and just rolls it off. Someone asked if they were for the sixth floor, he said yeah, and wheeled them to his office. They sat there… for four weeks!
It took them four whole weeks to report the missing stuff to security. Then he had a chat with the pharmacy head about, you know, security, locked doors, paperwork – and not letting random jerks steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs.
Clipboards make you look like you know what you’re doing. Nobody ever argues with someone holding a clipboard.
RE: Fact #35 (Edet Couple’s 24-Year Slave Ordeal ) – Hollywood might want to consider a sequel to 12 Years a Slave; it makes sense.
RE: Fact #36 (Mark DeFriest’s Clever Key Escape ) –
He said that in a 2014 documentary interview.
It’s on Showtime, so if you have Amazon, you can stream it free for seven days with a trial.
Four years without trying to run? They’d have let him go. Thirteen tries though! That first four years sentence was bogus, but seriously, if he hadn’t been so reckless, he’d have been free long ago.
Don’t let injustice win.
In Germany, escaping prison isn’t a crime, so if he didn’t hurt anyone or do anything else wrong, he’d be free after four years. Doesn’t matter how often he tries it. Wanting freedom is totally normal, not a crime. And running from the cops isn’t either – only if you fight back.
Bummer.
RE: Fact #43 (Ronnie Gardner’s Chaotic Visitation Escape ) – Ronnie Lee Gardner was the last guy executed by firing squad in the US. He picked that method before Utah made it illegal, a while back. He was put to death June 18, 2010.
The whole story’s a good read, though. It’s wild, and it led to a new law because of some weird stuff that happened. Gardner even wanted out, figured he could do some good, even though he had some serious mental health issues. He even almost escaped from the courthouse!
RE: Fact #24 (Steven Russell’s Fake AIDS Escape ) – Russell pretended to be a rich guy from Virginia to get a $75,000 loan from a bank in Dallas. When the bank got suspicious and called the cops, he faked a heart attack and ended up in the hospital. Even under guard, he pretended to be an FBI agent and called the hospital himself to get sprung! It’s like something straight out of a cartoon.
Heads up: The Supreme Court said it’s cool for police to discriminate against smart applicants.
And, yeah, they totally do.
Police are idiots.
First, where’d you get that? Second, what’s the deal? Third, what’s the point?
RE: Fact #38 (Captain Knox’s Exotic Herb Discovery ) – The best part: Knox has messed around with this so much himself, there’s nothing to worry about—though maybe a little chuckle.
The coolest part was getting captured by the Kandy king’s army.
Hey Bubblegum, I’m wearing your nightgown! (I’m Princess The King!)
RE: Fact #42 (Joel Kaplan’s Lawful Prison Escape ) – Your flight’s headed to a prison?
Yeah, gotta pick something up.
Right, just checking. Go ahead.
Minor weapons issue, but all good now. We’re fine, thanks. How are you?
RE: Fact #11 (John Paul Scott’s Swimming Escape ) – His past is crazy – stolen stuff, armed robbery, breaking and entering, trying to kill someone, robbing a bank, then he stole machine guns and tried to rob another bank, but a night watchman stopped him. There was a shootout with the sheriff, and even some weird stuff in jail. He even sawed his way out of a hospital room.
He had sex with a man in solitary?
Sounds like it. Right after Christmas.
Top right.
I bet he got processed, told to wait in a holding cell, and thought, “Perfect time to mess with someone!”
He was just messing around where he felt comfortable.
RE: Fact #28 (Germany’s Escape Not a Crime ) – So, in Germany, there’s no specific crime called “escaping prison,” but that doesn’t mean you can just walk out. You’d still be committing other crimes to do it – like vandalism, stealing stuff, bribery, threats, or even assault. You can’t be charged with *trying* to escape, but you *can* be charged with whatever you do to escape.
Even if you somehow got away without committing any other crimes, you’d be brought back to finish your sentence. Plus, you’d be in big trouble with prison rules – losing privileges and good-time credits.
As for resisting arrest, that’s illegal as “obstructing an executory officer.” It means attacking or threatening an officer to stop them from doing their job. But, it has to involve threats or violence; if you just slipped away unnoticed, you’re good.
It all makes sense, really. Wanting to be free is normal, but that doesn’t give you the right to use force to get there.
But in America, they’ll tack on another ten years, even if you just strolled out because the prison doors were unlocked.
RE: Fact #40 (Yoshie Shiratori’s Remarkable Multi-Method Escapes ) – This would be a cool kids’ book, with the guards always failing to stop him from escaping, and him always finding a new way out! It’d be a bit dark, but still awesome.
RE: Fact #39 (Charles Rigoulot’s Bar Bending Escape ) – The guard probably saw him and just let him go, like, “Whatever, dude, you’re cool.”
If I saw a prisoner trying to bend the bars, and they actually started bending them, I’d either do what he said or be so impressed I’d think he should be set free.
The guy got the story backwards. The article just says he escaped and then beat up a Nazi guard—no reason given for his imprisonment. Sounds like more of a serious beatdown than a quick punch, right? Way more interesting!
RE: Fact #20 (Moondyne Joe’s Frequent Prison Escapes ) – Got a pardon for helping improve prisons.
RE: Fact #22 (Unit 684’s Deadly Revolt Escape ) – Thirty-one recruits—mostly lowlifes and jobless kids—spent three brutal years training on Silmido Island. The assassination plan got scrapped in ’71, and they mutinied, leading to a big shootout in Seoul where almost everyone died. The few who lived were executed.
Most of you won’t make it through training. Those who do will try to run. Those who fail will get killed. But the ones left…the whole mission will be called off.
RE: Fact #42 (Joel Kaplan’s Lawful Prison Escape ) – Landing a chopper in a prison? That’s gotta be illegal, right? The article says the Mexican cops thought so – they said it was against the law because he had people help him escape, making him part of the crime.
Getting others involved in a conspiracy is interesting, since they apparently followed the law and didn’t plan on breaking any. That’d be a fun case to try.
RE: Fact #13 (Heinz Meixner’s Berlin Wall Breakout ) – Next thing you know, she was all the way down.
RE: Fact #23 (Timothy Leary’s Clever Escape Plan ) – Ten years for two joints? Seriously? Then they tacked on another ten for an old pot charge. Glad you’re out, man.
It wasn’t the roach, it was his whole preachy thing about transcendence.
Wow, so they jailed him for exercising his free speech rights? That’s messed up!
That whole “war on drugs” thing? A real mess.
RE: Fact #20 (Moondyne Joe’s Frequent Prison Escapes ) – This guy, Moondyne Joe, was in this super secure prison, right? They wouldn’t let him do hard labor outside because, duh, escape risk. So they gave him a ton of rocks to break up in the prison yard. He smashed away until there was this huge pile, taller than his waist! They never cleared the rubble, so it hid his legs from the guards. He’d even tap on the wall with his hammer sometimes, hiding behind the rocks. Then, on March 7th, 1867, he just vanished – he’d dug a hole right through the wall! What a legend.
Seriously, someone thought shipping in rocks for one guy to smash by hand was a good idea.
RE: Fact #40 (Yoshie Shiratori’s Remarkable Multi-Method Escapes ) – So, I really recommend checking out some other sources besides Wikipedia on this guy. Even though the title makes it sound straightforward, he was surprisingly clever about escaping each time.
His first prison break was from a regular prison – he’d been wrongly accused of murder. He figured he had nothing to lose, so he spent weeks studying the guards’ schedule. He found a 15-minute window to pick the locks and get out.
He got caught less than a week later, adding time to his sentence. Then, in his second escape, he was in a different prison, where the guards were brutal and he was in solitary – a tiny cell with smooth walls, no way to climb out the tiny skylight. But he did it anyway.
The third prison was a maximum-security joint way up north, after he killed a farmer. He escaped using miso soup to weaken the tiny window and dislocated his joints to squeeze through.
At his last prison, the guards watched him constantly. So he fooled them by always looking up at the skylight, making them think that’s where he’d go. Instead, he dug a hole with his food bowl and escaped.
There’s a video that goes into way more detail.
He should’ve designed the prisons. It would’ve been a real “catch me if you can” situation.
I need to learn more about him, but, seriously, he killed people. So he’s not exactly a hero.
RE: Fact #21 (Japanese Monkeys’ Tree Catapult Escape ) – But even though they were clever enough to escape, the monkeys weren’t sure what to do next. They just hung around the research center gates, and the scientists easily got them back with some peanuts.
So, what’s next? Ooh, peanuts!
I’ll bet one monkey wanted only bananas.
Remember that awesome feeling when you were a kid, flying high on a swing and then BAM! Your feet hit the ground? These monkeys were all hopping around, complaining about how much their feet hurt. When the scientists came with peanuts, all they wanted was to chill out and soothe their sore feet.
Heywood, cut it out. There’s nothing wrong with Brooksie, he’s just used to being here, that’s all.
Heywood: Yeah, right.
Red: The guy’s been here fifty years. This is his whole world. He’s a big shot in here, smart guy, a librarian. Out there? He’s just some washed-up old con with bad arthritis. Couldn’t even get a library card. Get it?
Floyd: Red, I think you’re full of it.
Red: Believe what you want. These walls are weird. First you hate ’em, then you get used to ’em, and after a while, you can’t live without ’em. That’s what “institutionalized” means.
Jigger: No way I’d ever be like that.
Ernie: Say that after you’ve been locked up as long as Brooks.
Red: Exactly. They give you a life sentence, and that’s what they take—the important part of you, anyway.
RE: Fact #4 (Erica Pratt’s Daring Basement Escape ) – Is this the girl from that Dave Chappelle R. Kelly joke?
Fifteen… what’s that even mean, age-wise?
RE: Fact #15 (Escaped Mental Patients Return Home ) – They’re patients, not serial killers, right?
Haha, yeah, what else were they gonna do? “I’M OFF TO MEXICO!!!”
Remember getting in trouble as a kid? “Run away!” “Where?!” “Europe! Spain! Anywhere, just go!”
RE: Fact #4 (Erica Pratt’s Daring Basement Escape ) – So, she got snatched around 9 Monday night. They took her to this abandoned house in North Philly, pretty far from where she lived. They blindfolded her, tied her up with duct tape, and left her alone in a dark basement.
For hours, she chewed through the tape. Then, she basically felt her way upstairs, but the door was locked.
She kicked out a part of the door, squeezed through the hole, busted a window, and yelled for help. Some kids heard her and got the cops.
Crazy how calm that 7-year-old stayed – what a tough kid!
That girl was way braver than most grown-ups.
RE: Fact #48 (Han Dynasty’s Origin Via Escape ) – That reminds me of a cool story: This guy Chen Sheng, right? He was in the Qin army – those guys were brutal. He was supposed to meet his troops, but got stuck in a downpour and knew he’d be late. So he asks his buddy Wu Guang, “What happens if I’m late?” Wu says, “You die.” Chen asks, “And what if I rebel?” Wu says, “You die.” Chen goes, “Well then…” And boom, he starts a huge rebellion! Thousands died, the whole Qin Dynasty crumbled three years later. The point is, if you’re a total jerk to everyone, bad stuff’s gonna happen. You run out of people to punish, and people who have nothing to lose will fight back.
I’m pretty sure both rebellions were against the same emperor—his rule was brutal.
The Qin Dynasty? Super short-lived! It was just Qin Shi Huang (10 years), Qin Er Shi (three years), and Ziying (46 days as king). After his dad died, Qin Er Shi, along with the prime minister and that powerful eunuch Zhao Gao, wiped out all his brothers and rivals—probably the old emperor’s concubines too.
Both Qin emperors were brutal, but Qin Shi Huang was at least a capable leader who squashed rebellions. Qin Er Shi was clueless and totally reliant on Zhao Gao, who kept things harsh, leading to more rebellions. Qin Er Shi also punished anyone with bad news, so everyone just lied to him. Then, surprise!, his army lost to the rebels, and Zhao Gao killed him and put Ziying in charge. Ziying then killed Zhao Gao and surrendered to Liu Bang, the rebel who started the Han Dynasty.
RE: Fact #17 (Lykov Family’s Isolated Wilderness Escape ) – I always kid around about ditching everything and heading for the hills. Those guys actually did it.
Nah, they didn’t do so well, if I remember right. They were practically starving and, like, lost most of their family.
So, no constant student loan calls and letters? They’re the lucky ones!
RE: Fact #15 (Escaped Mental Patients Return Home ) – Seriously, being stuck there is worse than prison. Picture this: you’re trapped on one floor of a hospital for days, maybe weeks, totally cut off from the outside world. No visitors, no release date – nothing. And the staff? They don’t believe a word you say, they totally mess with your head. It’s a nightmare, I’m telling you.
Team mental hospital vs. team prison – a fight nobody wants to witness, and there’s no way to declare a winner.
I’m glad everyone here’s escaped both. They both sound terrible.
RE: Fact #15 (Escaped Mental Patients Return Home ) –I’ve been voluntarily in the Psych ward of two different hospitals for short stays of like 2 weeks and it’s not bad. You can have visitors and the workers try to come up with things to do. The food wasn’t bad either, although the showers are.
RE: Fact #13 (Heinz Meixner’s Berlin Wall Breakout ) – That’s seriously impressive! I admire people who get creative and pull off something wild.
This museum about the wall has a book detailing escape attempts. They even had a car on display, all fixed up to smuggle someone past the guards. The fuel tank was taken out, so it only went a few hundred meters, but that was far enough.
RE: Fact #15 (Escaped Mental Patients Return Home ) – Dr. Bronner bolted from a mental hospital, then built a successful soap company. He later found a magazine piece about folks unfairly locked up, made tons of copies, and handed them out.
Did you see the crazy stuff written on those bottles? Sounds like someone’s lost their marbles.
Sure, but that peppermint stuff is amazing!
His son locked himself in a cage outside the White House and was making hemp seed oil. Crazy family, but they’re harmless.
RE: Fact #1 (Fu Manchu’s Clever Zoo Escape ) – This article’s about another orangutan who’s a total escape artist! They nicknamed him “Hairy Houdini” – hilarious! He escaped three times. They were baffled until they got rock climbers to figure out how he was climbing the walls!
RE: Fact #2 (Natascha Kampusch: Abducted, Then Escaped ) – Back in the old days in Europe, people’s last names were often based on their jobs, what they did, or even their quirks. For example, the Czech name Přiklopil means “he put a lid on it”.
RE: Fact #26 (Redoine Faid’s Ingenious Grenade Escape ) – Ever feel totally stuck? Remember, you’ve got friends, right? Going it alone would be rough. But if some dude can paint amazing grenade nectarines while his wife rescues him from jail by helicopter, anything’s possible.
Teamwork makes the dream work. Otherwise, you’re on your own to escape prison.
RE: Fact #29 (Peter Kropotkin’s Restaurant Escape Ruse ) – Funny, huh? They figured Kropotkin wouldn’t fit in at that posh place, even though his family was loaded.
RE: Fact #17 (Lykov Family’s Isolated Wilderness Escape ) – The sisters spoke in a way that was really strange, because they’d lived so isolated.
They only started hunting when the youngest son, who was born in the wild, grew up. Dmitry was super tough – he could hunt barefoot in freezing winter, sometimes sleeping outside for days in the cold, carrying a young elk!
Dmitry built their stove and all their birch-bark containers. He also spent ages carefully shaping every single log they cut down.
Their mom starved to death, putting her kids first.
Sadly, after meeting the outside world, three of the four kids died. Two died of kidney problems, probably from their diet. Dmitry died of pneumonia, maybe from catching something from new people.
The last sister stayed in the wild even after everyone else passed away. She was in her 70s when the story was written.
I get why she didn’t want to stick around and returned – it’s home, even if it’s rough.
And Dmitry? Total Winter Soldier.
I watched a documentary about her – can’t remember the name, though. It’s a Vice doc, actually, someone mentioned it in the comments on factrepublic. She was super religious because of her upbringing, and worked all day long, doing everything herself. The film crew got on her nerves, but she was kind of endearing, even though she was grumpy and said she didn’t have time for people.
She’s really into this weird religion, so it’s not a shock she stuck around. People bring her stuff, like flour, but she thinks barcodes are evil, so they have to get rid of them before she’ll take anything.
I think Agafia Lykov’s still around.
Lykova’s a woman’s name; Slavic names change the ending for women.
RE: Fact #25 (Indian Tiger’s Daring Cage Breakout ) – Pussy can make you do stupid sh*t
RE: Fact #41 (Alex Batty’s Off-Grid Abduction Escape ) – They ended up at a hippie commune. His grandpa said it was a small religious group, about ten people, into meditation and reincarnation stuff. They were pretty self-sufficient – grew their own food, used solar panels they lugged around, and did odd jobs for cash.
He said his first few years were like a vacation – reading, drawing, hanging out at the beach. But around 14, things changed. He had to work construction for his keep. After a bit, he decided England was where he wanted to be. So he wrote his mom a goodbye note – told her he loved her and appreciated everything. Then, one rainy, dark night, he grabbed a jacket, his skateboard, some cash, and took off.
I get it, you’ve been there ages. Why not wait a week till the weather clears up?
Or maybe he just felt he *had* to go then and there.
RE: Fact #25 (Indian Tiger’s Daring Cage Breakout ) – Is this like, a wild animal version of a conjugal visit?
RE: Fact #14 (Jennifer Asbenson’s Harrowing Escape ) – One September night in ’92, 19-year-old Jennifer Asbenson was freaking out – she’d missed her bus and was worried about losing her job at a children’s home. A guy in a light-colored car offered her a ride, and she was kinda hesitant, but she took it. She figured she could handle him if anything weird happened. He drove her to work, then asked her out for breakfast the next day, but she wasn’t interested, so she gave him a fake number. When she finished her shift, he was waiting and gave her a ride home. She didn’t feel scared because nothing bad had happened the night before – big mistake. Turns out, it was Andrew Urdiales, a serial killer who’d already murdered four women. A few blocks away, he lost it over the fake number, slammed her head against the dashboard, and drove her to the desert to try and assault her. She fought back and ran, but he caught her, threw her in the trunk, and drove off. She managed to escape, and he chased her with a machete! She flagged down a truck, and the guys inside got her to safety. Urdiales went on to kill several more women before he confessed. Jennifer wrote a book about it, *The Girl in the Treehouse*. She’s incredibly grateful to be alive.
Wow, she really attracts Marines, huh?
She got off work, and this guy was waiting for her in his car, offering a ride. That’s a bit creepy, right?
RE: Fact #49 (Cincinnati Freedom’s Incredible Fence Escape ) – So, she ended up at a sanctuary in New York, huh? “Farm upstate”? Anyone who’s ever had a dog knows the drill.
The mayor totally ate her way to power.
The mayor says he’s getting stronger after eating a cow—what a feat!
RE: Fact #30 (Kidnapped Filmmakers Outsmart Kim Jong ) – I saw this crazy documentary on Netflix a few years back, *The Lovers and The Despot*, about this whole thing. Might still be up. It’s so unbelievable, you almost laugh, then you remember it’s actually real and it’s terrifying.
RE: Fact #10 (Slave Couple’s Clever Disguise Escape ) – She couldn’t read.
I recall this one tale—a woman sitting in a park, convinced she spotted slave catchers. She snatched up a newspaper for cover, terrified the whole time she was holding it wrong.
Bigger writing’s usually at the top, right? She probably just picked it up the right way because she’s seen others do it.
No pics?
Back then, newspapers didn’t have pictures. The tech to print photos cheaply for daily papers just wasn’t around yet.
RE: Fact #28 (Germany’s Escape Not a Crime ) – It’s the same in the Netherlands. Doesn’t mean there’s no limit to trying to escape, though. Helping someone break out on purpose is against the law, for instance. And you can’t commit other crimes while escaping, like smashing a window or attacking a guard.
If you get caught escaping, you’ll go back to jail. But if you manage to escape without committing any other crimes, you won’t get extra time added to your sentence.
Sounds good to me.
RE: Fact #32 (Ronald McIntosh’s Thrilling Helicopter Escape ) – She said her guy was totally gonna bail her out. Everyone was like, “Yeah, right.” Ten days later? “Told ya so!”
Did everyone else give her space to board the helicopter?
RE: Fact #12 (Cynthia Vigil’s Bold Escape ) – Last Podcast on the Left and Timesuck did a show on this case—it’s seriously messed up. One big mystery is whether this guy sold videos he made. Building that “toybox” cost about $100,000, and nobody knows how David Parker Ray could afford it.
His daughter reported him to the police for selling girls, but they didn’t find anything and let him go.
RE: Fact #47 (Kim Philby’s Double Agent Defection ) – When Philby got to Moscow, he found out he wasn’t a KGB colonel like he thought. He only made 500 rubles a month, and his family couldn’t move in right away. It took ten years before he even went to KGB headquarters, and he didn’t get much to do. He was basically under house arrest, watched all the time, and the KGB checked everyone who came to see him. His main contact, Mikhail Lyubimov, said it was for his protection, but later said the KGB was really scared Philby would go back to London.
RE: Fact #5 (Kara Robinson Outsmarts Serial Killer ) – Something similar happened to Lisa McVey Noland when she was seventeen. She was kidnapped and raped, but she managed to talk her captor into letting her go.
Before all that, she’d been abused by her grandmother’s boyfriend, and afterward, people didn’t believe her story.
So, this is what I was thinking – I wasn’t sure if it was the same girl or not. I remember seeing a Lifetime movie about it.
Then I looked it up, and the actress who played Lisa McVey in that movie, Katie Douglas, also played Kara Robinson in the 2023 film about that other case. Crazy, huh? Maybe the casting director for the second movie noticed the similarities between the cases and decided to cast her after watching the first one.
That’s weird.
It would be awful to be stuck playing only rape victims.
RE: Fact #47 (Kim Philby’s Double Agent Defection ) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was kinda based on him and the rest of the Cambridge Five.
RE: Fact #9 (Choi Gap-bok’s Daring Cell Escape ) – Seriously, the craziest thing about this whole thing is that people saw a huge hole—like, almost 6 by 18 inches!—in a cell door and figured it was perfectly safe. It’s not exactly walk-through sized, but it’s hardly microscopic, haha.
RE: Fact #42 (Joel Kaplan’s Lawful Prison Escape ) – Prison breaks in Mexico aren’t a crime unless someone gets hurt.
RE: Fact #6 (Nun Fakes Death to Escape ) – She didn’t go back to the convent.
RE: Fact #46 (Rey’s 439-Mile Freedom Bicycle Escape ) – A live-action Curious George movie, but with Nazis? That’d be awesome.
Hollywood would totally make it into a Furious George movie.
Curious George is back, and he’s PISSED! Starring The Rock!
George, the furious one
I’d really love a montage with “Who’s to Say” playing.
RE: Fact #1 (Fu Manchu’s Clever Zoo Escape ) – Hey everyone, Lockpicking Orangutan here! Today’s challenge: a Schlage single-tumbler deadbolt. Let’s see if I can pick it with this little wire I found in the grass.
One, then two. That’s it.
I could still hear him in my head.
Based on just seeing his hands, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was an orangutan.
One click, then two to bind it, then three—boom, open cage! Let’s try that again just to be sure.
RE: Fact #33 (El Chapo’s Laundry Basket Escape ) – He coulda just used a rock hammer to dig a tunnel out of prison and stashed it behind a poster. Thinking of pitching it to Hollywood.
RE: Fact #19 (Rudolf Vrba’s Courageous Auschwitz Breakout ) – On Friday, April 7th, 1944 – the day before Passover – at 2 PM, dressed in suits, overcoats, and boots, these guys snuck into a hidden space they’d built in a woodpile between the fences at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Following Dmitri Volkov’s advice, they doused the area with gas-soaked Russian tobacco. Bolek and Adamek, both Polish prisoners, covered it all back up.
Later that night, the Birkenau commander found out two Jews were missing. The next day, the Gestapo sent out descriptions to various authorities. They stayed put for three nights and a day, soaked and muffling coughs with flannel strips. They spent, as one of them wrote, nearly eighty hours hiding there. On Sunday morning, Adamek let everyone know they were okay. Finally, on the evening of April 10th, they crawled out, feeling pretty rough. They slowly headed south toward Slovakia, following a map, walking about 130 kilometers alongside the Soła river.
RE: Fact #32 (Ronald McIntosh’s Thrilling Helicopter Escape ) – Seriously, Pascal Payet, that convicted killer, used helicopters to escape prison three times – 2001, 2003, and 2007! That was the most unbelievable fact I saw.
Hey team, heads up from the top brass: Looks like folks are trying to escape using helicopters. Keep an eye out for that, alright? Stay safe.
If a helicopter lands in your yard sometime, maybe take a peek—it could be a getaway. Don’t worry, you don’t have to check every single one, but keep an eye out for the next few weeks.
RE: Fact #16 (Albert Spaggiari’s Audacious Motorcycle Getaway ) – If that failed, he had a pocketful of sand ready to throw.
RE: Fact #11 (John Paul Scott’s Swimming Escape ) – He almost got away with it, but then those pesky kids ruined it.
RE: Fact #29 (Peter Kropotkin’s Restaurant Escape Ruse ) – Getting free bread and butter.
That place was fancy; they even had bread *and* roses!
RE: Fact #38 (Captain Knox’s Exotic Herb Discovery ) – Wow, so much cool stuff here! Knox wrote a book about his time in Ceylon during his travels, published in 1681. It was a huge hit back then, making him famous worldwide and even inspiring Robinson Crusoe! He also became friends with a big shot scientist, Robert Hooke.
RE: Fact #33 (El Chapo’s Laundry Basket Escape ) – Buying the prison and making it his home would’ve been smarter, huh?
RE: Fact #23 (Timothy Leary’s Clever Escape Plan ) – Twenty years for two roaches? Seriously? Screw Nixon.
No way, he didn’t get 20 years for just two roaches. That was just the reason they used; Nixon really wanted him locked up because he saw him as a threat to the war on drugs.
He got busted so often in the 60s and 70s, he did time in like 36 different jails. Nixon loved throwing people in jail who didn’t agree with him—he even called Leary “the most dangerous man in America.”
RE: Fact #13 (Heinz Meixner’s Berlin Wall Breakout ) – Imagine limbo, but with a car, and it’s the Berlin Wall.
Heinz was speedy and zipped right under that boom arm! The guards were totally shocked—that tiny car didn’t even slow down!
RE: Fact #29 (Peter Kropotkin’s Restaurant Escape Ruse ) – He was a big-time anarchist philosopher, but also a total expert on a bunch of stuff—economics, history, sociology, the whole deal. His book, *Mutual Aid*, makes a killer argument that cooperation, between and within species, is at least as important as competition. He even points out Darwin himself wrote about cooperation, but social Darwinists and capitalists just latched onto the competition part to excuse their wealth, racism, and basically ignoring the poor—all under the guise of a “natural hierarchy”.
RE: Fact #44 (Elan School’s Torturous Escape Environment ) – This online comic about Elan School is awesome – it’s a firsthand account, so you should totally check it out.
I mentioned it in my comment. It’s the first comic I ever read, and it’s one I’ll never forget.
RE: Fact #39 (Charles Rigoulot’s Bar Bending Escape ) – It would’ve been weird if he *hadn’t* let the other prisoners escape.
RE: Fact #34 (Ken Allen’s Gentle Zoo Escapes ) – Orangutans are really clever. Researchers working near them have to be careful not to let the orangutans figure out how the machines work, or they’ll end up stealing their boats!
RE: Fact #34 (Ken Allen’s Gentle Zoo Escapes ) – These animals are seriously smart; it’s mind-blowing. I saw an orangutan at the Memphis zoo trying to get people to give him food – he was super clear about what he wanted, even though there were tons of signs saying not to feed him. When he tried it with me, I just pointed at the sign and shook my head. He totally ignored me and went straight for someone else. I’m not sure if he actually understood the sign, but still, it was wild.
Maybe he got that I meant “no” by shaking my head.
Wow, that’s clever! I bet a lot of people have tried that, haha.
RE: Fact #2 (Natascha Kampusch: Abducted, Then Escaped ) – We Austrians are a bit…secretive, I guess. Josef Fritzl was a nightmare, and who knows how many others are hidden away?
Remember that second Austrian basement kid case a few years back? People were cracking jokes about the UN raiding every basement in Austria.
Back in Slovenia, we had this running joke: What’s the difference between Slovenians and Austrians? Slovenians have wine in their cellars.
Austria should really get a handle on basement safety.
RE: Fact #50 (Clauvino’s Failed Daughter Disguise Escape) – The guards saw right through him; he was practically vibrating with nerves as he went for the exit.
Was it the mask, though? He looked like Leatherface in that thing.
Busted! What tipped you off?
…I uh… *wildly gestures at his face*
Imagine if his daughter looked like Leatherface? That would’ve been perfect.