The Audacity of Escape: Famous Prison Breaks, Undercover Plans, and the Rise of Helicopter Jailbreaks

From the outside, a prison is supposed to be impenetrable. But throughout history, inmates have used planning, luck, and shocking ingenuity to pull off some of the most daring escapes the world has ever seen. This week, we're diving into the legendary prison breaks, from those involving elaborate disguises and sheep, to the more shocking trend of helicopter escapes. We look at how inmates managed to learn to fly, bypass high-security walls, and why the most unlikely plans sometimes turn out to be the most successful. This episode is a wild look at the human will to be free, and the unexpected ways people try to game the system.

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TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast, a True Crime podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa. Hi, Melissa. Hi, Mandy. How are you? I am doing wonderful. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. And the giant grasshoppers that are the size of a house cat are taking over my yard.

Okay. I haven't seen those knock on everything, including a grasshopper's head because I do not wanna see anything like that around me. Oh. You know those ones I'm talking about though, they're like really creepy, really big. They're like, I don't know, probably four or five inches long and tall, and they're like.

Blacking yellow and red and ew. No, I think, I think you might have like the plague at your house. I don't know what that is. That's possible's. We possible we have just giant, um, lizards are not, they're not giant. They're those clear ones, but then they're like all over my door, [00:01:00] so when I get home, like you're like throwing things.

Yeah. I hate them, but throwing things like near them to like vibrate for them to run off because I can't. You can't open your door, they'll walk right in. You have like a not invited, yeah, you have like a whole fear, like a phobia of creatures that have cold blood and sticky toes. Like I'll never forget the time you saw a tree frog on my pool deck and I thought, I literally thought you were gonna go into orbit.

I will still to this day do that. Um, and the other thing is bats, bats did that to me not too long ago. There was a bat in our big umbrella outside and I like threw myself. In the grass to get away from it. Also, I have you like stop dropping and rolling from I'm, I'm doing everything. I learned that from dare whatever I needed to do as a child.

Um, and then I had that, we had the, um, tree frog or the frog in our house that like hopped over me before crime calm one year. You can't get rid of that trauma even with therapy. You even remember where you were about to go? You're like, before Crime [00:02:00] Con I was up all night trying to pack and then I finally was gonna get to go to sleep for two hours and that happened.

Then I was like, you know what, I'm just sitting up. I'm, I'm not sleeping tonight. So do are you are now that Crime Con's getting closer this year? Are you feeling anxious about Yeah. It's in September. Uh, so I'm trying to think of what horrible. Creatures could be outside just waiting to ruin my life. Um, I don't know.

There would probably be a hurricane. Let's be honest. It's September. Yeah. No, this normally hit for us later in the month, so it's always my birthday week. Yeah. So we should be all right. Well, thankfully, crime Con's Not here in September. No, it's actually in Denver and we will be sharing more about that I feel like soon.

'cause oh my gosh, it comes up, up fast. Yes. You know, we're already approaching, uh, June, so yeah, keep an ear out for that. If you're interested in Crime Con, you may have already heard some other podcast talking about it. I'm super excited about it being in Denver, and I think it's at the Gaylord. Oh, of course.

Uh, the Gaylord Palms. Bring your Coca-Cola products. Yes. Bring your Coke products. Melissa learned the hard way, uh, that they do not sell Coke products. So [00:03:00] no. Yeah, looking very forward to that. We'll have a lot more information about that as well as our code in the do know the, the meantime. Yeah. The code is Moms your head.

The code is mom. There you go. Yeah. So this is just a casual, just us casually announcing it really. 'cause we haven't really mentioned, uh, that we will be at Crime Con. So Yeah, that's probably a problem. Yeah. So if you happen to just be listening on this Thursday. You're the first one to find out that we'll be at Crime Con and you can use our code and, uh, come see us there.

So, yeah, absolutely. So I'm excited to get into this kind of little fun episode that we have for you, uh, today and Melissa. Came up with this brainchild all on her own genius. Mm-hmm. This genius. So I'd say we're gonna be talking about some, uh, prison escapes, which is always a really fun and fascinating topic.

I think one of my favorite ones we ever talked about was the one that ended up being made into like a Netflix show or movie. The The Escape from Dana Maura. Yes. I freaking love that. I've watched the series twice. I love, it's on Netflix. Yes, I love it. It's been a while since I've watched it now, but my husband and I watched it together after, I think we actually covered the story on the podcast.

And at first I [00:04:00] didn't ca it took me a minute to catch on. I was like, wait, I think we have actually covered this real story on the podcast. Yeah. Uh, but yeah, it's very good. So those types of stories are always really fun. I mean, it's not fun when a criminal escapes from jail, but it's always. Interesting to learn how intriguing.

Yes. Like how, how did you get there? How did you outsmart the man to get out of this? This is like, it's super fascinating. Yeah. So we're gonna just share, uh, a couple of those stories for you, uh, this week. So the first one we have for you is. I guess we're gonna call it the jailbreak behind the toilet, which Yeah, it's the current one.

It's the one, they're still like looking for people. It's wild. Which is kind of what like, put it in my head. It's unreal. Yeah. So if you're not caught up on this one, this is kind of a current, uh, current event, but in the early hours of May 16th, 2025, which was just. Five days ago or so. Mm-hmm. The Orleans Paris Justice Center in New Orleans, uh, became the set scene of a dramatic jailbreak, and that was when 10 inmates managed to escape through a hole behind a toilet in their [00:05:00] cell.

And they did this through, of course, a lapse in security when the sole guard on duty just left the area to get some food. And these inmates were like, Hey, there's a hole behind the toilet. Why don't 10 of us just go through it and get out? I mean. The whole thing en enrages me in this story, but go ahead.

Yeah, so these escapees, um, some of them were charged with serious offenses like murder. Yeah. These are not just, um, non-violent criminals. These are actual criminals. And they had meticulously planned this breakout, which you can kind of assume they. Didn't just discover this, you know, one day and decide to do it.

I'm sure they knew about this hole there for a long time. Uh, but they had removed the sink toilet unit and cut through the wall behind it and fled through a loading dock. Then they climbed a fence and they were off. First thing I thought, if you take out the sink toilet, you can't toilet talk to people.

So that's gonna be a problem. Problem for some. [00:06:00] Especially if you're trying to plan like a 10 man escape, how are you even gonna plan that without toilet talk? Yeah. So a funny thing, I don't know if you saw the pictures from this, but there's an arrow that one of the prisoners wrote before they broke out that says Too easy.

LOL spelled TO, but it says Too easy, LOL. I'm like, why? Just get out? Why would you leave a note saying. You guys are idiots. They have to get the last word. True. Yeah. It's probably all they got in there. Yeah. Yeah. So they escaped and this breach of security went completely unnoticed for how long? Melissa, how long do you think it took them to realize there were 10 inmates missing from this prison?

10. It's not even one. I was thinking like an hour, but I know I'm wrong. Yeah. Seven hours. Insane. That's absolutely insane. Uh, that the only reason it was discovered is when a routine headcount was done in that revealed that there was, in fact 10 too few people in the jail. I mean, [00:07:00] ugh, that's just wild.

Like what? Why don't you just guys just go home and come back and check on them, because clearly nobody's watching if it's seven hours. Yeah, it's really insane. And so of course naturally, you know, these initial investigations quickly are pointing to some kind of inside. Job, maybe. Yeah. Something about somebody from the inside had to have helped.

Um, Sterling Williams, a 33-year-old maintenance worker at the facility ended up being arrested and charged with 10 counts of principle to simple escape. And one count of, I don't even know what this word is, malfeasance. Okay. But malfeasance is like doing something wrong against the law on purpose. I have a very wide vocabulary, and I will honestly admit that I have never seen this word in my entire life.

I, it's okay. Actually, I pulled it up. Malfeasance in office. It's any unlawful conduct that is often grounds for a just cause removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. Okay. There's some show that says malfeasance for malfeasance [00:08:00] that says stakes and that's why I even have heard of.

Okay. I knew there had to be, it had to be something. It had to be something in like pop culture read. I know. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Melissa couldn't just be reading. I, I couldn't just be smart. It had to be television. Well, I was trying to make myself feel better. Not, not dis make me feel worse. Not just you. Yes, exactly.

And my expense. Go ahead. Go ahead. Continue. So this. Uh, maintenance worker, uh, Sterling Williams admitted to turning off the water supply to the cell's toilet, and that, of course facilitated the removal of the toilet unit without triggering a flood, which of course would have alerted the staff. We think we, we hope, maybe, maybe five hours later, I don't know who knows how long it would've taken, but he claimed that he acted under duress and alleged that one of the inmates named Antoine Massey threatened to harm him if he did not comply.

So as of now, five of these escapees have been recaptured, and their names were Kendall Miles, Robert Moody, de Kennan, Dennis, Gary [00:09:00] Price, and Corey Boyd. And then there are still five escapees that are at large, and as we said, this is a current ongoing story. So they are currently still at large as of today, the day we're recording this.

Their names are Derek Groves, Antoine Massey, Lenton, van Buren, and Jermaine Donald, as well as Leo Tate. So this incident, of course had, has sparked widespread criticism of the jail security measures and staffing practices. Sheriff Susan Hudson has acknowledged that the facility has had some shortcomings and pledged a thorough review to prevent future breaches like this.

I would certainly hope so. 'cause 10 people escaping from your jail is, that's like is a deal. That's your job. That's like the only one is to keep them in there. Right. I will say my brother works in corrections now. He has for like a year and he's one of those like very, by the book like. It's right or it's wrong and there's no in between, which can be a difficult personality to work with, but he, uh, he is always getting.[00:10:00] 

Not in trouble, but the other guards and stuff don't like him because if it says like do a bed check, he does a bed check. Or if it says they need to go, you know, search into certain things, they're like, Hmm, no. And like he knows some of them are like completely corrupt and are like getting stuff from these people.

So it's not as shocking, I guess, that somebody on the inside could be helping. It just makes me sad that like. There are people that do try to do a good job, but if you have these other people, I'm not saying that this guy, um, wasn't threatened or anything, but in other instances where people have helped people escape, right.

It's like, dude, like just do the right thing. I don't get it. Yeah. But I think there's $20,000 in rewards for each person. I did see a video online of one guy. I don't know. It wasn't him getting captured. It was a lady walking up to him. At a bus stop and he's like asleep just laying on the bus stop and she like is kicking his hand like, Hey, hey.

And then like it ends up being one of these guys. But I'm like, why would you, I would just call police and like [00:11:00] be recording from a distance. Yeah. Why are you like touching him? Why are you approaching? I know that's. Yeah, people, what are you gonna say? Be careful out there. People. Please just don't put yourself in dangerous situations.

I know. I wanted to be like, are you asking him spell too easy? Right? See what he says? Be like, you spell it wrong, you're going to jail. Right? Um, so yeah, that's what's going on. It's obviously very dangerous. So, uh. You know, we'll have everything in our show notes as far as like their pictures. There's one guy with like tattoos on his face.

Like, come on, be They're identifiable. Be right. Can't be. Yeah, you, you, you can find this guy. Okay, so my story is what we're gonna call the cardboard box escape. So I don't know if you can figure out where this is going. So man. It's 2008. We're in Germany. There's a 42-year-old Turkish inmate serving a seven year sentence for drug trafficking.

This guy is working in the prisons stationary workshop. I'm always amazed at all the different workshops, places have. So there is this, uh, documentary actually on Netflix that I saw this week. I, I haven't watched it yet, but I saw that it's there. It's [00:12:00] called Quilting for Healing, and it's this, uh.

Correctional center where these people are quilting, these, uh, inmates are quilting, um, different things for foster children. And, uh, so it's all about like finding community, finding purpose with these various inmates, and that's like their safe space and they, you know, take a lot of pride in doing this for these foster children.

So anyway, all that to say, I just think it's interesting all the different kinds of workshops they have and how good they can really be. This one kind of. Went off the rails. So this guy, he is, uh, working in the stationary workshop, but he's not just folding paper, he's plotting his escape. And so at the end of one of his shifts, he climbs into a large cardboard box meant for outgoing shipments and unbeknownst to the guards, this box that now contained a human is loaded onto a courier truck and it's driven outta the prison.

Oh my goodness. I know. And so once it's outside, once he's [00:13:00] outside, he cuts through the, something in the truck, he's able to leap out and he disappears. And would you like to know what the prism warden said about this? What word he used to describe this incident? Um, the word would be embarrassing. Oh yeah, that's one word.

He acknowledged the lapse in security and authorities suspected he had. Some kind of external assistance because they claimed it was such a coordinated escape. It would be challenging to execute alone, but you just put yourself in a box that you knew somebody came to pick up. I don't, I don't know that you needed outside help on that one.

If you can get through and put on the truck, and so of course a manhunt and sues, but the escapee remained at large for over two weeks. I always find that terrifying when they're like, someone is armed and dangerous and they're. Breaking into people's houses. And if you live at such and such street and you're like, I've seen that street or whatever, and terrified.

So 16 days later [00:14:00] though, authorities recaptured the inmate less than an hour's drive from the prison. He was actually found hiding in a friend's apartment. He was reportedly living under an alias Who has an alias? 16 days in you got a job? I don't think so. Working at the post office. I mean, come on, what are you doing?

Yeah, I mean, I guess you have to start somewhere. You have to figure it out. Right? You know what? What True? That's where they were. Like he had help on the outside coming right on Alias. So following his recapture though, he was transferred to a high security facility and prison protocols were reviewed to prevent similar escapes in the future.

And of course, Mandy, the moral of the story is, you know, it's a low point for prison security when shipping and receiving. Turned into escaping and fleeing. Next time someone says they're thinking outside the box should probably check inside that box. That's wild. Okay, so for the next one, I have a story, uh, from Canada and I will try not to butcher the names of the cities and people in the [00:15:00] story because I'm not French.

So that's what very unfortunate for me, and I have to pronounce. Ro, thanks. Yeah, that's not even French nor is it what I'm actually trying to ask. Okay, continue. Okay, so in 23. In 23, I'm sorry. In 2013, not that year. 23, that would be really something. Um, the San. Detention center. Do you think I nailed that?

Great. I, I mean, we have pronunciation in there. Okay. Yes. And I think you did pretty good. All right. Uh, in Quebec, this was the site of one of the boldest prison escapes that we've ever heard of, and it, it's complete with a lot of crazy things, like a hijacked helicopter and a rope dangling into the yard.

Kind of like something you might see out of an action movie. Literally. That's what I'm picturing. Is Tom Cruise. Yeah. Yes, yes. Mm-hmm. Denzel Washington maybe is part of this somewhere. I don't know. Sure. Why not? Maybe he's flying the plane. Who knows? Exactly. So these two inmates, one of them's name is Benjamin [00:16:00] Benjamin.

Benjamin,

I can't speak. Um, okay. His name is Benjamin Udan. Barbo. Sure. And this other guy named Danny. Danny p. Danny p, they managed to pull off the kind of escape that you would really only see in a movie. Uh, they're outside accomplices. Helped them. These guys did have accomplices for sure. They commandeered a helicopter and they forced the pilot at gunpoint to go ahead and fly over the prison and lower a rope down, which honestly, I'm literally shocked for so many reasons that they were able to even pull this off because generally just what did they think you brought a rope on?

Just be flying in the airspace over a prison like without. Multiple agencies taking notice, right? Right. Like that there's a helicopter flying over this prison, like, what's going on over here? Um, but when you got on there with a rope, did the pilot not think like, Hey guys, what, what are we doing with this?

Why? Why do you just have a rope? Well, they had a gun as well. True. I guess they didn't check anything, [00:17:00] so they probably fine, probably were more concerned about the gun than the rope at that point. Uh, when they're saying, Hey, I want you to fly wherever I tell you. Um, so these two guys, these two escapees climbed aboard via this drop down.

Rope. I guess they really practiced. Maybe they practiced that in the prison yard. You know, it makes me think of when you're in PE class as a kid and they're like, oh, climb the rope all the way. See how, how? Never could. Mm-hmm. I could imagine doing that. Trying to climb up to a helicopter. Fighting for your life.

Yeah. Yeah. Literally fighting for your life, but. They did it all while pri other prisoners and guards from the prison are like watching and of course unable to really do anything. Yeah. 'cause what are you gonna really do while these guys are climbing up the road to this helicopter? So the authorities launched this massive manhunt almost immediately, and one of the men, uh, Benjamin was caught later that same day after crashing a getaway vehicle and then calling the police.

To let them know that he was injured and the other guy, Danny P lasted a little bit longer out on the run. He [00:18:00] was found the next day. He was just holed up by himself in a remote cabin and after a standoff he ended up surrendering without a fight. That's always one of the things that amazes me in some of these escape stories is that it's very clear that they don't think beyond the actual escape plan.

Right. And they don't really have a plan after they get out because like, and if you're gonna try to escape from prison. Like you really need to have a whole solid plan for what you're gonna do when you get outta there. You can't just go hang out in a cabin and wait for the police to come find you. Like, what's the point?

Why'd you even escape? Moms and mysteries does not recommend. We do not endorse, escape sort of from prison. I'm just saying escape in prison or planning on your escape and what to do next. Do not help others either continue. No. No, but it just, it does seem a little, it is like you're pointless. Like it's very shortsighted.

'cause you got to this big thing now, like Right. How do you keep that, like you achieved the main. The hardest part, which was escaping. But like you didn't have a plan for where to go after that. Like that's, I'll go back to the guy with the alias. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe not. So this [00:19:00] escape was very short-lived, but of course the fallout was longer lasting.

Uh, Benjamin at this point was already considered dangerous and had ties to organized crime. And of course this escaping from prison stunt does not help his. Image in any way. In 2018, he was sentenced to life in prison for a string of violent crimes, including orchestrating murders and attempted murders from behind bars.

And Danny p also faced years, uh, tacked onto his sentence that he was already serving. As for the helicopter, it was safely recovered and. I don't know if they ever used it again for fun sightseeing, but maybe they could always take a fun trip over the prison. No, I don't think End, end of end of thought.

Uh, you wouldn't, I would go on a helicopter flight Over a prison. You would or you wouldn't? I would. Oh, never. Never. I'd say fly drone over it. Let me know. I'll. Let me know if there's something worth looking at. Mm-hmm. Yeah, there you go. So the moral of this story, Melissa, is that you can hijack a helicopter, climb a rope, and still end up [00:20:00] hiding in a cabin like a raccoon.

Uh, and it just goes to show that not every prison break really needs a sequel. I love these. I love these jokes. Melissa, don't you? Some are good, some aren't that great. All right, and we have a couple more of these fun little stories to share with you after a quick break to hear a word from this week's sponsors.

So before the break, we talked about a. Daring Rescue, not rescue, daring Escape from Canada. And we even talked a little toilet talk a little bit. Yeah, we're back to toilet talk. Um, and I'd like to bring us back to the restroom because let's just keep with that theme. So, in November of 2015, the Winnebago County Jail in Oshkosh, Wisconsin became the backdrop for one of the most shamelessly bold.

Ultimately unsuccessful escape attempts that we've ever come across. There is an unnamed inmate who was taken to a nearby hospital for a medical appointment. Of course, he's under the watch of a supervising deputy. At some point, he [00:21:00] asked to use the restroom. Now if you feel like that's. You know, a setup for something sketchy.

Of course, you're absolutely right. Uh, while he's in the bathroom, the inmate makes a run for it, and he vanished from the hospital. And what we can only assume would be a very awkward gown. Law enforcement quickly launched a full search operation alerting the public and sweeping the area. But luckily, the man's time on the run didn't last.

Very long. He was actually caught later that same day and without incident. The escape was really over about as quickly as it started. Of course, his name was never publicly released. I assume that's just out of embarrassment on his own part. Um, but of course that's not very uncommon in lower profile cases, especially when there's no injuries or anything.

Just kind of like a bruised ego, I guess, of the jail that he was even able to escape. But it's still a good reminder that even the most mundane hospital visits can turn into full-blown episodes of prison break just with way worse lighting. I, when I worked for an orthopedic, we would [00:22:00] randomly have people come in that were with the Department of Corrections that were arrested, and you had like the officer come in with them and stuff, and it was always such a weird, you were just like, is this the day?

Is this the day you try to escape? Please don't do it. I'll give you whatever you want. Right. Um, very paranoid. For really no reason anyway. I mean. I, I always wonder how often that happens. How often we don't hear about it 'cause they catch somebody right away, you know? Right. I feel like those types of, um, escapes are probably, or at least attempted escapes are the most common.

It's when they're already transporting the prisoner off the property and, right. That would make them for, for whatever reason. I mean, I'm sure medical appointments and stuff like that, but like, I feel like that's. Probably the most common time that prisoners would try to escape, like when they're not even in the prison at that moment.

I, I, 'cause I feel like it, I mean obviously it's not like super easy to escape from a prison, but it's a lot easier to escape from a hospital. You know what, that should be a tagline. Yeah. It's a lot easier to escape from a hospital. Yeah, you're exactly right. Yeah. Okay, so the next story I have is [00:23:00] from 2014, um, in February, a man named Michael David Elliot, who was a convicted murderer who was serving life without parole.

Uh, escaped from the Iona Correctional Facility in Michigan, and he did this by disguising himself in a white kitchen uniform and was able to make his way over to security fences without being detected. Uh, even though this prison had motion sensors and also electrified fences, like electrified barriers, somehow he made it.

Over them both. Were the electric fences not turned on? Uh, you know, I forgot. Electric fences were a thing. I remember when I was younger, people had them on their fences and stuff, just like for their regular property. Remember that? Yeah. Yeah. Why? Why were they around so often? Uh, I, as a kid, I saw them all the time.

Or you would touch it and be like, oh, can't climb this fence. Yeah. What? Mm-hmm. My, um, I actually, one of my. Like, what do you call it? One of my most vivid childhood memories. Mm-hmm. Um, when I was young, I was probably like eight or nine and I [00:24:00] was learning, like, I was taking horseback riding lessons at the time.

Mm-hmm. And I was riding this horse that I really loved. It was this like beautiful, cute little horse. Um, really small, but like perfect for like a kid my age. Right. And my parents were actually thinking about buying me this horse. Like, I had been like learning how to ride on it and like. It was like in Intox.

Yeah, like that we might buy this horse and, um, we ended up not doing it. But the reason was because I had been out training and like the horse, like for some reason wasn't responding to me this day and walked itself straight into an electric fence that was like at the edge of the property and like. Got its nose, like, touched it.

No. Nope, nope, nope. And took off with me on the back of it and was like, bucking and like all this stuff anyways, scared the crap out of me, like as a kid. And I was like, I don't wanna buy this horse, like after that. But that was my experience, like with a, an electric fence, you know? 'cause I mean. Of course I felt bad for the horse, but then I was also scared and like, yeah.

Ever since then I was like, yeah, I am. I know for sure I never want to touch an electric fence. And that's kind of always stuck out in my mind. [00:25:00] Um, and I was like, oh, it makes sense that they would use those for jails and stuff. But then to hear that this guy and this story was able to escape to security fences.

Yeah. Like it makes me think, I'm like, is this like one of those situations like traffic cameras, like they're never turned on. They're just there to make you think they are, but like. It's not actually on What if your horse was just a faker and just, and it never dramatic went off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he was, he was like, I don't want dramatic.

Get off my back. He's like, I don't want your you to buy me. Please don't buy me. Get off of me. Wow. You just really hurt myself. Esteem ruined your childhood. Right. Getting. Yeah. So, okay, so this guy, Michael's escape plan, uh, didn't end at the prison walls though he, once he was out, he continued committing further crimes, like immediately by abducting a woman in a nearby town stealing her Jeep and fleeing the area.

This woman. Who of course was incredibly brave, waited until they stopped at a gas station and then made her move. And while Elliot was outside the [00:26:00] vehicle, she locked herself in a restroom and called the police from there, which ended up leading to her being safely rescued and. I guess eventually the police ended up catching up with this guy, but not until the following day he was in.

He ended up being spotted in another stolen vehicle, a Chevy Monte Carlo in LaPorte County, Indiana. And after a brief brief, police chase the authorities ended up using stop sticks to disable the vehicle, and they were able to apprehend him. He was taken into custody without incident, and of course faced additional charges including motor vehicle theft and resisting law enforcement.

Which wild, like I said, you need a better plan than that if you're escaping prison. So Elliot's Escape prompted a thorough review of the prison security protocols, and despite his brief time on the run, the incident really underscored the importance of constant vigilance and you know, just the unpredictable nature of human behavior, especially when you're dealing with people who are.

Confined in a maximum security facility. Like, and so have nothing [00:27:00] to lose. Exactly. You need to really, and nothing else to really think about a lot of time, like they have a lot of time to think about this stuff and plan it and figure out how they're gonna do it. So, uh, you know, the outfit he wore said Line cook, but the plan screamed Netflix.

True crime doc. Maybe we'll cover it. Good thing his victim outsmarted him. 'cause clearly he wasn't running on a full tank. None of these guys are. No, not at all. Okay. This one was interesting 'cause this was a name that was on the most wanted list and then. Comes off of it, and I didn't know that was possible, but you'll kind of see why in the story this ends up happening.

So in 1969, Jerry Bergevin, who was a Michigan man, was serving time for burglary. He vanished from Camp Waterloo, which was a low security prison facility. And at this time, the camp reportedly had minimal security measures, maybe just a single barbed wire fence or maybe nothing at all. Jerry had been transferred there to participate in a dental technician training program, but he actually never [00:28:00] attended a single class.

Instead, he disappeared without a trace and despite efforts to locate him, including a $25 reward and various leads suggesting he might have been in places like California or Louisiana. Jerry remained elusive. So in 2009, authorities received this tip that he's living in Detroit, but the address actually bled to a burn down and abandoned home.

So I don't know how somebody got that wrong, but over the years, his family, so this is since 1969. Really wanted to know what happened to him, particularly this granddaughter of his Angela Michaels. Uh, she wanted to find answers like, how could my grandfather be missing all these years? We don't know if he's dead.

How can nobody have found him? How did he not reach out? That sort of thing. So after 43 years without any confirmed sightings or contact, the Michigan Department of Corrections officially ended the search for Jerry in 2013, granting him an administrative discharge due to his age and the length of [00:29:00] time had.

Passed. So basically if you can stay hidden long enough, this is like hide and go seek. This is the Ali Ali NT free, you can yelled at and then you know you're out. So if he was alive though, at that time, he would've been 80 years old. And of course this decision meant that if he were ever found, he would not be required to return to prison, which I thought was interesting.

Hmm. Imagine if you just came up and was like. Fail me. Yeah. And you can't do anything. But of course the case of Jerry remains one of the most intriguing prison escapes in Michigan's history. 'cause they don't know if he lived out his days with a new identity, met an untimely and. Terrible end shortly after his escape.

Of course, the truth remains a mystery, which is what makes it so interesting. As of now, there have been no confirmed reports of his whereabouts, making his story a captivating tale of disappearance and unanswered questions. There was, uh, one thing I read about this where one of his daughters said when she was like 11 or so, so.

It was when he was first in jail or had just escaped. [00:30:00] And uh, she said one time somebody came up to me and said, is your name and it was her name and this person wants to talk to you. And she was like, no. And then she found out later the same thing happened to her other sister. So she thinks that there was a chance that her dad came back to talk to her, but she wouldn't do it.

Which that's like so bad for a little kid to feel like, yeah, I could have missed this opportunity, but your dad messed it up, so Right. Not on you. So my next story is kind of funny and well. The photo I just saw was very funny. Um, so in July of 2011, this is in Chetu Mall, Mexico Prison guards noticed that a young woman was acting really nervously while she was, you know, attempting to exit the facility.

The woman was a 19-year-old named Maria Del Mar Aona, and she was struggling to maneuver this really large suitcase that had wheels on it, and it, the suitcase appeared unusually bulky. First of all. Immediately red flag that you have. You're dragging a suitcase [00:31:00] through like a prison facility. Sure.

Because why? What do you have in there? Why do you need that? So she had actually just completed a, here's something you don't hear about, uh, very often. A conjugal visit with her common law husband, especially not a common law husband. Common law. No. You definitely don't hear about conjugate visits with someone you're not legally married to.

Um, his name was. Juan Tiina, and he was serving a 20 year sentence for illegal weapons possessions. Uh, that was from a 2007 conviction. But suspicions of this oversized luggage arose of course, as I said, because why do you even have that here? And the guards decided to inspect the suitcase, of course, because what's inside.

Um, and to their astonishment, they discovered that. There was actually something really crazy inside Melissa. It was a whole full grown man, a whole full grown man scrunched in this thing. I, ugh, it makes me so like hot and sweat. Just thinking isn't the picture I saw just gave me the it, I'm like, Ew, like I, the picture is so attracted to you after I saw you curl up and.[00:32:00] 

Squeeze yourself if you can fit in that tiny suitcase. It's a no for me dog. This is such a no for me. I got the ick just from looking at that photo. Uh, but he, yeah. And there is a photo, uh, he was curled up in the fetal position wearing only his undergarments. You can see his little socks and he's trying to cover his face 'cause he's little socks he's been caught.

Um, so the escape attempt, of course, is immediately thwarted. And I imagine it wasn't too hard to apprehend him 'cause. He probably couldn't have gotten outta that suitcase very fast. He was pretzel in there, he's a chiropractor. After that, he could not straighten himself out. Uh, so he was arrested on the spot.

And charges of course, were then pending against the girlfriend Maria, who was trying to bust him outta jail like this. Um, he was then promptly returned to his cell to continue serving his sentence. Love has made me do some wild things, Melissa, but, um, curling up inside of a suitcase in my underwear and hoping for the best.

Definitely wasn't one of them. Really, I, I can't. Why did I think the story was based on you? Crazy. [00:33:00] Um, yeah, that's, the picture will have it on social media because it is like, you can see the shame in his face, like realizing they're taking pictures of me and I'm in the most vulnerable position I could be, which is.

The worst. A tiny suitcase is the worst in my Underoos and dirty socks. Yeah. And we have a couple more stories like this to share with you after we do one last break to hear a word from this week's sponsors. Okay. So now we are going to talk about a man who I saw several times throughout my little research for this episode.

And this man's name is Richard Lee McNair. I guess if you wanted somebody to help get you out of your, into your locked car or, um, help you break outta handcuffs, anything like that in your life, I don't know why you'd need the handcuff part. This is the guy you would go for, and he's just one of these big names in prison escapes.

He was born in Altus, Oklahoma, and his criminal journey began back in 1987 with a botched burglary in North Dakota. This tragically resulted in the death [00:34:00] of a man named Jerome T, as well as the injury of another man. He was convicted of murder, attempted murder and burglary, so he received two life sentences plus 30 years.

In 1988, his first escape occurred, and this was in North Dakota. While he was handcuffed, he used lip balm to lubricate his wrist and was able to slip free out of his handcuffs. What leading officers on a brief chase before being recaptured. That's genius. Like if you had access to chapstick and that was your, you're like, I can use this to grease up my wrist and get out of these things.

Like honestly, he's always been in there a year and he figured this out. That was. Pretty quick compared to some of these in 1992, so just a few years later, he escapes again this time. It's from the North Dakota State Penitentiary in Bismarck, and he did this by crawling through a ventilation duct with two other inmates.

He actually remained at large for nearly 10 months before being apprehended in [00:35:00] Nebraska. Surely that's the last time he escaped, right Mandy? Surely sure. His most infamous escape was next, though. That was in 2006 from the United States Penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana. He was assigned to repair mail bags.

So instead of really repairing mail bags, well, I guess he did, but he like really repaired one. He constructed an escape pod amongst these mailbags. He completed it with a breathing tube and was actually shipped. Outta the prison. Smart. Yeah. You know, some of these people would put themselves in, in a container and just, and not be able to breathe, right?

Yes. He at least got himself a, a breathing tube. He was shipped outta prison and he cut himself free and then fled. Shortly after this in ball Louisiana, officer Carl Borlin, uh, came in contact with Richard, um, who was jogging near the railroad tracks, and Richard used laces claiming to actually be a hurricane relief worker.

And he convinced the officer that he was actually [00:36:00] not the escapee that they were looking for, and he had never worked to, you know, help repair mailbag so clearly they have the wrong person. So the officer lets him go. Richard's freedom lasted until 2007 when he was captured in Canada after a police chase.

He was extradited to the United States and is currently incarcerated at USP McCreary in Kentucky. If he had a chance he was going to get out of there. So if he's been in this one since 2007, maybe he's out of escapes. Wow. Well, let's hope so. Yeah, I mean, how many ideas can you really have, you know? Okay, so my next story we're gonna call the Great Sheep Escape, which is literally what it is, is literally what it is.

Mm-hmm. So this one happened in Bolivia in February of 2023 at a maximum security prison. Uh, an inmate attempted, a daring escape that left authorities baffled and bemused. So this lovely gentleman named Jose, who was serving a 15 year sentence for murder, [00:37:00] tried to flee the prison by disguising himself as a sheep.

Mm-hmm. Okay, man. Disguising himself as an animal to get out of prison. Interesting. Okay, so he was nicknamed El Aranya, which is means the spider. And uh, he wrapped himself in sheep skin and crawled on all fours across the prison yard, along with the rest of the flock of sheep that we're grazing nearby and just trying to blend in and.

I guess it was cold outside during this time. It was February. Mm-hmm. He was taking advantage of this. He hoped that the conditions outside would actually aid in his camouflage, because really all you're gonna do when you look out the window and it's raining, pouring, and it's like nasty outside and cold and dreary.

Right. And you see. Just another figure among the sheep that looks just like a sheep. Of course, yes. I'm sure it looks exactly like the rest of them. Uh, you're never gonna notice this, right? So he's thinking all these conditions are gonna help him camouflage and distract the guards from, you [00:38:00] know, and he'll be able to get away.

But his absence was quickly noticed and they started searching for him right away. The guards ended up spotting him, attempting to climb one of the outer walls, still wearing his, you know, sheep. Costume, um, which of course, you know, maybe they immediately were like, Hey, I've never seen a sheep climb, climb a wall before.

Yeah. They were like videotaping it for funniest videos. Yeah. Um, so once they realized that it was not in fact a sheep, it was a man in sheep's clothing, a wove in sheep's clothing. Yeah. Uh, he was promptly apprehended and returned to his cell and prison officials since have stated that he will face additional legal and disciplinary actions for this escape attempt.

But of course. This is one of the more unusual escape attempts I've ever heard of, and it's a reminder that you know, the real, real things that people do sometimes can actually be stranger than the things that are made up in stories, because who would've ever. Thought about, I mean, yeah, that one is, we'll have to have photos on social media as [00:39:00] well because I guess when he's leaning down it kind of looks from a distance.

And if you didn't have your glasses on and Yeah. And it was raining, maybe. Yeah. But I would wanna go help that sheep out. 'cause I would think something's clearly wrong with it and Right. Like that one needs, that one needs help. That one needs help for sure. Now this one, I don't know if you remember this, this was from a few years ago, Mandy, and this one creeps me out.

When you see this, uh, disguise, it will creep you out. So in August of 2019, Kino de Silva was a Brazilian gang leader serving a 73 year prison sentence. So not a whole lot to lose. He attempted a daring escape from the prison complex in Rio de Janeiro. Through his plan, which was, of course, everyone say it together, disguise himself as a 19-year-old, as his 19-year-old daughter.

Did you guys not say it with me? Because I thought it was pretty easy. So his daughter's name was Anna Gabrielle, Leonardo de [00:40:00] the Silva, and she was visiting him that day. So he takes this silicone masks, uh, a lar, a long, dark-haired wig. Glasses horrific. Horrific. A pink t-shirt adorned with cartoon donuts, light jeans, and a black bra.

That was like literally what his daughter would wear a 19-year-old girl would wear. His intention though was not only to pretend to be her and wear this terrible mask that's very, very creepy and should be in like a scary movie, um, but to leave her in his cell. His actual daughter walk out the front door undetected.

However, thankfully he was a little nervous and it aroused suspicion amongst the staff. When asked to remove his disguise, it was quickly realized that, oh wait, this isn't a real girl. This is this guy. And the entire incident was captured on video, which later went viral, so you may have seen this. And following this failed escape though, he was transferred to a maximum security unit and placed in solitary [00:41:00] confinement, his daughter in seven.

Other visitors were detained that day on suspicion of aiding the escape attempt. Wow. He did die a few days later after, uh, apparently taking his own life. Um, but what a wild, yeah. I don't know. It's so it was the plan unsettling. It was the plan from there, right. Like the daughter was gonna do, they're gonna figure it out like.

Did she have a mask of him? What was the plan? Right. They're gonna figure it out right away, that they're gonna be like, who are you? Are they freaky Friday? Right. Exactly. Bizarre. They're not gonna be like, bizarre. Oh, we meant to let you out. You go ahead and go get outta here. What are we waiting for?

They're gonna be more of a story on that one. Yeah, of course. Yeah. All right, so we have one more little prison escape story for you. Uh, we'll call this one. Love takes flight, and love does take flight in this. Little story. Uh, so in May of 19 86, 30 2-year-old French woman named Nadine, UR had, this woman has no, uh, aviation experience.

She's not a pilot. She doesn't have any background with any of this kind of thing. [00:42:00] However, she executed a daring plan to free her husband, Michael, from a prison in Paris. Uh, Michael was there serving an 18 year sentence for armed robbery and attempted murder. And of course his wife, Nadine is just desperate.

She misses him. She really just can't think of anything other than reuniting with her dear sweet husband. So she secretly took helicopter. Uh, this is the long game. Okay. This woman played the long guest game I've ever heard. Right? Sure. So she. And also kind of can't fault you 'cause I'm like, at least you would've better yourself in some ways.

Right? She went and took lessons, flying lessons for, to learn how to fly a helicopter. Um, she got, she like uses pseudonym, paid cash to take these helicopter flying lessons. So nobody would be like, Hey lady, why are you randomly learning how to fly a helicopter? Isn't your husband in prison? Isn't your husband in prison?

Right. All that. And then on the morning of May 26th, I guess you've. F felt very comfortable behind, not behind the wheel, behind the, whatever you call it, the joystick of the helicopter. Yes, it's a [00:43:00] joystick.

Um, clearly I'm not a helicopter pilot either. Um, so she rented a helicopter. Flew it over Central Paris, of course, ignoring all air traffic warnings. She hovered above the prison's rooftop where her husband, Michael and another inmate named Pierre Hernandez, uh, had staged this distraction. They were brandishing.

Get this, I love this. Nectarines painted green to resemble grenades, so they're holding literal fruit cuties. They're literally holding cuties painted green. Yeah. To resemble grenades. And, uh, because they were doing this, the guards thought that they were like holding explosives and they thought that this was like a real threat.

So because of that, they didn't want to like move in and intervene in case these guys. Uh, explode their oranges all over the place. Chips, chip and Joanna Gaines never showed me how to decorate my nectarines. Never to resemble grenades. Never. I feel like we were missing [00:44:00] out. Definitely. Uh, so because they were able to create this much of a distraction and this much of a delay, Michael was able to climb aboard this hovering helicopter that his wife was.

Flying over and, uh, Hernandez lost the nerve that he had and ended up surrendering, turning himself into the police. I do find it really wild and crazy that helicopters have come up into prison escape stories. Ah-huh. There's way more too. That's wild. Um, I didn't realize that was such a popular method of.

Busting somebody outta jail. Um, so Nadine, as we said, uh, who was piloting this helicopter, she ended up taking them to a nearby athletic field where they landed and escaped in a car that they had waiting there. And the couple managed to evade capture for several months. They even were able to, uh, retrieve their daughters from under police surveillance.

That's wild. Wild. But their freedom was short-lived in September of 1986 during a bank robbery. Michael was actually shot in the head, but ended up surviving, and both of them ended up [00:45:00] getting arrested. Michael received an additional 16 year sentence, and Nadine was sentenced to two years in prison.

Imagine escaping from prison and being shot in the head months later in a bank robbery. Well, they were robbing the bank. Oh, they were robbing the bank. They, why did I think that they were just there and someone else robbed the bank? I guess I got confused. Nobody sad and lucky. Yeah. Well, you're right. I mean, I guess if you get to escape from, um, jail in a helicopter, you've gotta have something of the opposite amount of luck, right?

Yeah. But no, I think they were actually the ones that were trying to rob the bank, like. That makes sense. Yeah, that makes more sense. Yeah. So after the couple served their sentences, they eventually did get divorced. Michael later got remarried and was released from prison. In 2003, after serving 27 years, he wrote an autobiography titled, love Saved Me From Sinking.

And in this book, he reflected on his experiences and just the transformative power of love, which, Hmm. Mandy, can you hear this?[00:46:00] 

I was relaxed. You sound of you rolling your eyes. Yes, I think I heard it. It was pretty, I was like, it's gonna gimme a headache if I do it a third time. That title is too much. I would be livid if I did all that. What if he's the one that was like, you know what, I don't wanna stay married anymore. And you took helicopter lessons.

I took helicopter lessons for you for this. For this, for, for your plan to be Let's rob a bank. You get shot. We both go to prison. I'm sure our kids got taken away from us and let's just end it wild. No, we're gonna die together. This is going to the end. No, I agree with you. I would definitely be, uh, just, just that irritated.

Yeah. Well those were fun stories of prison breaks and. Helicopter escapes. Lots of helicopter escapes. Way more than you would even believe. But, um, I, that's where we had to put too, and I'm surprised because flying a helicopter, from what I understand is like, like a million times harder than me even flying a plane.

So it's wild to me that they were that. People who aren't even experienced like [00:47:00] pilots are able to even control a helicopter enough to pull something like that off. I have no idea. But they do it more often than you would think. But these were fun. Uh, we will have information about the escaped New Orleans, uh, inmates because that is super scary and hopefully they catch them soon.

Yes. And some other pictures on social media of the disguises, the sheep, and whatever else was interesting enough to post. All right guys. That was our fun little story for this week. We will be back next week. Same time, same place. New story. Have a great week. Bye.