The Conclusion
The US Marshals turned it over to the FBI, who ran tests on this piece of paper. They dusted for fingerprints, looked for DNA traces, and performed handwriting analysis. What did they think? KPIX, the San Francisco CBS affiliate, published the letter and discussed the investigation. It said that “the FBI’s results were inconclusive.” A security expert clarified what the FBI meant by that – it “means yes, and it means no, so this leaves everything in limbo.”
Different Opinions
If you ask the US Marshals, they will tell you that “it is possible” that the escapees survived. However, a representative called the legitimacy of the letter into question during an interview with The Washington Post. Here is an excerpt from the article: “the Marshals Service has continued to investigate leads and said it will do so until the men are proven deceased, or until they turn 99.” Meanwhile, this was what the FBI said: “For the 17 years we worked on the case, no credible evidence emerged to suggest the men were still alive, either in the U.S. or overseas.”