 |
| Photo by: AP |
FRIENDSHIP, N.Y. (AP) — The search for two killers landed Saturday in
New York's southern tier near the Pennsylvania border, about 350 miles from the
prison where they escaped two weeks ago.
New York State Police spokesman Beau Duffy said officers were investigating
a possible sighting of the prisoners in Allegany County near the Pennsylvania
border.
A person spotted two men Saturday near a railroad line that runs along
Route 20 in the town of Friendship, state police said, and police concentrated
the search in the area along the route and Interstate 86.
David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped June 6 from the Clinton
Correctional Facility in Dannemora, near the Canadian border. The two broke out
of the maximum-security prison using power tools and leaving behind dummies
under bedcovers in their adjoining cells.
A door-to-door search involving up to 800 law enforcement officers has
been underway since then, concentrated in a several-mile radius of woods and
fields around the prison in the Adirondacks.
State police moved the search command post from the prison Saturday to
nearby Cadyville and focused attention on the other side of the state. They
advised the public to report any suspicious activity and asked residents who
live in the Friendship area along the New York-Pennsylvania border to be on
alert.
The two men are "very dangerous" and should not be
approached, state police said.
Several roads around Friendship were blocked off and police used
helicopters and search dogs in the hunt. Resident Darryl Ross told The Leader
newspaper he was securing his property.
"I was a little concerned. You have these guys running around. You
don't know where they are," Ross said. "I have a house with a big
cellar and a big garage. I cleared the house. I had firearm protection."
Authorities said Friday that two men fitting the description of Sweat
and Matt had been seen a week ago in Steuben County, east of Allegany County.
Two men were seen walking near a rail yard in Erwin on June 13, and then seen
the next day in Lindley, New York, heading toward the Pennsylvania border.
Investigators conducted interviews in both communities and sent
surveillance video to Albany for further analysis.
Sweat, 35, was serving a life sentence without parole for killing a
sheriff's deputy. Matt, 48, was doing 25 years to life for the 1997 kidnap,
torture and hacksaw dismemberment of his former boss.
Prison worker Joyce Mitchell remained in custody Saturday on charges
she helped the two men escape by providing them hacksaw blades, chisels and
other tools. She has pleaded not guilty.
Officials said a corrections officer also has been placed on
administrative leave as part of the investigation into the men's escape. The
state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said no additional
information was available.
Source: Yahoo News
No comments:
Post a Comment