Missing shotgun eyed in hunt for escaped convicts
Convicted killers Richard Matt and David Sweat may have obtained a shotgun from one of the cabins in rural New York where it is believed at least one of them was recently spotted, State Police Maj. Charles Guess said in a press conference Wednesday.
While Guess said he can't confirm that the escaped inmates are armed, just about every cabin in "the North Country" has guns inside, he said. It has been widely reported that a shotgun went missing near the search area, but Guess said investigators could not determine conclusively whether or not the escapees had taken it.
Sources told CBS News Monday that evidence at the cabin in far northern New York showed a DNA match to at least one of the escaped inmates.
David Sweat and Richard Matt broke out of the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora on June 6 using power tools and leaving behind dummies under bedcovers in their adjoining cells.
Guess added they still do not know if the convicts are together or have split up, but they are prepared for both.
The area where they are searching for the convicts is rugged and remote and tips of their sighting have come up empty Guess said. Law enforcement officers continued to methodically comb through heavy woods on Wednesday looking for the inmates.
Investigators conducted grid searches in the thick, mosquito-infested forests and also checked railroad beds, said Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill.
He said people were going to seasonal properties looking for signs of intruders. "If they're here, we're going to find them," Mulverhill said. "I really believe it's going to come down to old-fashioned police work and the public."
Authorities began committing heavy resources to the remote woods this week after leads from a hunting camp that was apparently broken into led to "good evidence, DNA data" regarding the inmates, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
About 140 New York state corrections officers were bused approximately 8 miles north of the hamlets to the village of Malone on Wednesday morning. They went door-to-door checking residences in what state police said was part of the expanding search operations.
Cuomo said, "I believe we will get these guys." But the governor also cautioned that they've had a number of leads and the more than 1,000 officers involved in the search have to follow each as though it's the one that's going to bring authorities to the escapees.
New information also reveals how they acquired the tools to escape, reports CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.
Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie told CBS News that prison employee Joyce Mitchell, in custody and accused of helping the inmates break out, smuggled hacksaws and tools though a shipment of frozen hamburger meat.
Wylie also said Gene Palmer, the suspended prison guard who has been questioned by officials over his possible role in the escape, told investigators he did not know about that alleged contraband.