Items found in cabin possibly linked to escaped N.Y. convicts

BELLMONT, N.Y. -- Items recovered from a remote hunting cabin might be linked to a pair of convicted killers who escaped from a nearby prison more than two weeks ago, authorities said Monday as searchers swarmed rugged woods in the hamlet in far northern New York.

State Police Maj. Charles Guess said at a news conference that authorities had "specific items" from the Adirondack cabin some 20 miles west of the prison and sent them to labs for DNA and other testing. He would not elaborate on the items but characterized the latest search effort - one of many over the past 17 days - as a confirmed lead.

Sources told CBS News evidence at the cabin showed a DNA match to at least one of the escaped inmates.

The local newspaper, the Press Republican, published in Plattsburgh, New York, cites sources as saying investigators "have DNA confirmation" that leads them to believe they were in the cabin.

"Boots, bloody socks and toiletries were found at the camp, along with a water jug and jar of peanut butter that had been opened," the Press-Republican said.

The cabin is owned by several corrections officers, the newspaper added.

Guess urged residents and seasonal camp owners to call police if they notice anything out of place or capture footage on trail cameras of any suspicious activity.

Acting Franklin County District Attorney Glenn MacNeill had told WPTZ-TV on Sunday that a hunter had reported seeing a person fleeing from a camp in the area.

Terry Bellinger, owner of nearby Belly's Mountain View Inn, said the hunter told him he saw a man run into the woods as he approached the camp Saturday on an ATV. When the hunter went into the cabin, he noticed two things out of place: a jug of water and an open jar of peanut butter on a table. Bellinger said the hunter went to his restaurant, where he talked to police for several hours.

"He was visibly shaken. He wanted a glass of water," Bellinger said.

Inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped June 6 from the Clinton County Correctional Facility. 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 kidnapping, torture and hacksaw dismemberment of his former boss.

Prison worker Joyce Mitchell remained in custody on charges she helped the two men escape by providing them hacksaw blades, chisels and other tools. She has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say she had talked to the inmates about killing her husband, Lyle, who also works at the prison. Andrew Wylie, Clinton County district attorney, said Joyce Mitchell told authorities that she and Matt discussed having Matt and Sweat go to her house after they escaped to kill Lyle Mitchell.

Monday's search area is about 20 miles east of Mitchell's home in Dickinson Center.

Busloads of officers, search dogs and helicopters began arriving in the Adirondack hamlet of Bellmont late Sunday as a parallel search more than 350 miles away from the prison wrapped up with no sign of the inmates.

The search had been focused over the weekend on two towns in Allegany County along the Pennsylvania state border. An unconfirmed but credible report came in that two men resembling the prisoners had been spotted near a railroad line that runs along a county road.

New York State Police said Monday morning that the search in the towns of Amity and Friendship in western New York had concluded.

Since Sweat and Matt escaped from the prison in Dannemora, more than 800 law enforcement officers have gone door-to-door checking houses, wooded areas, campgrounds and summer homes.

Vermont State Police also have joined the Adirondack-area search.

CBS News has confirmed that a second employee at the Clinton Correctional Facility who may also have been involved in the escape plot has been suspended from his job. The employee, identified as Gene Palmer, was questioned by officials over his possible role. Police vehicles were seen parked outside his home Saturday.

Palmer's lawyer, Andrew Brockway, denied his client's involvement, telling CBS Burlington, Vermont affiliate WCAX-TV, "I can 100 percent confirm that he did not know these two people were planning to break out of the prison. They are master manipulators. They are obviously in prison for life so they have nothing but time to take advantage of innocent people."

Palmer has not been charged.