Cops probe possible sighting of escaped convicts
LINDLEY, N.Y. -- New York State Police are investigating a possible sighting of the two convicted killers who escaped from an upstate New York prison two weeks ago.
State police spokesman Beau Duffy said Saturday that officers got a lead that David Sweat and Richard Matt might be in Allegany County, near the Pennsylvania border.
Two men fitting the description of the inmates were seen a week ago in Steuben County, New York, over 300 miles southwest of the prison in Dannemora, according to a State Police news release posted late Friday. The 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 Pennsylvania.
Investigators conducted interviews in Erwin and Lindley. Surveillance video that was initially deemed inconclusive is being sent to Albany for analysis.
It was not clear why authorities waited a week before divulging the information.
Sweat and Matt used power tools to cut their way out of Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora on June 6. Hundreds of police officers have been looking for them.
State police say they're prepared to keep searching for the "long haul." They say Sweat and Matt could be anywhere but they're focusing their ground search in the heavily wooded region around the prison.
"We're no strangers to lengthy months and yearlong investigations, particularly with the federal outreach that's been so supportive of us," New York State Police Maj. Charles Guess told CBS affiliate WCAX-TV in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Friday night, officials said a corrections officer has been placed on administrative leave as part of the investigation into the men's escape.
The officer was put on leave Friday, and the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said no additional information was available.