Items Recovered From NY Cabin In Hunt For Escaped Murderers
DANNEMORA, N.Y. (CBSNew york/AP) -- Authorities say they have discovered items in a cabin that may be linked to two convicted murderers who escaped from a maximum-security prison in northern New York more than two weeks ago.
State police Maj. Charles Guess said Monday that the items have been sent to laboratories for DNA and other testing to see if they are linked to David Sweat or Richard Matt. Guess wouldn't identify the items.
"We cannot get into the specifics of the evidence that we have recovered while investigating this particular lead," Guess said.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News that investigators found DNA evidence proving that the two were inside the cabin sometime over the weekend.
As CBS2's Alice Gainer reported, authorities have received over 2,000 leads and are following each one, with the area near the prison remaining the focus of the manhunt.
Guess said the cabin is located near Owls Head, a hamlet located about 20 miles west of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
He 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.
Law enforcement teams started pouring into the area Sunday night after being contacted by the cabin's owner.
Police said that DNA from both men was found inside.
"We have recovered specific items from that cabin. We have forwarded them to the appropriate laboratories and have reached a conclusive determination, but we are not prepared to release that evidence at this time," Major Guess said.
The New York Times reported that a pair of prison issued underwear was also found in the cabin.
State police have asked seasonal camp owners to be on the lookout.
"If you return to your camp and anything is out of place, call 911 immediately," Maj. Guess said.
Sweat and Matt broke out of maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6 and up to 800 law enforcement officers have gone door to door checking houses, wooded areas, campgrounds and summer homes.
Vermont State Police joined the search Sunday but it wasn't immediately known where they were sent.
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.
Possible Sighting Causes Shift In Manhunt For Escaped Killers
Brandy Thompson said she spotted two men who resembled the convicts in her backyard.
"My heart dropped," she said. "I grabbed the dog, I grabbed my cell phone and I went toward the house and dialed 911."
New York State Police said Monday morning that the search for the two escapees in Allegany County had concluded.
Possible Sighting Causes Shift In Manhunt For Escaped Killers
"We will search under every rock, behind every tree and structure until we are confident that that area is secure,'' State Police Maj. Michael J. Cerretto said at a news conference over the weekend.
But the state police later added in a news release that "a primary focus of the search'' is still the area around far northern Dannemora, where the two convicted murderers used power tools to escape.
State police asked residents who live around Friendship to be on alert, warning that the escapees are "very dangerous'' and should not be approached.
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.
Officials said a corrections officer, identified as Gene Palmer, also has been placed on administrative leave as part of the investigation into the men's escape.
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