Police: Escaped N.Y. Inmates Could be Headed to Canada

NY Law Enforcement Look for Richard Matt

Police: Escaped N.Y. Inmates Could be Headed to Canada

Law enforcement personnel enter a barn during a search of properties along Duane Road in Malone, New York as part of an ongoing manhunt for two escaped prisoners on June 26, 2015. The two prisoners David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped the maximum-security prison in Dannemora, New York early on June 6 and have not bee seen since. Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI | License Photo

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y., June 26 (UPI) — The two convicted murderers who escaped from a prison in upstate New York may be heading to Canada, state police said Friday.

In a Friday afternoon news conference, Maj. Charles Guess told reporters “based on what we know at this point, we have a high degree of confidence in our conclusion.”

He said New York State Police have no reason to believe that Richard Matt and David Sweat have actually entered Canada at this point, though.

Police believe Matt and Sweat are moving under cover of dark. They have found items apparently belonging to the men in the towns of Belmont and Malone, N.Y.

“We have drawn definitive conclusions from that,” Guess said.

Sources told the Plattsburgh Press-Republican that DNA from Matt was found at a cabin in Malone, which is about 10 miles south of the Canadian border.

DNA from at least one of the men was found over the weekend at a cabin in Owls Head, N.Y.

The two men, who used tools to escape from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., on June 6, have picked up basic survival supplies to help them on the run. Guess said the terrain in which the men are traveling is difficult and rugged.

“It’s as much a challenge to the inmates as it has been to the law enforcement,” he said.

Police say Matt and Sweat had help in their escape from two prison workers — Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer. Mitchell allegedly hid tools for the men to use in frozen hamburger meat.

She has pleaded not guilty to charges of promoting prison contraband, a felony, and criminal facilitation, a misdemeanor.

Palmer, a guard at the prison, was also arrested on charges of first-degree promoting prison contraband, two counts of tampering with evidence and official misconduct. He is accused of giving the frozen hamburger meat to the men.

He was initially suspended with pay, but his pay has now also been suspended, the Press-Republican reported.

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