The search for two escaped New York prisoners has shifted back to rural upstate New York, where CNN reports their DNA was found on items in a burglarized cabin.
Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 35, were reported near a cabin in the Owls Head-Mountain View area this weekend, according to WKBW television station. That would mean the prisoners only got about 20 miles from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.
Previous search efforts assumed that the Matt and Sweat were hundreds of miles away near the New York border with Pennsylvania.
The prisoners drilled their way to freedom on June 6 with the help of prison tailor Joyce Mitchell, 51, who backed out of being their getaway driver. She is charged with promoting prison contraband and faces up seven years in prison.
The U.S. Marshals have put Matt and Sweat on the most wanted list with a reward of $75,000. Sweat was serving life in prison for murdering a sheriff’s deputy in 2002. Matt was serving 25 years to life for murder.
New York State Police plan to brief the media Monday at Noon in Cadyville, which is just a few miles away from the Clinton Correctional Facility, according to WKBW. The Clinton County District Attorney and Clinton County Sheriff plan to speak alongside state troopers.
Gavin Stern is a national digital producer for the Scripps National Desk.
