This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/11/new-york-prison-break-schools-closed-manhunt-continues
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| New York schools and highways shut on sixth day of search for escaped prisoners | New York schools and highways shut on sixth day of search for escaped prisoners |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Authorities closed schools, roads and a stretch of highway in upstate New York on Thursday as hundreds of police searched for two killers who escaped from a maximum security prison six days ago. | Authorities closed schools, roads and a stretch of highway in upstate New York on Thursday as hundreds of police searched for two killers who escaped from a maximum security prison six days ago. |
| Investigators also continued to question dozens of uniformed and civilian employees of the prison, including a woman who worked in the tailor shop of Clinton Correctional Facility and according to police formed some kind of relationship with the inmates who escaped. | |
| Police teams led by bloodhounds intensified their search in the fields and forests near the village of Dannemora, which is in the shadow of the prison walls and remains a primary search zone. They also searched homes and questioned locals as a way of “retracing steps made early in the investigation”, state police major Charles Guess said. | Police teams led by bloodhounds intensified their search in the fields and forests near the village of Dannemora, which is in the shadow of the prison walls and remains a primary search zone. They also searched homes and questioned locals as a way of “retracing steps made early in the investigation”, state police major Charles Guess said. |
| Teams also shut down an eight-mile stretch of highway about 30 miles from the Canadian border, and residents of the sparsely populated area were warned to expect an increased police presence. | Teams also shut down an eight-mile stretch of highway about 30 miles from the Canadian border, and residents of the sparsely populated area were warned to expect an increased police presence. |
| New York police superintendent Joseph D’Amico said police had received more than 500 leads about the possible location of Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, the convicted murderers who clambered through pipes and cut steel walls to break out of the Clinton correctional facility on Saturday night. | |
| Related: New York prison break - how two murderers escaped | Related: New York prison break - how two murderers escaped |
| But D’Amico conceded that tips had so far not resulted in a substantive clues about where Matt and Sweat have gone. “I have no information on where they are or what they’re doing, I’ll be honest with you,” he told reporters on Wednesday afternoon. | But D’Amico conceded that tips had so far not resulted in a substantive clues about where Matt and Sweat have gone. “I have no information on where they are or what they’re doing, I’ll be honest with you,” he told reporters on Wednesday afternoon. |
| The search also expanded into Vermont, as police there joined forces with their New York counterparts to guard the shores of Lake Champlain and scour the densely wooded border region. Helicopters flew overhead as dogs and men trampled through the sometimes swampy terrain, hunting for any trace of the men through thunderstorms and heavy fog. | The search also expanded into Vermont, as police there joined forces with their New York counterparts to guard the shores of Lake Champlain and scour the densely wooded border region. Helicopters flew overhead as dogs and men trampled through the sometimes swampy terrain, hunting for any trace of the men through thunderstorms and heavy fog. |
| On Wednesday dozens of police descended on the town of Willsboro, New York, about 40 miles south of Dannemora and near the lake, based on a tip that two suspicious men had run off a road into the woods in the middle of a rainstorm. | On Wednesday dozens of police descended on the town of Willsboro, New York, about 40 miles south of Dannemora and near the lake, based on a tip that two suspicious men had run off a road into the woods in the middle of a rainstorm. |
| “We have information that suggests that they thought New York was going to be hot,” Vermont governor Peter Shumlin told reporters. He said Matt and Sweat may believe “Vermont would be cooler in terms of law enforcement and that a camp in Vermont might be a better place to be.” | “We have information that suggests that they thought New York was going to be hot,” Vermont governor Peter Shumlin told reporters. He said Matt and Sweat may believe “Vermont would be cooler in terms of law enforcement and that a camp in Vermont might be a better place to be.” |
| I have no information on where they are or what they’re doing, I’ll be honest with you | I have no information on where they are or what they’re doing, I’ll be honest with you |
| More than 450 state and federal investigators, including officers from the FBI, park rangers, local police and marine units, are looking for Matt and Sweat in upstate New York and western Vermont. Customs and border officials in both the US and Canada have said they are in a state of “heightened alert”. | More than 450 state and federal investigators, including officers from the FBI, park rangers, local police and marine units, are looking for Matt and Sweat in upstate New York and western Vermont. Customs and border officials in both the US and Canada have said they are in a state of “heightened alert”. |
| D’Amico acknowledged that one civilian employee, a 51-year-old woman, had been singled out by investigators for what role she might have played in the convicts’ escape. He declined to go into details, but said she “was befriended [by] or befriended the inmates, and may have had some sort of role in assisting them”. | D’Amico acknowledged that one civilian employee, a 51-year-old woman, had been singled out by investigators for what role she might have played in the convicts’ escape. He declined to go into details, but said she “was befriended [by] or befriended the inmates, and may have had some sort of role in assisting them”. |
| On the night of the escape, the woman sought treatment from nearby Alice Hyde Medical Center, a spokesperson for the hospital confirmed. Her son said that she had suffered from a nervous attack that night, but defended her from speculation that she may have abetted the murderers. | On the night of the escape, the woman sought treatment from nearby Alice Hyde Medical Center, a spokesperson for the hospital confirmed. Her son said that she had suffered from a nervous attack that night, but defended her from speculation that she may have abetted the murderers. |
| Matt was serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the kidnapping, murder and dismemberment of a former employer, after having spent a decade in a Mexican prison for a separate murder conviction there. Sweat was serving a life sentence without parole for the murder of a sheriff’s deputy. | Matt was serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the kidnapping, murder and dismemberment of a former employer, after having spent a decade in a Mexican prison for a separate murder conviction there. Sweat was serving a life sentence without parole for the murder of a sheriff’s deputy. |
| Both men resided on the “honor block” of Clinton Correctional, where their record of good behavior in prison was rewarded with extra liberties, such as the right to wear clothing other than their inmate scrubs and the opportunity to work in “shops” as tailors, plumbers or other kinds of workmen. | Both men resided on the “honor block” of Clinton Correctional, where their record of good behavior in prison was rewarded with extra liberties, such as the right to wear clothing other than their inmate scrubs and the opportunity to work in “shops” as tailors, plumbers or other kinds of workmen. |
| One of the central mysteries of the convicts’ elaborate, Hollywood-style escape is the provenance of the power tools they used to drill, saw and smash their way through the prison’s bowels and out into the street above. Matt and Sweat may have filched tools and power cords from civilian contractors working on renovating the 170-year-old prison, for instance, or have had someone smuggle them in. | One of the central mysteries of the convicts’ elaborate, Hollywood-style escape is the provenance of the power tools they used to drill, saw and smash their way through the prison’s bowels and out into the street above. Matt and Sweat may have filched tools and power cords from civilian contractors working on renovating the 170-year-old prison, for instance, or have had someone smuggle them in. |
| Investigators have refused to officially endorse any definitive story about how Matt and Sweat escaped, but unnamed law enforcement sources have told local media that the men acquired the civilian employee’s cellphone and that she may have panicked and failed to carry out a plan to act as getaway driver on the night of escape. | Investigators have refused to officially endorse any definitive story about how Matt and Sweat escaped, but unnamed law enforcement sources have told local media that the men acquired the civilian employee’s cellphone and that she may have panicked and failed to carry out a plan to act as getaway driver on the night of escape. |
| “Everybody has a theory,” James Calnon, the mayor of nearby Plattsburgh, told CNN on Thursday. “We’re not rejecting any theory at this point.” | “Everybody has a theory,” James Calnon, the mayor of nearby Plattsburgh, told CNN on Thursday. “We’re not rejecting any theory at this point.” |
| Similarly, police spokesman Beau Duffy told the Guardian that officers still welcome all tips: “We’re chasing them all down.” | Similarly, police spokesman Beau Duffy told the Guardian that officers still welcome all tips: “We’re chasing them all down.” |
| New York governor Andrew Cuomo has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of both men, and described the men as “desperate” and “dangerous”. | New York governor Andrew Cuomo has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of both men, and described the men as “desperate” and “dangerous”. |
| Prison escapes remain a rarity in the United States, despite an inmate population that surpasses 1.5 million people. Most are relatively mundane “walk-offs” from parole or work programs, and among the few spectacular escapes from high-security prisons, most convicts are captured shortly thereafter. | Prison escapes remain a rarity in the United States, despite an inmate population that surpasses 1.5 million people. Most are relatively mundane “walk-offs” from parole or work programs, and among the few spectacular escapes from high-security prisons, most convicts are captured shortly thereafter. |