The massive manhunt for two escaped killers from Clinton Correctional Facility entered its second day Sunday, with state officials saying the prisoners could be anywhere in New York state, Vermont or Canada.
There have been no confirmed sightings of Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, since it was discovered they were missing Saturday from their cells inside the prison on the northeast corner of the vast 6 million acre Adirondack Park.
"They could be anywhere in the state by this time," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during an afternoon telephone call with reporters later adding, "They could be out of the state."
Cuomo announced the state was offering a $100,000 bounty -- $50,000 for each man -- for any information leading to the capture of Matt and Sweat.
More than 250 corrections and law enforcement officials were working Sunday to find two men who spent days sawing through walls and pipes to crawl through a steam pipe to freedom outside the maximum-security prison's walls. They vanished sometime late Friday or early Saturday.
State Police said they are following up on more than 150 leads, and are paying special attention to the areas of western New York and Broome County, where Matt and Sweat are respectively from. Cuomo said Sunday there were no tips that would lead officials to a "specific conclusion." Officials said the pair could be traveling alone or together and could have received assistance from the outside. Cuomo left open the possibility the two men could have escaped to Vermont or cross the border into Canada.
"There's a wide field of possibility," he said.
Matt and Sweat are the first people to break out of Clinton Correctional since it was built in in 1865 -- the year the Civil War ended.
Matt is serving a 25 year to life sentence for killing and dismembering a former boss in Niagara County in 1997. Sweat is serving a sentence of life without parole for killing a Broome County sheriff's deputy in 2002.
"This is a crisis situation for the state. These are dangerous men. They are capable of committing grave crimes," Cuomo said. "We will not rest until we have these two individuals back in custody."
State Police Troop B Commander Charles E. Guess said Sunday that a grid search is being done that involves local law enforcement officials as well as the state Department of Environmental Conservation, state Forest Rangers, U.S. marshals and the FBI. More than 100 people are assisting on ground searches, and aircraft are being used as well, Guess said.
One of the biggest questions Sunday remained how Matt and Sweat had the time and opportunity to acquire power tools and saw through -- not only their cell walls -- but a brick wall in an abutting tunnel, a steam pipe and then a chain and lock on a manhole in a street outside the prison.
"It was a sophisticated plan," Cuomo said. "It required a period of time no doubt to execute. The period of time could have been days."
Cuomo, who toured the escape route inside the prison Saturday, said the inmates sawed through the solid, steel plate that was a cell wall, before climbing onto a catwalk in the prison's interior. The two's cells were next to each other. Matt and Sweat then crawled down to a tunnel below, broke through a thick wall made of brick before finding the steam pipe that leads out of the prison. On the pipe, the escapees left a Post-It note with a racially tinged smiley face of an Asian caricature that said "Have A Nice Day." The governor said the steam pipe is only 24-inches wide, and the inmates had to crawl for some distance before reaching the manhole cover in the village of Dannemora. The manhole was locked from the inside.
Parts of Clinton Correctional are under renovation, and Cuomo said investigators are looking into whether outside contractors or the contractors' employees had any connection to the escapees. Acting Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Anthony Annucci said that all the prison's own tools have been inventoried and accounted for.
Cuomo urged the public to call police if they see anything suspicious.
Matt is a 6-foot white man who weighs 210 pounds. He has black hair, hazel eyes, a tattoo on his back that says "Mexico Forever," a heart on his chest and left shoulder, and a Marine Corps insignia on his right shoulder.
Sweat is a 5-foot-11 white male, weighing 165 pounds. He has brown hair, green eyes, and tattoos on his left bicep and his right fingers.
Both are considered to be a danger to the public and should not be approached if seen, officials said. The public is asked to call 911 or the State Police immediately at (518) 563-3761.
(c)2015 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)
