Authorities are warning people across New York State to be on the lookout – and cautious – because of the ongoing manhunt for two convicted murderers who escaped from prison. The Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, near Plattsburgh, is on lockdown today as an investigation continues.
North Country Public Radio’s Brain Mann tells us police are focused on one of the prison’s civilian employees who had contact with 34-year-old David Sweat and 48-year-old David Matt. And Mann confirms a connection to Central New York.
Mann spoke with WAER's Chris Bolt about the latest in the interview below:
Authorities are describing the escape as highly organized and planned. Mann says officials speculate that when Matt and Sweat cut their way out of their cells, crawled through tunnels, then emerged from a manhole, they may well have had a getaway vehicle waiting. He says police have received about 150 leads, but nothing that puts them on their trail. Any prison break is very rare…Mann adds there hasn’t been an escape from of Dannemora in more than 100 years…and the last one from any New York prison was more than a decade ago.
