Nearly two weeks have passed since a pair of inmates escaped from the maximum-security prison here, and in that time, it seems one thing is clear: Progress has been hard to come by.
In a news conference on Friday, officials acknowledged that they had shifted tactics and expectations after spending days — and, according to local accounts, millions of dollars — dispatching hundreds of law enforcement officers to scour the dense woods and property in the area near the Clinton Correctional Facility. Richard W. Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 35, escaped from the prison late on Friday, June 5, or early on Saturday, June 6, emerging from a manhole outside the prison wall.
“We’re geared for the long haul,” Maj. Charles E. Guess of the New York State Police told reporters outside the prison, adding officials were “no strangers to lengthy months- or a year-long investigation.”
“Our plan is to pursue these men relentlessly until they are in our custody,” Major Guess added.
Now, officials said, investigators would focus on searching little-used country roads, railroad tracks and trails — any path that the inmates might have used to flee this remote pocket of the state. Major Guess also asked that hunters and wildlife watchers check images captured by any motion-activated cameras to see if they photographed the men or any clues that might lead to them.
So far, investigators have covered more than 600 miles of trails and railroad beds, as well as more than 200 abandoned or seasonal homes and other structures.
“We have fully transitioned our ground search efforts to searches of potential routes they may have traveled on foot, and focus only on potential avenues of egress,” Major Guess said.
In Dannemora, 168 state troopers will continue to patrol the area. Investigators are also evaluating the flood of tips that have been called in, including some that could lead investigators outside the region, Major Guess said.
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SOURCE: NATE SCHWEBER and RICK ROJAS
The New York Times
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