Reports: DNA of escapees found in burglarized cabin

USA Today – by Matthew Diebel

A surge of activity in the search for escaped New York state killers Richard Matt and David Sweat was ongoing Monday after their DNA reportedly was found in a burglarized cabin.

The attention on the cabin, about 20 miles west of the prison they escaped from, came after a witness saw someone running into the woods on Saturday, WPTZ in Burlington, Vt., reported.. Officers subsequently flooded tiny Owls Head in Franklin County, where a command post was established and police arrived with ATVs, CNN reported.  

At a noontime press conference Monday, a state police spokesman, Major Charles Guess, would neither confirm nor deny the DNA results. He did say, however, that DNA tests had occurred but that “we are not prepared to release that evidence at the current time in order to not jeopardized the investigation.”

According to CNN, NBC News, WABC and other news outlets, officials briefed on the search said a positive DNA match was found from both suspects on food found at the camp.

The developments came as police shifted their attention from an area almost 300 miles away near the Pennsylvania border.

In Franklin County, acting District Attorney Glenn MacNeill told reporters that it was obvious the cabin had been burglarized, but he couldn’t say what was found at the site or if a search warrant was executed.

He urged residents to be “very careful” during the search for the escaped killers, whom authorities described last week as posing a “significant threat to anyone who may come into contact with them.”

“Be inside with the doors locked and very diligent,” MacNeill warned.

During the noon press conference, Major Guess warned residents and camp owners to be vigilant. He also appealed to people with surveillance cameras to check their footage and alert authorities to anything that might be suspicious.

The law-enforcement activity in the area intensified on Sunday. Franklin County resident Amy Pulsifer, manager of the Trailside Bar and Restaurant, told CNN that she was working Sunday evening when things got “crazy insane,” with helicopters swooping overhead and state troopers setting up roadblocks.

One trooper, CNN reported, asked Pulsifer for a map of snowmobile trails in the area, which is near a winter ski resort.

“I’m kind of excited but nervous at the same time,” Pulsifer told the channel. “Now, when it’s in your backyard, it’s kind of crazy,” she said, adding that she planned to go home and lock up with her gun.

Meanwhile, the Vermont State police said Sunday that the New York State Policerequested the assistance of Vermont’s Tactical Support Unit, but it was unclear where they had been sent. Vermont is about 30 miles from the prison.

The two men escaped from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, near the Canadian border, on June 6. Police said the two used power tools to drill through a wall. They then cut into a tunnel that led to a manhole about a block from the prison.

Sweat was serving life without parole after his conviction for the murder of Broome County Sheriff Deputy Kevin Tarsia. Matt was serving 25 years to life after his conviction of murder, kidnapping and robbery. He kidnapped, tortured and killed his former boss, and then dismembered his body.

New York state is offering a reward of $50,000 for information that leads to the capture of either suspect ($100,000 for both), police said. The U.S. Marshals Service has placed Sweat and Matt on its 15 Most Wanted Fugitives List and is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the capture of either suspect, police said.

Prison worker Joyce Mitchell remains in custody on charges she helped Sweat and Matt escape by providing them hacksaw blades, chisels and other tools. She has pleaded not guilty.

Citizens with information about the possible location of Matt and Sweat are asked to call a hotline, 1-800 GIVE-TIP.

Contributing: William Cummings, USA TODAY in McLean, Va.; Mike Donoghue,Burlington Free Press; WGRZ-TV, Kelly Gampel, (Elmira, N.Y.) Star-Gazette

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/22/escaped-killer-manhunt/29095351/