Vermont and New York law enforcement have joined forces in their efforts to track two convicted murderers who escaped from an upstate New York prison last week.
Gov. Peter Shumlin joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Dannemora, New York, on Wednesday to announce that officials have reason to believe that the inmates considered heading for Vermont upon their escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility.
“This is no time to panic,” Shumlin said. “It’s a time to be sensible.”
The two inmates, Richard Matt and David Sweat, used power tools to break out of the New York facility. Their escape was discovered early Saturday morning.
The two states have formalized their cooperation in the effort to find the escapees, New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said. New York State Police will be authorized to cross into Vermont in pursuit of the prisoners should a tip lead them there.
D’Amico said that there have been more than 500 leads.
Col. Tom L’Esperance of the Vermont State Police outlined the department’s multi-pronged effort to search for the escaped prisoners along state borders and within Vermont, which includes using marine crews to patrol along Lake Champlain. Police will be distributing flyers to private and state campgrounds to raise awareness in Vermont.
“We have information that suggests that they thought New York was going to be hot, Vermont would be cooler in terms of law enforcement and that a camp in Vermont might be a better place to be than New York,” Shumlin said at the press conference.
A news release from the Vermont State Police stated that there have been no sightings of the escaped prisoners in Vermont.
