Manhunt focuses on prison area; Philly tip discredited

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[h=4]Manhunt focuses on prison area; Philly tip discredited[/h]A massive manhunt for two killers who escaped from a maximum security prison continued in New York State on Thursday, as police investigated a lead involving the pair.

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In a news conference held at Clinton Correctional Facility in New York, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and law enforcement officials outline Richard Matt and David Sweat's plans to flee to Vermont after escaping from prison. VPC


Law enforcement officials check the back of trucks at a checkpoint near the border of Dannemora, N.Y., Wednesday.(Photo: Seth Wenig, AP)


Roads and schools were closed and a manhunt intensified Thursday near a New York state prison as authorities investigated a new lead into the whereabouts of two escaped killers.
Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, remained on the run more than five days after their audacious flight from the Clinton Correctional Facility.
New York State Police closed several miles of Route 374 east of the village of Dannemora — where the prison is located — to West Plattsburgh to investigate a lead involving the fugitives.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia police told USA TODAY that two men picked up by a taxi driver and driven to a train station before dawn Thursday were not Matt and Sweat. The scattered sightings and thin information was best described by New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico.
"I have no information on where they are or what they're doing, to be honest with you," D'Amico said Wednesday.
USA TODAY
Escaped killers may have fled to Vermont campground




USA TODAY
Prison escapees still confound as search intensifies




A few miles east of the prison, authorities warned residents to expect an increased police presence as they combed the area for clues. The Saranac Central School District closed schools Thursday "in order to assist law enforcement personnel with their search efforts, and due to the closure of a number of roads." Officials said they hoped to reopen schools Friday.
Police did not announce details of the new lead. ABC News, citing an official briefed on the search, said bloodhounds picked up a strong scent, suggesting the escapees could be in the area.
CNN said officers has come across a site in the woods where the men may have slept. Food wrappers and other evidence also was found, CNN said.
In Philadelphia, police told USA TODAY the taxi driver did not call police about his concerns until after handling another fare. Police then sought surveillance footage at 30th Street Station or anywhere else that might be helpful. Officer Leeloni Palmiero said a review of footage revealed that the men were not Matt and Sweat.
New York and Vermont beefed up security along their border amid concern that the duo may have intended to lay low in a campground in the Lake Champlain area of Vermont.
Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn said State Police have begun searching camps along the Vermont shoreline, but had turned up no sign of the escapees.

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Nicholas Harris never had a relationship with his biological dad Richard Matt, one of the two inmates who escaped a New York state prison. Harris doesn't know much about the convicted killer, but he's sure of this: "I don't think he's coming here." VPC

In a joint news conference Wednesday, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the two states had formally agreed to coordinate the search effort, including allowing New York troopers to cross into Vermont.
Police said Wednesday that they were investigating more than 500 leads.
D'Amico confirmed that a female prison employee mentioned widely in the media had been questioned about the escape. He said it was "obvious she had befriended the inmates and may have had some sort of role in assisting them."
Joyce Mitchell planned to be the getaway driver for the pair but got cold feet, several news outlets reported. Mitchell helped the inmates because Matt charmed her, NBC News reported, citing officials close to the investigation.
"She thought it was love," one of the officials told NBC.
Armed with cutting tools, possibly including torches, Matt and Sweat broke through walls, crossed a catwalk and cut into a steam pipe before crawling to freedom through a manhole more than a block from the 150-year-old prison.
Matt was serving 25 years to life for kidnapping, dismembering and killing his former boss in 1997. Sweat was serving a life sentence without parole for killing a sheriff's deputy.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara
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