The massive manhunt for prison escapees Richard Matt and David Sweat intensified Friday in the area around Plattsburgh, New York.
Approximately 800 members of law enforcement spent the day scouring a heavily wooded area along State Route 374, New York State Police said. They were aided in their ground search by helicopters.
"We have a message for David Sweat and Richard Matt: 'We're coming for you, and we will not stop until you are caught,'" Maj. Charles Guess of the New York State Police said Friday.
Matt and Sweat have been described as extremely dangerous. They're both convicted murderers. Matt dismembered a former boss and Sweat shot a sheriff's deputy.
New York State Police said there is no conclusive evidence the pair got too far beyond the prison in Dannemora after their suspected getaway driver failed to show last Saturday.
That alleged assistant, prison worker Joyce Mitchell, was arrested Friday and accused of providing unspecified contraband to the prisoners and aiding in their escape, Maj. Guess announced.
The intense search even included checks of the same sewer line the killers crawled after carving through prison walls with smuggled power tools.
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All week, residents have been urged to report anything that seems out of place.
"You keep your hopes up thinking they'll have them, and then not so much," said Clinton County resident Jason Desso. "Then they try another spot. I was hoping the heat-sensors we heard they were using would find them."
"I just want to get them caught; get it over with," said Dannemora resident Dan Dillabough. "And get things back to normal."
Police warned people around Plattsburgh to expect more road closures and security checkpoints as the dragnet continues.
"Even if it's just shrinking the size of our search area, it brings us that much closer to their apprehension," Maj. Guess said.
Anyone with information on the escape is asked to call 1-800-GIVE-TIP.
If you see either of the suspects, police say you should call 911 immediately. Rain, cold, and hunger would likely have make them even more desperate, Guess indicated.
