Two convicted murderers who used power tools to cut their way out of a prison near the Canadian border could be nearby or "in Mexico by now," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says.
The intense man hunt focused on the fields and Adirondack woods near the prison in upstate New York after the inmates' escape was apparently hampered by a prison employee's decision to back out as their getaway driver nine days ago.
The inmates, David Sweat and Richard Matt, planned to have the now-jailed prison worker drive them about seven hours away to an unknown destination, District Attorney Andrew Wylie told CNN.
But prison tailor shop instructor Joyce Mitchell backed out of the plan at the last minute, Wylie said.
"One of the reasons that she didn't show up was because she did love her husband and didn't want to do this to him," he said.
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Even as hundreds of law enforcement workers stalked the rural area about 30 kilometres from Canada, Cuomo said it was unclear if the men were still nearby.
"We don't know if they are still in the area or if they're in Mexico by now," Cuomo said.
Roads on the western edge of Plattsburgh were open only to local traffic and a state police helicopter was parked in a field where 24 hours earlier a contingent of 40 officers had marched into the adjacent woods on yet another grid search.
Many local residents were very much on edge, with some saying they were keeping firearms handy just in case.
Both men are considered extremely dangerous.
