The two convicted murderers who escaped Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, about 25 miles from the Canadian border, are still at large. But the authorities already have leads to where the two might have headed and fanned out search teams to put Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34 back where they belong. And just recently, the suspected accomplice, a woman, who helped the two in their escape plan have been identified, Yahoo! News has the report.
Investigators focus their attention to Joyce Mitchell, an industrial training supervisor in the prison's tailor shop where both inmates worked.
"We have employees from the prison that are being interviewed, and that is a very consistent exercise that we're going through," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
"The media has reported on one woman in particular who is a subject who's being interviewed, and that's correct."
A person familiar to the case told CNN that the authorities have her mobile phone and discovered that it was used to make several calls to people close to Richard Matt. Authorities also strongly think that Mitchell was supposed to pick up the escapees when they got out but changed her mind at the last minute and ended up checking herself into the prison hospital for a case of panic attacks, according to People.
So far, Mitchell is being "somewhat cooperative" with the investigation, says source.
But Mitchell's son, Toby, is coming to her defense insisting that her mother is not capable of doing such audacious act. "She's not the kind of person that's going to risk her life or other people's lives to let these guys escape from prison," Tobey Mitchell told NBC.
He said he hadn't been in contact with her mother since she checked herself in the hospital and reports of the escape came out.
The truth would ultimately come out, says the young man, and thinks that it is not impossible for prison staff to fall victim to threats so convicted killers could realize their plots.
"When you are put into a situation where your family member is threatened or other family members might be threatened, or at risk, you do a lot of things that you wouldn't do, to just protect your family," he said.
