Authorities in New York have launched a manhunt for two convicted murders who broke out of the state’s largest maximum-security prison by using power tools to cut through cell walls and escaping through tunnels.
Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, are believed to have broken out of the all-male Clinton Correctional Facility, near the Canadian border in upstate New York, sometime between the evening of June 5 and the morning of June 6.
Police said the two inmates were discovered missing during a predawn bed check. They reportedly left behind a note that read: “Have a nice day.”
“This is a crisis situation for the state,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on June 7. “These are dangerous men. They are capable of committing grave crimes once again.”
It was the first-ever escape from the maximum-security portion of the prison, which opened in 1845.
