DANNEMORA, NY — Authorities admitted on Wednesday that they have no idea where two escaped killers are hiding — and the best they could do was release sketches of what they would look like with a little more facial hair.
“There is no hard evidence that they are outside the area, but I cannot rule out that they can be anywhere,” State Police Capt. Robert LaFountain said of the fugitives, who have been on the run for 12 days. “I can tell you that we have no information that they have been able to leave the area. That being said, that doesn’t mean that they haven’t been able to escape the area.”
Cops said they were expanding the search area — which Gov. Cuomo visited last week — but at the same time, officials said 200 officers had been taken off the hunt and returned to their usual duties.
Clinton County Sheriff David Favro, appearing at a news conference with DA Andrew Wylie and local, state and federal authorities, said maintaining morale among the 600 or so remaining searchers was a priority that was getting more difficult by the day.
“I would like to refer to this as a pep rally,” Favro said.
“We need to let the community know that since we do not have concrete leads indicating that they may be outside the area, we still need to stay motivated, still need the assistance of the people giving us your eyes and ears.”
State cops released sketches of Richard Matt and David Sweat, showing what they would look like without shaving while on the lam.
Meanwhile, investigators spent Wednesday grilling Lyle Mitchell, whose frisky prison-worker wife, Joyce, 51, had sex with the convicted murderers, sources say, and was busted for allegedly helping them escape.
Wylie confirmed reports that Joyce Mitchell plotted with the killers to bump off her hubby once the duo went free.
Sweat, 35, and Matt, 48, escaped from the 170-year-old prison on June 6.
Joyce Mitchell, a prison tailoring shop instructor known as “Tillie,” is charged with helping them flee by providing them with hacksaw blades, chisels and other tools.