Prison Worker Allegedly Smuggled Saw Blades in Frozen Meat

And one of the fugitives might be barefoot
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 23, 2015 6:15 PM CDT
Prison Worker Allegedly Smuggled Saw Blades in Frozen Meat
Joyce Mitchell appears in Plattsburgh City Court on June 15.   (G.N. Miller/NY Post via AP, Pool)

CNN has a new detail on how the Hollywood-esque prison escape in upstate New York came to be: It quotes a source who says that prison worker Joyce Mitchell hid hacksaw blades in frozen meat that was delivered to one of the eventual escapees, Richard Matt. The report says Mitchell asked a guard to bring the meat to Matt, and he did so without putting it through a metal detector. Mitchell remains jailed for allegedly helping inmates Matt and David Sweat, while the guard, David Palmer, is on paid leave. His lawyer says he knew nothing of the escape plan.

The search, meanwhile, has been refocused to the general vicinity of the prison in Dannemora, after matching DNA surfaced at a rural cabin about 20 miles away from the facility. When the owner went to check on his cabin, he says he saw at least one man running away. Authorities say they found prison-issue underwear inside, reports ABC. They also found a pair of boots, notes CNN, suggesting that either Matt or Sweat is barefoot in the wilderness. (More fugitives stories.)

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