REVEALED: Prison worker charged in convicts' break-out had 'rehearsed escape' and planned to drive them to location SEVEN HOURS away before changing her mind 'because she still loves her husband'

• Joyce Mitchell told officials that she was told by Matt and Sweat that she would have to drive them to an area about seven hours away 
• She got cold feet 'partly because she loves her husband and she didn't want to do this to him,' officials said
• Mitchell, 51, an industrial training supervisor at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York state, was arraigned at 11pm on Friday 
• Mitchell 'previously admitted to giving Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, prohibited items, including hacksaw blades and goggles with lights'
• Matt and Sweat escaped from maximum-security prison early Saturday
• Mitchell was expected to meet up with the pair at midnight to be their getaway driver before leaving the area together, but got cold feet 

By Kelly Mclaughlin and Mia De Graaf and Sophie Jane Evans and Louise Boyle and Martin Gould In Plattsburgh, New York, For Dailymail.com

Published: 12:31 EST, 13 June 2015 | Updated: 07:39 EST, 14 June 2015

The daughter-in-law of Joyce MItchell (pictured) said her family would 'love and support her not matter what', adding that she hoped the convicts would be caught soon

The woman who was charged with helping two convicted murderers escape was supposed to drive the two prisoners seven hours away, but she got cold feet.

Joyce Mitchell, a 51-year-old grandmother and prison worker, supplied Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, with tools including hacksaw blades, chisels, a punch and a screwdriver bit, according to court records.

She told investigators that she was going to meet the men at the manhole where they emerged outside the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, and be their getaway driver in the scenario eerily similar to the blockbuster movie Shawshank Redemption, but she failed to follow through.

'They were going to meet down by the power plant, drive, I'm not going to say into the sunset, because it was after midnight and it was dark out, but they were going to drive ... potentially to an area that was about seven hours away,' Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie told CNN on Saturday.

Mitchells did not say where the three planned to go after the escape - she was just told by Matt and Sweat that it was about a seven-hour drive away, according to Wylie.

'Joyce Mitchell ditched the plan to pick up the two inmates partly because she loves her husband and she didn't want to do this to him,' Wylie said.

It appears, however, that Mitchell and the prisoners had rehearsed the escape.

'From interviews with other inmates, there is an indication the two convicts had cell phones before they escaped,' he said. 'But we have no proof of these cell phones.'

As Mitchell, who pleaded not guilty on Friday, the escapees continued to elude authorities. Armed police swarm upstate New York in their eighth day of the search. 

Scroll down for video 

A law enforcement officer takes off his boots during a break on Saturday during the search for two prisoners who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility

Police officers were covered in mud as they continued to search for the escaped prisoners, Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, on Saturday

The officers' uniforms have worn down as they search day after day for the two prisoners. This officer had to tape his boot during the search

Law enforcement officers are now in in their eighth day of the search in upstate New York, where temperatures have reached the mid and high 70s

Law enforcement officers walk past horses as they search far and wide for the two convicted murderers 

Mitchell's family members have spoken out to say that they support her.

'We will love and support her no matter what. Not even that situation will bring our family down. That's all we have to say about this,' Paige Mitchell, Mitchell's daughter-in-law, told NBC News on Saturday. 

'Let's find these two idiots so our community can calm down,' she added. 'That needs to be the focus right now, finding these monsters and locking them back up in a cell so they can live out the remainder of their days, hopefully in solitary confinement.'

As the search for the men continued, squadrons of law enforcement swarmed the area with helicopters sweeping overhead as schools were shut down and residents warned to stay indoors.

The search involves more than 500 law enforcement personnel, along with K-9 and aviation units, according to New York State police.

The search forced the cancellation of a fundraiser for the local volunteer fire department at Cadyville. Organizers of the 50th annual Cadyville Field Day say they chose to cancel Saturday's event in the name of public safety.

By late evening on Saturday, about 30 officers emerged from the woods along Route 3, a few miles south of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. More officers lined up on the shoulder waiting to be picked up to take a break before continuing the search before darkness sets in.

New York State Police Maj Charles Guess said that the police force is 'going down every road and following every lead', adding that it's 'getting closer with every step'. 

Corrections officers sit on cots in the gym of a fitness facility between shifts in the search for two escaped prisoners

Gear used by corrections officers in the search for two escaped prisoners dries in a parking lot of a fitness facility after many officers were muddied while searching the forests

Socks and other gear used by corrections officers in the search for two escaped prisoners dry outside as officers finish their eighth day searching

A Dannemora Department of Public Works employee helps a New York State Trooper out of a manhole while searching for the men

Late on Friday, Mitchell stood with her hands shaking and her lips pressed together to be arraigned at Clinton County Court.

She has now been placed in Rensselaer County Jail - a location strategically picked to ensure none of her former colleague or associates would be on the premises. Her next court date is on Monday at 8.30am.

Mitchell, a tailor shop instructor at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, was arrested earlier on Friday on charges of aiding the pair in their escape.

At about 11pm, Mitchell was arraigned on counts of promoting prison contraband in the first degree and criminal facilitation in the fourth degree.

Donning a lime green T-shirt and jeans, the bedraggled grandmother trembled and appeared close to tears as she pleaded not guilty to both charges, which carry a maximum prison term of eight years. 

She barely looked up as the judge set her bail at a whopping $110,000 cash, or $220,000 bond.

Defense attorney Keith Bruno told the court in Plattsburgh, around a 20-minute drive from the maximum-security prison, that he would address the bail amount at another hearing on Monday. 

Community speaks out as manhunt for prison escapees contines

The search continues: Hundreds of officers were dispatched to Route 3 in Saranac, New York, on Saturday

Despite a week of searching, police are no closer to tracking down murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat

Investigation: Law enforcement officers talk to a man at a residence on Saturday in Saranac, NY

Officials from the U.S. Marshals Service and New York Fugitive Task Force search around a Cadyville home

Despite picking up their scent on Thursday, the officers have been eluded by the killers since then

Questions: It is not known if the men are armed as they continue to elude authorities in upstate New York

Hunt: An Environmental Conservation officer, right, takes a compass bearing during Saturday's search

Mitchell said nothing during her five-minute court appearance, during which she was handcuffed. She nervously clutched a piece of white card in her hands as she denied the counts via Bruno.

The prison staffer is rumored to have had affairs with both Matt and Sweat, before providing them with contraband for their escape, including hacksaw blades, drill bits and goggles fitted with lights.

On Friday night, the court heard that this also included chisels, a punch and a screwdriver bit. She 'knowingly and unlawfully introduced contraband tools and hardware' to the inmates, the court heard.

And she apparently did so 'believing it probable she was rendering aid' to the killers. The hardware was 'brought into the prison on about May 1', so Matt and Sweat would have had it for only weeks. 

Mitchell had been questioned for nearly a week at a police station in Malone prior to her arraignment.

The contraband she allegedly gave Matt and Sweat did not include the power tools used by the two men to cut holes in a cell walls and a steam pipe at the prison, before they escaped via a manhole.

Female NY prison worker pleads not guilty in convict escape

Terrified: With her hands shaking and her lips pressed together, Joyce Mitchell, who allegedly helped two murderers escape from a New York state prison last weekend, was arraigned late Friday night. Above, Mitchell is pictured standing beside her defense attorney during her arraignment in Plattsburgh, New York

Arraignment: At about 11pm, Mitchell was arraigned on charges of promoting prison contraband in the first degree and criminal facilitation in the fourth degree. The first is a felony offense; the second, a misdemeanor

Teary-eyed: Donning a bright yellow T-shirt, the grandmother-of-one visibly trembled and appeared close to tears as her charges were read out. She barely looked up at the judge as he set her bail at $110,000 cash

Amid the allegations concerning Mitchell, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that prison employees found helping inmates to escape will be dealt with severely in court, according to CBS.

This came as Guess delivered a stark message for Matt and Sweat at a press conference: 'We're coming for you and we'll not stop until you are caught.'

Speaking on Friday night, Major Guess also said the prisoners - who remain on the run for a seventh day following their Shawshank Redemption-style breakout - will be 'cold, wet, tired and hungry', having encountered the same 'challenging' weather conditions that police have also had to deal with.  

And he said Mitchell's arrest is 'one large piece of the puzzle in our quest to find' Matt and Sweat. 

'Our interviews with Joyce Mitchell have been fruitful and productive. We're satisfied and we would not have charged her today if we were not satisfied with the productivity of those interviews,' he said.

If convicted of her charges, Mitchell could face up to seven years in prison for 'providing material assistance' to the murderers, and one year for criminal facilitation - a total of eight years in prison.

Not guilty plea: Defense attorney Keith Bruno told the court in Plattsburgh, situated a 20-minute drive from the maximum-security prison, that he would address the bail amount at another hearing on Monday

Still on the run: Mitchell, an industrial training supervisor at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, reportedly supplied prisoners Richard Matt (left), 48, and David Sweat (right), 34, with prohibited tools

Earlier on Friday, an explosive new report emerged revealing that Mitchell has admitted smuggling the hacksaw blades, drill bits and lights to Matt and Sweat, whom she had befriended inside the prison.

The married staffer also providing the killers with a cell phone, the Albany Times-Union reported.  

Mitchell's family has said she would not have helped the convicts break out. 

On Friday, an extra 300 law enforcement officers were searching for Matt and Sweat, increasing the total number from 500 to over 800, including personnel from state, local and federal agencies.

The added help is needed to give search teams proper rest, officials said. The search for the killers is now focused on an area a few miles south of the village of Dannemora. 

Troopers said more than 700 leads have been received since the breakout was discovered by guards.

During Friday night's press conference, Major Guess said that 'hundreds of personnel' are in 'yards of residences conducting grid searches'. 'We will not stop searching until it's done,' he told reporters. 

Handcuffed: Mitchell said nothing during her five-minute court appearance She pleaded not guilty to both charges, which carry a maximum eight-year prison term. Above, Mitchell is led into court for the hearing

Police escort: The prison staffer is rumored to have had affairs with both Matt and Sweat, before providing them with contraband for their escape, including hacksaw blades, drill bits and goggles fitted with lights

Bowed head: Mitchell is brought to City Court in Plattsburgh New York for her arraignment on Friday night

Family: Mitchell reportedly agreed to be the getaway driver for the inmates, but got cold feet at the last minute. Above, Mitchell with her son Tobey and husband Lyle, who is being investigated in the escape

Charged: Mitchell had been questioned for nearly a week at a police station in Malone, New York, prior to her arraignment. Above, more than 800 law enforcement personnel are currently searching for the inmates

He also gave his 'heartfelt thanks' for the 'outpouring' of support from businesses, universities and schools in the area over the past week, as well as to those who have donated food to searchers.

In relation to Mitchell, he added that the prison worker may be charged with other counts as the manhunt and investigation unfold - but that she 'represents just one fraction of the investigation'

According to Gov Cuomo, investigators are 'talking to several people who may have facilitated in the escape', which came to light during routine prison rounds at around 5.30am last Saturday.

Officials are 'learning more and more information each day from [Mitchell], as far as establishing a timeline on how this process occurred and what her involvement was,' Gov Cuomo said.  

Mitchell supplied hacksaw blades, drill bits and goggles with lights for the escapees, both of whom she may have had relationships with, CNN reported. The tools were bought in the last few months. 

A police document seen by the Times Union revealed on Friday that Mitchell's husband who works at the prison, Lyle Mitchell, may have also had a role in the escape. He has not been charged. 

NY Police arrest suspected prison break accomplice

Checks: Officers from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision check vehicles down the road from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, as they search for the two murderers

Keeping watch: A corrections officer ise seen looking out from a guard tower at the maximum-security prison

Extraordinary escape: Corrections officers walk along the road outside the high walls of Clinton Correctional Facility (left), while a different corrections officer looks out from a guard tower at the prison (right) on Saturday

Sweat and Matt, who has been described by a retired cop as 'well-endowed', used an electric saw and a sledgehammer to make their escape route at the prison, the newspaper reported. 

They cut holes in the back of their cells, lowered themselves to a catwalk and hot-wired lighting outlets to power a hand-saw to cut into a 24-inch steam pipe that led to a sewer system. 

Matt and Sweat popped out of a manhole outside of the 40ft prison walls on a quiet street in the village of Dannemora and fled. They potentially had up to a seven-hour head start on police.

Despite a week-long search involving hundreds of officers, bloodhounds and marine and helicopter units across three states, the prisoners have not been found. 

They have already far outlasted the typical period of 'freedom' for prison escapees - six hours.

On Thursday, it emerged that Mitchell was questioned about an 'inappropriate relationship' with Sweat within the past year. The details of Mitchell and Sweat's alleged relationship are unclear.

The New York State Department of Corrections ultimately found there insufficient evidence to take action against Mitchell, sources told ABC News.

Sweat was moved out of the prison sewing shop that Mitchell supervised. 

Mitchell supplied hacksaw blades, drill bits and goggles with lights for the escapees, according to one report

'Professional work': Matt and Sweat escaped from the maximum-security prison early on Saturday using power tools to cut through steel walls then squeeze along a steam pipe (pictured) and pop out of a manhole

Inquiry: New York State Police Major Charles Guess (right) has delivered a stark message for Matt and Sweat at a press conference: 'We're coming for you and we'll not stop until you are caught.' Left, Joyce Mitchell

Female prison worker 'supplied escapees with contraband'

It had also emerged that Mitchell, who is married to another prison worker and has an adult son, reportedly told investigators that Matt had 'made her feel special' and she 'thought it was love'. 

Mitchell, an instructor at the prison tailor shop, where the two convicts worked, allegedly planned to be the getaway driver for Matt and Sweat, but got cold feet at the last minute. 

She reportedly was expected to meet the pair at midnight the night they broke out of the prison and leave with the escapees.  

'It's basically, show up down at the powerhouse at around midnight, and pick them up. As we all know now she failed to show up,' Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie told NBC News on Saturday. 'Pick them up, leave the area.'

'The three of them were going to move on together. That was the plan,' Wylie said. 

Instead, Mitchell checked herself into hospital for nerves on Saturday, the day of the elaborate escape.

Matt, who has a history of escape attempts', wooed Mitchell for months and established a relationship in which she agreed to drive the getaway car, it is alleged. 

'She thought it was love,' one official told NBC News. The killer was 'very handsome and, in all frankness, very well endowed', retired detective David Bentley told the New York Post this week.

Mitchell also told investigators that Matt made her feel 'special', sources told CNN. Mitchell is said to be co-operating with authorities.

Mr Wylie told CNN on Thursday that Mitchell 'comes in and each day has been providing... additional information that's assisted the investigators'.

Mass turnout: Law enforcement officers walk along Trudeau Road at Route 3 and after emerging from the wood during the search for the two escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility near Dannemora, New York

Armed: Officials wore protective vests and carried guns as they searched for the two convicted murderers

Looking for a scent: A state trooper and K9 are seen searching a grassy area in Elsinore, New York, Friday

The Clinton County prosecutor said Mitchell is under surveillance but not in protective custody.

According to officials, Mitchell's statements to police about the escape plan were incriminating enough to result in her being indicted before she was finally charged on Friday evening. 

The prison worker's son Tobey Mitchell, who had a baby with his partner earlier this year, told NBC on Wednesday that his mother would not have helped the inmates to escape.

A longtime neighbor also was stunned by the suspicions swirling around Mitchell.

'I just can't believe she'd do something so stupid,' neighbor Sharon Currier said. She said Mitchell is always happy to help people, but she's 'not somebody who's off the wall'.

She said Mitchell is a former town tax collector in Dickinson, a community around one hour's drive from Dannemora. 

Quick with a laugh and skilled at sewing, she has worked for five or more years at the prison, where her husband also works, Currier said 

Gov Cuomo said that the law will come down hard on any prison system employee who crosses the line. 'If you do it, you will be convicted, and then you'll be on the other side of the prison that you've been policing, and that is not a pleasant place to be,' Cuomo said on Friday. 

Mitchell, who is married to another prison worker Lyle Mitchell, earns a salary of $57,700 for the state corrections department job she has held since 2008.

Arrest: Mitchell is rumored to have had affairs with both Matt, 48, and Sweat (pictured during his arrest in 2002), 34, before providing them with contraband for their escape, including hacksaw blades and drill bits

Matt, who is said to be well-endowed, is seen posing in prison in the 1980s, wearing a correction officer's uniform shirt and holding a night stick. A handwritten caption reads: 'Who said I can't escape this place!'

Engineer skeptical that prison escapees cut hole without help

State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico said at a press conference on Wednesday: 'She befriended the inmates and may have had some sort of role in assisting them.' 

Matt was serving 25 years to life for the 1997 kidnap, torture and hacksaw dismemberment of Matt's 76-year-old former boss, whose body was found in pieces in a river.

Matt and an accomplice stuffed William Rickerson in a car trunk in his pajamas and drove around with him for 27 hours because he wouldn't tell them the location of large sums of money he was believed to have.

According to testimony, Matt bent back the elderly man's fingers until they broke and later snapped Rickerson's neck with his bare hands.

After the killing, Matt fled to Mexico, where he killed a man outside a bar.

Sweat was doing life without parole for his part in the 2002 killing of sheriff's Deputy Kevin Tarsia, who was shot 15 times and run over after discovering Sweat and two accomplices transferring stolen guns between vehicles.

Mitchell's ex-husband had told Daily Mail Online on Wednesday that she was 'serial cheat'.  

The besotted prison worker  - known as 'Tillie'  - had at least two affairs during her five-year first marriage, her then-husband has confirmed to Daily Mail Online.

'Sure she cheated on me,' 51-year-old farmer Tobey Premo said.

An officer searches a storm drain off State Route 3 on Friday afternoon in a bid to track down the fugitives

Prison: The inmates were still on the run on Friday after they were found missing from their cells at Clinton Correctional Facility (pictured on Thursday), having drilled holes in the cement walls with power tools

Officials speak out on female prison workers role in escape

'It wasn't just with Lyle, her husband now, but with another guy she worked with. I found out because his girlfriend came to me and told me about it.' 

Mitchell had been caught having sex on railroad tracks outside the factory where she worked. 

Victim: Sweat shot dead Broome County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Tarsia (pictured), 36, in July 2002

And Premo, 51, her sweetheart at St. Regis Falls High School confirmed she had cheated on him with Lyle Mitchell, who she then went on to marry. 

'I was devastated,' he said. 'I kissed her on the bus when I was 16 and I liked her ever after.'

Premo said he and Mitchell — then Joyce Clookey — were together for 13 years, but only five as man and wife. They divorced in 1995 when their son Tobey was just one.

'She was with me for 13 years - maybe that's all she can take,' said Premo, who now lives in Massena, a town on the Canadian border, an hour west of Mitchell's home in Dickinson Center.

'She cheated on me, so I could see her falling for someone in prison,' he said.

During their marriage, Tillie worked at the now-shuttered Tru-Stitch slipper factory in Bombay, New York. Former workmate Nancy Hewitt called her a 'troublemaker' in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Online. 

Another former colleague revealed how Tilley and Lyle, a mechanic at the factory, had been caught having sex on railway tracks outside the plant.

'I don't know anything about that,' said Premo. 'But then I was her husband, so she wouldn't have been telling me. But I do know she had an affair with another guy, he was a cutter at the factory.' 

He says he first heard that she is suspected of being involved in the prison break-out on television. 

Standing guard: A prison employee stands guard on a tower at the prison following the murderers' escapes

'I thought that can't be her, then they put her Facebook picture up, and I realized it was.' 

He said he has also had no contact with his ex-wife. 'I wouldn't call her a bad apple - I really don't know her. I have only seen her once since we signed the divorce papers,' he said.

Former detective Bentley was one of the team who arrested Matt in 2007.  

The retired detective shared a photo with Inside Edition showing a younger Matt in prison during the 1980s. 

In the disturbing image, the killer is pictured wearing a correction officer's uniform shirt and holding a night stick. Beneath the photo, Matt has scribbled: 'Who said I can't escape this place!'  

In an episode that aired on Thursday Bentley said he feared for his life now that Matt is free.   

THE HUNT: ON THE SIXTH DAY,THE DESPERATE SEARCH FOR ESCAPED MURDERERS CONTINUES

DAY ONE

The alert is raised early on Saturday morning after convicted killers David Sweat, 34, and Richard Matt, 48, were discovered missing from their cells during 5.30am rounds. Both cells, located on the same side of the 'honor block' at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, had neat squares cut from the cement walls behind the beds.

Cop killer Sweat, who was serving life without parole and Matt, who had 25 years to life for murder and torture, had stuffed their beds with clothes to fool guards and left behind a taunting note: 'Have a nice day.' The maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility sits in Dannemora, high in the mountainous Adirondacks region, some 25 miles from the Canadian border.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered a 200-person strong manhunt across upstate New York and a $100,000 reward leading to the killers' capture.

DAY TWO 

The escape from the 3,000 inmate state prison quickly raises suspicions of an inside job after it becomes clear the two men used power tools to cut holes in their cells and through a sewage pipe.

Investigators begin questioning prison workers and outside contractors to try to find out who may have supplied the power tools. Contractors have been doing extensive renovations at the 170-year-old prison, a hulking, fortress-like structure that looms over Dannemora's main street.

Prison supervisor Joyce Mitchell is identified as a person of interest and is taken in for questioning.

DAY THREE 

Some 300 leads flood into investigators in the 48 hours since the prison break was reported.

Police shared images of tattoos on the two escapees. Matt is pictured on the top row and Sweat below 

State police and other state, federal and local law enforcement agencies form a joint task force to take on each lead individually. Forest Rangers, U.S. Marshals and the FBI assist in grid searches of region around the prison to ensure a thorough search of the ground. 

More than 100 personnel which includes uniform, investigative and specialty units are placed on the ground to follow leads.

Road blocks with search dogs are set up across the region. More than 250 corrections and law enforcement officers are involved in the region and additional investigative services are being applied statewide and nationally. 

Reports emerge that the two convicts could be heading for the Canadian border or even as far away as Mexico. 

DAY FOUR  

Reports of two men walking along a road brought hundreds of law enforcement officers to a small town in the Adirondack foothills for a sweep that seemingly turned up no signs of two killers.

State police said leads continued to be generated and there would be an increased police presence in the area.

The hunt focused on Tuesday on Willsboro, New York, close to Lake Champlain, after residents reported seeing a couple of men walking on a road late on Monday during a driving rainstorm. 

Searchers walked shoulder-to-shoulder, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying sidearms as they went through hilly woods, fields and swamps, checking every home, garage, shed and outbuilding, then yelling, 'Clear!' when there were no signs of the inmates.

By early evening, it appeared the sweep had come up empty, and there was no confirmation from police that the escaped convicts had been there. 

State Police said more than 400 corrections and other law enforcement officers were in the area and planned to go door to door, checking homes and seasonal camps.

DAY FIVE 

Law enforcement announced early on Wednesday that they will be searching homes in the village of Dannemora.

These searches were not the result of a new lead, police said, but law enforcement were retracing steps made early in the investigation. 

Residents were made aware that an increased police presence would be in the area. Members of the public who see anything unusual upon arriving at their residence or seasonal homes were asked to contact law enforcement immediately.

The State Police have deployed all available assets in an effort to ensure the safety of the public. The public were told not to hesitation to report any suspicious activity; that includes any sign of a trespass, burglary or vehicle larceny.

State Police said Wednesday they have bought space on more than 50 digital billboards in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania featuring pictures and information about the two escapees.

DAY SIX 

The manhunt for two escaped killers intensified on Thursday as law enforcement zeroed in on an area of rough, swampy terrain around three miles from the prison.

Bloodhounds picked up the scent of the escapees this morning when officers came across an area where the men had been reportedly 'bedding down'. A boot print and food wrappers were found at the scene.

Squadrons of law enforcement swarmed the area with helicopters sweeping overhead as schools were shut down and residents warned to stay indoors. 

A preliminary report on Thursday also revealed a possible sighting of the two escapees from a cab driver who dropped them off at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Fox reported.

DAY SEVEN

On Friday, an extra 300 law enforcement officers were searching for Matt and Sweat, increasing the total number from 500 to over 800, including personnel from state, local and federal agencies.

The added help is needed to give search teams proper rest, officials said. The search for the killers is now focused on an area a few miles south of the village of Dannemora. Troopers said more than 700 leads have been received since the breakout was discovered by guards early Saturday morning.

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