Two convicted murderers escape from New York max-security prison using power tools and tunneling;
leave 'have a nice day' noteIn a sensational “Shawshank Redemption”-style prison break, a pair of cunning convicted murderers used power tools and tunnels to escape an upstate maximum-security penitentiary near the Canadian border.
A massive manhunt was underway Saturday after killers Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, were discovered missing from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, about 25 miles from Canada, officials said.
The inmates made their extraordinary dash to freedom after faking out guards with makeshift dummies made out of hooded sweatshirts to appear as if they were still sleeping inside their cells. And once officials discovered they were gone, they found a note from convicts telling them to "Have a nice day!"
“It was an elaborate plot,” Gov. Cuomo said after joining law enforcement authorities inside the prison, retracing the prisoners’ route.
“These are dangerous people,” he said. “They are nothing to be trifled with.”
More: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/convicted-killers-escape-n-y-prison-article-1.2248902
The escaped inmates left prison officials a note saying "Have a nice day!" on one of the steel pipes they apparently used to exit Clinton Correctional Facility, officials say.
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That would make sense, since the search seems to be still restricted to the area they escaped from, but it would be a good idea to alert Canadian authorities and to monitor the border. 
Two residents in the upstate New York town where a pair of convicted murderers escaped said they're "lucky to be alive" after spotting what they say were the fugitives a short time after they made their getaway.
"Lucky to be alive, man," the man told ABC News today.
The man and his friend were returning home around 12:30 a.m. when they spotted two men, who they say are fugitives Richard Matt and David Sweat, in their backyard with what appeared to be a guitar case.
When he confronted them at the home, which was near the manhole that the prisoners used to escape, one of the men responded "We're just lost. We don't know where we are. We're on the wrong street," according to the witness.
After that, they took off running, said the witness, whose name is being withheld due to safety concerns.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/lucky-alive-man-claimed-escaped-murderers-york-prison/story?id=31606886
PHOTO: The area where two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at a maximum-security prison in Dannemora, NY, and escaped through a manhole, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday, June 6, 2015.
PHOTO: This photo provided by New York State Governor's office shows the note left by two convicted murderers who used power tools to cut through steel pipes at a maximum-security prison in Dannemora, NY, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said June 6, 2015.
