Sweep in small town for 2 escaped killers comes up empty; increased police presence in area

Law enforcement officers search for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015. State and federal law officers searching for two killers who used power tools to break out of a maximum-security prison poured into a small town 30 miles away Tuesday after getting a report of a possible sighting. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (The Associated Press)

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Law enforcement officers search for two escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015. State and federal law officers searching for two killers who used power tools to break out of a maximum-security prison poured into the small town 30 miles away Tuesday after getting a report of a possible sighting. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (The Associated Press)

WILLSBORO, N.Y. – 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 escaped killers. But New York State Police say leads continue to be generated and there will be an increased police presence in the area.

The hunt that began over the weekend focused Tuesday on Willsboro, close to Lake Champlain.

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.

David Sweat, 34, and Richard Matt, 48, cut through a steel wall, broke through bricks and crawled through a steam pipe before emerging through a manhole outside the prison grounds.