New York Prison Escape Suspect David Sweat's DNA Found By Police Near Where Richard Matt Was Killed: Report

UPDATE 3 p.m. EDT: An autopsy on escaped killer Richard Matt, who was shot to death Friday, showed he suffered three gunshot wounds to the head and was ill and drunk when he was found, a preliminary autopsy report showed Sunday. The Associated Press reported Matt had suffered bug bites on his legs, blisters and minor abrasions, consistent with someone who had been in the woods.

PZFeed reported the autopsy was conducted Saturday at Albany Medical Center and listed the cause of death as "severe skull fractures and brain injuries due to gunshot wounds to the head."

Original post:

Authorities have found DNA from escaped Clinton Correctional Facility inmate David Sweat in the general area where his accomplice, Richard Matt, was shot and killed by police Friday afternoon, the Buffalo News reported Sunday. The newspaper cited information from a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation. The DNA discovery suggests that perhaps Matt and Sweat had stayed together until at least a few hours before Matt was shot.

Last weekend, authorities found DNA from both men at a burglarized hunting camp in Owls Head, New York, and had found Matt’s DNA at another burglarized cabin in the area Wednesday, but no sign of Sweat.

About 1,200 law enforcement officials began searching a roughly 25-square-mile perimeter near Malone, New York, on Saturday afternoon, USA Today reported. Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill told reporters he was certain authorities would locate Sweat because he was "going to be tired" and "going to make a mistake."

Sweat and Matt disappeared from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora on June 6 after cutting themselves out of their cells and crawling through pipes to the outside. Officers began frantically looking for the pair immediately, combing areas in Allegany and Steuben counties.

They zeroed in on Franklin County earlier this week when they found a "confirmed lead" in Owls Head, a small town about 20 miles from the Clinton prison. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had earlier told NBC News it was unclear whether the two had split up or were traveling together.

On Friday afternoon, Matt confronted a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent near Malone's Lake Titus. He reportedly had a 20-gauge shotgun. “They verbally challenged him, told him to put up his hands, and he was shot when he didn’t comply,” State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico said, according to the New York Post.

The race to find Sweat was hastened this week because the weather forecast showed rain beginning Saturday night and extending into next week. The water could wash away clues.

Before breaking out, Matt had been serving 25 years for kidnapping, torturing and dismembering his former boss in 1997. Sweat was serving a life sentence for killing a sheriff’s deputy in 2002.