Investigators reportedly believe that a female prison employee was in love with one of the two inmates who broke out of Clinton Correctional Facility and agreed to help with their escape plot.
The Associated Press noted that a source close to the investigation said authorities believe Joyce Mitchell, an industrial training supervisor for the prison’s tailor shop, agreed to drive a getaway car.
One of the fugitives Richard Matt, 48, is thought to have wooed Mitchell and asked that she pick them up in a car after they escaped last Saturday. Mitchell instead checked herself into a hospital for chest pains that day. She is married to another prison worker with whom she has an adult son with. Her son, Toby, said that his mother would not have agreed to help them escape.
The inmates’ plan was not completely foiled, however, as they still managed to escape from the prison Shawshank Redemption style.
Police are continuing to search for them and unaware of their exact whereabouts at this time, but have been following tips stretching from Vermont to Pennsylvania.
For more daily news stories follow Michelle on Twitter @PhilaMichelle