WILLSBORO, N.Y. (AP) — 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 who escaped from a maximumsecurity prison, but state police said leads continued to be generated and there would be an increased police presence in the area.

The hunt that began over the weekend focused Tuesday on Willsboro, close to Lake Champlain, after residents reported seeing a couple of men walking on a road late Monday during a driving rainstorm.

Authorities have fielded numerous tips since the breakout Saturday from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, about 20 miles from the Canadian border, but appeared to have focused most on this one.

Searchers walked shoulderto 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. NYSP issued a statement Tuesday saying that more than 400 law enforcement officers were in the area and planned to go door to door.

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