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Noah Remnick writes in the NYT that as the clock ticks on Richard Matt and David Sweat who escaped from maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility last weekend, experts say the two escaped killers are increasingly likely to evade capture for a substantial period. "A lot of escapes are spontaneous and the guys get tripped up because they don't know where to go," says Terry Pelz. "These guys know where to go. Most guys get caught after a few hours because they don't have a plan. These guys planned their escape and planned it well, so it could take much longer to catch them." Experts say there are some cardinal rules for living off the grid. "Your first priority is finding a secure place and a source of money," says Darrin Giglio. "You don't want anything traceable, so you'll either have to establish a new identity or get paid off the books, maybe as a day laborer."
Cellphone, credit cards, and surveillance cameras have added new layers of complication and possibility for both fugitives and law enforcement. "If they're smart, fugitives can really take advantage of technology," says Frank Ahearn, a New York-based skip-tracer turned skip-maker and author of "How to Disappear". "They can buy prepaid cellphones and credit cards. Their apartments, cars and bank accounts can be set up under anonymous corporations. They can live almost entirely virtually. That wasn't possible in the past." To combat such trickery, police departments have access to increasingly sophisticated and far-reaching forms of search and surveillance. "It's easier than ever to comb through enormous amounts of data. And with surveillance cameras all over the place, the only way to avoid detection might be changing appearance. Some people even get plastic surgery," says Giglio. "It's like being in the witness protection program. To be successful, you have to give up your entire past. Most people can't do that." Under such agonizing circumstances, there is no shortage of ways to blunder. Escapees often return home or place phone calls to friends and family members, whom the police might be tracking. Other times it is an escapee's suspicious behavior that tips off bystanders. "A lot of inmates who are legitimately released encounter a confusing new life," says Pelz. "They don't know how to drive cars, use cellphones, use credit cards. They need to re-educate themselves. That can trip up escapees too. Even if it's a well-planned escape, people get sloppy."
Original Submission
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Friday June 12 2015, @09:46PM
Anonymous corporations... buy prepaid phones, Seriously?
First that shit takes months to set up years to age (so as not to call attention to itself), and anonymous pre-paid cell phones
aren't even a thing in the US anymore. They want a picture ID every time you buy one.
Guys sitting in a cell for years and years, aren't going to be able to do any of this stuff. You can't do it after you escape.
Without people on the outside to set this all up for you, its not going to happen. You can't do it from a jail cell.
With people on the outside you've got more and more risk for each person involved. More ways to trace you.
Your best bet is to have a non-descript car prestashed with legal plates (or swapped from a similar car) that has been seldom used, with a full tank of gas and several thousand in small unmarked bills hidden inside, and maybe some fake ID, and a stash or three of survival food and camping equipment somewhere.
But all that takes preparation BEFORE you go to jail, because anybody who visits you or communicates in any way is just another risk.
There are a lot of escapees running around loose, and most of them are living casually. But most of them the authorities really don't care about, because they know they will keep their nose clean, and also that they will eventually almost always get caught unless they sneak to mexico and then to south american where nobody cares to follow them.
If your a cop killer, or anyone else that the law want's off the streets, you really have little chance.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday June 12 2015, @11:55PM
What would be the most effective option to leave the country?
And I'll assume one would avoid all human contact as far as possible or stay somewhat incognito.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @02:15AM
They were only 20 miles from the Canadian border. Their inside helper probably had a car available for them (if she didn't pick them up herself). No one was looking for them until the next morning so a fake ID would be enough to get them into Canada.
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Saturday June 13 2015, @02:42AM
There is a bit more scrutiny to get into Canada now and, since this, I am sure there is a heightened awareness situation in play. These people probably are not looking to get back into the United States but they may look a little odd without the prerequisite paperwork to do so. I have an "Enhanced Indian Card" as I am also a citizen of Canada (Micmac tribe if you are curious) and that card gets me across the boarder in both directions though I have an "Enhanced Driver's License" as well which the US side always asks to see on return if I have not already given that (or my passport) to them at the start.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday June 13 2015, @04:56AM
They were only 20 miles from the Canadian border. Their inside helper probably had a car available for them (if she didn't pick them up herself). No one was looking for them until the next morning so a fake ID would be enough to get them into Canada.
You may think that, because you've never shown up at the border in a car other than your own.
If you are a regular crosser, Canadian customs knows your history before you roll up to the window.
Their plate read has your vehicle registration up on their screen before you even stop rolling.
They just wave you in.
New visitor? They will ask you questions that they already know the answer to. Is this your car? No? Who is the owner?
Where are you going.
If they wanted to go to Canada they need an unfenced section of the border that they can walk across. And those are fewer and further between than you think. Even forest sections have fences, and they they are also monitored with cameras and infrared.
If these guys planned on sneaking across the boarder, they aren't likely to succeed without local knowledge, or some partner in crime that specialized in getting people across.
Somebody in this thread says they live up there and it would be easy. Bet they've never actually tried.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @09:18AM
The escapees had an accomplice who worked at the prison, which means the accomplice lived in the area. Who knows if the escapees' accomplice - or a friend/relative - was a regular at a border crossing? This wasn't a spur of the moment escape. This was planned (and for one it was their 3rd escape attempt).
I'm not saying they are in Canada, but they were already very close, had local help, and had a plan. I imagine the police have already checked which vehicles crossed at local checkpoints.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday June 15 2015, @04:15PM
I know several people who have crossed from the US to Canada with no documents, without being stopped, completely by accident. Surely somebody who knows the area (or spends a few hours on Google Streetview) would have no problem doing the same.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday June 15 2015, @04:16PM
Should have added these weren't people hiking through a remote area of wilderness; these were people driving home from a bar or a party who took a wrong turn and ended up in a foreign country. It's not that secure of a border.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Saturday June 13 2015, @12:09AM
I beg to differ. I used a pre-paid phone, not to remain anonymous (I recharge it with a credit card) but because it's a lot cheaper than a contract. I recently replaced my old pre-paid phone with a new one. No ID required at the Target store I bought it at. If I really wanted to remain anonymous, I could have paid cash as well.
I've read that "How to Disappear" book mentioned in the article. It's a very good primer on how to not be tracked by the government (in my opinion).
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday June 13 2015, @04:58AM
I used a pre-paid phone, not to remain anonymous (I recharge it with a credit card)
So you provided ID. Good boy.
Even why you pay with cash, you are under surveillance.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @12:27AM
> anonymous pre-paid cell phones aren't even a thing in the US anymore. They want a picture ID every time you buy one.
You do not know what you are talking about.
I have five of them. Bought them with cash from walmart and target over the last year. I buy minutes from a local cellphone shop that takes cash.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @12:29AM
> Your best bet is to have a non-descript car prestashed with legal plates (or swapped from a similar car)
Bicycles which you use to get to the nearest river where you have a one-man craft like a kayak or sunfish and then you just float away at night.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @02:06AM
Those are opinions of a non-expert, not facts. Presenting them like they are is disingenuous.