Guards at the Elmira Correctional Facility discovered the cellmates were missing during a routine inmate count at 6:30 a.m. Monday. The men had last been seen at 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
James Flateau, the state corrections department spokesman, says the escapees broke out of the ceiling of their shared cell to escape from the roof. Guards found sheets tied together that led down an outside wall of the housing unit located on the exterior wall of the prison. The correctional facility does not have perimeter security fencing.
Timothy G. Morgan, 26, is serving 25 years to life for a Fulton County conviction for murder and robbery of a cab driver. Timothy Vail, 35, is serving 49 years to life for murder, rape, robbery, and burglary. Morgan will be eligible for parole in 2023. Vail will be eligible in 2037.
