Dog the Bounty Hunter

Duane "Dog" Chapman, star of the reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter" is shown in this Nov. 7, 2006 file photo.

(Lucy Pemoni | The Associated Press)

Two convicted killers allegedly had a "hamburger helper" in their escape from an Upstate New York prison, and now a "dog" is on their trail.

Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that Joyce Mitchell allegedly helped Richard Matt and David Sweat smuggle tools inside frozen chunks of hamburger meat to help them break out of the Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6. Mitchell, who worked at the Dannemora prison as a tailor shop instructor, is accused of providing the pair with hacksaw blades, chisels, a punch and a screwdriver.

The expensive manhunt for Matt and Sweat, which has covered more than 300 miles and involved nearly 1,000 officers from multiple law enforcement agencies, is now in its third week. The search briefly moved to Allegany County, but authorities announced Monday they found their first "credible lead" with forensic evidence at a campsite in Owls Head, less than 30 miles from Dannemora.

The Albany Times-Union reports officials briefly scoured the Titus Mountain ski resort on Tuesday, but are mostly focused on the area in and around the hunting cabin owned by corrections officers. Prison-issue underwear, toiletries, bloody socks and more items allegedly found were used for a positive DNA match.

The escapees were added to the U.S. Marshals Service's list of its 15 most wanted fugitives last week, prompting more interest in finding them. The Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the capture of either man, while state police are offering $50,000 for each -- or $150,000 altogether for both suspects, according to PIX 11.

Duane Chapman, best known as TV's "Dog the Bounty Hunter," told Time Warner Cable News that the reward will help people call in more tips but he got serious about finding them once Matt and Sweat landed on the Marshals Service's national list.

"People expect me to do something," he told TWC News on Monday. He said his team has been receiving two tips per hour, but is exercising caution.

"You can't go up there and jump in the cops' crime scene or go through the cabin and look for stuff," Chapman continued. "You've got to be very, very careful not to step on anybody's toes."

Another bounty hunter, Western New York native Chuck Jordan, told TWC News that he doesn't expect Chapman or others to try and apprehend Matt or Sweat themselves.

"If a third party gets hurt or if one of these guys, even though they're escapees, they can get a lawyer and try to sue you if they think you used excessive force, there's all kinds of things that can go wrong," Jordan, president of the National Association of Fugitive Recovery Agents, said.

There's also the concern about Matt and Sweat potentially harming others while on the run. Newly released footage from ABC shows Matt in 1997, posing with a blow dart gun.

"Let's dip these in AIDS blood, and we'll put a patent on them and sell as deadly weapons," he says.

Chapman told CNN his people "think they are going to kill one of Joyce's family members because they are so mad at her" for allegedly backing out of driving the getaway car. Mitchell's husband Lyle Mitchell was once believed to be part of a murder-for-hire plot.

"These guys are so dangerous that the cops are not hunting them at night," Chapman said. But on the bright side, he said, the DNA evidence suggests mistakes have been made and "the end is coming very soon."

Both escapees are considered extremely dangerous. Sweat was serving a life sentence for shooting a sheriff's deputy 15 times in 2002. Matt was in prison for the kidnapping, murder and dismemberment of a man who had fired him from his job at a food warehouse.

Anyone with information is asked to call 518-563-3761 or 1-800-GIVE-TIP.