A daring weekend escape from a New York state maximum-security penitentiary, the facility's first prison break, marked at least the third time convicted murderer Richard Matt had moved to bust out from behind bars.

As authorities searched for a fourth day on Tuesday for Matt, 48, and his fellow convicted killer, David Sweat, 34, details emerged showing that the older inmate had twice tried to escape prison, once successfully.

Police investigating his getaway from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, just 20 miles (30 km) from the Canadian border, were questioning a woman who worked in the prison tailor shop where the men had menial jobs. She was identified in various media outlets, including ABC News, as Joyce Mitchell. According to her Facebook page, Mitchell is an industrial training supervisor at the prison.