INCLUDES VIDEO: Department of Corrections news conference

SUMMERVILLE -- Two Hays State Prison inmates have likely broken into several Chattooga County homes since they escaped from the prison last week, Department of Corrections Commissioner James Donald said at a news conference this morning.

On Monday, escapee Johnny Mack Brown entered a woman’s house and when she arrived home, forced her to drive to Franklin County in Northeast Georgia, where he was picked up by an unidentified person. The woman was not harmed.

The search for Brown and Michael Tweedel continues. According to Donald, both were injured during the escape, and authorities have been following a trail of bloody clothing. Donald would not comment on whether the two were still together.

“We don’t want them to know what we know,” he said.

According to the DOC, the search will now be expanded to include a larger area, with the assistance of state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the Southeast.

During the news conference this morning, Donald also expressed disappointment in the three individuals — including Warden Dale Herndon — who were suspended in connection with the escape.

“Budget cutbacks have nothing to do with the failure here,” he said. “That was human failure.”

He expects that all three will likely be fired following an investigation.

Asked how the two fugitives could have made their way over the prison’s barbed wire fence, Donald said, “I would like to bring some of those bloody clothes to you. In fact, in every location we’ve find any signature of them being there, there is a trail of bloody clothes. So the got cut up pretty bad.”

Brown is serving a life sentence for a 1997 armed robbery and shooting of a Loomis Fargo armored car driver and various other violent crimes in Clarke County. He is 53, weighs 149 pounds and is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. He has a scar on his back and right thigh.

Tweedell is serving two 10-year sentences for a 1992 armed robbery of a Cobb County health food store. He is 48 and weighs 153 pounds and is 5 feet 6 inches tall.

Staff writer Josh O'Bryant contributed to this article.

VIDEO: Department of Corrections news conference

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