Report: Estranged son to claim body of escapee Richard Matt
NEW YORK -- No one has claimed the body of escaped convict Richard Matt, a source involved in the disposal of the body tells CBS News. Authorities have reached out to Matt's estranged son, Nick Harris, 23, but have not gotten a response.
Richard Matt was fatally shot Friday during an encounter with border patrol agents about 30 miles west of the prison he escaped from with David Sweat on June 6. On Sunday afternoon, police caught Sweat near the Canadian border.
Late Tuesday, Harris told CBS News affiliate WIVB in Buffalo that he intends to claim his father's body and said he thinks Matt's killing was excessive. Harris said he would also attempt to retrieve letters between him and his father that were seized by authorities as part of their investigation.
Earlier this month, Harris described his father in an interview with the station, calling Matt a genius with the ability to adapt to situations.
Harris also had said that he is not surprised that his father was able to thwart detection and break out of prison.
He said he never knew his father very well because he had been incarcerated since he was very small, and said that the escape and flight of his father was "shocking that nobody would really expect that."
"It's a lot to register and comprehend at first," Harris said to WIVB. "I don't know him to say I respect him or not. Obviously he was in jail when I was younger, and he wasn't there for me as a father, so there's that, but I don't know him well enough to say that."
Authorities told CBS News they will petition Social Services to arrange for a pauper's funeral if no one claims the body by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
The toxicology report will take a few weeks.