In terms of laying low, how much outside help can they be getting, enough to challenge the police???
The main problem with escapees, once they’re out, is that they still need food, a place to live, etc. All that requires contact with other people who may recognize the escapee.
On the other hand, if you have someone on the outside whom you can trust (who won’t hand you over to the police), they can go and get you everything you need. True, you end up more or less a prisoner in your hiding place, but it probably beats prison.
Remember, it’s not like the cops can actually go house to house and demand to search it. If the escapees have someone to support them, and don’t do anything stupid to advertise their location, they can probably hold out for quite a while.
The Business Insider article I mentioned above made the point that most escapees don’t have a plan beyond the actual escape itself. Therefore, once they’re out, there have nowhere to go and usually end up getting caught shortly thereafter. However, with proper planning (and, remember, these two prisoners have demonstrated that they have the capability of planning) and help on the outside, you can hole up for quite a while.
The Wolf