MoreyUnit

In an effort to conceal their identities, both may have changed their appearance — McCluskey has dyed his hair black and has a black beard, and Welch dyed her hair blonde, U.S. Marshals said.

Though the woman's description of the suspects was general, investigators were intrigued because Welch has family members in Arkansas. Authorities hope to obtain surveillance video of the robbery.

"This is a lead that looks very good, but keep in mind that every major crime that has occurred in the United States in the last 10 days has been attributed to them." Gonzales said.

Gentry is in northwest Arkansas, near Bentonville, where Welch's mother lives and nearly 1,600 miles from the Montana town where the pair was last seen on Sunday.

Authorities had concentrated their search in recent days near northwest Montana near the Canadian border.

Gonzales said investigators are still pursuing leads in the northwest, but are continuing a nationwide manhunt for McCluskey and Welch.

The pair has eluded authorities since McCluskey and two other inmates, Daniel Renwick, 32, and Tracy Province, 42, escaped from a privately run prison in Kingman on July 30. Renwick and Province have since been apprehended.

Investigators said they believe Welch climbed over the berm and threw tools to the inmates. The prisoners climbed out of the small yard, which had no barbed wire, and used the tools to cut through two fences before crawling out.

McCluskey, Province and Welch were named as "sole suspects" in the murder of an Oklahoma couple in Santa Rosa, N.M., last week. The remains of Gary and Linda Haas, 61, were found badly burned in a camper on Aug. 4.

Investigators said on Tuesday that there was forensic evidence linking McCluskey to the murders. Associate Press contributed to this article.