Post by Dear Leader on Sept 28, 2014 1:18:16 GMT -6
It’s easy to forget, but there are still wild places in America — places where a man can disappear.
For 16 days, Eric Matthew Frein has eluded one of the biggest manhunts in recent history after allegedly killing a Pennsylvania State Police officer and wounding another.
He has done it by hiding in Promised Land State Park in the Pocono Mountains, 3,000 acres of woods hours from New York and Philadelphia. He has had no help from anyone, officials say.
“We’ve had sightings, but many sightings occurred as darkness was falling,” said State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens.
Residents in that sleepy area wonder how a man could live off the land while cops, federal agents, dogs and thermal-imaging-equipped helicopters hunt for him.
For reasons unknown, Frein opened fire outside the State Police barracks in Blooming Grove, Pa., on Sept. 12 — killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II, 38, and injuring Trooper Alex Douglass, 31, officials say.
Frein, 31, who studied survivalist techniques and was a star of his high-school rifle team, fled over back roads in a Jeep before ditching the vehicle.
Up to 1,000 officers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, the FBI and the ATF are on the hunt.
They’re hoping to capitalize on his one mistake — his use of his cellphone to briefly call his parents. Detected by investigators, the call has led them to narrow their focus to a five-square mile area, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Still, the dense forest of beech, oak, maple and hemlock trees features two lakes and several streams, offering Frein enough natural resources to survive for the foreseeable future.
Nothing suggests authorities are close to finding him. They’ve found ammo, Serbian cigarettes and soiled diapers they said belong to him, but Bivens acknowledged Frein could have left the items to throw police off his trail.
Questions are rampant. Is he living in a cave? How is he surviving? Is someone helping him?
Records of purchases for bunker-building material have been found, but authorities have not located such a hideout.
On Friday, a search warrant was executed on the abandoned Old Buck Hill Inn near Canadensis after cops got tips Frein could be looking to hole up there.
The former 400-room hotel, originally used as a Quaker retreat in 1901, was featured on the MTV reality show “Fear” in 2001.
With schools and mail deliveries suspended for days, locals have grown weary. Still, large signs line roadways near the barracks expressing support for law enforcement.
“I think he’s in Montana,” said Crystal McAuliffe, who lives five miles from the barracks. “I think one of those anti-government groups came in here and took him to safety.”
Another resident, Perry Durkin, suspects Frein is “underground in a bunker laughing at the police and all of us.”
Bivens called Frein a coward, adding, “We’re not going away. I’m absolutely positive that we will capture him.”
nypost.com/2014/09/28/accused-cop-killer-continues-to-evade-massive-manhunt/
For 16 days, Eric Matthew Frein has eluded one of the biggest manhunts in recent history after allegedly killing a Pennsylvania State Police officer and wounding another.
He has done it by hiding in Promised Land State Park in the Pocono Mountains, 3,000 acres of woods hours from New York and Philadelphia. He has had no help from anyone, officials say.
“We’ve had sightings, but many sightings occurred as darkness was falling,” said State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens.
Residents in that sleepy area wonder how a man could live off the land while cops, federal agents, dogs and thermal-imaging-equipped helicopters hunt for him.
For reasons unknown, Frein opened fire outside the State Police barracks in Blooming Grove, Pa., on Sept. 12 — killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II, 38, and injuring Trooper Alex Douglass, 31, officials say.
Frein, 31, who studied survivalist techniques and was a star of his high-school rifle team, fled over back roads in a Jeep before ditching the vehicle.
Up to 1,000 officers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, the FBI and the ATF are on the hunt.
They’re hoping to capitalize on his one mistake — his use of his cellphone to briefly call his parents. Detected by investigators, the call has led them to narrow their focus to a five-square mile area, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Still, the dense forest of beech, oak, maple and hemlock trees features two lakes and several streams, offering Frein enough natural resources to survive for the foreseeable future.
Nothing suggests authorities are close to finding him. They’ve found ammo, Serbian cigarettes and soiled diapers they said belong to him, but Bivens acknowledged Frein could have left the items to throw police off his trail.
Questions are rampant. Is he living in a cave? How is he surviving? Is someone helping him?
Records of purchases for bunker-building material have been found, but authorities have not located such a hideout.
On Friday, a search warrant was executed on the abandoned Old Buck Hill Inn near Canadensis after cops got tips Frein could be looking to hole up there.
The former 400-room hotel, originally used as a Quaker retreat in 1901, was featured on the MTV reality show “Fear” in 2001.
With schools and mail deliveries suspended for days, locals have grown weary. Still, large signs line roadways near the barracks expressing support for law enforcement.
“I think he’s in Montana,” said Crystal McAuliffe, who lives five miles from the barracks. “I think one of those anti-government groups came in here and took him to safety.”
Another resident, Perry Durkin, suspects Frein is “underground in a bunker laughing at the police and all of us.”
Bivens called Frein a coward, adding, “We’re not going away. I’m absolutely positive that we will capture him.”
nypost.com/2014/09/28/accused-cop-killer-continues-to-evade-massive-manhunt/
