Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Poconos manhunt is keeping fall tourists away

CANADENSIS, Pa. - The vibrant display of pumpkins, gourds, and mums sat outside the shop, where the aroma of hot apple cider filled the air.

CANADENSIS, Pa. - The vibrant display of pumpkins, gourds, and mums sat outside the shop, where the aroma of hot apple cider filled the air.

Temperatures flirted with 80, and trees were beginning to show off brilliant hues of red and orange.

But something was missing: customers.

"We should be busy, busy, busy," Elaine Bubb, owner of the Stonewall Garden Center, said Saturday morning.

But tourists were largely avoiding the area as the manhunt for alleged state trooper killer Eric Frein entered its third week. And although residents again were able to leave their homes after days of roadblocks and confusion, evidently they were hesitant to return to daily routines.

Nearly 1,000 law enforcement officers have been involved in the hunt, but if officials were any closer to catching Frein, the self-styled survivalist, they were not talking about it Saturday.

Police believe Frein spent years planning his attack and retreat into the Poconos woods. The search Saturday continued to focus on a 5-square-mile area on the border of Monroe and Pike Counties. He had not been spotted there since early last week, police said Friday, but they had no reason to believe he has left the woods.

The search for Frein has paralyzed the surrounding towns as law enforcement vehicles have swarmed the roads and troopers in camouflage patrolled the woods. While some restrictions finally have been removed, it may be a while before business as usual resumes for the locals.

"They are cautiously returning to their normal things," said Barrett Township Supervisor Ralph Megliola.

As a few regular customers arrived at Stonewall Garden Center on Saturday morning, Bubb sensed that her neighbors were happy to leave their homes for "a little bit of normalcy."

That was a relative concept, however, with helicopters continuing to circle the skies, police and television crews stationed along the roads, and few tourists in sight.

At the Brookview Manor bed-and-breakfast, in Canadensis, a village that is part of Barrett Township, owner Gaile Horowitz said she was frustrated by several canceled reservations.

"Fall foliage, that's our busiest weeks out of the entire year," she said.

Louie Trocchio, who works at the nearby Mount Airy Casino Resort, said that while business usually slows at the end of the summer, for the last several days "it's been dead."

The manhunt did not keep everyone away.

Deborah Martin of Accord, N.Y. - a two-hour drive from the scene of the manhunt - wanted to get away for the weekend. She did not know it was the site of the manhunt until she arrived Friday night, but it did not bother her. She spent the day Saturday sightseeing and hiking in areas outside the focus of the manhunt.

"It's a beautiful day," Martin said. "You know what? There are bad people everywhere you go."

Business was picking up again during the weekend at the Pour House restaurant and bar in Mountainhome. Co-owner Buffy Pipolo said that she had five tables full of regular customers Friday night whom she had not seen in at least a week.

"They said, 'Oh it's finally that we're out. We just needed a martini outside the house,' " Pipolo said.

Police offered few details about the search on Saturday.

"We continue to move assets around during this search and as new information becomes available," said Trooper Connie Devens.

Troopers continued to stand watch in the same neighborhoods where they have been present for days, searching by car and on foot for signs of Frein.

"It doesn't bother me whatsoever," said Paul Finken, whose home is within the search area. "They have a job to do."

Frein, 31, is charged with killing Cpl. Byron Dickson and wounding Trooper Alex Douglass outside the state police barracks in Blooming Grove on the night of Sept. 12.

Police said Frein then retreated into the woods 15 to 20 miles away from Canadensis, Monroe County, where he lived with his parents. He tried to call his parents Sept. 18, sources familiar with the investigation said, allowing police to narrow their search.

Frein may see the manhunt as a game, police said, and likely has supplies and a bunker hidden in the woods. Police have found soiled diapers, Serbian cigarettes, and other clues that he remains in the area, but they are proceeding with caution in part because they believe he may have explosives.

Outside the woods, other reminders of the manhunt remain in the quiet mountain community. Neighbors swap stories in restaurants and shops. Hundreds of blue ribbons - a sign of support for state police - are hanging from street signs, businesses, and bridges.

So many residents brought food and supplies to the Barrett Township firehouse that they were asked to delay donations for a few days. Businesses and residents donated meals, bug spray, sunscreen, and dog food for the search dogs.

"We are maxed out," said Fire Chief Grover Cleveland.

The officers involved in the search are using the firehouse for meetings and meals, and are sleeping in area hotels.

As he sensed that troopers' morale was dropping a few days ago, Cleveland asked children at local schools and day-care centers to make cards for the troopers, which he put on display in the firehouse.

Even as area residents rallied to support law enforcement, they grew weary of being on edge.

"At this point we are starting to get tired of it," said Roger Smith, owner of Smitty's Sporting Goods in Canadensis. "It can't go on forever."

610-313-8116

@LMcCrystal