MONROE COUNTY — While images of the manhunt for Eric Frein may look similar day to day, there is no denying one thing is changing: the season.
The advance of autumn could have an impact on the fugitive at the center of the hunt and on the people looking for him in Pike and Monroe Counties.
Outdoors expert Julie Martin of Practical Primative says, when it comes to visibility, time is on the side of the search party.
“As the leaves have been falling, it makes it much easier for the searchers to see farther distances. The leaves have really started to fall in this last week,” Martin said.
For most of the past month, the weather has been primarily dry, but a rainy spell would present new challenges for a man on the run.
“When you get wet, you lose body heat at a rate 25 times faster than when you are dry, which is a huge difference,” said Martin.
State police have presented evidence that Frein has been eating tuna and Ramen noodles, but Martin says, if he has to start living off the land, it becomes more time-consuming and complicated as time goes forward.
Easy pickings like berries begin to become scarce, and the nuts and legumes that are available take more time to make safe to eat. Martin says that could make Frein more vulnerable to capture.
“All of that than takes time, as well, and leaves him exposed in ways that would allow the searchers to be able to have better access to him, which we hope they will get him very, very soon.”
But, while time may be on the searchers’ side, the longer the manhunt goes, the more it costs.
State police say, while they do not have an exact total, they estimate expenses have run into the millions.
Reaction to that was mixed in the parking lot of a supermarket in Mt. Pocono
“It’s gotten a little ridiculous after this amount of time. If they can’t find him in this amount of time, they got to stop spending that kind of money,” said Gary Johnson.
However, many shoppers expressed their support for the operation.
“They need to do whatever it takes to get this guy because he is a threat to everybody,” said Maureen Courtwright.
