I haven’t left my house after dark since last Friday. Around 6:30pm each night I make sure that we’re home and ready to stay inside for the night prior to the sun setting. With the “Shelter In Place” order going into effect last Friday coupled with increased search activity each night at around the same time, it’s made me not too fond of being outside at night anymore. I don’t think Eric Frein is by any means coming after me, or my family, but heck if I’m going to test that theory.
Pennsylvania State Police have repeated a few times to lock your doors and light up the outside of your home which seems reasonable enough. Unfortunately my neighbor behind me does not understand that concept, so when I look outside it’s pitch black at night minus the area our spotlights shine on. There are no street lights and about half my neighborhood is vacation homes, second homes or vacant so they’re not occupied and cause great distances that are barely lit, or not lit up at all. We live about 5 miles away from the search area, and a much shorter distance if you were to cut through the woods and not take roads. Personally, that’s too close for comfort. Although the most action our neighborhood has seen was the occasional state trooper, I don’t think my fears are totally unfounded.
For the people living directly in the search area I can’t imagine the daily stress. Many people find it comforting to have armed guards right outside but they also have helicopters hovering through the night – would you be able to sleep in that situation? Those of us that live farther away can still hear those helicopters, but we’re at arms length just hoping and praying that he is contained in the search area, and not wandering behind our homes. I had a client opt for a phone meeting instead of an in office meeting this week and someone else cancel as well. I do not blame them at all, but the question that everyone who lives close to the situation is asking is “When will this end?” and “When can life go back to normal?”
It is RARE to see a police car go by on an average day, they are usually not out patrolling or sitting somewhere trying to catch people speeding. Unless you call them, you usually do not see them, so to see them daily is a reminder that things are far from normal. The Poconos is a LARGE area – and it ranges from the glitz and glamor of celebrity appearances at casinos to NASCAR races at Pocono Raceway. There are your cute historical towns and large waterpark complexes, but this is not the part of the Pocono Mountains that Eric Frein is hiding in, he’s hiding in our dense woods that can be nearly impossible to navigate. The woods near any major road you can usually see through a bit, but once you hit more rural areas you can go miles without seeing a house or a even passing car.
The news has been…crazy. I complained previously about a lack of news because at the time the “Shelter In Place” warning was given with little to no information given during that time. Now that the heat has cooled off a bit, nightly news reporting seems to be more then enough of a daily source of information. A large reason for this is the huge inaccuracies of different media outlets, I understand everyone wants to get the story first, but the rumors and speculation at this point are hindering the search more then anything else. The Pennsylvania State Police took time for a news conference today which I believe was in large part to discredit the rumors of an affair. It didn’t make it any better that Lt. Col. George Bivens was asked multiple times about it during today’s news conference, there were so many more pertinent questions that could have been asked.
Instead of rumors, speculation and trying to make stories out of nothing, I urge everyone to invest that time and energy into helping to find Eric Frein. YOU might be the key to finding Eric Frein, YOU can help fill in those missing puzzle pieces. Over the past few news conferences there has been the same underlying thread – law enforcement is turning to the public for information. Whether you visited the Poconos recently or live here, you may have evidence you aren’t even aware of. Check your camera phone, photos or videos you might have taken from a recent vacation and look in the background for Eric Frein, the jeep he was using or anything that else that seems suspicious and relevant to the search. Who is in the background of photos you took? Even if he was holed up in the woods for weeks before the incident he had to have left a trail somewhere. Do you have a home or cabin with an outdoor security camera, or a hunting camera? Check the footage. Those are the pieces of evidence that the police don’t have, but that you may. Were you out hunting or hiking and remember seeing anything odd? Have you seen anything since then? This same type of information helped a lot in the Boston Marathon Bombing investigation – I urge you to review any media that you might have from a few weeks ago until now. Law enforcement is asking anyone who might have information which might assist in the search to contact their tipline at 1-866-326-7256.
If you are not local you can still help by bringing awareness to others that information is needed. It’s entirely possible that you have an acquaintance who was in the Poconos for a vacation 2 weeks ago. Or that person has a friend who owns a vacation home here and hasn’t checked their security cameras recently. Word of mouth and social media are powerful advertising tools, I ask you to use them to help find Eric Frein.
For anyone that does not live in the immediate area this story will eventually die, but for those of us living here we’re stuck living with it every day. For those that live in and around the search area they struggling with finding some sense of normalcy when they wake up each day. It’s both a balance and a struggle dealing with the reality and severity of the situation while at the same time trying to live a normal life.
There has been a huge outpouring of community support and donations, everyone has risen above and beyond to donate and volunteer. Homeowners in the search area have said how polite and respectful the police have been and how their presence provides a sense of security. Cpl. Bryon Dickson’s wife and family have suffered a great loss and Trooper Alex Douglass is still recovering and will be for quite some time, so for their sake and for ours we need to remain calm and vigilant. Lt. Col. George Bivens noted today that Eric Frein is still not only a threat to the police, but the public as well. Although we’re all hoping this ends soon the fact is it may take awhile, so we really need to continue to support law enforcement working those long hours and do whatever we can to help them reach our common goal.
If you would like to talk to someone regarding the stress of this situation you can call 1-800-985-5990, they are available 24/7. If you have information you believe may help in this investigation please call the tip line at 1-866-326-7256
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