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Trooper shooting suspect stashed guns, blankets, food

A search of the abandoned Pocono Township airplane hangar where Eric Frein is believed to have been hiding before his capture on Oct. 30 netted a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop computer and two thumb drives, guns and ammunition, a bayonet, a 14-page handwritten note in a manila envelope, dated Saturday, Dec. 28, 1996, and all the amenities needed to make life on the run as comfortable as possible.

U.S. marshals searching the unused Birchwood-Pocono Airpark in Pocono Township captured Frein on Oct. 30 in an open field near an abandoned hangar.

He was unarmed, but told the marshals there was a handgun and rifle in the hangar.

Frein, 31, is charged with murdering Cpl. Bryon Dickson and seriously wounding Trooper Alex Douglass in an ambush sniper attack on Sept. 12 at the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County.

Frein's motive has yet to surface. He is in Pike County prison without bail.

A state police laboratory has linked DNA found on a dental pick in Frein's bathroom to a water bottle, ammunition pouch, sweatshirt and cigarettes found at a makeshift campsite and in the car Frein is believed to have driven the night of the attack. Police want to take a mouth swab from Frein to get a sample of his DNA to compare to the pick and other items.

A search of the hangar revealed Frein was living a fairly comfortable life there, although it is yet unknown how long he stayed.

The two-story hangar was stocked with several DVDs, a black notepad with writings, a variety of food, seasonings, water, a propane stove and cooking equipment and utensils, a solar converter, warm clothing, sheets and blankets, candles, pills and capsules, shaving kits, first aid supplies, black under armor shirts and shorts, contact lenses, an eyeglass case, dental supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, a sewing kit, a Bible, a religious plaque, pages of typed prayers, brochures about Birchwood and books about parks, according to a search warrant inventory released Wednesday by Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin.

A self-styled survivalist, Frein also stocked the hangar with a Yugoslavian rifle and another rifle and a pistol; ammunition, a rifle scope and mount, Pentax binoculars, gun cleaning equipment, a web harness, a weatherband radio, tarps and camo blankets, pouches and bags, a leather holster, and batteries.

Up to 1,000 law enforcement officers searched the rugged wooded terrain around Frein's Canadensis home after a driver's license, Social Security card and other items in a Jeep found partially submerged in a retention pond about two miles from the barracks linked Frein to the attack. A man walking his dog found the Jeep three days after the shooting.

The search initially included Barrett and Price townships, then expanded to include Pocono and surrounding areas.

State police have estimated the 48-day search, which included helicopters, high-tech gadgets, tracking experts and out-of-state law enforcement officers, to cost around $10 million.

Click on the pdf below this story for the list of items police found.