Eric Frein manhunt refocuses after possible sighting

POCONO TOWNSHIP, Pa., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Police have refocused their search for alleged cop killer Eric Frein after a woman reported recognizing the fugitive on Friday night.

An unidentified woman described seeing a man she believed was Frein around 9 p.m. Friday night near Pocono Mountain East High School, where Frein attended.

State police called the woman's information "highly credible" because she was only 15 or 20 feet away.

The new search area is in Swiftwater and around Paradise and Pocono townships, about five miles from the primary area targeted in the six-week manhunt.

State Police Lt. Col. George Bevins said there was a "large police presence" in the new search area.

"We've kept the pressure on him, and that's why he's moving," Bevins told reporters at a press conference Saturday afternoon.

Speaking to WPVI, the woman described the encounter which set police hot on Frein's trail. She says she was out for a walk near the high school, and did not initially recognize Frein.

"He was wearing a dark navy wool cap that was rolled up at the ends," she said, adding that he was carrying a rifle and standing near an empty house and abandoned truck.

"He had actually turned towards me and that's where you could tell the mud on his face and the height he was based on the truck he was standing next to. You could clearly tell it was a gun, a rifle with a scope attached to it. It looked as though he was looking for something or looking which way to go. He avoided making eye contact, I had the light shining on his upper half and his face was kind of confusing. This guy was not startled by me."

Schools in the search area are open Monday, but with additional security. Police are also expecting DNA results Monday on blood found Thursday on the porches of two homes in the Cresco area that may be Frein's.

Frein is accused of shooting two state police officers, killing one, at Blooming Grove Barracks on Sept. 12. A self-described survivalist, Frein has evaded the six-week-long manhunt likely by hiding out in the dense woods and taking shelter and supplies from the numerous cabins in the area.