State police recount challenges in ’14 hunt for sniper Frein

HAWLEY, Pa. – The state police supervisor who ran the successful 2014 manhunt for a sniper later convicted of killing one Pennsylvania trooper and wounding another is outlining some of the search’s challenges.

Maj. George Bivens told state lawmakers during a Thursday hearing that radio-signal dead zones limited communication, and that suspect Eric Frein also was monitoring their radio traffic.

Bivens says the 48-day search was a “game” to the 34-year-old Frein.

Frein is on death row for killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and wounding of Trooper Alex Douglass outside the Blooming Grove barracks.

Bivens says his team needed permission or warrants to search buildings, even those that were abandoned.

The $12 million cost included more than $10 million in overtime and $1.4 million for cameras and batteries.