BY LUCY MAY
and ADAM WEINTRAUB
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FRANKFORT, Ohio - Two gunmen who fired on police in Wilmington on Saturday apparently took refuge in a campground near this small south-central Ohio town.

Police sources said the Ohio State Highway Patrol could have known as early as Saturday that the suspects had directions to Frankfort because of evidence found in the Chevrolet Suburban they abandoned in Wilmington.

Ross County Sheriff Ronald L. Nichols said he didn't learn until Tuesday morning that the fugitives had been in his jurisdiction. By then, the men had already left the campground. A 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme stolen from Clinton County was found abandoned in a Frankfort grocery store parking lot the same morning.

The sheriff did not criticize state police, but said he wished for public safety reasons that he had known earlier the fugitives might be in his area.

''We could have walked into that situation unknowing ... We're very fortunate that nobody was hurt,'' Sheriff Nichols said.

The nationwide manhunt involving state and federal investigators continues for the two men who escaped into woods in Wilmington after two separate shootouts with police. The FBI has characterized the incident as a case of ''domestic terrorism.''

Highway Patrol Sgt. Brenda Collins said Wednesday that police still are trying to positively identify the fugitives so charges can be filed. Police released a second videotape Wednesday taken from inside a state police cruiser, in hopes someone watching it can identify the gunmen.

A document being circulated among police departments indicates police want to question two white supremacists - Jacob ''Jake'' Myron Settle, 39, and Chevie O'Brien Kehoe, 24. Sources in Washington state told The Enquirer on Wednesday that the 1977 blue Chevrolet Suburban abandoned in Wilmington was registered to Mr. Settle.

Investigators are examining weapons, ammunition and other evidence found in the Suburban, Sgt. Collins said. Fingerprints and other evidence may help identify the gunmen, she said.

Police have said they hope to file charges by Friday.

Following the trail

In Frankfort, witnesses said the abandoned Oldsmobile had been there since at least Monday morning, and the keys were inside the car.

''There's a presumption that there's a connection between this vehicle and the suspects from Wilmington,'' Sheriff Nichols said.

Investigators' search of Ross County campgrounds hit pay dirt at the Lake Hill campground, about a mile outside Frankfort.

Witnesses there looked at photos from the police videotape of the shooting and identified both suspects as men who had been living at the campground for weeks.

Investigators said at least four people, including a woman and three children, were thought to have been staying at the campground with the suspects. Police sources said the Suburban involved in the shootout was checked into the campground around Jan. 23.

Police think the fugitives left the campground between midnight Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday.

''I'm comfortable that these individuals are not in our county,'' Sheriff Nichols said.

The stolen Oldsmobile was impounded and being held at the sheriff's office in Chillicothe. Evidence technicians Wednesday brushed the car's dark paint with fingerprint powder, searching for evidence. No information was available on what they found.

At the Lake Hill campground, one spot sat empty Wednesday with a few other campers dotting the gravel parking lots amid bare trees. Campers were hesitant to talk about the case, fearful of the reports of violence. No one answered the door at the small blue campground office building.

Aryan connections

Confirmation that the Suburban belonged to Mr. Settle resolved some questions about why authorities might want to talk to him, but it contradicted an earlier theory that another Washington man was connected to the case.

Initially, Pope County, Ark., Sheriff Jay Winters indicated the vehicle might have been the same one connected to the investigation of a triple slaying in that state. That other vehicle was driven by Sean Michael Haines, 19, of Spokane, whom court documents identified as an admitted Aryan youth leader and white supremacist.

Mr. Settle, Mr. Kehoe and Mr. Haines all have clear ties to the Aryan Nations in Washington state, according to Bill Wassmuth, executive director of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, which monitors the activities of hate groups in six states.

The Rev. Harold ''Ray'' Redfearin, head of an Aryan Nations chapter in the nearby Clinton County town of New Vienna, has denied knowing anything about the gunmen.

A Spokane woman whose daughters had married Mr. Settle and Mr. Kehoe in Aryan ceremonies said Wednesday she had viewed the police cruiser videotapes but the quality was too poor to identify who the men were.

''We'd be the first to say it was (Mr. Settle) if we thought it was, but ... the quality isn't good,'' said the woman, who asked that her name not be used because her daughter is still married to Mr. Settle, and she fears for the safety of her family.

''It's still possible, and we, in our hearts, would love to see (Mr. Settle and Mr. Kehoe) both behind bars, but you have to be honest,'' she said.

If, indeed, the Wilmington gunmen are connected with the Aryan Nations, they would be able to tap into a national network of sympathizers and safe houses, said Jonathan Mozzochi, executive director of the Coalition for Human Dignity in Seattle, which monitors the activities of such groups.

Tom O'Neill contributed to this report.

Previous stories

INVESTIGATORS, SUPREMACISTS APPEAL TO PUBLIC Feb. 19, 1997

FBI JOINS HUNT FOR GUNMEN Feb. 18, 1997

SHOOTOUT MAY BE LINKED TO KILLINGS Feb. 17, 1997