Federal authorities in Wyoming will comb two fugitives' abandoned motor home for evidence today, hoping for clues that could lead them to the gunmen wanted for the Feb. 15 shootouts with police in Wilmington, Ohio.
A Wyoming Highway Patrolman found Chevie and Cheyne Kehoe's camper Friday night parked under an Interstate 25 overpass about 20 miles north of Casper, Wyo.
The discovery immediately intensified the search in the Northwest for the suspects, who are part of the white-separatist group Aryan Nations and have been linked to murder investigations in Arkansas and Idaho.
A rancher in the Casper area told Wyoming authorities the white 1977 Dodge Executive with green stripes had been on I-25, along the sparsely populated prairie in central Wyoming, for about a week.
Casper Police Sgt. Bryan Sanborn alerted authorities across his state Saturday to be on the lookout for the fugitives. ''But we don't think they're in the area anymore.''
The Kehoe brothers, from Colville, Wash., are the focus of a nationwide manhunt. Authorities found six guns, more than 4,000 rounds of ammunition, bulletproof vests, hats and jackets bearing FBI logos, and military gear in the Chevrolet Suburban that the Kehoes abandoned in Wilmington, an hour northeast of Cincinnati.
After fleeing from the shootouts, authorities say, the Kehoes apparently caught up with their wives and children, who were staying in the motor home at a campground in Ross County near Chillicothe, Ohio.
FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents in Wyoming impounded the camper and ordered tests on its contents. It is registered to Chevie Kehoe's wife, Karena Gumm.
''We don't know if they were driving that. We don't know if they abandoned it,'' said Sgt. John Born, spokesman for the Ohio Highway Patrol. ''It's something we see as a positive in creating leads for us.''
Before coming to Ohio, the Kehoes and their families lived in a cabin in a northwestern Montana area called Yaak, a place so remote it has no telephones or electricity without a generator.
Officers across the country are eager for Chevie Kehoe's capture, Sgt. Born said. ''He's very popular with law enforcement.''
Previous stories
PAIR LINKED TO GUN TRADE March 1, 1997
GUNMEN CARRIED POLICE GEAR IN VAN Feb. 28, 1997
CHEVIE KEHOE INDICTED ON FEDERAL CHARGES Feb. 26, 1997
CALLS GIVE TIPS ON FUGITIVES Feb. 25, 1997
WILMINGTON SHOOTOUT NOW FBI CONCERN Feb. 22, 1997
BROTHERS INDICTED, SOUGHT IN SHOOTOUTS Feb. 21, 1997
TWO GUNMEN TRACKED TO CAMPGROUND Feb. 20, 1997
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
