Smoky Mountains Dragnet Eased

MURPHY, North Carolina: Theyre calling off some of the bloodhounds in the woods up in the Smoky Mountains, as the FBI and ATF scale down their search for Alabama abortion-clinic bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph. The reason is that in its fourth week, the nature of the manhunt is changing: As much as they like to talk about how vast and dense those woods are, chances are that if Rudolph were hiding in a cave or behind some trees they would have found him by now, says TIME correspondent Greg Fulton.

The focus of the manhunt is moving away from combing the woods to searching for like-minded people who may have helped Rudolph escape the dragnet. Right now theyre out showing photos of people who they suspect might have helped, or are currently helping Rudolph, says Fulton. Of course, the protracted manhunt might have been avoided altogether if the FBI hadnt broadcast their intention to question Rudolph the night before actually visiting his house - a night on which he appears to have been at home watching a video.