Camping gear found in ex-cop’s burned truck

— Camping gear was found along with weapons inside the burned-out truck belonging to Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings who is the subject of a manhunt in Southern California’s snow-covered mountains, authorities said Sunday.

The Nissan pickup found Thursday in this ski resort town was so charred that investigators couldn’t be more specific about the nature of its contents, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Rudy Lopez.

Meanwhile, police also were investigating a taunting phone call that may have been made by Dorner to the father of the woman they believe he killed last week. Two law enforcement officers who requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation told The Associated Press on Sunday they are trying to determine if the call days after the killing was made by the 33-year-old fugitive or a man posing as him.

SWAT teams with air support and bloodhounds fanned out for the fourth day to search for Dorner, who has vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career.

The effort was significantly scaled back as the weekend went on, with 25 officers and a single helicopter looking for clues in the forest and going door-to-door at some 600 cabins in the San Bernardino mountains, about 80 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Authorities planned a 1 p.m. news conference in Los Angeles to announce a reward for information leading to the arrest of Dorner.

“Hopefully the reward will motivate people that may be involved with assisting him or might be reluctant to talk to us to call us and to put an end to this,” Lopez said. Officials were trying to raise up to $1 million dollars, according to LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith.

On Saturday, Chief Charlie Beck said officials would re-examine the allegations by Dorner that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues. While he promised to hear out Dorner if he surrenders, Beck stressed that he was ordering a review of his 2007 case because he takes the allegation of racism in his department seriously.

“I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do,” the chief said in a statement.

Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that have left three people dead. Authorities say he has vowed revenge against several former colleagues. The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide protection to 50 families, Beck said.

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