Investigators late Tuesday identified the camouflage-clad skeleton found on a bluff northwest of Cortez as the remains of suspected cop-killer Alan "Monte" Pilon.

Police said it appears Pilon, 32, of Dove Creek, may have died in the same manner as one of his cohorts – by shooting himself in the head with a 9mm handgun.

Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin, who was one of the first investigators to reach the scene after the human remains were found by hunters Sunday, said the condition of the skull indicated that the person may have shot himself in the head. The back of the skull was intact, but the bones in the front of the skull were in several pieces, he said.

"The handgun was positioned where his right hand would have been lying, and that would give the indication that he held the gun in his right hand," Martin said. "But that’s just educated speculation. There’s no way to tell until we get the forensic results."

San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff Mike Lacy said a 9mm pistol lay by the man’s side, and a spent cartridge of the same size was buried in damp ground below the remains. On Tuesday, Lacy arrived at the trampled spot with a metal detector, hoping to find a slug to match.

Martin said evidence at the scene – including a pair of prescription eyeglasses found on the body – suggested the body was Pilon’s.

"The eyeglasses were lying in front of the body, and were upside-down on the feet where they would naturally have fallen," Martin said.

A prescription pill bottle found in the skeleton’s pocket was made out to a friend of Pilon’s, Martin said.

Although evidence at the scene indicated that the remains found on Tin Cup Mesa, overlooking Cross Canyon on the Colorado-Utah border, belonged to Pilon, a dental expert was necessary to make a definite identification. The identification has been delayed because Pilon’s dental records are incomplete after age 14.

Cortez Assistant Police Chief Russell Johnson said the Utah medical examiner determined Tuesday afternoon that the body did not belong to Jason Wayne McVean, but said further tests were necessary to determine if it is Pilon.

Pilon and McVean, 26, of Durango, disappeared into Cross Canyon after they allegedly killed Cortez police Officer Dale Claxton, on May 29, 1998, when Claxton stopped them for driving a stolen water truck in Cortez. A third man involved in the shooting, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, was found dead outside of Bluff, Utah, on June 4, 1998. Authorities said Mason shot himself with his 9 mm handgun as officers were closing in.

A few searchers combed the area Tuesday near where the skeleton was found for any sign of the third suspected cop-killer, but few expected to find another fugitive in the same area.

Eleven hunters found the body Sunday evening after stumbling across a bag loaded with supplies on Tin Cup Mesa. A few feet away they uncovered a rifle set up on a bipod and aimed at a dirt road. The road leads to an oil well below the mesa; seven homemade pipe bombs were found near the body.

"It surprised me he would be able to cover a lot of ground," said Lacy, who called Pilon a "mama’s boy" who was known to be lazy – and who likely fell in with the survivalist McVean because he owed the IRS nearly $3,000 in unpaid taxes.

Dot Graham, an FBI agent stationed in Durango, said Tuesday that McVean is known to be the most fit of the three survivalists.

"One thing we do know is that of the three, Jason McVean is the most prepared, both mentally and physically, to survive out there," Graham said.

"The search will go on to find him."

Martin said that although the skull and hands of the skeleton found Sunday had been carried off by animals, the rest of the skeleton was relatively intact inside the bulletproof vest and camouflage clothing.

"He had his legs crossed Indian-style, and he had laid back flat on the ground," Martin said.

"It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen – it was basically intact, a skeleton inside its clothes."

Utah Medical Examiner Todd Grey said the state of decomposition will make it difficult to determine what happened to the person found on Tin Cup Mesa.

"Obviously the quality of the materials is not as good as with someone who just recently died, but we can still find evidence of disease, injuries, things like that," Grey said. "At this point ... the process of deciding who it was and what happened is ongoing."

Pilon’s mother declined to comment when contacted Tuesday.