Reward increased for fugitive pair
Copyright © 1998 The Durango Herald. All rights reserved.
  

Roy Lane Herald/Nancy Richmond
CORTEZ POLICE Chief Roy Lane addresses reporters at a news conference Tuesday outside the Cortez police station.

June 10, 1998
(updated 2:15 p.m. MDT)

By Joshua Moore
Herald Staff Writer

After 12 days, people in the Four Corners area have realized law enforcement officials could use a little help finding two men suspected of shooting a Cortez police officer, and they’re digging into their wallets to help.

Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said Tuesday that the Cortez Crimestoppers organization is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Alan "Monte" Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek, and Jason McVean, 26, of Durango.

The two men allegedly killed Officer Dale Claxton and wounded two Montezuma County sheriff’s deputies near Cortez May 29. A third man suspected of being involved in the incident, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, was found dead June 4 near Bluff, Utah, after allegedly wounding a San Juan County, Utah, sheriff’s deputy.

The Utah medical examiner’s office in Salt Lake City revealed Wednesday that Robert Mason died of a self-inflicted gunshot. Lane said Mason had placed the gun in his mouth before pulling the trigger.

Tuesday, the mothers of Pilon and McVean appealed to their sons to surrender.

"Please, Monte, listen to me. We have talked to all the police agencies involved and all agree that you will not be hurt or mistreated," Beverly Pilon said from her home in Dove Creek, a small farming community northwest of Cortez.

"I know you are scared right now and wish this would all go away. Please know we need to work this out," she said. "Why don't you do this for us? I know this looks bad, but we can work it out. No matter what you have done or what has happened, we still love you."

McVean's mother, who asked that her name not be used because she feared for her safety, said they had been assured by police that their sons would not be harmed or mistreated.

"Don't worry about your problems. We'll work on them later. Everything is not lost. It's difficult but not impossible," McVean's mother said today from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. "Jason, I love you. Come on back. It's the right thing to do."

Mrs. Pilon’s comments were aired on Albuquerque and Denver television stations. The comments by McVean's mother were aired today on KRQE-TV in Albuquerque.

The initial $5,000 reward money came from businesses and residents of Cortez and other communities in the Four Corners. The Cortez City Council added another $5,000 Wednesday.

Lane said the reward does not mean law enforcement officials are admitting they’ve lost Pilon and McVean.

"This is not an admission," Lane said. "This just means that there are some good people in Cortez that’ll give up their hard-earned money."

Montezuma County Sheriff Sherman Kennell said 40 searchers divided into teams are being airlifted by three helicopters to several undisclosed areas.

Late Tuesday night a Utah state highway worker found a bag of corroded ammunition and a crossbow on the side of a road near Hite Marina at Lake Powell. Lane said the ammunition was consistent with the type used in the slaying of Cortez police officer Dale Claxton and the wounding of three deputies. However the focus of the search remains in Cross Canyon area near Hovenweep. "We’re not rushing off like a herd of elephants," Lane said.

Lane recommend that people stay out of the Hovenweep National Monument area for a radius of 30 miles.

Lane said he doesn’t believe that reducing the number of searchers will endanger those who remain.

"With the firepower that they have shown so far, they could probably go up against anybody," he said.

When asked why authorities believe the suspects are still in the Cross Canyon area, Lane said the men will likely stay in their "comfort zone" – an area they know well and where they will be close to friends.

"If I were those guys, I’d be right out there," Lane said, gesturing towards Cross Canyon. "If you (the suspects) go to a big city, you’d stick out like a sore thumb."

Lane said investigators are now trying to figure out the suspects’ master plan by "getting into their mind." Investigators have spoken with at least 100 people in the investigation, he said.

Lane discounted a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Atlanta that Pilon was a member of the Four Corners Patriots, a radical underground militia.

"I know there are some gurus in Atlanta who say they’re linked to the Four Corners Patriots, but none of our intelligence links them to that group," Lane said.

Lane said there was a possibility the suspects would be put on the FBI’s "Most Wanted" list.

When asked if he had anything to say to Pilon and McVean, Lane said, "Turn yourself in, and let’s go home."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Herald/Alex Dorgan-Ross
CRIME SCENE tape, foreground, marks the area where San Juan County sheriff’s Deputy Kelly Bradford was shot twice while responding to reports of a suspected gunman near Bluff, Utah, Thursday. A short time later in the brush to the right of the footbridge, the body of fugitive Robert Mason of Durango was found with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Swinging Bridge
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