MONTEZUMA CREEK, Utah – More than 75 searchers followed fresh tracks on the banks of the San Juan River Wednesday but were unable to find two suspected cop-killers.

Late Wednesday, Robert Wilcox of the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said sheriffs had received permission from the Bureau of Land Management to light a controlled burn in the search area to try to flush the two fugitives out of hiding.

Wilcox said if searchers didn’t capture the suspects Wednesday evening, they planned to set the fire early Thursday.

San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff Mike Lacy was not available to comment on the fire plan late Wednesday. In response to the late report, Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane wouldn’t confirm the fire plan, but he said the search agencies had discussed such a plan after Sunday’s sighting of the two suspects.

Authorities closed the river from Montezuma Creek to Bluff, Utah, Wednesday as snipers positioned themselves on the canyon rim and teams searched through dense tamarisk and Russian olive trees.

Suspects Alan "Monte" Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek and Jason Wayne McVean, 26, of Durango have eluded authorities for 34 days after allegedly shooting Cortez police officer Dale Claxton and wounding two sheriff’s deputies May 29 near Cortez.

A third suspect, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound June 4 near Bluff, Utah.

The search, which at the outset included 500 searchers, had been pared back in recent weeks to an ongoing investigation. The effort was rekindled Monday after a 9-year-old girl claimed she saw two men fitting Pilon and McVean’s descriptions trying to steal a water truck Sunday in Montezuma Creek, 12 miles east of Bluff.

Authorities said Tuesday the girl was 12, but corrected her age Wednesday.

Searchers, weathering 100-plus degree heat during the day, grew optimistic Tuesday night when Navajo trackers heard noises and saw some lights in an area approximately four miles west of Montezuma Creek, said Navajo tribal police Capt. Bill Hillgartner. A team searched the area Wednesday morning and found fresh tracks, he said.

Searchers followed the tracks in and out of the river on the north bank, Hillgartner said, and found a new set of tracks at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Lt. William Christensen of the San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff’s Office said the girl was in her family’s trailer Sunday evening when she heard a noise outside. She went outside and saw two men dressed in camouflage and carrying rifles "checking out" the water truck, Christensen said. The men noticed the girl when she made a noise, Christensen said, and the men then ran back toward the river.

Christensen said there were a large number of tracks on the river bank, causing searchers to believe the suspects had been in the area for a while.

Christensen said authorities believe the suspects move predominantly during the night.

Lacy said even though his searchers had been through this area with dogs in past weeks, it was possible that the fugitives had been here the whole time.

"If you had a good hiding spot, wouldn’t you stay in it?" Lacy said.

Special weapons and tactics teams from the Navajo Nation, Montezuma and La Plata County sheriff’s offices in Colorado, as well as the San Juan and Grand County sheriff’s offices in Utah, participated in Wednesday’s search. Also searching were police officers from Monticello and Blanding, Utah, and 11 FBI agents. Searchers on foot used two dogs and were aided by spotters in an airplane and a helicopter.