MONTEZUMA CREEK, UTAH – Sunday morning the search for two suspected cop-killers along the San Juan River was called off for the second time in a week. The cancellation comes only hours after Navajo searchers found fresh tracks and heard a noise that sounded like a gunshot Saturday night.

Navajo Nation Police Chief Leonard Butler said that the search may be on hold for at least a week to give his officers a chance to rest.

More than 60 Navajo special weapons and tactics team members searched the riverbanks Saturday night. Around midnight they heard a noise that sounded like a gunshot, Butler said.

"There was a command post that said they heard a shot, but a lot of times the pumps (field fuel pumps) out there can give off the same sound as a weapon report," Butler said.

Authorities had hoped that Saturday night’s search would flush out Alan "Monte" Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek and Jason Wayne McVean, 26, of Durango, who have eluded authorities for 45 days after allegedly shooting Cortez police officer Dale Claxton and wounding two sheriff’s deputies May 29. A third suspect, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound June 4 near Bluff, Utah, after wounding a sheriff’s deputy.

Butler refused to comment on whether Navajo SWAT teams would continue to monitor the river after the majority of searchers leave.

A search dog from Duchesne County, Utah, found some fresh tracks Sunday morning, Butler said, but the border collie later lost them.

Butler said he is confident that his SWAT teams will be able to relocate the suspects, saying his officers had found tracks on five of the seven nights they’ve been monitoring the river.