Tuesday the FBI raised its reward from $50,000 to $300,000 for information leading to the arrest of two suspected cop-killers.

Cortez Crimestoppers raised $20,500 for the reward, said Marlin Wittwer, which makes the total reward $320,500.

In Utah, instead of waiting for new information to be generated by the increased reward, Navajo Nation police investigators followed up on new information in Montezuma Creek, Utah. Navajo Nation Police Chief Leonard Butler would not elaborate on the leads, but said some of them had come from a residential area west of town.

Authorities say they hope the higher reward will help bring new information to investigators searching for Alan "Monte" Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek and Jason Wayne McVean, 26, of Durango.

"Maybe this reward will cause someone to come forth with information," Montezuma County Undersheriff Sam Hager said Tuesday. "All it’s going to take is that one little lead that’ll lead to the big lead, and we’ll be there."

As of Tuesday, Pilon and McVean had eluded searchers for 47 days after allegedly shooting Cortez police officer Dale Claxton and wounding two sheriff’s deputies May 29. A third suspect in the shootings, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound June 4 near Bluff, Utah, after allegedly wounding a sheriff’s deputy.

Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane, who attended a news conference at the FBI office in Denver to announce the federal contribution to the reward fund, said the increased reward could help capture the two fugitives.

Frank A. LoTurco, the FBI’s special agent in charge, and David M. Tubbs, of the Salt Lake City FBI office, said McVean and Pilon should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. They said numerous explosive devices have been recovered and linked directly to the two.

LoTurco said the increased reward money may bring someone forward with more information, but the FBI was not yet ready to put the pair on the agency’s top 10 most wanted list.

Lane cautioned bounty hunters from searching for the two men.

"We have had some bounty hunters and they are a concern to us. There’s a concern we’re going to get somebody else killed or hurt. This is some of the most treacherous country I’ve been in," he said.

Butler said he is also concerned bounty hunters will flock to Montezuma Creek, where last week Navajo special weapons and tactics teams spotted two men they believed to be Pilon and McVean and discovered fresh tracks.

"Hopefully they (bounty hunters) will stay out of our way," Butler said. "None of them will be allowed in the search area, and if they’re already there, we’ll boot them out."

Lane said the search will continue until the two men are captured.

"These people have to be arrested before they hurt or kill someone else," Lane said. He also said he thinks the two men are still in southeastern Utah.

"My gut tells me, and that’s all it is, that they’re going to stay in that area," Lane said.

Butler, who has maintained since June 28 that the suspects are near Montezuma Creek, said he thinks the two fugitives are probably considering leaving the area.

"I think they’re probably considering alternate plans," Butlers said. "We’ve been so close when we’ve pursued them a few times that I bet they’re starting to think of a plan B."

Butler suspended the Navajo search to allow his officers time to re-evaluate and rest, and so the Navajo Nation can determine if it has sufficient resources to continue the search.

Not all audits have been completed, but law enforcement agencies say they have spent about $1 million in the search. Colorado Gov. Roy Romer’s press secretary Jim Carpenter said Monday that Romer has asked the Department of Local Affairs to talk with various agencies to see if the state can help with costs.

Law enforcement agencies say they are tallying search costs, including food, lodging, equipment, overtime and travel.

The Colorado Army National Guard spent the most, nearly $600,000, to send troops and helicopters to the Four Corners in the early days of the search.

San Juan County, Utah, administrator Rick Bailey said his sheriff’s office has spent $70,000 of its $1 million annual budget and has applied for state emergency relief.

The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office has not totaled manhunt expenses incurred, but Hager said he expects costs have reached at least $100,000.

Navajo Nation Police Sgt. Tyrone Benally said the Navajo Division of Public Safety has spent between $300,000 and $500,000 on the manhunt thus far, although the Navajo Police Department has not completed an audit of search expenses.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has spent $49,000, not including laboratory work and crime-scene investigations still under way, said CBI Director Carl Whiteside, who also attended Tuesday’s news conference.

The Colorado State Patrol has spent $55,680, and the Dolores County Sheriff’s Office has search bills totaling $19,000.