Authorities have used helicopters, dogs, a military tank and highly trained trackers in the search for two suspected cop-killers. But they’ve decided to draw the line at dowsing rods.

Searchers from several law enforcement agencies in southwest Colorado and southeast Utah have responded to numerous reports of tracks and possible sightings of the two fugitives in the 68 days since the two men allegedly killed a Cortez police officer on May 29. Those reports have become increasingly far-fetched in recent weeks, according to spokesmen at several agencies, and responding to them has begun to threaten the search.

Law enforcement officials refused to check out a report by Willis Kent, 71, who claims he has tracked Jason McVean to an island in Lake Powell by using a piece of insole from a shoe taken from one of the suspect’s houses. Kent told The Denver Post that he tied the insole to a dowsing rod, a forked stick used to locate underground water sources.

Kent said his stick last week led him to a man with a canoe who was on a marshy island in Lake Powell. Kent said he believes the man is Jason McVean, 26, of Durango, because he moves quickly and appears athletic.

Several people in recent weeks have reported seeing people they believe to be McVean and Alan "Monte" Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek, in the area around Montezuma Creek, Utah. A third suspect, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound June 4 near Bluff, Utah, about 15 miles west of Montezuma Creek.

San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff Mike Lacy said that following up on reports such as Kent’s weakens the search for Pilon and McVean by depleting the resources and manpower of law enforcement agencies.

"It’s hurting the whole search," Lacy said during an interview Monday.

Lacy said bounty hunters have flooded to southeast Utah and southwest Colorado, lured by the $327,000 reward being offered for the two fugitives. Lacy said many of the sightings and the tracks being reported have turned out to belong to bounty hunters.

"A bounty hunter called on Sunday and told us about some tracks he found in Cross Canyon, so we went up there to check them out," Lacy said. "It turned out to be a writer from Colorado."

Montezuma County Sheriff Sherman Kennell, who also responded to the tracks in Cross Canyon, said although investigating the reports takes manpower and money, it is the only hope searchers have of finding the two suspects.

"We don’t have a starting point," Kennell said Tuesday. "We’ve responded a total of nine times so far, and that’s a lot of man hours, but if we have to respond nine more times, maybe the ninth one will be the one we need."

In recent weeks, the Navajo Nation has sent more men than any other agency to investigate reported sightings and tracks, but a Navajo spokesman said they, too, are prioritizing the reports.

"We treat every call individually, but if it’s something that we feel is too far-fetched, then we will probably not put it too high as far as a priority," Navajo Nation Police Sgt. Tyrone Benally said.

The largest search for Pilon and McVean began June 28, when a nine-year-old girl reported seeing two men trying to steal a water truck in Montezuma Creek. More than a hundred SWAT team members from several agencies combed the banks of the San Juan River after the sighting, and the San Juan County, Utah, sheriff’s office even resorted to burning sections of the brush to try and expose the two suspects.

Lacy, who organized the burning operation, said he doesn’t think Pilon and McVean were ever in the Montezuma Creek area.

"I think we wasted 2½ weeks down on the San Juan River," he said. "I don’t feel like they were ever even there, but whenever an agency calls, we feel like we have to go and give them a hand."