Authorities searching for two suspected cop-killers are creating a task force to analyze old evidence in hopes of turning up new clues and rejuvenating the stalled manhunt, Montezuma County Sheriff Sherman Kennell said Wednesday.

Kennell said representatives from the FBI, Cortez Police Department, Navajo Nation, Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office and the San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff’s Office gathered in Cortez Tuesday to discuss how to revitalize the 6-month-old search for suspects Alan "Monte" Pilon, 31, of Dove Creek, and Jason Wayne McVean, 27, of Durango.

"We feel like we need to get it (the manhunt) going again," Kennell said Wednesday. "We’re going to see if we can pull a rabbit out of the hat."

Kennell said the task force will be headed by Cortez Assistant Police Chief Russell Johnson and will re-examine the "mountain" of material gathered since May 29, when Pilon, McVean and Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, allegedly gunned down Cortez Police Officer Dale Claxton and injured two Montezuma County deputies before vanishing into Cross Canyon, west of Cortez.

Police said Mason killed himself June 4 near Bluff, Utah, as authorities closed in after a San Juan County, Utah, deputy was wounded by gunfire. Despite several reported sightings of Pilon and McVean in June and July and a massive manhunt that involved more than 500 officers, the pair has eluded authorities for more than six months.

In addition to Johnson, Kennell said Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office detective Steve Harmon will be working two days a week exclusively on the manhunt.

The Navajo Nation and the San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff’s Office have not decided if they will appoint investigators to the task force, Kennell said.

The FBI will continue to be an active part of the investigation, Kennell said.

Authorities at the Navajo Nation and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on Tuesday’s meeting or their role in the task force.

Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said Wednesday that all of the agencies involved in the manhunt had gathered in Cortez to discuss sharing their information, but he said he didn’t want to discuss which agencies would be involved in the task force.

Kennell said he believes the two fugitives are dead. He said he
doesn’t believe anyone would still be hiding the men, saying the $320,000 FBI reward for information leading to their capture would have flushed them out by now.

"Most people would turn in their own mother for that kind of money," Kennell said.

Kennell said the task force will start examining all of the evidence and testimony to see if investigators overlooked a detail that may help them track down the two survivalist fugitives.

The task force may also interview new leads and re-interview old leads, Kennell said.