On the morning of May 29, 1998, Cortez Police Officer Dale Dewain Claxton, 45, was killed in an ambush after he stopped a stolen water truck on a county road. Claxton, a three-year veteran, was seated in his patrol car and had not finished unbuckling his seatbelt when one of three men in the truck emerged and opened fire with a fully automatic rifle, striking him multiple times and killing him instantly.

The three suspects — Robert Matthew Mason, Jason Wayne McVean, and Alan Monte Pilon — fled into the rugged Four Corners terrain. Two Montezuma County deputies were wounded during the escape, and a massive multi-state manhunt involving more than 500 officers and the National Guard followed. No arrests were made at the scene.

About a week after the shooting, Robert Mason was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Skeletal remains identified as Alan Pilon were recovered in November 1999, and remains believed to be Jason McVean were found in June 2007; authorities believe both took their own lives. Does anyone have additional details about the stop or the subsequent search that could shed light on how the suspects evaded capture initially?