The FBI is focusing its search for one of two Navajo Reservation slaying suspects in southwestern Colorado.
Curtis Benally, who remained at large Sunday, is one of two Navajo men being sought in the Dec. 15 beating death of another American Indian, Kee Smith.Smith's body was found dumped in a wash near Montezuma Creek, a southwest Utah town on the reservation along the Utah-Arizona-New Mexico border. Tribal police allege Benally and Dennis Hatatley, both 33, beat Smith after an argument erupted at a party.
"We don't know the motivation," said FBI Agent Greg Rampton. "There was drinking at the time."
Smith, a 36-year-old New Mexico man, had dated Benally's sister, authorities said.
Benally has family ties to Montezuma Creek, but his last known residence was in Telluride, Colo., where he worked in a hotel. Sheriff's deputies in nearby Montezuma County and the town of Cortez have been advised to be on the lookout for the suspect.
Hatatley, the co-defendant, was arrested Dec. 20 and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.