The mystery of the Four Corners fugitives has been solved.
San Juan County Sheriff Mike Lacy said a series of human remains found in Cross Canyon last week have been positively identified as Jason Wayne McVean, the last of the survivalists from the notorious 1998 manhunt.
A cowboy riding through the canyon found the remains of a bulletproof vest and a camouflage backpack. Inside the backpack, he found five pipe bombs. Sheriff's deputies also recovered a rusted AK-47, 500 rounds of ammunition and survival equipment.
McVean, 26, was one of three fugitives sought in the 1998 murder of Cortez, Colo., police officer Dale Claxton. Authorities said McVean; Alan "Monte" Pilon, 30; and Robert Mason, 26, stole a water truck in Colorado. They were pulled over by Claxton.
Before Claxton was able to unbuckle his seat belt, a camouflage-clad man stepped out of the vehicle and opened fire on him — shooting Claxton 29 times.
As they fled across the Colorado-Utah border, the men wounded two Montezuma County Sheriff's deputies, sparking the manhunt. Days later, one of the men shot at a Utah state employee and wounded a San Juan County Sheriff's deputy.
In a makeshift bunker surrounded by pipe bombs, authorities said Mason shot and killed himself. Pilon and McVean disappeared.
In 1999, a group of Navajo hunters stumbled upon the remains of Pilon. Then last week, the cowboy discovered McVean.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com