The Durango Herald. All rights reserved. Crouched low, they travel on foot, looking for the drop of blood, the footprint, the overturned rock or snapped twig that could lead to the capture of three murder suspects. But the Navajo Nation team looking for Jason McVean, Robert Mason and Alan Pilon in the maze of drainages that makes up Cross Canyon is frustrated. The Navajo trackers say 99 percent of the time they find their man within 36 hours.
Tracking is in their blood, something they have done for hundreds of years.
But this is no ordinary search. It is hard to track them through that stuff, particularly if the suspects are familiar with the area and have long training with concealment. It is not a normal situation as far as chasing a fugitive in the field. It is also hot out there, with unrelenting 95-degree temperatures and a beating sun. Trackers wear thick, black, long-sleeved shirts and pants over body armor and Kevlar helmets, exacerbating the heat.