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John Hollenhorst reporting A lot of people in southeastern Utah are angry, and the FBI is on the defensive. It's all because people think the FBI shortchanged a cowboy to the tune of $75,000 after he found the body of a notorious fugitive.
The "Four Corners Fugitives" triggered one of the nation's biggest manhunts 10 years ago. Three survivalists machine-gunned a cop to death, fired at several others, and disappeared into the canyons. Now all three are dead, but there's a lively battle over the reward money.
The official manhunt went on for months, but for years citizens have been keeping their eyes open. One by one the bodies were found, all three survivalists apparently killed by self-inflicted or buddy-inflicted gunshots.
The last body, Jason McVean's, was found just a few months ago by Blanding cowboy Eric Bayles. The FBI had a reward of $150,000 posted for nearly a decade for each the last two fugitives, but last month they quietly gave Bayles just $75,000.
Bayles called Eyewitness News by cell phone from a cow camp.
"I think they was pretty crooked about it. If they wasn't gonna pay it, they shouldn't have offered it," he said.
When Navajo deer hunters found Monty Pilon's body in 1999, the FBI set a precedent, according to San Juan County Commissioner Lynn Stevens.
"They had a lot of publicity, held a ceremony and paid them $150,000. To our knowledge, they've never changed the amount or withdrawn the offer," he said.
The FBI won't talk because of a threatened lawsuit by Bayles. But a press release says, "The FBI believes that the $75,000.00 payment to Mr. Bayles represents fair compensation."
San Juan County Sheriff Mike Lacy says the FBI's lowball will discourage citizen cooperation.
"I think it will affect us in the long run, as far as everything we do in law enforcement, because people are not going to trust us," he said.
"It makes me kind of upset. I mean, you grow up all the time figuring the FBI is number one and the top of the line that you can trust," Bayles said.
"I think the FBI runs a credibility challenge to where people will quit helping them," Stevens said.
The San Juan County commissioners are going over the heads of the local FBI office. In Washington, they met Sen. Orrin Hatch and urged him to pressure the highest levels of the FBI.
Bayles did get another $13,000 from citizens of Cortez, Colo. That's where the three fugitives killed officer Dale Claxton almost 10 years ago.
