More crews to hunt for Utah fugitive

By The AP
Sunday, August 29, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — More law enforcement teams were being called in today to hunt down a man accused of killing a Utah sheriff’s deputy.

Scott Curley has eluded authorities for three days and was believed to be hiding in the wilderness on the Arizona-Utah line.

“It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t want to be found,” said Coconini County, Ariz., Sheriff Bill Pribil, according to a digital recording of a Sunday news conference provided by his department.

More teams are being called in to replenish officers who have been working in the field, and the search command center is moving to larger quarters at the Kanab Municipal Airport in Utah from the town hall in Fredonia, he said.

Harris was tracking Curley, who was wanted for burglary, when he was ambushed Thursday and shot to death. Authorities say Curley shot at other police officers and missed before vanishing in the wilderness.

The U.S. Marshals Service offered a $10,000 reward Saturday for information leading to Curley’s capture.

David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for Arizona, has said he believes somebody knows where Curley is hiding.

Hundreds of officers from Utah and Arizona and federal agencies were involved in the search Sunday.

Pribil said the officers are under emotional and physical stress. Additional resources will help them get the rest they need, and no lack of police agencies have volunteered to help, he said.

“As long as we have these resources available to us, we are going to use them,” Pribil said. “There are so many times we do not have them available.”

Curley was suspected of trying to burglarize Fredonia High School and holding a janitor at gunpoint on Wednesday night.

The janitor was unharmed, and Curley avoided authorities until Thursday.

Investigators say Curley was armed with an assault rifle.

Authorities described Curley as a person who suffers from depression and has few friends. He is likely fatigued and hungry since being on the run, but is familiar with the rugged wilderness near Fredonia.

Searchers could pass 10 feet from him and never see him in hiding, Pribil said today.

Police have searched abandoned buildings and used tracking dogs to find foot tracks, but those efforts haven’t panned out.

Authorities say it’s possible Curley has made it out of the region, but they are continuing the search along the border of Utah and Arizona.