New Mexico State Police are searching for the hide-out of a man who allegedly killed a Sandoval County Sheriff’s deputy and possibly four other people throughout North America.

State police started coordinating the investigation Monday and sent 18 people to the Jemez Mountains on Wednesday to find the hide-out of Joseph Burgess. 

Burgess, also known as the “Cookie Bandit,” is the man law enforcement says is responsible for the death of Sandoval County Sgt. Joe Harris. Law authorities have stated that Burgess was wanted for a double murder in Canada in 1972 and was a suspect in the 2004 death of a Northern California couple. On Thursday, a logistics crew came to the Jemez Mountains to study the terrain and determine what would be the best approach to take in the mountains, said NMSP Lt. Eric Garcia.

On Friday, the state police sent out 20 more officers to the Jemez Mountains.

“We’re looking for specific campsites where Joseph Burgess stayed at,” Garcia said. “There’s a strong possibility that there will be more information at the campsites.”

Garcia said they know beyond a reasonable doubt that Burgess was involved in the murders in Canada, but said there may be evidence at the campsites that he was involved in more murders.

Garcia said some of the items Burgess allegedly stole from cabins may be at the campsites.

The New Mexico State Police traced the revolver Burgess used to David Eley, a man who disappeared in the Jemez Mountains in 2006.

Harris was shot and killed July 16 in a shootout in a cabin in La Cueva, in the Jemez Springs area, while on an undercover investigation with Deputy Theresa Moriarty. Burgess was also killed in the shootout. Burgess was believed to have been burglarizing homes and cabins in that part of the county since 1998, but had eluded apprehension until his confrontation with Harris and Moriarty.

“From my understanding, there is ongoing consultation between state police and the District Attorney’s office in Sandoval County,” Garcia said. “The officer needs to finalize the report. The nuts and bolts of this case are pretty clear for the most part. We have accurate information provided by Deputy Moriarty that coincides with the investigation itself.”

The FBI and the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office are also in the Jemez Mountains on the investigation. The SCSO is also conducting an administrative investigation regarding the shooting death of Harris.

Sandoval County Undersheriff Tim Lucero estimated it would take two to three weeks to finish the investigation. He said two detectives are assigned to the investigation.

“We will go through everything that took place with this incident,” Lucero said. “We will look at all the evidence and talk to all the witnesses to see what went down and what took place.”

Garcia said the state police won’t get involved with the administrative investigation.

“Our investigation is designed around the actual shooting incident,” he said.

Finding the campsites and the hide-outs of Burgess won’t be easy.

“It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack,” Lucero said.

From 2004 to July 16, Lucero said the Jemez area had 350 burglaries. He believes Burgess to be responsible for at least 250 of them.

Lucero acknowledged it was difficult to catch Burgess, that standard investigation techniques were not working and the best way to capture him was through an undercover operation.

“This guy has lived in the mountains back to 1998 and he knows these mountains like no one else,” Lucero said. “He lives in the mountains. We believe he lived like an animal and he was an animal. It was very easy for him to be in the forest and conceal himself without anyone seeing him. You see him one moment and he’s gone the next.”

Lucero said it was upsetting to hear about the other deaths Burgess is believed to be responsible for.

“It’s very troubling that the community had such a person in their community and homes, where he could actually commit some violent crimes,” Lucero said. “It was horrible for us to find this out.”

Lucero said he felt there was something different about the man who was burglarizing cabins in the Jemez.

“We believe this guy tracked us when we were looking for him,” Lucero said. “He knew our every move. He knew when state police were up there. He could see us. He watched what we were doing. That’s why it was so hard to capture him. He knew those mountains. He knew them better than anyone and he knew the routes where we couldn’t get him.”

“We knew at this point that police officers, being up there with any type of badge, was not working,” he said. “We decided to put an undercover operation together. Joe and Theresa went undercover, lived in that area and started to converse with people in that area.”

“Deputy Moriarty and Sgt. Harris spent a lot of times in the area and in and around the hot springs and spoke to many people who said they have seen this guy (Burgess),” Lucero said. “Some said they gave him food and told Theresa and Joe that the cops were looking for him and they weren’t going to give the cops no information. They said he was trying to make a living and trying to live in the mountains.”

While some residents didn’t want to help the sheriff’s office in its investigation of Burgess, several other residents did help out.

“We have many people from that community that helped us a lot,” Lucero said. “They provided us their cabin on several occasions. They wanted to see the cookie bandit captured.”

“The ultimate plan was that maybe we’d get this guy (Burgess) in one of the hot springs when he was bathing with his clothes off,” Lucero said. “That’s what our hopes were. Theresa and Joe spent many days at the hot springs. But Burgess was very observant and he knew who was coming and going.”

Lucero said several residents in the area decided to plan a party for July 18 that would work as a sting to lure the “cookie bandit” into the vacant cabin where Harris and Moriarty were. The party never happened. Lucero said Burgess particularly liked sweets and liquor.

Lucero said the sheriff’s office will make changes after the investigation is complete.

“We will take it as another learning experience once the investigation is complete and we find out the facts,” he said. “What we did right, what we did wrong and move on. Our goal is that this doesn’t happen to another deputy again. We never want this to happen again.”