WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (AP) — A van used by two Texas prison escapees to flee this mountain town was found Tuesday at a motel about 20 miles from where four fellow fugitives were captured and a fifth committed suicide.

Police surrounded the four-story Quality Inn in Colorado Springs, but there was no sign of the two inmates, police spokesman Skip Arms said.

"This is, in fact, the van we've been looking for," Arms said as he stood in the parking lot. "We're checking in local hotels attempting to locate the two fugitives."

He also said the two convicts could have stolen another vehicle and left the area.

Also Tuesday, a state trooper was killed while pursuing what turned out to be an inaccurate tip about the van. Authorities said the trooper lost control of his car and slammed into a parked truck on Interstate 70. The van he was following later turned up at the Keystone ski resort full of construction workers.

The developments came as state and federal officers followed hundreds of leads for the two fugitives, a day after authorities raided a trailer park and captured four others and found an arsenal of loaded guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. A seventh fugitive committed suicide.

Wilma David, who works in a restaurant near the motel, told KMGH-TV she and her co-workers spotted the van in the parking lot. They peeked inside and saw duffel bags, maps and hair dye. The restaurant manager called police.

"I thought to myself, that looks like the one they've been describing on television," she said. "We looked at it and the color was right."

Arms said the van could have been in the lot since Monday night but officers believe it arrived early Tuesday.

The seven broke out of the Connally Unit in Kenedy, southeast of San Antonio, on Dec. 13. They overpowered civilian workers and a guard and stole a cache of weapons. They are also suspected in the Dec. 24 sporting goods store robbery in Irving, Texas, that left a police officer, Aubrey Hawkins, dead. More guns were stolen in the holdup.

Monday's captures and suicide took place in Woodland Park, a foothills community about 50 miles southwest of Denver. Inside the motor home, officers found a suicide note, $10,000 in cash and about 35 firearms, including 13 of the 14 weapons missing from the Texas prison, authorities said.

The firearms were "loaded, cocked and ready for action, as we say," said Mark Mershon, the top FBI agent in Denver. Thousands of rounds of ammunition, wireless communications devices and receipts for bulletproof vests purchased in Denver and Aurora also were found, he said.

Before the discovery of the van, authorities had said they had no definite word on the location of the missing inmates, Patrick Murphy Jr., 39, convicted of rape, and armed robber Donald Newbury, 38. They may have been in Woodland Park as recently as Sunday and may have left to get more money.

The four in custody were expected to appear Tuesday before a federal magistrate in nearby Divide.

The breakthrough that sent authorities to the Coachlight motel and RV park in Woodland Park came from tips from residents after the TV show "America's Most Wanted" aired Saturday.

Authorities believe all seven escaped convicts had been living in the motor home for up to three weeks.

The heavily armed inmates broke out of the maximum-security prison Connally Unit in Kenedy, southeast of San Antonio, on Dec. 13. Eleven days later, they allegedly shot and killed a policeman during a robbery at a sporting goods store near Dallas. The escape was the largest from a Texas state prison in modern history.

A $500,000 reward had been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the officer's killer, but there was no word on how or when that money might be distributed.

Three of the inmates left the RV park Monday and drove to a convenience store, where they were arrested by SWAT officers who boxed in the stolen Jeep Cherokee they were driving.

"They were so overwhelmed. They couldn't do anything," SWAT team commander Terry Maketa said.

Three of the men had handguns and Maketa braced for the worst while aiming his own pistol at one of the men. "I thought at one point he was contemplating getting into a gunfight," he said.

Captured were suspected ringleader George Rivas, 30, a convicted kidnapper and burglar; and Michael Rodriguez, 38, and Joseph Garcia, 29, both convicted of murder.

They did not resist or draw their weapons, authorities said.

Randy Halprin, 23, walked out of the motor home, unaware of the presence of police. When Halprin realized he was surrounded, he ran to a nearby trailer, then emerged and surrendered, El Paso County Sheriff John Wesley Anderson said.

Authorities said Halprin, who was serving time for beating an infant, had an old wound he may have suffered during the Christmas Eve robbery.

Larry Harper, 37, convicted of aggravated sexual assault, killed himself inside the motor home after Halprin was captured, authorities said.