Law enforcement officials said Thursday they think a woman and her son they want to find may be on the way to Mexico via Southern California.

Doctors have said that 13-year-old Daniel Hauser has a tumor growing in his chest from Hodgkin's lymphoma. They have a court order directing his mother, Colleen, to allow treatment, but she has refused.

Police officials in Sleepy Eye, Minn., where the boy is from, think he may be headed to Mexico for treatment from the Nemenhah Band, a Native American tribe, or some other clinic. Colleen Hauser has said that putting toxic substances in the body -- technically, a part of chemotherapy -- violates the family's religious convictions.

The Nemenhah Band, based in Weaubleau, Mo., advocates healing methods tied to American Indian practices. The Hausers are not American Indian.

Phillip Cloudpiler Landis founded Nemenhah about a decade ago and calls himself its principal medicine chief, according to The Associated Press. He said it was prompted by his own bout with cancer, which he claims to have cured through diet, visits to a sweat lodge and other natural remedies.

Landis served several months in prison in Idaho for fraud tied to the sale of natural remedies, AP said. Nemenhah members are asked to pay $250 to join and an annual $100 fee.

While many doctors do not approve of patients going outside of their recommendations for unproven alternative therapies, more accept the idea of using alternative therapies as a complement to chemotherapy or radiation. CancerHelp.org notes that methods such as massage or acupuncture can help patients deal with the side effects and stress of treatment.

Why Go To Mexico?

Alternative-Cancer.net says that people go south of the border to get treatments they can't find in the U.S.

CancerHelp says that laws in Mexico covering medicine vary greatly from those in the U.S., which has allowed dozens of clinics to spring up near the border to treat American patients.

However, they may also be taking part in treatments that are not scientifically proven to work, which also means they could be harmful.

Treatments often include special diets, attempts to train the immune system to fight cancer, oxygen treatments and even high-heat experiences.

Alternative-Cancer.net says that the clinics around Tijuana -- just across the border from San Diego -- range from one-man operations to full-scale hospitals. But because of the looser regulations in Mexico, doctors there know how to use conventional and alternative therapies together, training their staffs and setting up appropriate facilities.

It also says the doctors there have learned which treatments work best for what conditions.