An ongoing poaching investigation led Protection Division agents from the Missouri Department of Conservation and Maryville Public Safety police officers to question several suspects and witnesses in the parking lot of the Comfort Inn motel on the south end of Maryville Tuesday afternoon.

Holt County Conservation Agent Jade Wright said at least three suspects were questioned, and that charges were expected in the case, which he said originated Tuesday morning following reports of illegal deer hunting near the Holt/Atchison county line.

Wright said a hunter who had permission to hunt on the property reported that at least one deer had been illegally taken. Agents later found the carcass, which had been decapitated and left in a field.

One suspect reportedly fled the scene on foot, and witnesses reported seeing two full-size pickups, one black and one gray, at or near the scene. Both trucks had Florida license plates.
Authorities were able to obtain a license plate number for the black pickup and notified area law enforcement agencies. Both trucks — the black one containing a large buck deer with a yellow MDC tag wrapped around an antler point, were spotted by Maryville officers in the motel parking lot, Wright said.

"It was great work by the Maryville police," said the Holt County agent. "I can't say enough about what they did."