Missouri woman pleads not guilty to illegally killing elk
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A southeast Missouri woman pleaded not guilty to a killing an abandoning an elk last year.
The misdemeanor charge against 50-year-old Deborah Flanigan, of Scott County, comes in one of six cases involving the illegal killing of protected elk in Missouri in recent years.
The other five cases are still being investigated.
Flanagan is accused of killing the elk in Carter County.
The carcass was left in a field, with no meat or other parts taken.
The state’s conservation department began restoring elk to Missouri in 2011.
The herd has grown to more than 200, with their range stretching into parts of Carter, Reynolds and Shannon counties.
