MONTPELIER, Vt. — How do you lose a dead 700-pound moose?
Vermont wildlife officials have offered vastly different answers on the location of the body of Pete the Moose, the state’s favorite animal.
Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz told the Burlington Free Press state officials have recovered the body and are planning to test it for disease.
But Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Patrick Berry said Tuesday the state hasn’t gotten the body yet. He says the owners of the Irasburg hunting park where Pete died haven’t said where it is.
Pete’s life in captivity helped prompt the state to pass new wildlife laws.
Pete died in early September during tranquilization for hoof trimming. Until Friday, state officials insisted he was alive.
The park’s owner has taken responsibility for covering up Pete’s death.
RI man accused of driving drunk with kids in Mass.
ATTLEBORO, Mass. — A Rhode Island man is facing criminal charges after he allegedly fell asleep at the wheel while parked in the high-speed lane of a Massachusetts highway, with a beer bottle between his legs and two young children in the car.
State police said Tuesday that the children were discovered after a tow truck driver took the vehicle to an Attleboro tow yard, where Fedly Misere of Pawtucket, R.I., was also taken for a field sobriety test.
Police say the children were not immediately detected because the windows were tinted and police wanted to quickly move the car to safety because it was blocked from view of oncoming traffic by the crest of a hill.
Thirty-year-old Misere was arraigned Monday on several charges, including two counts of child endangerment while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.