Federal agents search for bald eagle shooter

DEXTER, Mo. -- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents have offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person who recently shot a bald eagle. Missouri conservation agent Russell Duckworth was stopped a few weeks ago by drivers who spotted a bald eagle that couldn't fly south of the Otter Slough Conservation Area. Duckworth and others found the bird with one broken wing and shotgun pellets in the other.

Duckworth says three bald eagles have been shot in about a year's time in the region, located in Stoddard County in southeast Missouri.

The bald eagle has been a national symbol of the United States since 1782.