SKOWHEGAN – Maine Game Wardens, acting on a tip from border patrol agents, arrested two men Thursday in conjunction with the illegal killing of three moose in northern Somerset County.

Wardens arrested Ross P. Carroll, 19, and Howard Button, 22, who are currently stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. The two are believed to be on unauthorized leave from the Marine Corps, according to a press release from the Maine Warden Service. Carroll is originally from Searsport, and Button from Quinlan, Texas.

The two men were arraigned Friday at Somerset County District Court in Skowhegan. Each man has been charged with two counts of night hunting and three counts of illegal possession of moose.

“This is an excellent example of agencies working together to protect Maine’s natural resources,” said Major Gregg Sanborn of the Maine Warden Service. “Border Patrol, State Police, Somerset District Attorney’s Office and the Maine Warden Service combined to process a confusing crime scene that covered several miles and reached across the state.”

The case began at about 4:15 a.m. Thursday when Border Patrol Agents contacted the Maine Warden Service after they found a truck broken down on Route 15 in Jackman. In the bed of the North Carolina registered Ford pickup truck were the parts of two butchered moose; four front quarters and four back quarters, according to the Warden Service. The truck was registered to Carroll.

As wardens were investigating and daylight broke, another dead moose was spotted within site of Route 15.

A team of wardens spent several hours collecting evidence and investigating leads. After interviewing members of Carroll’s family in Searsport, the search broadened for another man who was believed to be with Carroll, according to wardens.

Then at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Game Warden Rick Clowry identified two male subjects who matched the suspects’ description walking along Route 201 south of Jackman.

The two were taken for questioning to Greenville, where they were eventually arrested and charged, according to wardens. The pair spent the evening at the Somerset County Jail before being arraigned Friday.

The two men could face a mandatory minimum of six days in jail and several thousand dollars in fines.

Carroll was a defendant in a similar case in 2005 when he was charged and convicted with illegally killing two moose in the Jackman area, wardens said.