Child Offered Ride by Stranger After Exiting School Bus in Otter Tail County

An 8-year-old child was approached by an unknown man offering a ride after being dropped off by a school bus along County Highway 12 on March 3, according to the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office blotter for the week of March 3–9, as published by the Perham Focus.

The incident is among a series of calls for service the Perham Focus documented from that week's blotter. No physical description of the man or vehicle has been released in the available blotter entries, and the Sheriff's Office has not publicly confirmed whether an investigation is open, whether a suspect has been identified, or whether the school district serving the County Highway 12 bus route has issued any notification to parents.

The March 3 incident stood out as the most alarming entry in a blotter week that also included a dog found with a gunshot wound to the head on Vergas Trails and a DWI arrest in Battle Lake that escalated into a physical scuffle with an officer. Neither of those incidents included specific dates within the March 3–9 window or additional details in the published summaries.

The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office has not released a statement describing the circumstances in greater detail, including the time of day the approach occurred, the exact location along County Highway 12, or whether the child was alone at the bus stop. Anyone with information about the March 3 incident is encouraged to contact the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office directly.