Family speaks out as Otter Tail County crash case moves forward

Nichole Shoultz’s family is still searching for answers as the criminal case tied to her death moves ahead in Otter Tail County. The 40-year-old Dent woman was ejected from a Ford F-150 after it left 460th Street southwest of Perham, overturned in a farm field and left her badly hurt before she died at Perham Hospital Emergency Room.

Authorities said the crash happened around 6 a.m. on Saturday, May 2, 2026. Shoultz was not taken to the hospital right away. Instead, she was brought there in a private vehicle several hours after the wreck, a delay that has sharpened concern around how the scene was handled and what happened in the hours after the pickup rolled.

Allen Alberts, 33, also of Dent, was arrested in connection with the crash. Reports said he was taken into custody on suspicion of manslaughter, and jail-custody records listed pending second-degree manslaughter charges. The Otter Tail County prosecutor’s office was still reviewing evidence in the days after the crash, and the case remains under investigation.

The details have left Shoultz’s relatives with unresolved questions about the sequence of events on the rural road outside Perham. Family members, including Michelle Eldien, said they still have many questions about what happened. They also visited the crash site on May 4, standing where the pickup left the road and rolled into the field as they tried to make sense of the loss.

The case comes as Otter Tail County has faced other recent fatal crashes, adding to concern about deadly wrecks on local roads. For Shoultz’s family, though, the focus remains on one stretch of 460th Street, one overturned pickup and the legal questions now surrounding Alberts’ arrest and the hours before Shoultz reached the emergency room.