Regional search continues for missing Perham man Joshua Ard, reward offered

More than 10 months after Joshua Gene Ard was last seen, Fergus Falls police, the Becker County Sheriff’s Office and the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office are still working the case, and investigators are asking the public for help.

Ard, 44, was last contacted June 20, 2025, and is missing from Perham, according to Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and NamUs records. The Minnesota missing-person bulletin says his vehicle was found in Frazee, placing the search squarely in the rural border country between Becker and Otter Tail counties, where the case has remained active for months.

The Fergus Falls Police Department is now offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to Ard’s location. That renewed push underscores that the case has not been closed or resolved, and that officials still believe someone may have information that could help.

The bulletin says Ard may have been last seen wearing blue jeans and a cream-colored shirt. It also lists distinctive tattoos that could help identify him: a flaming skull on his shoulder and a partially finished flaming skull tattoo on his back. Ard is described as a White man, 5 feet 6 inches tall, about 220 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Family members have said they have not seen or heard from him since last summer, and the prolonged silence has kept the case in focus across west-central Minnesota. Earlier reporting noted searches and follow-up efforts in rural Becker and Otter Tail counties, with the last known area believed to be near the Frazee border region. The continued involvement of multiple law-enforcement agencies shows the case remains a regional priority, not a routine missing-person file.

Anyone with information is asked to call Fergus Falls police at 218-332-5555 or Otter Tail County Dispatch at 218-998-8555. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through Crime Stoppers Minnesota. The search for Ard now stretches deep into a second season, and the details investigators have released remain the best public leads for anyone who may have seen him, his vehicle or the clothing and tattoos that set him apart.