Woman dies in rollover near Perham, man held on manslaughter charge

A Dent woman died after being ejected from a pickup that left the road and rolled into a farm field west of Perham, and a Dent man was later jailed on suspicion of manslaughter as investigators continued to review evidence in the crash.

The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office said the rollover happened around 6 a.m. Saturday, May 2, on 460th Street southwest of Perham. The victim was identified as Nichole Shoultz, 40, of Dent. Authorities said she was riding in a Ford F-150 when it left the road, overturned and threw her from the vehicle.

Shoultz was taken to the Perham emergency room in a private vehicle several hours after the crash and later died there. That detail sets this case apart from a typical emergency response, with investigators now working through the sequence of events and the delayed trip to the hospital. The sheriff's office has said the evidence is still being reviewed.

Allen Alberts, 33, also of Dent, was arrested and is being held on suspicion of manslaughter. Under Minnesota law, second-degree manslaughter can carry up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. State law also separately addresses criminal vehicular homicide in deaths tied to gross negligence, negligent impaired driving and related conduct.

The case adds another fatal crash to Minnesota's road-death tally at a time when state traffic-safety officials say 84 people had died on state roads as of May 1, with 363 total traffic deaths recorded in 2025. The Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety says people who do not buckle up account for about 20% of traffic fatalities, and statewide seat-belt compliance reached 95.2% in a recent campaign period.

The crash west of Perham is a stark reminder of how quickly a single-vehicle rollover on a rural Otter Tail County road can turn fatal. The investigation remains focused on the facts that can be proved: who was in the pickup, how it left 460th Street, and what led to the deadly delay before Shoultz reached the hospital.