GREAT FALLS — The Cascade County Sheriff's Office says that deputies responded to Belt at about 2 p.m. on Thursday for a report of a man who tried to grab a little girl off of her bike.
The girl told deputies she was riding her bicycle with her friends near the park, and got separated from her friends and went to turn around near the campground by the baseball field.
The suspect came up and grabbed her arm and reportedly said, “Come with me." The girl said no and pulled her arm away from the man, and he then ran away.
The suspect was last seen running toward Belt along the dike. Deputies have been unable to find the man.
The man is said to be in his 30s, about 6' tall, between 250 and 300 pounds, with brown shaggy hair and a medium-length brown beard. He was wearing work boots, saggy and faded, tattered jeans, a gray shirt, and a leather bracelet that featured a dog. The girl also said he had a deep, scratchy voice.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 406-454-6978. We will update you if we get more information.
(UPDATE, FRIDAY, AUGUST 13)) On Friday afternoon, Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter hosted a news conference at Castner Park in Belt. He said that the man may have been driving a light brown/pewter-colored pickup truck with a missing tailgate, and that the truck may have had Montana county #8 license plates (Fergus County).
(UPDATE, SATURDAY, AUGUST 14) Detectives with the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office were contacted on Friday, August 13, by the "person of interest" driving the brown Chevy truck depicted in the photographs that were released to the public.
The man cooperated with investigators and provided detailed information proving that he was not in Belt at the time of the incident. The attempt to locate has been canceled for this person and his brown truck.
The investigation continues. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 406-454-6978.
