Edmonds police warn of suspicious person after reported luring at school's play field

EDMONDS -- A school in Edmonds sent a warning letter to parents after a man reportedly tried to get a group of kids to follow him in to the woods to help him find a dog Saturday, police said.

According to the Edmonds Police Department, a middle-aged white man who was slightly overweight asked a group of kids playing soccer to go into the woods with him near the Madrona School in the 9300 block of 236th Street SW. Police said the man told the children he had lost his dog, and needed help searching for it.

A parent scared the man off, police said, and the man ran into the woods. The man is described as having brown, shaggy hair and he was wearing a blue jacket and jeans.

The incident was reported to police Monday. The Edmonds School District sent out a letter to parents following the incident:

October 12, 2015

Dear Madrona and Lynndale families

We want you to have information regarding a suspicious incident that occurred Saturday morning while kids used the fields at Madrona. A man, described as middle-aged white male, slightly overweight with shaggy brown hair, approached a group of kids playing soccer on the south end of the field and told them he lost his dogs and needed help finding them in the wooded area south of the field.

One mother happened to call to her son who told her what happened and when she yelled “no,” the male quickly disappeared into the wooded area. The mother saw the man wearing a blue jacket and jeans.

We do not want to unnecessarily alarm our students. We did, however, want to inform parents so you are aware we are working closely with Edmonds Police and appreciate the steps they have been taking.

As always, we recommend parents and guardians discuss and reinforce lessons with their student about strangers that they may encounter. Your student’s safety is of the utmost importance to us and we always encourage our staff and volunteers to err on the side of caution when approaching any unknown visitors to campus.  We would rather occasionally risk offending those who are welcome guests with a friendly but assertive “May we help you?” than let someone we don’t know be around our students.

Please do not hesitate to contact either of us if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Lynda Fischer and Chris Fulford
Principals, Madrona and Lynndale