PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Bay County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a possible sex offender after a 7-year-old girl awoke Saturday morning to find a strange man in her bed.
The Sheriff’s Office responded shortly after 4 a.m. to a home on Coronado Place north of Front Beach Road. An unidentified man had allegedly climbed into bed with the girl and began rubbing her leg. She became upset, and when he fled the home on foot, the homeowner chased him and struck him with a baseball bat. The suspect was last seen near Coronado and Back Beach Road.
An 8-year-old girl also was in the room during the incident. No injuries were reported.
As no sign of forced entry was found at the home, investigators believe the suspect entered the residence through an unlocked door, BCSO Maj. Tommy Ford said.
The Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit, Crime Scene Unit and Criminal Investigations Division responded, and the suspect was tracked to an area where BCSO believes he may have entered a vehicle. Deputies were locating sex offenders in the area after the incident.
The suspect is described as a 6-foot-2 white male weighing about 200 pounds with short dark hair and short facial hair. He appears to be in his late 20s or early 30s, according to BCSO, and was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt with an unknown black design.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call BCSO at 747-4700 or CrimeStoppers at 785-TIPS.
