Woodlands students warned about suspicious stranger

"Woodlands Elementary School students received letters Tuesday from Principal Sheri Thomas warning that two students reported having been approached by a stranger in a car Monday afternoon.According to a Kitsap County Sheriff's Department report, two 12-year-old girls were in the vicinity of the school when they were approached by a man in a champagne- or gold-colored four-door car similar to a Toyota Camry.The man began an extended conversation with the two students, during which his tone of voice changed from friendly to deep and loud, said Sheriff Steve Boyer.The two students reportedly yelled, no, at the suspect, who then left the scene headed northbound.It sounds like the girls did exactly what their parents and school officials told them to do when confronted by a stranger, Boyer said.Based on the accounts of the two girls, Boyer said the Sheriff's Department is searching for a clean-shaven man between 60 and 70 years old, with short, light, greying hair, prescription eyeglasses, something resembling a cast on his left hand and possibly a mustache.As a result of the report, Boyer said the Sheriff's Department is increasing patrols in the area surrounding the school and comparing the suspect's description to records in its sex-offender database.Thomas recommended the following precautions for ensuring students' safety before and after school:** Respond to the directions of the bus driver or school patrol.* Stay in a group.* Be aware of cars, traffic lanes and crosswalks.* Stay eight feet back (out of reach) from any car.* Go to the closest safe place to tell an adult - the school office or home."

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