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Deputies: Man arrested for attempting to abduct 12-year-old girl

A 63-year-old man is accused of trying to take a 12-year-old girl from her school bus stop Tuesday morning in Lincoln County.

The girl was able to escape and run to a neighbor's home to call 911.

The attempted abduction happened around 6:30 a.m. on Bill Sain Road near Vale.

The girl was able to give police details that helped then identify the man as Earnest Rose.

Police located Rose walking down the same road just a few minutes after the call to 911.

Kay Owen nearly cried as she told Channel 9 she has a 12-year-old who uses the same bus stop and news of the alleged abduction scares her.

"It's got my nerves so tore up I don't know what to think," Owens said.

The 12-year-old girl said it was dark when her father dropped her off at the bus stop.

She said she noticed Rose watching her.

She told police when he approached her she rain to a neighbor's house crying and had to the woman call 911.

"(He) kept asking her if she wanted to get into the car with him," the caller said.

The caller said he was wearing pajama pants.

The victim's father saw Rose as he drove off, but thought he was someone he knew.

"She said after her dad drove off he came up to her and asked her some questions. She didn't answer them and she came right over here," the 911 caller said.

Officers applauded the 12-year-old for her quick thinking.

"What she did was great," said Lincoln County Sheriff's Deputies Lt. Tim Johnson.

Deputies are concerned about what Rose told them when he was questioned.

"He said he wanted sex," Johnson said.

Investigators said Rose has no history of sex crimes. He lived about half a block away from the bus stop with his son.

Channel 9 went to Rose's home but nobody answered the door.