A woman who was kidnapped in Montana managed to ring her family from the boot of her auto before she was later found dead in the vehicle around 325 miles away from where she disappeared.
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Maze, an elementary school cook who was driving back from visiting family in Helena, called her husband and daughter just before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and told them a big man in a black hoodie had hit her over the head and put her in the trunk of the auto after she’d stopped at a rest stop near Wolf Creek, about 50 miles south of her home. Her kidnapper put her in the trunk of her auto.
The victim called her husband from the boot of the vehicle she found herself in to tell him she had been taken and he raised the alarm and called the police. No further information has been released on whether or not law enforcement is still seeking a suspect.
Maze, 47, had been shot to death, a medical examiner said Thursday. On September 6, 2016, loving wife, mother, and dear friend Rita Maze was kidnapped and attacked while traveling back to her home in Great Falls, Montana after a trip to see her mother in Helena.
At 3:40 pm, Rita’s husband tried to call her but she didn’t answer.
KHQ-TV reports an officer then called Maze’s cell phone number.
“Every single thing my mom was saying to my dad, my dad was saying out loud and I was telling the officer”, the daughter said.
Police said a “person of interest” had been identified in the investigation, and surveillance video was also being looked at.
Members of the Great Falls community set up a GoFundMe page for Maze, who worked as a cook at an elementary school. She told her husband and daughter she loved them.
However, after the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office refused to rule her death a homicide, the sheriff’s office is not ruling out the possibility that Maze may have committed suicide, reports the Daily Mail.
Her family reported her missing later that night. Maze reportedly said the man had access to the gun she kept in her purse for protection.
Shortly after midnight early Wednesday, about two hours after her call, police found her body in her black Pontiac Grand Prix in Spokane, Washington – about 350 miles away from her hometown.
The FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, along with the Lewis & Clark County Sheriff’s Office, continue to investigate Maze’s death.
Rita Maze also is survived by a son, Michael, 25, who is in the military and stationed in Germany. “No way. My mom does not make enemies”.
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We will continue updating the story as more information becomes available.
