Kidnapped Montana woman calls husband from trunk, dies before she’s found

Spokane County authorities found her dead in the car’s trunk at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The auto was found around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday on W Geiger Blvd and S Spotted Rd in west Spokane County according to Spokane authorities.

No cause of death was released, but Dutton said that Maze’s death was believed to have been a homicide and that she was believed to have been killed after the vehicle arrived in Spokane. Her family reported her missing Tuesday evening, and her husband received the call from her at approximately 10:30 PM.

“She said through my dad that she had been hit and she was in a trunk and she didn’t know if it was her trunk or not”, Rochelle Maze said.

Rita Maze, abducted Tuesday morning, is believed to have died from a single gunshot wound.

“I told her that I loved her”, Rochelle Maze said.

A news release states that Helena police contacted Washington state authorities around 10 p.m. Tuesday to report the woman could possibly be in the Spokane area.

Sheriff Dutton said Maze could have reached the rest stop South of Wolf Creek at about noon.

Maze used her cell phone to tell police she was abducted at a rest stop along the interstate between Helena and Great Falls, Mont.

“My mom was always a playful mom”, Rochelle said.

This was the last time Rita would ever speak to her family.

Using mobile phone towers, Spokane County Sheriff’s department were able to narrow down Mrs Maze’s location to a auto park.

Dutton said Helena police put out what they call a nationwide “attempt to locate” for maze’s vehicle. “If anyone ever asked her for anything at all from money to anything she would give them the shirt off of her back”, Rochelle explained.

Rochelle maze says that it was like any other day when her mom left for Helena. As NBC News reported, federal investigators have joined the murder investigation and police in Montana are looking at surveillance footage from a convenience store and have a person of interest in the case. “We don’t know if she hung up or what”.

In her final moments, desperate to survive, the elementary-school cook called her family in Great Falls, Montana, and tried to relay as much information as she could about what happened, relatives said.

“She, one, had such a positive presence”, said Bill Salonen, former principal at Morningside. She is survived by her husband, her daughter, her son Michael and his two daughters.

Sadly, by the time police reached the auto at just after midnight on Tuesday, Maze was dead.