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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Hitchhikers Attack 66YO NI Woman

Two 17-year-old hitchhikers attacked a 66-year-old North Idaho woman who stopped to help them last weekend in Bonner County, authorities say. Suspects Joseph J. Martin, of Denver, (left) and Marshall O. Dittrich, (bottom right) of Danville, Calif., had run away from a youth explorations program in Trout Creek, Mont. and were hitchhiking near Clark Fork on Sunday when Vera Gadman, of Hope, picked them up and drove them to the Hope Peninsula area to look for a place to camp, according to the Bonner County Sheriff's Office. The teens asked her to stop at an undeveloped cul-de-sac and pretended to look at a map, authorities said, then attacked Gadman, striking her on the head several times and attempting to strangle her. Gadman escaped in her car and went to a nearby home/Meghann Cuniff, SR. More here.

Question: When did you last pick up a hitchhiker?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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