Service to be Sunday for woman found dead

A memorial service for a 34-year-old Spokane woman is scheduled for Sunday – one week after she was found dead of a gunshot wound.

Kimberly Rae Schmidt will be remembered at the Heritage Funeral Home, 508 N. Government Way, at 1 p.m.

Kathryn Epler worked for Schmidt at Pitney Bowes, a business-services company, and said she was a great boss and “very caring to everybody.”

Schmidt’s death has devastated her co-workers, Epler said Friday.

“It’s very hard to work,” she said. “We’re all stunned that this could happen to someone who is so likable.”

Schmidt, who was …

A memorial service for a 34-year-old Spokane woman is scheduled for Sunday – one week after she was found dead of a gunshot wound.

Kimberly Rae Schmidt will be remembered at the Heritage Funeral Home, 508 N. Government Way, at 1 p.m.

Kathryn Epler worked for Schmidt at Pitney Bowes, a business-services company, and said she was a great boss and “very caring to everybody.”

Schmidt’s death has devastated her co-workers, Epler said Friday.

“It’s very hard to work,” she said. “We’re all stunned that this could happen to someone who is so likable.”

Schmidt, who was the leasing manager at Pitney Bowes, was planning a business trip overseas early next month, Epler said. She planned to spend her days off scuba diving, which Epler said was one of her passions.

“There’s no way this was a suicide or anything like that,” Epler said.

Schmidt’s mother found her dead in her home at 37 E. Regina Ave. on Jan. 1.

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office has not determined whether Schmidt’s death was a homicide, but detectives are investigating it as one.

Schmidt was located in bed on her back with a gunshot wound to the right side of her head, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. A lamp had been knocked over, and detectives noted blood smeared on the wall at the head of the bed that indicated Schmidt’s body had been moved.

They also found a cloth drawstring bag with a gun barrel sticking out of it to Schmidt’s left, according to court documents. They seized the .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun, as well as a .25-caliber shell casing located on her bed and a fleece blanket with a bullet hole in it.

Detectives also seized three guns from a gun safe downstairs and three from a laundry room cabinet, as well as ammunition.

They also found a cellphone with its battery removed in a black purse on the kitchen table, according to the search warrant.

Schmidt was born in Spokane and graduated from Shadle Park High School and Eastern Washington University.

“Kim’s pride and joy was her daughter and her hard work in dance and school,” according to her obituary. “Her favorite title was ‘Dance Mom’ and (she) enjoyed watching, with a little sadness how her … lil’ monkey was growing into a young lady.”

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.