Shopper reports seeing missing woman
Posters of a missing Priest River woman were distributed in Lewiston this week after a shopper reported seeing her at a Lewiston Safeway store.
A customer told authorities he recalled seeing Christine Marie Lott in the meat aisle at the store. Bonner County sheriff’s Lt. Gary Johnston said he wasn’t able to confirm the woman was Lott because of problems with the store’s video surveillance tapes.
“A few of the cashiers thought she looked familiar,” Johnston said.
The mother of three was featured Sunday in The Spokesman-Review in a story on missing persons in North Idaho. Lott, who would be 35, was reportedly last seen at Mitchell’s IGA store in Priest River on March 25, 2004.
Her husband told police they had an argument and that she got into a red truck with Washington license plates and left. Johnston said nobody else saw the truck or Lott leaving.
Lucille Kucera, Lott’s mother, said that as more time passes, the more she worries her daughter may be a victim of foul play. She said she doesn’t believe her daughter would leave and not contact Kucera or her children.
Kucera said she talked to her daughter often. Just before she disappeared, the two talked about what Lott was going to plant in her garden.
Lott is 5 feet 2, weighs 110 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact Johnston at the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 263-8417, ext. 203.
– Taryn Brodwater
Coeur d’Alene
CdA Mines gives $200,000 for center
Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. officials gave a $200,000 boost Wednesday to the city’s hopes for a $65 million Salvation Army community center.
Dennis Wheeler, the firm’s president and CEO, said a glowing report about local capacity to support a Ray & Joan Kroc Corps. Community Center helped spur his donation.
“We wanted to make a nice difference,” Wheeler said.
Released last week, an independent feasibility study showed that Coeur d’Alene’s potential philanthropy could easily build and sustain the center, which would include a $32.5 million building and a $32.5 million endowment for operating costs.
The Coeur d’Alene Mines contribution will go toward about $5 million in community support needed to secure the deal.
Mayor Sandi Bloem accepted the check from Wheeler, who was flanked by more than a dozen employees.
“This is an ongoing gift that continues the tradition of giving in this community,” said Bloem, who is leading the city’s bid for the center.
Momentum for the project appears to be growing. Owners of at least two local excavating firms have offered donations of money, equipment and time to help reconfigure the 12-acre site where the center would be built.
Coeur d’Alene is one of several regional cities competing for a center funded by the legacy of McDonald’s heiress Joan Kroc. Organizers must submit a final application by Monday. They could hear as soon as mid-April if the local city has been selected.
– JoNel Aleccia