Abducted Montanan found dead

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies found Rita Maze in the trunk of her black Pontiac Grand Prix at about 12:30 a.m. in an industrial area in the 7600 block of West Geiger Boulevard. (KHQ photo)

A woman who was kidnapped at a Montana rest stop was found dead early Wednesday inside a car parked near the Spokane International Airport.

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies found Rita Maze in the trunk of her black Pontiac Grand Prix at about 12:30 a.m. The car was parked in an industrial area in the 7600 block of West Geiger Boulevard.

Authorities said Maze, 47, was abducted at about 11 a.m. Tuesday near Wolf Creek, Montana. She had just visited family in Helena and was traveling home to Great Falls along Interstate 15, said Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton.

Maze was at a rest stop when someone hit her in the head and put her in the trunk. Dutton said she called her husband from inside the trunk. The husband reported her missing at about 8:20 p.m., and officers made contact with her shortly before her death.

“She didn’t know her location, but she was able to talk to them over her cellphone, sporadically, as coverage faded in and out,” Dutton said. “Rita was able to tell us she thought she had stopped at a rest stop south of Craig (Montana). There’s only one that I know of down there, so we’re processing that as a crime scene.”

Dutton said a license-plate reader spotted Maze’s car passing through Post Falls, Idaho. The Helena Police Department told Spokane authorities she may be in the area at about 10 p.m., and investigators pinged cellphone towers to trace her to the industrial area/Chad Sokol, SR. More here (subscription).