Found Deceased MT - Rita Maze, 47, Wolf Creek, 6 Sept 2016 #2

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Gardener1850

Gardener1850

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*Abducted from a Wolf Creek, MT rest stop on Tuesday Sept 6
*Called her husband and pleaded for help but was unable to give her location
*Found dead in a car in Spokane County Wed morning Sept 7
*Police working on a photo of POI
rita%20LAKANA_1473276697780_5959129_ver1.0.jpg

Sheriff Dutton told KRTV that Maze contacted her husband with a cellphone but was unable to give specifics on her location or abduction. Dutton said Maze told them she had been hit over the head at a rest stop on Interstate 15 and taken late Tuesday morning.

Family told KREM 2 that Maze said on the phone call she thought they had been driving for a long time and kept saying "help me." Maze's daughter said she got to tell her mother she loved her one last time before the call disconnected.

Officials said Maze had been in Helena to visit family and was on her way home to Great Falls when she stopped at the rest area.
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http://www.krem.com/news/local/spok...rms-dead-female-in-car-near-airport/314996824

Her body was discovered by Spokane County Sheriff's deputies at about 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

She had reportedly been in Helena to visit family and was on her way home to Great Falls when she stopped at the rest area.
The suspect in the case has not yet been identified, but authorities plan to release a photo of a "person of interest" later today.
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http://www.krtv.com/story/33039883/great-falls-woman-identified-as-murder-victim-found-near-spokane

Thread #1
 
MelmothTheLost said:
If it was someone she knew, why not simply name that person when she phoned her family? Unless she was in an adulterous relationship with that person, that is. But even then, if you are abducted surely you'd want to give as much information as possible to whoever you managed to contact.

Anyway, unless I have missed something I don't think there's been any serious suggestion or evidence that she might have been in another relationship.
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Because she was hit from behind and it may not have been someone she "knew" who attacked her but someone hired by someone she knew or who knew her. She has a very large extended family (9+ siblings). If even one of them got mixed up in something illegal this could be a "message" to them or a revenge killing or something like that. I find it curious that we haven't heard a word from her husband of 27 years. I don't blame him for wanting privacy but if this happened to me, my husband would be on tv telling the world that he would do everything possible to catch my killer. Another tactic, if the husband is a very private person, would be to put out a written statement to that effect--say you hope to get justice, you have all confidence in the LE working on the case and ask for privacy as you grieve your wife. None of that would reveal anything or jeopardize the investigation. It is curious, IMO that no such statement has come. If it's suicide perhaps he knows. If it was a hit perhaps he was scared into silence by the people who did it. Again, I'm not suggesting her family harmed her but suggesting someone they got mixed up with may have. Part of the reason I think this is that if it was obviously suicide the FBI would not be taking so long to release additional info. They have said repeatedly there is no public threat. Of course they could be lying to keep the public calm. If there is not a random homicidal maniac out there kidnapping woman, then we're left with the options of premeditated/targeted murder, accidental death or suicide. All this is Just my opinion though.:moo: I remain :fence:
 
New here and no new news in media- a thought I had: if this was not an abduction, rather than a suicide it may have been an accidental death in the sense that she intended to inflict a minor Injury but did not realize that an abdominal wound can be fatal. Just speculation but she may thought help would arrive in time to save her.
 
I believe it's called the "double-tap." You'd think if he wanted to kill her, he'd make sure she was dead.
 
I tend to think along those lines - unintentional death. The shot that killed Oswald was fired into his abdomen but managed to hit almost every major organ - but on TV belly shots don't necessarily kill you. Didn't Charles Stuart (sp?) shoot himself in the belly to bolster his story?
 
This is kind of out there--just kind of thinking out loud--but none of the regular scenarios make much sense to me---not a 'normal' suicide nor a random abduction....

What if she was 'secretly' meeting up with someone. Maybe romantically or may be something else--- and she did not want anyone to know about that, but she was assaulted by them and she called her family, and told a lie to cover that part up?
 
I'm totally on the fence. When I first heard about Rita's death and came here, I was absolutely shocked that anyone would even suggest suicide. The idea seemed so out of left field to me. But after reading so many knowledgeable opinions here, I have gone back and forth numerous times. I keep reading all the posts and agree with almost every single one! I have never been so up in the air following a case before. Anyway, thanks everyone for all the great thoughts. I'll keep following along.....sure wish we would get some new info soon.
 
katydid23 said:
This is kind of out there--just kind of thinking out loud--but none of the regular scenarios make much sense to me---not a 'normal' suicide nor a random abduction....

What if she was 'secretly' meeting up with someone. Maybe romantically or may be something else--- and she did not want anyone to know about that, but she was assaulted by them and she called her family, and told a lie to cover that part up?
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I do think this is a possibility. I do think it is possible that she went willingly then changed her mind, and that is when the abduction happened.
Some of the things that make me believe this is possible are that I don't think she was traveling I-15, but instead was on Recreation Road by the picture in the Great Falls newspaper.
Small purchases were made along the way on her credit card yet nothing seems to be stolen in the end.
Its possible she had access to her cell phone the whole time but didn't use it till hours later.
The dogs followed a scent leading away from the car trunk.
Police saying there is not a danger to others.
 
ohreally said:
I do think this is a possibility. I do think it is possible that she went willingly then changed her mind, and that is when the abduction happened.
Some of the things that make me believe this is possible are that I don't think she was traveling I-15, but instead was on Recreation Road by the picture in the Great Falls newspaper.
Small purchases were made along the way on her credit card yet nothing seems to be stolen in the end.
Its possible she had access to her cell phone the whole time but didn't use it till hours later.
The dogs followed a scent leading away from the car trunk.
Police saying there is not a danger to others.
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In response to the bolded lines:
I think an earlier post stating that we don't know how much cash she really had is valid. She might have traveled with hundreds of dollars in cash, and had a hidey spot for emergency money. I think it's a bit random that $20 was found OUTSIDE of the vehicle.

About dogs picking up a scent.... It doesn't really say "whose" scent.

I don't find it at all odd that the roads of travel were not main highways, because I believe she was abducted by someone who knows these roads. I think the public should be quite terrified.
 
I think we know that she has some connection to Spokane, but not to what extent she's spent time in Spokane. One of the things I noticed was that she was immediately by a self-storage facility called American Mini Storage. She or someone she knew could have had valuable property in there.
 
Blondie in Spokane said:
I'm totally on the fence. When I first heard about Rita's death and came here, I was absolutely shocked that anyone would even suggest suicide. The idea seemed so out of left field to me. But after reading so many knowledgeable opinions here, I have gone back and forth numerous times. I keep reading all the posts and agree with almost every single one! I have never been so up in the air following a case before. Anyway, thanks everyone for all the great thoughts. I'll keep following along.....sure wish we would get some new info soon.
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I waiver occasionally too, Blondie. I think what keeps me truly thinking it's NOT suicide is the charade aspect. Here, we are saying this woman took herself out to relieve her family of something, yet went through with taking them on a provocative and terrifying adventure resulting in death. The two are so contradictory, and the latter would indicate severe mental illness issues, which her complete FB timeline and those of family/friends have zero indications of this.

Here's my brain on it. I think there are three obvious possibilities. The first two are least likely albeit possible:
1) That there's an aimless wanderer out there. Just a crazy nut job acting on impulse and going from point to point with no real plans, not really thinking through of lot of his actions and behaviors. Upon realizing Rita was using the phone, he killed her and disappeared. I think he'd be caught eventually, but it's anyone's guess on which side of the snow line.

2) Someone meant to take Rita and her car to their final location and either keep or kill Rita there (and whatever else), stripping and disposing of the car later. But when they realized Rita was making/taking calls they had to abandon the plan (and start over?). He probably hitchhiked the next day back towards Spokane or further west after leaving Rita behind.

3) The most likely of my theories is related to drugs. Someone was killing time or traveling to buy/sell drugs after hijacking Rita's car, and the airport area or some other landmark was the meeting point at some predetermined time. I think they didn't realize Rita was still alive and using the phone, thinking they had killed her before putting her in the trunk.
 
SpanishInquisition said:
I think we know that she has some connection to Spokane, but not to what extent she's spent time in Spokane. One of the things I noticed was that she was immediately by a self-storage facility called American Mini Storage. She or someone she knew could have had valuable property in there.
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I just finally looked at a map. According to this article, http://www.krtv.com/story/33039883/great-falls-woman-identified-as-murder-victim-found-near-spokane (1st report, 8:21 am) her car was found in a parking lot in the 7600 block of West Geiger Boulevard. I thought the car was found in a wilderness area, but that is not the case. Any getaway car could have already been parked nearby, or driven up and collected the abductor. There has to have been cameras on those buildings.

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GigTu said:
I just finally looked at a map. According to this article, http://www.krtv.com/story/33039883/great-falls-woman-identified-as-murder-victim-found-near-spokane (1st report, 8:21 am) her car was found in a parking lot in the 7600 block of West Geiger Boulevard. I thought the car was found in a wilderness area, but that is not the case. Any getaway car could have already been parked nearby, or driven up and collected the abductor. There has to have been cameras on those buildings.

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Blondie in Spokane went twice and took pictures of the area. They are in the 1st thread here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...2016&p=12800241&highlight=Geiger#post12800241
 
And I agree it seems strange if the car was not caught on camera there. Someone abandoning it there would have to know the area to avoid loading doc and storage facility cameras or they were reasonably sure they could not be ID'd. IMO it would be the perfect place to have someone else pick you up in their car if you needed to ditch a hot car with a body in it. Easy to describe the intersection/business you were waiting at. News also said there were a few businesses open 24 hours nearby so someone on foot would not be immediately suspicious. I hope all the footage everywhere in the area was checked. LE has a mammoth task to find this guy on film (assuming there was someone else involved).
 
Gardener1850 said:
Blondie in Spokane went twice and took pictures of the area. They are in the 1st thread here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...2016&p=12800241&highlight=Geiger#post12800241
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Thank you. I completely missed those postings, or forgot. Thanks Blondie.

I decided to look around more and found this: http://spotcrime.com/crime/82102446-a8311356ba331e3891e9003d8ff7019c

If you scroll around street view, you start realizing how secluded the area is. The perp could have so very easily crossed the interstates unseen under the cover of darkness and gotten into a car completely across the highways. I hope that side was also checked, and I sincerely hope the grassy areas between interstates were checked for footprints, or even just to see if the grasses had been stepped on. (Spotted Rd. is a straight shot down to Cheney Spokane Rd as a getaway path, for example).
 
Blondie in Spokane said:
I'm totally on the fence. When I first heard about Rita's death and came here, I was absolutely shocked that anyone would even suggest suicide. The idea seemed so out of left field to me. But after reading so many knowledgeable opinions here, I have gone back and forth numerous times. I keep reading all the posts and agree with almost every single one! I have never been so up in the air following a case before. Anyway, thanks everyone for all the great thoughts. I'll keep following along.....sure wish we would get some new info soon.
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At first I just accepted the adduction as the truth, but then after reading and researching more - for instance earlier carjacking in Helena and the car trunk suicides - I became convinced she staged the kidnapping and killed herself.

I'm not saying it's impossible but I am leaning heavily toward it was all her and will be shocked if she was abducted.
 
bluesneakers said:
At first I just accepted the adduction as the truth, but then after reading and researching more - for instance earlier carjacking in Helena and the car trunk suicides - I became convinced she staged the kidnapping and killed herself.

I'm not saying it's impossible but I am leaning heavily toward it was all her and will be shocked if she was abducted.
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At this point, neither outcome will surprise me. If she did commit suicide, what horrible horrible thing she had put her family through by staging an abduction and forever scarring them with the fears and torment they no doubt went through during those calls.
 
GigTu said:
At this point, neither outcome will surprise me. If she did commit suicide, what horrible horrible thing she had put her family through by staging an abduction and forever scarring them with the fears and torment they no doubt went through during those calls.
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All I can think is she thought they would be better off without her and it was her chance to say goodbye, and she assumed no one would ever find out the truth.
 
Blondie in Spokane said:
I'm totally on the fence. When I first heard about Rita's death and came here, I was absolutely shocked that anyone would even suggest suicide. The idea seemed so out of left field to me. But after reading so many knowledgeable opinions here, I have gone back and forth numerous times. I keep reading all the posts and agree with almost every single one! I have never been so up in the air following a case before. Anyway, thanks everyone for all the great thoughts. I'll keep following along.....sure wish we would get some new info soon.
Click to expand...

I know the suicide theory was troubling to some at first. It's a delicate subject to broach. Suicide is what has made sense to me from the beginning and that is only after following some other cases on WS that turned out to be suicide (the two police officers, separate cases), but mainly because LE said from the start there were gaps in the story. That was enough for me to start looking critically at her phone call story, while still trying to keep an open mind.

jmo
 
I'd really like to know more about the reason it took them 45 minutes to look in the trunk of the car when that was her last reported location. Were the police dubious about the story from the get-go?

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/st...s-question-womans-kidnapping-report/90117736/

Deputies with the Spokane Sheriff’s Office located Maze’s vehicle at 12:36 a.m. Pacific Standard Time Wednesday.

“The vehicle appeared to be unoccupied with the keys in the ignition and a female purse in the front seat,” the search warrant says.

At 1:19 a.m., deputies located blood on the ground near the vehicle, then located Maze’s body in the trunk and called for medics.

Maze was pronounced dead on the scene at 1:37 a.m.
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