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

[Blondie in Spokane]

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).

I hadn't thought of that - good point Gig. Yes, the interstate is immediately acčessible via foot.....I was surprised at how close it was from where Rita's car was left.

ETA: I'll go out in the morning and take a couple of photos that reflect the accessibility of I-90 W/E to where Rita's car was at. As I recall, it's only 15-20 feet or so.

 

[GigTu]

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?

A very good question!

 

[GigTu]

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

To go to such lengths... I can't wrap my mind around it. It's too sad.

 

[Satchie]

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?

I think they needed a search warrant, they could have opened the trunk if they heard calls for help, but otherwise it's private property and they need the owner's permission or a warrant. They'd have had to wake up a judge and then officers from the two jurisdictions would have had to make a statement of reasonable cause to open the trunk. Perhaps it was going so slow, they searched for and swabbed for blood (in the dark, needing the right equipment and personnel), to give them the necessary exigent circumstances to go ahead with the search rather than wait for the final sign off on the warrant.

 

[ninij9]

I think they needed a search warrant, they could have opened the trunk if they heard calls for help, but otherwise it's private property and they need the owner's permission or a warrant. They'd have had to wake up a judge and then officers from the two jurisdictions would have had to make a statement of reasonable cause to open the trunk. Perhaps it was going so slow, they searched for and swabbed for blood (in the dark, needing the right equipment and personnel), to give them the necessary exigent circumstances to go ahead with the search rather than wait for the final sign off on the warrant.

But couldn't the gunshots that the officer heard on the phone be probable cause? I always thought if there was imminent danger that LE could tresspass to save a life?

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[radiator]

I think they needed a search warrant, they could have opened the trunk if they heard calls for help, but otherwise it's private property and they need the owner's permission or a warrant. They'd have had to wake up a judge and then officers from the two jurisdictions would have had to make a statement of reasonable cause to open the trunk. Perhaps it was going so slow, they searched for and swabbed for blood (in the dark, needing the right equipment and personnel), to give them the necessary exigent circumstances to go ahead with the search rather than wait for the final sign off on the warrant.

But couldn't the gunshots that the officer heard on the phone be probable cause? I always thought if there was imminent danger that LE could tresspass to save a life?

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Wouldn't just her call from the trunk of the car also qualify as "probable cause." At least I hope that if I ever phone the police from the trunk of a car they'd take that as implicit permission to open the trunk if they find the car. Though saying that I'm reminded that I have always found it curious that she didn't call the police, they called her.

 

[AceDetective]

I just noticed this in the dailymail article:
‘I know she didn’t kill herself,’ her cousin, Leanne Kaufmann, 42, told DailyMail.com. ‘Her life was good, she was happy.'
‘How would she have found this parking lot? She hasn’t been to Spokane in 15 years. When her mom moved away, she just didn’t come back. She didn’t commit suicide.’

I didn't really notice the significance of the bolded parts before. Apparently, Spokane is a place of significance for Rita. Her mother lived there, over 15 years ago. One has to wonder if she didn't grow up there. Either way, she could have wanted to drive by a certain house, or visit a certain neighborhood, one last time.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Here are two photos I took this morning - they show how close the freeway (I-90 West/East) is to where Rita's car was found at the corner of Geiger Blvd & Spotted Road. As you can see, there is a small fence that would be easily climbed and the freeway is maybe 20 feet away.

 

[Gardener1850]

Here are two photos I took this morning - they show how close the freeway (I-90 West/East) is to where Rita's car was found at the corner of Geiger Blvd & Spotted Road. As you can see, there is a small fence that would be easily climbed and the freeway is maybe 20 feet away.

Thanks for more pics Blondie!

 

[radiator]

Here are two photos I took this morning - they show how close the freeway (I-90 West/East) is to where Rita's car was found at the corner of Geiger Blvd & Spotted Road. As you can see, there is a small fence that would be easily climbed and the freeway is maybe 20 feet away.


View attachment 101649View attachment 101650

Off topic: those clouds are gorgeous!

 

[Inthedetails]

Off topic: those clouds are gorgeous!

That choked me up. We do live in a beautiful world and I wish Rita could see that.

 

[Ayashley]

Wouldn't just her call from the trunk of the car also qualify as "probable cause." At least I hope that if I ever phone the police from the trunk of a car they'd take that as implicit permission to open the trunk if they find the car. Though saying that I'm reminded that I have always found it curious that she didn't call the police, they called her.

Well now I know if I'm in that situation I'll make sure when I'm talking to police to let them know they have permission to open the trunk!!!

 

[BarefootOkieGal]

But couldn't the gunshots that the officer heard on the phone be probable cause? I always thought if there was imminent danger that LE could tresspass to save a life?

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I haven't had a chance to read through - were LE aware she was in the trunk of her own car or had she told anyone? Still don't know why she didn't call 911...

 

[katydid23]

I haven't had a chance to read through - were LE aware she was in the trunk of her own car or had she told anyone? Still don't know why she didn't call 911...

Yes, LE knew she claimed to be held hostage in the trunk. She did talk to LE while in the trunk, apparently, because her daughter called 911 while on the phone with her mom.

 

[coralynne]

Being that close to the interstate, and right on the road like that, I would find it hard to believe that no one would have seen her crawling into her trunk.
However, if someone driving on the interstate saw a car pulled over, and a man looking in his trunk (what it might appear he was doing when he shot her), they probably wouldn't think anything of it. I just have a very hard time wrapping my head around the suicide theory. Not saying it isn't possible, I just can't see putting her daughter through that phone call. I would never do that to my kids, as most moms wouldn't. That motherly instinct to protect them would kick in, IMO.

 

[jjenny]

I haven't had a chance to read through - were LE aware she was in the trunk of her own car or had she told anyone? Still don't know why she didn't call 911...

She claimed she was held in the trunk. So hard to understand why that wouldn't be probable cause to look in the trunk.

 

[jjenny]

Wouldn't just her call from the trunk of the car also qualify as "probable cause." At least I hope that if I ever phone the police from the trunk of a car they'd take that as implicit permission to open the trunk if they find the car. Though saying that I'm reminded that I have always found it curious that she didn't call the police, they called her.

You would think so. Suicide or murder, what if she were still alive after the shot?

 

[Inthedetails]

Being that close to the interstate, and right on the road like that, I would find it hard to believe that no one would have seen her crawling into her trunk.
However, if someone driving on the interstate saw a car pulled over, and a man looking in his trunk (what it might appear he was doing when he shot her), they probably wouldn't think anything of it. I just have a very hard time wrapping my head around the suicide theory. Not saying it isn't possible, I just can't see putting her daughter through that phone call. I would never do that to my kids, as most moms wouldn't. That motherly instinct to protect them would kick in, IMO.

BBM

Do you mean the rest stop? If her story is not true, then she did not crawl into the trunk at the rest stop.

Instead, she drove for hours and finally ended up on the lot in Spokane. That location was in an place likely not noticed by anyone, especially at late night when she was there.

If it was suicide, she didn't crawl into the trunk until the end.

jmo

 

[jjenny]

BBM

Do you mean the rest stop? If her story is not true, then she did not crawl into the trunk at the rest stop.

Instead, she drove for hours and finally ended up on the lot in Spokane. That location was in an place likely not noticed by anyone, especially at late night when she was there.

If it was suicide, she didn't crawl into the trunk until the end.

jmo

ITA. If it were suicide and no one else was involved, then she had to have gotten into the trunk right before the end.

 

[bluesneakers]

Manner of death in Rita Maze case still not clear

“We haven’t come out with a manner of death or more details on the circumstances, so we’re just trying to get everything in a row,” said Sandra Barker, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Salt Lake City.

“We want to make sure we’re thorough in the investigation before we come out and say anything,” the FBI’s Barker said.

The FBI is waiting on lab results from evidence testing being completed by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office, “which can take awhile,” before releasing additional information, Barker said.