Abducted Montana Woman Was Shot to Death

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana woman who was abducted from a highway rest stop and found dead in the trunk of her car near a Washington state airport had been shot to death.

The Spokane County medical examiner's office said Thursday that a single gunshot wound to the chest and abdomen killed 47-year-old Rita Maze. Her body was found Wednesday near Spokane International Airport.

Hours earlier, she had called her family to say she was in the trunk of a moving vehicle and didn't know where she was. Her family called authorities, but when they found her car, she was dead.

Rita Maze's daughter, Rochelle, says her mother was terrified because she knew her abductor had access to the gun she kept in her purse for protection. The coroner's office didn't say what type of gun killed Maze.