A 28-Year-Old Deputy Answered a Quiet Friday-Night Call in Montana — Then the Gunman Drove Off With a 7-Year-Old Girl

It was a Friday night in one of the quietest corners of America.

Eureka, Montana, sits just a few miles from the Canadian border.

Pine trees. Mountain roads. The kind of place where people still leave the porch light on.

At 8:23 p.m., a call came in.

A “disturbance” at a home on Lone Pine Trail.

Two officers went.

One of them was 28-year-old Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Terpsma.

He had only been a deputy for a few months.

And within minutes, everything on that quiet road would change.

A Call That Sounded Routine

Disturbance calls are some of the most common calls officers answer.

An argument. A noise complaint. Something that doesn’t feel right.

Deputy Terpsma didn’t go alone.

A Eureka police officer went with him.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the two arrived at the home at 118 Lone Pine Trail.

But they never got the chance to find out what the “disturbance” was.

Because someone was waiting with a gun.

“Shot and Killed at the Scene”

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office says that when the officers arrived, the suspect opened fire.

Deputy Terpsma was shot and killed at the scene.

The Eureka officer beside him was hit too.

That officer, who has not been named, survived — authorities say the injuries are not life-threatening.

And the man police say pulled the trigger?

He didn’t stay.

But he didn’t leave alone, either.

The Girl in the Car

Authorities identified the suspect as 50-year-old Matthew David Dye of Kalispell.

According to the sheriff’s office, Dye fled the scene in a vehicle.

Heading south, toward Kalispell.

And inside that vehicle was a 7-year-old girl.

Let that sink in.

A man accused of shooting two officers was now on the road, at night, with a child.

Every minute he stayed on the road mattered.

But the most dangerous part of the night was still ahead.

A Chase on Highway 93

Flathead County sheriff’s deputies spotted the vehicle and went after it.

What followed, authorities say, was a running gunfight.

According to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office:

• Dye fired at multiple deputies during the pursuit.
• Deputies returned fire.
• Two Flathead County patrol vehicles were disabled.

All of this, with a 7-year-old in the car.

Officers set up a roadblock on U.S. Highway 93, at Bill Creek Road and Mountain Meadow Road.

And then — just short of it — the vehicle stopped.

Dye surrendered.

Deputies reached the girl.

She was unharmed.

But back on Lone Pine Trail, investigators were about to discover the night was even darker than anyone knew.

What Investigators Found Back at the House

As investigators worked the scene of the original call, they made another discovery.

A woman had also been shot and killed there.

She has been identified as 46-year-old Merrisa Walker.

And she wasn’t the only other victim.

A young girl at the home was also injured, according to the sheriff’s office.

She was treated at the scene and released.

Authorities have not publicly explained how everyone involved was connected — or what sparked the “disturbance” in the first place.

Those are the questions an entire community is now asking.

“This Fine Young Man”

Deputy Terpsma’s career in law enforcement was just getting started.

He worked as a detention officer with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office from December 2024 until May of this year.

Then he joined the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy.

Five months later, he was gone.

Sheriff Darren Short announced his death “with a heavy heart.”

“It has been trying times in Lincoln County during the last year,” the sheriff said.

“We are all deeply affected by the loss of Deputy Terpsma but know we can count on our community to support the Sheriff’s Office and each other as we grieve the loss of this fine young man.”

Attorney General Knudsen put it simply: “He will not be forgotten.”

Gov. Greg Gianforte said he and his wife were praying for Lincoln County and for the deputy’s family, friends and loved ones.

What Happens Next

Dye is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center on a pending deliberate homicide warrant, according to the Daily Inter Lake.

Authorities say he will be charged and will have an initial hearing in Lincoln County Justice Court next week.

The Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the case.

The Flathead County deputies who exchanged fire with him have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard policy.

And the investigation is still ongoing.

So for now, a small Montana town is left with a fallen deputy, a woman who didn’t survive the night, an injured officer, an injured girl — and a 7-year-old who made it home.

Sources: Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office; Montana Attorney General’s Office; Flathead County Sheriff’s Office; Flathead Beacon; KPAX; NBC Montana; Daily Inter Lake.