The Great Falls Police Department has released more information about the homicide and kidnapping incident from July 15.

The homicide victim has been identified as Patricia Putnam, 51, and the suspect, who was shot and killed by officers after a lengthy pursuit that ended in Flathead County, has been identified as 24-year-old Xavier Hutt of Missoula.

GFPD investigating homicide, kidnapping

That morning, GFPD offers were dispatched to a domestic disturbance occurring in the 3000 block of 6th St NE.

Upon arrival, the officers found a deceased adult female, a distraught family member and two young children.

Officers identified the male suspect as Hutt and it was reported Hutt had been in a relationship with a member of the decedent’s family and that he had just physically taken an adult female against her will, fleeing the scene prior to officers’ arrival, according to a GFPD release.

GFPD officers and detectives, with 911 dispatchers, located Hutt’s vehicle traveling north across several different jurisdictions.

A pursuit ensued and multiple law enforcement agencies became directly involved, including: U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Highway Patrol, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Toole County Sheriff’s Office, Glacier County Sheriff’s Office, Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

During the initial investigation and pursuit, GFPD investigators secured a $1 million arrest warrant for Hutt on charges of homicide and kidnapping.

At about 6:20 a.m. on July 15, the pursuit ended approximately 170 miles from Great Falls, in Flathead County.

Hutt was still armed with a firearm and holding the abducted female against her will, according to the GFPD release.

Hutt died where the pursuit ended and was shot by law enforcement officers. The agency or agencies that the offices belong to has not been identified.

The female victim was treated for multiple non-life threatening injuries she had received from Hutt throughout the incident, according to GFPD.

Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter confirmed an autopsy was performed on Putnam by the Montana State Crime Lab on July 16. Slaughter identified Putnam and confirmed that her cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of her death was homicide.

The Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigations is conducting the officer involved shooting death investigation, according to GFPD.