Mitrice Richardson

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (CA)

Death Location:

Monte Nido, California

Summary:

Mitrice Lavon Richardson was a 24-year-old African-American woman who disappeared on September 17, 2009, after being released from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station in the early morning hours with no phone, purse, or transportation. Her skeletal remains were discovered on August 9, 2010, in Dark Canyon near Monte Nido, California, approximately 11 months after her disappearance. The cause of death remains undetermined.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Death:

On the evening of September 16, 2009, Mitrice Richardson went to Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu for dinner around 6:30 PM. She exhibited increasingly erratic behavior at the restaurant, engaging in unusual conversations and displaying signs of mental distress. When she was unable to pay her $89 bill, restaurant staff called the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies arrived and found a small amount of marijuana in her vehicle. Richardson was arrested on charges of failure to pay an innkeeper and possession of marijuana, and was transported to the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station approximately ten miles up Malibu Canyon. Despite Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, calling the station multiple times to express concern about her daughter's mental health and requesting that she be held until transportation could be arranged, Richardson was released at approximately 1:00-1:25 AM on September 17, 2009, with no phone, no purse, no money, and no transportation. She was released into an unfamiliar area with no bus service at night. At approximately 6:30 AM on September 17, a Monte Nido resident called the Sheriff's Department to report a woman sleeping on the rear steps of his home. When startled, the woman ran from the property and was never seen alive again. It was later determined that this woman was Richardson. She was last seen on foot in the rugged hills near Calabasas, approximately five miles from the sheriff's station.

Additional Details:

For nearly a year, extensive ground and air searches were conducted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles Police Department, trained volunteers, and family members. On January 9, 2010, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department conducted one of the largest-scale searches in the department's history, with over 300 trained search and rescue volunteers participating in an 18-square-mile search in Malibu Canyon. Despite these efforts, Richardson was not found. On August 9, 2010, park rangers who were surveying the area for illegal cannabis cultivation sites discovered Richardson's partially mummified remains in Dark Canyon, a remote creek bed in the Santa Monica Mountains, approximately 1.5 to 2.5 miles from where she was last seen and about 6.5 miles from the sheriff's station. The remains were found scattered over a multi-hundred-yard area, with her clothing, belt, bra, and jeans scattered hundreds of feet down the ravine. Her skull and spinal cord were detached from the rest of her remains. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Department classified her cause of death as "undetermined," noting there was no evidence of trauma prior to death. The investigation revealed numerous procedural failures by the Sheriff's Department and Coroner's Office, including the removal of the remains by deputies without the coroner's permission, and the Coroner's team losing GPS coordinates on their first return to the site, requiring two more weeks to recover the full remains. In 2011, the Richardson family settled a civil lawsuit with Los Angeles County for $900,000 for negligence and civil rights violations related to her arrest and release. In January 2017, the California Attorney General's office completed an investigation and determined there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against anyone involved in her release. Multiple independent reviews were conducted, including by the county's Office of Independent Review, which concluded that deputies acted "properly and legally" in releasing Richardson, though this determination has been disputed by the family. Forensic anthropologist Clea Koff later examined the remains and concluded they had been improperly removed and collected. The case remains open with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, classified as a death investigation rather than a homicide. Various reward offers have been established and re-established over the years, including initial offers of $10,000 and later increases to $20,000 from Los Angeles County and the cities of Malibu and Calabasas. Recent investigative journalism, particularly the true crime podcast "Lost Hills," has uncovered new information suggesting investigators suspected foul play and had identified a person of interest, a local man who is now deceased and was rumored to be the last person to have seen her alive. The case has received significant media attention, including a documentary called "Lost Compassion" and coverage on the Investigation Discovery show "Disappeared."

Case Last Updated:

Aug 19, 2026