Mitrice Richardson

Mitrice Lavon Richardson was a 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate with a bright future when her life ended in circumstances that have never been explained. On the night of September 16, 2009, she was at Geoffrey's, an upscale restaurant in Malibu, where staff described her behavior as bizarre; she reportedly spoke of being from Mars and could not pay an $89 bill. Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were called, and Richardson was arrested on suspicion of defrauding an innkeeper and marijuana possession. Her family later said she appeared to be experiencing a mental-health crisis.

Richardson was taken to the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station in Calabasas. Despite her mother's concern about her mental state, she was released at about 12:28 a.m. on September 17, 2009, without her purse, cell phone, car, or any means to call for help, into an unfamiliar and remote area. A deputy stated she showed no signs of intoxication or mental illness. She was seen briefly by a couple of area residents in the early morning hours and then vanished. The decision to release a vulnerable young woman alone in the middle of the night became the central controversy of the case.

For eleven months Richardson's whereabouts were unknown, sparking searches, vigils, and intense scrutiny of the sheriff's department. On August 9, 2010, park rangers found her skeletal, partially mummified remains in a rugged area known as Dark Canyon near Monte Nido, roughly six miles from the station. Her clothing was scattered nearby. The Los Angeles County coroner classified her cause and manner of death as undetermined. Critics raised concerns about the handling of the scene, including reports that the coroner was kept away from the remains for hours, and about the loss of potential evidence.

Richardson's parents pursued civil action, and in 2011 her family reached a settlement reported at around $900,000; officials denied wrongdoing. The litigation highlighted questionable practices, including video evidence from the jail initially being withheld from the family and the mishandling of her remains at the scene. In January 2017, the California Attorney General's office concluded its review of the circumstances of her release and declined to bring charges against anyone involved, and no deputy or official faced consequences over the decision to let her go in the middle of the night.

Over the years investigators and journalists have floated various theories about what happened after she left the station. A podcast investigation later identified a since-deceased local Monte Nido resident, Rick Forsberg, who had a history of violence against women, as a person of interest, noting suspicious circumstances near where her remains were found, though nothing was ever proven and he had passed a polygraph. Successive Los Angeles County sheriffs have said the investigation was never closed. Yet no one has been held responsible, and how Mitrice Richardson died after being released from the Lost Hills station remains an open and painful question, and a lasting symbol of the consequences of that late-night decision, for her family and the public.