Mitrice Richardson Part 2

27:19And the team wouldn't even get back out to the area for more than two weeks. But of course, everything else is still in progress, so on August 11th, a forensic anthropologist was brought in to look over Mitrice's remains. They discovered that multiple bones were still missing, including multiple vertebrae, a rib, and her hyoid bone. The anthropologist also specifically noted that there didn't appear to be any damage from animals on the bones. There were no fractures either, which rules out the possibility that Mitrice fell to the location she was found. But that's really all they could rule out.

27:56Now, Latisse was pretty shocked by where Maitrese was found. She doubts Maitrese would walk into the area. She said, quote, One thing I know about my daughter, she is not a nature young lady. On her own, that is not a place she would wander up to. After an autopsy, both a cause and manner of death couldn't be determined. On August 12th, authorities held a press conference, where they publicly confirmed the remains found were Maitrese's. When asked if foul play could be involved, Sheriff Baca said, quote, we have no indication of a homicide at this point. I don't believe that the remains are capable of telling us a story that would lead to that possibility, and I would ask that the coroner's office continually work in that regard to see if there was any foul play.

28:44Basically, at this point, Mytreece's case was left open, and the investigation did continue, but it slowed down significantly. Law enforcement did start coming up with theories about what they thought may have happened to Mitrice. Anaphylactic shock from poison oak or a rattlesnake bite. But people were quick to point out that both of those things are incredibly rare causes of death in California, and neither of those theories explain why Mitrice's body was found naked, though one member of law enforcement suggested that maybe animals had removed her clothing. So let's explore that possibility.

29:21Animals would have had to take off Mitrice's shoes and socks, unbuckle her belt, take the belt off her jeans, then unzip and remove Mitrice's jeans and her underwear, as well as unhook her bra and get it out from under her. The animals would then have to carry the jeans and bra to the creek, and then hang her belt on the vines. Then they would have to eat or somehow get rid of Mitrice's shirts, underwear, socks, and shoes. Now obviously, I'm not an expert on any of this, but for me and a lot of other people, this math just isn't mathing. This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by Chewy.

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31:21This episode is brought to you by 20th Century Studios upcoming comedy, Ella McKay. From Academy Award-winning writer-director James L. Brooks, Emma Mackey plays Ella McKay, an idealistic young woman who juggles family and work in a story about the people you love and how to survive them. Featuring an all-star cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Loudon, Kumail Nanjiani, Iowa Debris, Julie Kaffner, with Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson. Ella McKay, in theaters December 12th. Get tickets now. On August 20th, forensic anthropologist Clea Koff, co-founder of the Missing Persons Identification Resource Center, examined Mitreza's remains on behalf of her family.

32:02Clea later told LA Magazine that there was something that stood out to her. Mitrice's left arm was mummified and tightly flexed, as if she'd been saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Clea says the flexing could not have been caused by the environment where she was found. There was nothing to hold Mitrice's arm in such a position. She said it was defying gravity. And Clea can explain this. She believes Mitrice's arm was held in place, maybe by a sheet or some other type of wrapping, and that she was in a different environment while mummification set in. and that led to another question. Clea wanted to know how long Mitrice had been in the canyon and where she had been before then.

32:43Clea further found that there was no human tissue on any of Mitrice's clothing. This led her to conclude that the clothing was not removed from Mitrice's body after the onset of mummification and or decomposition, meaning her clothes had to have come off before her body got into the canyon. Now after examining Mitrice's remains, Clea dug deeper She wanted to look into everything the coroner's office had done to investigate And she immediately had some concerns Clea found that the hair on Mitrice's skull wasn't compared to the hair found scattered near her remains Because of that, no one really knows if that scattered hair was actually Mitrice's Also, the items found scattered in her hair, those metallic fragments and an earring which Mytrice was not wearing when she was arrested, by the way, weren't sent off for testing.

33:33And again, without testing, no one can say for sure that those were Mytrice's. Mytrice's pubic hair also wasn't tested for semen, foreign fibers, or foreign hair. Neither was her bra, jeans, or belt. LA Magazine further reported that the coroner didn't even know where Mytrice's clothing was for weeks. Clea ended up finding it wadded up inside of Mitrice's body bag. And there was another huge piece of evidence that was never tested. The bug casings on Mitrice's body were not examined to see if the flies had hatched, or to see if they were even from the same environment Mitrice's remains were found in.

34:12Dirt and leaves found around Mitrice weren't tested for blood either. Clea further noted that a craniotomy to look for evidence of trauma was not performed on Mitrice's skull. And as I mentioned, Mitrice's hyoid bone, a neck bone that can show evidence of strangling, was never recovered. This was disturbing to Clea, because when she looked at Mitrice's teeth, she noticed that they were slightly pink, which is a possible sign of strangulation. When I asked Dr. Hampton to confirm whether or not the hyoid bone had been found, she expressed some concerns as well. No, it was not. Let me say this, I'm going to say this.

34:52I stand by that. No, it was not. However, we're not privy to information. You know, there got to be a certain point where the law enforcement was hiding the details. So it has never been reported that it was discovered. The coroners never acknowledged that it was recovered. So I would, I can just say, no, we've never been told that it was recovered. Jumping back to Clea She determined that there were too many unanswered questions To conclude that Mytris wasn't murdered She told LA Magazine that usually The default would be to consider Mytris' death a homicide At least until they could rule it out But that's not what happened with Mytris It seems like the department immediately said foul play had not been involved And Clea's findings only proved to Mytris' family That the investigation into her death was not thorough On August 25th, 16 days after Mitrice's remains were located, the coroner's team was finally able to go into the canyon and look around.

35:54While there, they discovered an additional nine bones belonging to Mitrice. None of the bones showed any evidence of trauma or animal activity. But again, it was incredibly clear that the investigation into Mitrice's death has been mishandled by the sheriff's department. And as the months passed, it wasn't just Dr. Hampton and Mitrice's family that had concerns. Assistant Chief Coroner Winter also grew more and more frustrated with law enforcement. In early November, he decided to go to the LA Times about his concerns. He said the department's removal of Mitrice's remains was possibly illegal and may have compromised his investigation.

36:35He explained how the department had gone against his orders and remove Mitrice's remains without the coroner's office ever visiting the scene. In response to Winter's claims, Captain Dave Smith told the Times that poor phone and radio reception kept coroner instructions from reaching investigators at the scene. He said they decided to recover the remains because it was starting to get dark out, and they were worried about leaving them out overnight where animals could get to them. And again, another investigation was launched, and they had the same conclusion. A YR cleared Lost Hills and LAPD of any wrongdoing On November 6, days after Assistant Chief Coroner spoke to the Times Sheriff Baca and a team of deputies led Latisse, Dr.

37:20Hampton, Clay Akoff, and others to the location where Mytrese's body was found This was supposed to be a really special day They created a memorial for Mytrese They placed sunflowers on the ground and played some Aretha Franklin music but then someone in the group found one of Mitrice's finger bones in the dirt and leaves. So despite all these trips they made to this area, they still didn't find all of Mitrice's remains. Now as you can imagine, this was extremely upsetting to Mitrice's loved ones and just another glaring example of how poorly this investigation was being handled. A little over a month later, on December 20th, Latisse held another press conference.

38:02This time, she asked that Mitrice's remains be exhumed and examined by the FBI. Their hope was to finally get a cause of death. Latisse was joined by Kleikoff, who pointed out the many issues with the investigation. Now, while these findings were pretty gruesome, Latisse wanted people to understand exactly why she was pushing for Mitrice's case to be looked at as a homicide. Latisse said, quote, I am not a scientist, but I am a mother who knew the very essence of her daughter. And I believe my daughter was murdered. I believe she was sexually assaulted. And my issue, based on what I know, what has just been shared with you, is that there has been no criminal analysis to either prove or disprove my concerns.

38:45And it concerns me even more that there appears not to be a motivation to find out what happened to my daughter. Now, after this, the sheriff's department did respond. They told the patch that they were basically supportive of my Teresa's family, and willing to do anything to figure out what happened to Maitrice, but they were also extremely honest. They said that may never happen, but Maitrice's case would remain open. And Latisse didn't give up. On December 29th, she met with Sheriff Baca to discuss exhuming Maitrice's body. LA Magazine reported that during this meeting, Baca told Latisse that he reached out to the FBI and that they agreed to do this.

39:27Baca also said that he was disappointed in the coroner's, quote, lack of sensitivity about this evidence, and he said that he might reconsider Mitrice's cause of death, stating, quote, I've always felt that it should have been treated from the offset as a possible homicide. And I really want to emphasize this. I think in true crime, we're really easy and fast to discount these families. Of course, when you're close to a case like this, there are a lot of emotions. but that emotion doesn't always dissolve logic. So having someone from law enforcement say, yes, I think that this should have been treated as a possible homicide also is a big deal.

40:07But in the end, that exhumation didn't happen. When Baca was asked why, he said that the FBI was no longer able to help them. So LA Magazine reaches out to the FBI, and they say that they never agreed to do it in the first place. We've got two agencies pointing fingers at each other. Meanwhile, the coroner's office was still just trying to locate the rest of Mitrice's remains. And there were indeed more remains. In February, they recovered eight more bones. At this point, they'd recovered more than 90 % of Mitrice's remains. Three months later in May, Latice filed another lawsuit against LA County, alleging negligence and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

40:54In this lawsuit, Latisse talks about how deputies improperly removed Mytrice's remains. She also revealed that that location that she, Dr. Hampton, Clayakoff, and others visited on November 6th was not the actual location where Mytrice's body had been found. They'd been taken to the wrong location. which is one, absolutely terrible and two, should have expanded the overall search for Mitrice's remains since some of her bones were found there and Latisse just keeps continuing to put pressure on law enforcement she wants Mitrice's remains exhumed and finally in July her request was granted but after all that time and effort they still couldn't determine Mitrice's cause of death the following month, Latisse and Michael reached an agreement to settle their lawsuits.

41:44Michael told the LA Times that he didn't want to settle. He wanted to take this case to trial, where more evidence would have to come out. But in the end, he took his attorney's advice and agreed to settle. But Michael said he would continue to speak out against the department's handling of Mitrice's case. He said he still hasn't received justice, because his daughter's killer is still out there. Close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax, And let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-CONTACTS.

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43:04Try now at windows.com slash copilot. While Michael and Latisse kept fighting, the next few years were pretty quiet. But then, in 2014, Lee Baca resigned as sheriff of Los Angeles County. This is because of a growing obstruction scandal. Now, this was unrelated to Mitrice's death. It was mostly about unprovoked beatings of inmates and subsequent cover-ups. Now, this scandal would lead to the arrest of at least 10 members of the department, including Lee Baca himself. Eventually, Baca would be found guilty on felony counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal investigators.

43:47He was sentenced to three years in prison. Now, while this scandal was unrelated to Mitrice's case, it of course led many people to re-question his involvement. In 2019, Mitrice's family got another glimmer of hope that something would be done. This is when Alex Villanueva took over as sheriff. He met with Mitrice's loved ones, and told them that the department had changed their procedures since Mitrice's death. With the changes, if someone is acting strangely prior to their arrest, they will be evaluated by a mental health team, regardless of how they're acting at the station. It also became policy to make sure that people were leaving the jail with their cell phones and other belongings, and the department got rid of their waiting period for taking missing person reports for adults.

44:35Now, Maitreza's family becomes really hopeful at this point. They were hoping that finally after all these years, there would be a full investigation into Maitreza's death. That hope became even stronger after Sheriff Villanueva attended a church memorial service marking the 10-year anniversary of Maitreza's death. While there, he announced that he wanted to, quote, pursue the truth, and get to the bottom of what happened. He said he wanted to reassess the entire case from the beginning. They would go back and redo the entire investigation. So of course, Maitreza's family is really excited about this.

45:12After 10 years, they were finally getting somewhere. But just 10 days later, Maitreza's family's hope was shattered. Villanueva backtracked his statements. He basically came out and said he only planned on re-reading the file. He wasn't going to rework it. Villanueva argued that Mitrice's case had already been looked into by multiple departments. But Dr. Hampton and others argued that this was done by a corrupt sheriff's administration, and that there was also evidence that the now-retired people at the department had lied. So, Mitrice's loved ones continued fighting. On December 21, 2021, the Board of Supervisors reinstated a$10 ,000 reward for information regarding Mitrice's case.

45:59Following this announcement, authorities said that her case remained open, but there weren't any new leads. Then, three months later, that reward was doubled to$20 ,000. The board said they hope the reward will lead to the apprehension and conviction of those responsible for Mitrice's, quote, suspicious disappearance and heinous death. And that's pretty much where the case is today. So what happened to Mitrice Richardson? Well, of course, we know that Mitrice was experiencing some type of mental health crisis, which leads some to believe she may have been in a tragic accident or completed suicide.

46:40But many who knew her said that she was met with foul play due to how her remains and clothing were found. Some suspect law enforcement may have been involved, or at least no more than they're saying. Or at least no more than they're saying. Someone killed her. Somebody's out there. And no matter who it is, they need to be picked up. I can have my suspicions, but I won't. I would never 100 % say that it was law enforcement because I don't know that. I can have my gut instinct. But to the extent that they are not properly evaluating her case or investigating her case, they're allowing a murderer to be out there, be it somebody from the department or a private citizen.

47:23And that's problematic. You would think that they would spend a lot of time, if they're so confident and comfortable that it was not one of their own, and that these are all good men, you would think that they would spend a lot of time, or any time, investigating her case. Which brings me right to our call to action. I think one of the things Lee Baca told me is that my Teresa's case is only going to be solved when someone comes forward. So what I think needs to happen is we just need to continue to have her story out there. I think podcasts like yours and people spreading the word, it's been 13 years.

48:06There are people who weren't even old enough to really be following her story who now are, you know, in their 20s or, you know, and are just hearing about her story for the first time. Mitrice's loved ones are still fighting for justice. They want an investigation into the handling of Mitrice's arrest and release. They want the department to take an interest in solving Mitrice's case, which is still open. Mitrice's loved ones deserve all those things. They've been waiting for way too long.

48:42As a reminder, 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson was released from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Malibu slash Lost Hills Station at 1238 a.m. on September 17, 2009. Six hours later, Mytris was seen five miles south, in the backyard of a cold canyon road home. This is the last confirmed sighting we have of Mytris. On August 9, 2010, the majority of Mytris' remains were discovered in a creek in Dark Canyon, an area a few miles away from where she was last seen. My Teresa's case is still open Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD at 213-486-6900 But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney and is a Voices for Justice media original This episode contains writing and research assistance by Haley Gray If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show in your podcast player It helps us and helps more people find these cases in need of justice

50:15Thank you.

51:04Welcome to the secret after show. The door is open, the air is on, and the dogs are in here this time. Popcorn is sleeping in his bed. Marley just, I had to bend. Marley is settled underneath a extra computer chair in the corner. All is well in the studio. So let's talk about this case. It's just, it's one of those cases where I think you feel so much for the family. There's obviously something weird going on with law enforcement. You know, there's some missteps. You know, the family going out there in Dr. Hampton and Kleikoff, finding additional bones that, you know, in a perfect world, really in a thorough sweep of that area, should have been found the first time.

51:50So I understand why there are so many confusing and concerning elements to this story, and I just hope that these episodes can help. There has certainly been some misinformation out there. I know it's a more popular case, but Maitree still needs justice. Her loved ones still need justice. Dr. Hampton spoke about this case like it happened yesterday. These things are still really fresh for the people who knew my trees, and I just hope that these episodes can do something to help move that needle. I also want to say another thank you to Dr. Hampton, who was an absolute wealth of knowledge in this case.

52:29So let's get to our segment of hope, which is, again, another terrible subject we're talking about that does have some type of silver lining. This one is a little bit different, but let's just dig in. So this is from apnews.com, and the headline reads, quote, Parenting Advice YouTuber Ruby Frank charged with aggravated child abuse of two of her six children. Now, if you guys don't know, 8 Passengers was a huge YouTube channel. I think it had 2.3 million subscribers, which is pretty big. It's close to, I mean, under what Kendall Rae has now, but again, pretty big. So let me just read more from the article.

53:13A Utah woman who gave online parenting advice via a once popular YouTube channel was charged Friday with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse after two of her six children were found abused and malnourished, authorities said. So this article came out, as always, a few days before this episode. This is September 1st, 2023. It goes on to read, Ruby Frank, who's now defunct Channel E passengers, chronicled her family life, was arrested Wednesday night in the southern Utah city of Ivins. She was taken into custody at the home of Jodi Hildebrandt, who owns a counseling business that says she teaches people to improve their lives by being honest, responsible, and tumble.

53:58Hildebrandt was also arrested Wednesday and faces the same six abuse charges. And it's really sad, like, how this came to be. So, again, from the article, Wednesday morning, Frank's son climbed out of a window in Hildebrandt's residence. So, they were at the residence of this counselor, this business partner of the mom. He climbed out of the window in Hildebrandt's residence and ran to a neighbor's house asking for food and water. The neighbor saw duct tape on the boy's ankles and wrists and called law enforcement. Now, the thing is, the reason I put this as the segment of hope is because the oldest daughter has come out on Instagram and basically praised the police department for doing this.

54:46She says that she and several others have been calling police and been calling Child Protective Services for years, trying to get the kids removed. Now, I'm not going to go into a ton of detail. I very much feel like this is, well, this is their story to tell. So I don't want to sit there and further victimize or traumatize these kids. But this story is huge. It's no secret what has happened. And like I said, I wanted to include it in the segment of hope because I don't know about everybody else out there, but I am certainly someone who has been a part of a situation where you call DCS several times, where DCS is called on your family several times.

55:31That happened to me, obviously, as you guys know, and action is not taken. And I can say that working as a part of that system or within that system, whatever you want to call it, when I worked with the kids in foster care, there was a huge conversation between these agencies about the reluctance in removing children from their families. I know specifically in Arizona, they really, really, really try to keep the families together. And unfortunately, in so many cases, that is just not what is best for these kids. And I think that this is obviously one of these cases, just as I experienced growing up.

56:11so I think the silver lining here is that action was finally taken now I wish it didn't have to take that poor child climbing out of a window and you know begging for help but in the end that kid is a freaking hero in my eyes and really saved their siblings and before I get too emotional and I cry, I just want to say that's why this is part of the segment of hope. Also, that hopefully this will cease whatever business this woman and her business partner where these kids were found or staying from doing any further business. I mean, in my experience, if that person, not my experience, my opinion, if that person knew that those kids were tied up in her home or whatever, which I assume that they did, they shouldn't be counseling anyone on anything.

57:07So let's hope that this puts a cease to all operations of those people and also draws a huge spotlight on family channels. I think that that's another, you know, silver lining and why I wanted it to be a part of the segment of hope also is because we really need to take a look at posting kids online in general and family channels. If anyone is on TikTok, which I know some of you are, okay, some of you are on TikTok. So So I'm sure that you are well aware of some of the incidents on there with major creators who show their kids very often. And it is such a dark subject that I don't want to get into it here.

57:46And honestly, this is the after show. It's already running really long, so I won't get into it here. But like I said on Instagram, I would love to cover this subject. I think it needs to be talked about more. I think, you know, there are obviously a lot of people who just enjoy family content for whatever reason, a variety of good reasons that aren't nefarious. But, you know, when these channels and this eight passengers channel was not the only one, if you look at like DaddyO5, that's the first one that comes to mind. And it's very clear that there's an audience that really, for lack of a better word, kind of gets off or gets high off of whatever, gets some type of enjoy or thrill of seeing kids being outright abused, of seeing them being punished.

58:32So it is definitely a larger conversation to be had that I think is, thank goodness, being had in social media by influencers. You know, people are really taking a second look at these family channels and, you know, asking what it's all about. Why do they exist? And what harm is it doing to the kids? I actually just on my personal Instagram, I share so much on Instagram. On my personal Instagram, I posted about, gosh, I forget which state it is now. I think it was like Connecticut or something. Don't quote me on that. I could be wrong. There was one state that changed the way that the money made by these channels is later distributed to children.

59:14And more and more, I think we're going to see more legislation around treating these kids who generate income through monetized videos or whatever audio, whatever it might be, you know, better protections for them and their work and better protections to make sure that their money isn't all gone by the time they turn 18, which has been a problem in the entertainment industry overall for years and years and years. So that is our segment of hope. It appears that these kids have gotten away from the abuse. They are now in child protective custody. And I hope that they are placed with very loving people who can help them heal.

59:49And I just support whatever that journey looks like for them. But as always, thank you. I love you. And I'll talk to you next time. Discover Mercer Labs Museum of Art and Technology in New York City, where creativity meets innovation. This holiday season, immerse yourself in a world of interactive exhibits, digital masterpieces, and unforgettable experiences. Whether you're with family, friends, or exploring solo, Mercer Labs invites you to see art and technology in a whole new light. Get your tickets now at mercerlabs.com and redefine your museum experience. Hey, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.

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