09 - The Murder of Mitrice Richardson

A beautiful and vibrant 24 year old woman begins to show signs that she is going through a bipolar episode, and is acting erratically one evening at an expensive restaurant in the Malibu Hills. Sheriff's deputies arrive on scene, perform a sobriety test, and find the woman is sober. According to witnesses at the scene, and initial statements from the arresting deputies, the woman is definitely not of sound mind. She is taken into custody, with her car containing her phone, wallet, and atm card being impounded 11 miles away. She is released mere hours later, at 12:38am, in a strange town, with none of her belongings. After being spotted by a homeowner a few miles away at 6am, the woman is never seen alive again. After a half-hearted investigation and ever-evolving story by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, her body is discovered in a canyon over ten months later, completely nude, and partially mummified. What followed is perhaps one of the most egregious examples of negligence and mishandling of a crime scene, and the subsequent "investigation" into her death is no better. Her family is left with too many unanswered questions, no straight answers from law enforcement, and the loss of their loved before she had a chance to live a full life. What happened to Mitrice Richardson? Will her family ever receive the justice they deserve?