Mitrice Richardson /// Episode: 75 /// Part 1 | Forensic Files

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find us on social media. Everything is trueg. >> All right, captain. Is that enough of
the business? >> That's enough of the business. >> All right, gather around, grab a chair,
grab a beer, and let's talk some true crime. [Music] [Music] Lost Sheriff Station Deputy Shiff. How
can I help you? >> Hi, I'm calling from Joffrey's restaurant Malibu. Um, we have a guest
here who is refusing to pay her bill and we think she may she sounds really crazy. She may be on drugs or something.
Um, we wondering if someone should come by and pick her up. >> Okay. Well, what's the address there?
>> It's 274 Pacific Coast Highway. >> And is she a white, black, Asian, Hispanic?
>> She's um young black girl. She's probably in her 20s. >> Okay. What's she wearing? She's wearing
a black t-shirt and I think blue jeans. >> Is she with anybody else? >> No, it's this turn.
[Music] >> I am calling. I'm a little frazzled right now. Understand my daughter is
being brought into the station. My Richardson, have they made it to the station yet? And she's been booked.
>> Okay. is is do you know where she's coming from? >> It's some restaurant out in Malibu and I
I didn't even think to get the name. The manager came only the only place we have
somebody that's in custody that they just announced on the radio that they're coming up is from Joffre
Highway. >> It's the only female that's being brought up to the station as we speak.
They actually just put on the radio right before you called. >> Okay. Okay. I'm I'm her mother. and are
you guys want to book her and then release her on her own recognition tonight because it it's dark. She
doesn't have a car and I don't want her wandering out. I'm I'm totally just taking a bath cuz it is so out of
character for her and you'll see when she comes in. She she's well spoken. I think the only way I will come and get
her tonight is if you guys are going to release her tonight. If if going to be held in custody for some type of
arraignment tomorrow, then I will wait until tomorrow. She definitely has no place, you know. I mean, she's not from
that area and I would hate to wake up to a morning report lost somewhere with her
head chopped off. So, I guess I would have to come and get her. Oh my god. >> Yeah, we're in Aurora Hills. The only
thing is, at least in the station here, she will be separated. So, nobody's going to be with her. Uh, so at least
that's, you know, the plus thing. So, you don't have to worry about her safety. >> Oh, yeah. No, I feel safe with her being
in in custody. It's being released, but I'm worried about it's crazy out here. [Music]
In 2009, we have a 24year-old woman who was briefly detained by deputies for not
paying her bill at a restaurant. We have no idea why she didn't pay this bill, but the events of this evening probably
could not get any stranger in my opinion. She's detained by the sheriff's department.
>> Yeah. She's held there for a couple of hours and then she's released after midnight. Now, the key here though is
she's released without a vehicle, without a cell phone, no purse, no money, no provisions, and they just let
her off wandering out into the darkness in an area that she's unfamiliar with. She may have been spotted trespassing
hours later. We're not convinced, not 100% sure, but shortly after that, if that was her, she disappears.
>> Yeah. diving into this case this week, it seemed like, you know, when you dive
in, you're trying to get some answers, and it seems like all I got was more questions.
>> Well, you know, I I agree with you. When I first dove into this, lots of questions. Lots of questions, and I
still have plenty of them, and we'll go through all of those as well. But you and I have been looking at this case for
over a week now, and I do think we have some answers here that we're going to present tonight. Um, quick, a little
background here. Who are we talking about? We're talking about 24year-old Mrice Richardson. Um, she grew up in the
suburbs east of LA with her mom and her stepdad. Uh, her father and grandmother lived in nearby South LA. She graduated
with honors from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in psychology in 2008. Uh, she had been working doing some clerical
work for a shipping company and on Friday nights she worked as a go-go dancer in Long Beach. Now, this was a
lesbian club. Uh, her dancing name was Hazel. Now, the day in question here is September 16th, 2009. This is a
Wednesday. Mrice is driving her 1998 Honda Civic down Pacific Coast Highway. >> Yeah.
>> When she decides to stop at a place called Joffre, this is regarded as an upscale restaurant near Malibu, so it's
a bit of a swanky place. And I hear the big attraction at J at Joffre is the wonderful views of the Pacific.
when she arrives. Well, they have valet parking at the restaurant, so we all know the drill, right? You pull up and
sometimes there's a line of cars and you got to wait for the valet to come up to
you and greet you. Um, the valet does come up and greet her. Correct. >> Yeah. >> So, he comes up and greets her and he's
got other things to do. He's got other cars to shuffle around and by the time, this is just within minutes, but by the
time he gets back to her car to move her vehicle, she's no longer in the vehicle.
and he finds her sitting in his vehicle of all places. >> His vehicle is parked nearby and he said
that he had left the door open. Uh but when he discovered her in his car, of course, you know, he wants to know,
>> "Yeah, why the hell are you in my car? >> What are you doing in my car?" >> Yeah. So, and she seems to be rumaging
through like CDs and stuff and starts making comments to him about the CDs and stuff that she's finding. And later he
would report, you know, what she was wearing and he he described her as wearing a Rostafarian style hat, a long
sleeve white shirt under a black Bob Marley short sleeve shirt and she was wearing, you know, like distressed jeans
or I don't know, maybe they were tore up jeans with Van >> the same and a pink belt. Uh the valet
asked her of course what she's doing in his car and uh she replies it's subliminal. Uh
>> what does that mean? >> Well, >> it's subliminal. >> That's now my my answer for anytime I
get caught doing something strange. >> Subliminal, man. >> Uh and then this is not real clear, but
she also says something about uh she's avenging the death of Michael Jackson, who you know, so this is 2009. Michael
Jackson died June 25th, 2009, but still a very strange thing to say. Uh, she does give him the keys and then ask if
Vanessa is here. The valet does not know whom Maitrice is asking about. Uh, she told him to keep an eye out for a girl
with tattoos on her arm. >> Strange thing to say to somebody that you don't know or that doesn't know,
Vanessa, and then you go into Joffre and then you ask for a table for one. Not a
table of two. But anyways, strange. Then you sit down, you order steak and some wine, and you enjoy your meal. She's
inside. She's sitting alone. She orders a cocktail. She orders a steak. And nearby her there's a table of seven. And
she goes over to the table, and she sits down and joins in the conversation. Uh she does return to her table at some
point to eat, but then goes back again to the seventop and sits down. Maitrice tells them she is going to Hawaii and
she would contact them when she arrives. Uh the seven diners leave Joffre and shortly after Maitrice goes to leave as
well and the manager confronts her about her unpaid dinner tab and this is amounting to a grand total of $89.
>> Yeah, expensive place. >> And my tree states that the other table should have covered her check. The
manager tells her that this is not the case. They did not. they're, you know, they didn't cover it and she is
responsible and my tree says that she is from Mars and maybe she could settle her
debt with with sex. Um, she pulls out a joint and then a staff member at the restaurant calls the Lost Hill Sheriff
Station. >> So, there's a lot of questions in my mind right now like one, why is she
there? Why is she at this restaurant? Why is she 45 minutes away from her uh house? and and this is an area that her
family claims that she's not familiar with, but as we all know, you know, my parents don't know every place that I go
to or places that are familiar to me. >> Mhm. >> So maybe they're just not familiar with
the fact that she goes to Malibu often, >> right? >> Uh but it's very odd that she talks to
this valet guy and says, "Hey, well, is Vanessa here?" Okay, so there's a couple
things. She's assuming that the valet knows Vanessa. So, one one of the things that I think is was she meeting Vanessa
as a as a date cuz she was an open lesbian. Was it is it was it a date? Was it just a friend? Or was Vanessa
somebody that worked there? And maybe that uh maybe my trice actually visited this restaurant multiple times. We don't
know that. You know what I mean? And so when he says, "Well, I don't know who you're talking about."
>> Or maybe she had the wrong location, right? You know, this is an area she's not familiar with. Maybe she stopped at
the wrong restaurant. you know, she's given directions to something and she thinks she's at the right place.
>> Very possible. And that's why I'd want to know what the cell phone records were
before all this because you know what, again, what if she's meeting Vanessa that works at a restaurant and so she
goes and stops in the restaurant and thinks, "Well, I'm just going to go get a table and my friend works at the
restaurant and she said, "Come down. Meal's on me." >> Well, and here's the thing, too, about
her interaction with the valet. So, there's a lot of red flags there, right? It sounds like everything that she did
and said to the valet sounds to be crazy talk. However, if you take away a couple
of those actions, some of it's not crazy talk. So, had she not sat down in his car and had she not said anything about
Michael Jackson's death, >> her just asking about a Vanessa would not seem crazy just because he doesn't
know who she is. >> Yeah. >> And second of all, when when she says >> keep an eye out for a girl with tattoos
on her arms, well, that sounds crazy, too. However, what if the Vaness she thought she's meeting a Vanessa and
she's just letting the valet know, oh, he doesn't know who I'm talking about. Keep an eye out for the girl with
tattoos on her arms. Vanessa has tattoos on her arms. Right. >> You know, so those last two things sound
crazy unless you take away the Michael Jackson in the the sitting in the vehicle.
>> Yeah. Or like you said, if she's at a restaurant that Vanessa works at, then you know, she missed one phrase. What if
it was, is Vanessa here? I don't know who Vanessa is. Is it the girl with the tattoo? she works here. Then the guy
could have said, "No, Vanessa doesn't work here." And then maybe she would realize I'm at the wrong place. Either
way, she sits down and and and we don't believe that she's there to meet Vanessa
mainly because the hostess says she asked for a table for one, right? >> But like we all know, they don't make
some table where you sit in the corner and just stare at the wall. >> You know, it's you can ask for a table
for one, but that's really just going to be determine how many menus you get. Right.
>> Right. Right. So, I mean, oh, so, okay. So, she asked for a table for one, then
she sits down. Now, I find this odd because I'm not one to go over and just talk to a group of people,
>> you know. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can see talking to one person or or but but a a group of
seven. >> Yeah. >> And and the strange thing here though is it sounds like she just went over and
sat down and joined in mid-con conversation. It's not like she walked over and introduced herself and asked if
she could sit down. It sounds like she just there happened to be an empty seat and she just went over and took that
seat and began talking like she knew the people. Now, the valet did come in at some point and tell the hostess, "Hey,
that girl that came in by herself, she's she's a little weird." So, so the staff
is on a little bit of heightened awareness of what's going on here. This table of seven, they don't know anything
that's weird. They just see this young, good-looking girl that comes over to their table and sits down and starts
talking. She she she's well spoken. She has a jovial personality. Um they probably didn't want to kick her off the
table, but somebody at from the staff did drop by at some point and kind of check in on the table to make sure
every, you know, is everything okay. >> Well, and you worked in a restaurant and
so like there was probably times that people came up when you had like a kind of weird customer and said, "Hey, guy at
table 7 >> kind of talking to himself." You know what I mean? Like just like small talk.
Is that what goes down? Well, the the restaurant that I worked in, and I worked there for quite some time, but
usually the weird customers were repeat customers, uh, that they would often come in by themselves or just one person
with them. >> They were regular, so you always knew how to handle the situation. So, if you
saw them, you know, talking with another table, it didn't you didn't really care
cuz you'd seen them do it a hundred times before and you knew they were harmless. They're a bit annoying, but
they're harmless. Now, uh, there are two different accounts here. Uh when you when you listen to uh when you listen to
my Teresa's family talk about how this restaurant thing went down, they explained that they think that maybe she
thought that the the table was going to buy her dinner. >> That that they believed that she she
didn't place the order until after she had gone over to the other table, talked with them for a while. Uh somebody at
that table did say something to the fact like, "Well, aren't you going to eat?" >> Right? and and they said, "Well, she
being a young attractive woman might have believed that they were offering to buy her meal." Yeah.
>> And so she was under the assumption that they were buying. I kind of take it >> expensive.
I kind of take it more as, you know, oh, aren't you going to eat? Like kind of a
reminder to go back to your own table like in a very polite way. >> Trying to be polite about it. So, but
but that's also makes sense because when they when she goes to walk out and they
say, "Hey, ma'am, are you going to pay your bill, she says,"Well, the other table's going to take care of it,
>> right?" >> And so, again, this is so strange because she doesn't have her ID on her.
She doesn't uh, you know, on her person, you know, and she doesn't have her wallet, so she has no way of paying,
right, on her person. And then there's a couple accounts where it says that some
of the staff members offered to pay her bill. >> Yeah. >> But the manager was like, "No." And I
wonder if that's just a I mean I I hate to say it, but I wonder if that partly is just a race thing. Well, uh, the from
what I heard was the manager thought that she was intoxicated because of the way that she was talking
>> and he thought that if we pay her bill, well then they're just the the sheriff's
department's not going to take her in and he didn't feel comfortable with her getting in a car and driving off.
>> Okay. >> Um, so he thought he was looking out for her is what he says after the fact that
that he wasn't going to let them cover the bill. >> Yeah, I buy that some. But what we'll
find out later is that, you know, he has her car towed. >> Mhm. >> Right. So, if you're really trying to
help her out, then yeah, you don't mind the cops coming and taking her away and then she doesn't have to drive cuz she's
drunk. Uh, but you're not going to tow her car, so she has to pay the towing fee in the impound lot. But I think a
lot of this stuff is hindsight. And he's like, "Oh, well, I was just trying to help her." Yeah.
>> Right. So, but it's strange. So, they they offer to pay her bill. He doesn't let her do that. Uh she's acting a
little strange like you said and there's I I haven't heard any accounts uh of her
fumbling through her pants and and and a joint falling out. >> Well, what what I said she pulls out a
joint, but the the account I actually heard was that she opened up her pockets to show that she had no money and in the
course of that a joint fell out. >> Um now, but you mentioned something leading up to that of her pulling out
the pockets was you had you had seen something where where the account was that she said busted, you know?
>> Right. Yeah. Yeah. >> When when she's asked, "How are you going to pay for your bill?" or "No,
they're not covering your bill. You need to settle up." >> And then she said, "Yeah, I'm busted."
>> And I actually took it a different way. Rather than you took it as, "Oh, well,
you caught me." You know, I thought I was slipping out the door and you caught me. Right.
>> I actually took it as I'm busted as in I have no money and then pull open the
pockets to prove that you're, you know, your wallet's busted. You have no money.
>> Yeah. It seems like she's kind of just joking around with the staff trying to
get out of it, which I I don't know. I mean, I I don't see that as being crazy or manic or bipolar or anything. Like,
she seems to be like coherent, but like you said, the manager is thinking that she's drunk, right? So, now we're
waiting for the cops to show up and I think u my tree starts taking this a little more serious.
>> Well, the thing here, just backing up just a second, where she does say that I'm from Mars. Now, that's extremely
strange because it doesn't seem like she's working towards solving this issue of there's this unpaid bill. You know
what I mean? I I wouldn't go say I'm from Mars. I would figure out a way that >> it's all subliminal, man.
>> Right. But can but can I make arrangements for you to pay later? Can I can we work this out somehow? I do
believe >> Yeah, but you also said that she offered sex. >> Yeah, but I think that might have been a
joke. I >> Oh, I think it was a joke. >> Yeah, I I think she was kind of joking like, "Oh, what am I going to do here?"
You know? >> Yeah. You want me to wash some dishes? You want >> Right. Right. Yeah. You want me to give
you a hand job in the lobby? >> I It sounds strange, but I kind of think thought of it as a joke. Uh during
during the course when they're waiting for the sheriff's department to arrive, the the manager says that Maitric seemed
to be confused and almost like she was in some kind of trance from time to time. Uh the sheriff's department uh
they arrive. They send out some deputies to Joffre to check on the situation. Maitrice is now telling the hostess that
she had been watching a soap opera and God had told her to take the afternoon off.
>> Wow. >> Maitrice said that she had no parents, but she did have a great grandmother.
So, the restaurant decides at this point, well, let's call her great-g grandandmother and ask her if she would
like to help out her her great-g grandanddaughter and pay the bill. And of course, the great-g grandandmother
answers the phone. And she does want to help out her her greatg granddaughter. Uh, she gave she gave the um
>> credit card information. >> Correct. >> Well, let me take this over real quick
because she gives her credit card information and this goes back to the idea that this manager is he's so
helpful. He's just trying to help my trice, right? >> Mhm. >> So, the the great-g grandandmother,
which is 80ome years old, says, "Hey, here's my credit card information." And then they say, "Well, we can't take the
payment." >> Right. Because they require a signature, >> right? Which which I get. Uh, but the
fact that you want a 80s some year old lady to drive down, which I I don't know how far is away from the great-g
grandandmother, 45 minutes or so. Um, which again, again, take the credit card and say, "Hey, look, come in in the next
few days and and and sign it and we're good to go." >> Um, also you could run it as probably a
debit or something. There's probably all these different ways. And then the whole
thing was that they wanted a fax. They want the grandma to send a fax and the grandma's like, "I don't got a fax
machine." >> Right. Right. >> So now you have this situation where the bill needs to be paid. The cops are on
their way. The grandma can't help out. Maitrice is there by herself and now the cops are coming in.
>> Mhm. Yeah. So they send It's about 9:00 p.m. when the deputies arrive and there's three of them. So I mean this
sounds to me like a slow night. You heard the 911 call. It's not, you know, it's doesn't sound like she's, you know,
she's referred to as there's a guest here and she's refusing to pay her bill, but but the the person calling, the
waitress or the hostess calling doesn't seem to be like there's any kind of big uh commotion going on or, you know, it's
not creating a scene, right? >> Um, so they send three of their finest out there. Um, and one of the deputies
got on the phone with the great-g grandandmother and let uh, Matrice talk to the great-g grandandmother. Um, and
so there is some interaction between Maitrice and her family at this point. Um, it sounds like the great grandmother
kind of gave up figuring out that she's not going to be able to pay the bill and
figured out that her great-g grandanddaughter is going to have to go to jail for the night. Um, at this
point, two of the deputies search Maitrice's car. They don't note that they find her cell phone or her wallet.
They do note that they found her driver's license and half empty bottles of booze. So, one of the officers, and I
guess that he may have been going off of the booze bottles and the cocktail that
she ordered at dinner and some of the crazy statements that Maitrice is making. Uh, but of course, he says that
she is drunk. So at that point, one of the other officers administers a field sobriety test and then he concludes that
she in fact is sober. She's she's not intoxic. >> Right? She passes the field sobriety
test. >> Then they start asking her other questions like have have are you on any
medication? >> She says no. >> Right. Because if she's not drunk, then then she's either drunk or she's crazy
is what the officers are thinking. >> Mhm. Have you ever been placed on a 72-hour hold for psychological
evaluation? >> Right. again with the crazy. >> Yeah. And she says no. Uh so at this
point, Maitrice is arrested and as you said later, the car is towed from the parking lot.
>> Well, and I I heard that they found a less than an ounce of weed. >> Yeah. >> In a center console.
>> Yeah. It sounded like it was uh uh it it didn't sound to me like it was packaged
up weed. It sounded like it was like, you know, like maybe you roll a joint and things fall out. It sounded like it
was little bits and fragments and debris of marijuana. >> Right. I I don't know if they'd actually
hold those charges or they just drop them later. The fact of the matter is we have a young 24year-old black female in
Malibu that didn't pay her bill. >> Mhm. >> Right. They call the cops. The cops can't make arrests because that's just a
misdemeanor. And so it's actually a a citizen's arrest >> on the on the unpaid bill,
>> right? Because the restaurant says they will press charges on the unpaid bill.
And and and I think again uh with her mental state or whatever is going on, the the manager probably did not want
her to drive. I understand that. Cops show up, they find her ID, they know who it is now, Matrice Richardson, and we
think she's drunk. She passes the test. >> Mhm. >> But we got a little bit of weed, but
we're still going to take her down to the station. And we'll get back to this case right after this quick beer break.
Cheers, everybody. We're back. And where we left off, Matrice, she didn't pay her
bill. The cops came, they gave her a field sobriety test that she passed and now they took her back to the police
station. >> Yeah. And her car has been towed as well. And at this point, her remember
she had called her great-g grandandmother from the restaurant to to see if she would pay the bill.
>> Yeah. >> Um at this point, the great grandmother calls Maitrices's mother and tells her
what just went down and that at this time that my trice is probably being taken back to the sheriff's department.
So, Maitrice's mother, her name is Latise. She calls the sheriff's department. Now, remember, we heard in
the trailer there, that's her calling the sheriff's department asking, you know, have you picked up my daughter? Is
she in your custody? And they're stating, well, she's in route back to the sheriff's department. And she's also
saying, you know, if you guys are going to keep her there overnight, then I'm not going to come down and get her
>> tonight. >> Yeah. Because I feel she's safe. Plus, let has a daughter at home that she's
caring for and probably doesn't want to wake up the daughter and make the long drive to go pick up her other daughter.
>> Yeah, I want to say it's about 60 miles away. >> Once my trice is back at the sheriff's
department, she's in sheriff's custody at this point. She is granted her phone call or phone calls. Uh the only number
that my trice has memorized is her great grandmother. This was the person that was called at the restaurant. Um, a log
book shows that Maitrice called her great-g grandandmother or at least tried to call her four times. Maitric's
overheard talking on the phone, but Mildred, which is the great-g grandandmother, insist that she never
spoke to Maitrice once she was at the station. These phone calls were placed on a nonrecording line. The pay phone,
which records outgoing phone calls, was broken at the time of Maitric's detainment. So, she's calling on this
phone that does not record anything and the grandmother is saying we didn't speak to her that night once she has
been arrested. >> I have no reason to not believe her grandmother. >> Right. >> Again, I mean, well, based off the age,
we could one assume that maybe the grandma doesn't remember, but that this is such a big thing because she goes
missing and this is such a big ordeal for the family that I do believe that she didn't call her. So, Matrice was
calling somebody and that's the big red flag to me was who the hell was she calling?
>> Well, just to address that real quick, I as you said, I believe the great-g grandandmother as well because the great
grandmother, she repeats later on the conversation she had with Maitric at the restaurant. When my trice called from
the restaurant, Yeah. >> And it was not a very friendly conversation from the great
grandmother's perspective. She basically said, "They're going to take your black
ass to jail." Um, you know, well, she's also that's what my grandma with said the same thing verbatim. Um, but
>> should say, "And Nick, they're going to take your black ass to jail." >> Well, I think Mildred here is sharp as
attack is what I'm getting at. And she she does not fumble on having the conversation with my trice at the
restaurant. She is saying she may have called somebody four times. She did not call me. Um, but here's what I think
happened here, Captain. I think that maybe the great-g grandandmother that might be the only number that she did
have memorized. Right. Right. >> And I think that she may have just been pretending to talk into the phone, you
know. Uh I don't know the setup there, but if you're not behind bars or given her state of mind, I don't know.
>> Well, yeah. Well, given her state of mind, I mean, again, there's speculation
that she, you know, hints at hints of some kind of mental illness, bipolar, maybe she's manic. So yeah, maybe she is
sitting there talking to her the phone and if and that would, you know, with evidence that she was crazy, but you'd
have to be crazy just to be sitting there talking to nobody. >> Yeah. >> You know what I mean? Like that. Why
would you do that? Doesn't make any sense to me. >> Well, here's the other it's it's a bit
of the perfect storm, and we're going to see this from time to time again in this
case. She happens to be arrested on a night where the regular phone does not work. It's not working. It's not
recording the conversation. It's the perfect storm. It's another big question. Like you said, so many
questions. Here's a question I have. Okay. >> LA County is one of the largest jurisdictions in the United States. I
think it's the second or the third largest. So, we're not talking about some pod dunk uh operation here, right?
This is supposed to be one of the better operations in the country. >> We're not talking about a garagebased
podcast. >> This is also a case that took place in 2009. Okay. M >> can we at least get to can we get up to
speed? Can we get into the present here? And what I mean by that is there are so
many of us walking around right now that do not have phone numbers memorized. We
just don't memorize them anymore. It's kept in this magic little box that that's in your pocket or your pocketbook
and it's with you at all times and it has all of your contacts in there. Well, one of the faults of the deputies is
when they arrest her, they they do not, you know, they find her ID, so they know
who she is, but they do not find her wallet, but they do not find her cell phone. And if they would have found
those two things, then I believe that they should put that with her. >> That's what I'm getting at. And I think
that we need to as a country and and and and these big counties, these big jurisdictions like this should be the
ones to lead the way. This needs to become a part of regular procedure when somebody is abducted or somebody is
arrested. Sorry, that that they are asked, do you have a cell phone or do you have access to one? Now, I'm saying
within reason. It shouldn't be like, oh, I was arrested 10 miles away and my cell
phone's at home, we have to go retrieve it. No, but if if she says my cell phone's in my car, or if someone insists
that their cell phone is somewhere within a reasonable distance, that they obtain that because you are supposed to
be granted a phone call or a phone calls. And whom are you supposed to call if you don't know any phone numbers?
Right. Right. I I totally I get that. But it it it's tough because it's like there's a part of me that feels for the
cops. you know, you're dealing with this individual that is saying some stuff. I
mean, I'm revenging the death of Michael Jackson. >> Uh the other thing, uh what did she say
to the the valet driver again? Um >> it's subliminal. >> Yeah, it's subliminal. So, who knows
what she's saying to them? And then so did she even tell them, hey, my wallet, my and my cell phone are in the car?
It's a little strange to me though that they they note that they find her ID, that they note that they find marijuana
and that they find um half empty bottles of booze. I like to think of them as half full, but that's just me. Um but
they do not they don't note that they find her cell phone or her her purse or her wallet. Uh did did they it sounds
like a very cluttered car. I'm just going to go ahead and throw that out there. So, I can understand that they
they may not have found it, but I mean, what's the procedure here? If you are following procedure, if you find a
little bit of drugs, aren't you supposed to search that car pretty hardcore, right?
>> Wouldn't you think? Wouldn't you think so? That that's >> Yeah. You think >> And not only that, you're picking up a
girl and you're not really sure why you're arresting her. You know what I mean? We know
>> citizens arrest, >> right? We know she didn't pay her bill, but you can't you can't figure out why
she's talking the way that she's talking. She's not drunk. She's not on med medication according to her and
she's never been checked for psychological problems AC according to her. >> Well, that that's the other thing though
too is like the family really goes after the police department saying, "Hey, you
guys should be more well aware of her condition." Well, the problem is is that you're meeting Matrice for the first
time. >> So, when you're hearing crazy talk, you don't know what the baseline is. You
don't know how she normally is. So, it's kind of hard to say, "Well, she's acting
crazy." because you don't know what hurt. You know, some people just act crazy all the time. You know how many
times that cops, nurses, and people like that, you know, that deal with the public and that are servants to the
public have to deal with people that are intoxicated, people that have alcoholism, uh people that uh that have
mental problems, and they're they're just so used to this, you know? So, how are they supposed to know? How are they
supposed to know what my trice is normally like? >> Yeah. But I think I'm going at this from
actually a benefit to >> No, no, no. Yeah. Yeah. So, I agree with you on the idea. They should have found
the cell phone and then once they find the cell phone, they should have brought it to the department.
>> Right. And and I want to be clear why I'm bringing this up because I think this is actually a benefit not just to
the person you're detaining, but also a benefit to the police department as well. Right?
>> If this if if you take this person back and they have no one to call, who's going to pay this bail? Who's going to
pick up this person? this person may become your problem for a much more extended period of time than it needs to
be. And if that person has a phone directory of of persons that are supposed to know them and care about
them, then hopefully they get picked up safely and a bail gets paid in a timely manner and all these things can happen
so that this person doesn't end up being your problem. Well, here's what happened
though. The the the Lost Hill Sheriff's Department, they figured out how not to make this their problem, right? Because
at at a little after midnight midnight, this is 12:15 a.m. >> Okay. So, how many hours after?
>> So, she's the the the sheriff's deputies arrived around 9:00 p.m. >> Mhm. >> So, she's in route shortly after that
time. Okay. >> So, this is after midnight, 12:15 a.m. on Thursday, September 17th, 2009.
>> Right. >> This is according to to several accounts here. Jailer Sha Sharon Cummings
released Maitrice Richardson. Uh now as you had said this is about 40 mi from her home uh with no phone, no money and
no transportation. Cummings says that my trice refused the offer to stay in the lobby and wait for a ride saying that
myrice said she was going to meet some friends >> right >> now. We do have to talk about this for
>> well let me before we move on the let me I want a definitive answer from you. Who
do you think she was talking to? Is it just a big question mark for you or do you think she was just talking to
herself? >> I think it I think she might have been talking to a dial tone. I think she may
have I think she may have called >> her her great-g grandandmother's number and nobody picked up
>> and and maybe there's no voicemail set up there and she was just talking to the
the ringing phone. And I don't think I don't it's either a sign of her having a mental break or buying some time for
whatever reason >> or to buy another phone call. Sometimes you have to sometimes they're very
strict about the amount of phone calls they give you unless you seem to be putting together actions to get you
released where you you might be able to manipulate the situation a little bit and say, "Okay, well, I just talked to
my great-g grandandmother. She's going to make arrangements with so- and so and so and so and she told me to call back.
>> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. >> It could be a bit of an acting job is what I'm getting at.
>> Yeah. It's weird though, but to me when you're offered by, you know, the deputy
offers you a place to stay again, who knows? We we we only have one side of the story.
>> We, you know, there there's three sides of the story. There's Matrice's and then
there's deputies and then there's the truce somewhere in the middle. But we don't have Matrice's side. And so she's
offered to stay. She doesn't stay. Which then makes me wonder, was she actually talking to somebody in Malibu? And was
she often in Malibu? And was she there to actually meet a Vanessa? And was she on the phone to Vanessa, but she was
saying it was my my, you know, I'm calling my grandmother. Well, you say my grandmother because then they're going
to give you more calls. But if you say you're meeting Vanessa or your date or your girlfriend or whatever you're
saying, then maybe they don't give you as many calls. So anyways, we're at the point where that they they let her go
and this is like 12:30 something, right? >> 12:15. And the later, you know, much
later after the fact, the uh sheriff's department would go out of their way to bring up that Sharon Cummings is an
African-American woman. Um because, you know, they're going to have to defend themselves later because they're
releasing an African-American woman. So, I think they they wanted to really make
that clear to everybody. It was an African-American woman that was working the jail that night. Um, but there's
other deputies there, too. It's not just it's not just the Sharon Cummings show.
You know, there's other people there making these determinations as whether to release somebody or not release
somebody. Now, the deputies would say that, you know, once we got her back to the sheriff's department, we found that
she was well spoken and that she seemed to be aware of her surroundings and aware of the situation and what was
going on. >> So, we decided because she's an adult and she wanted to leave, we couldn't
make her stay and wait for a ride from her mother, >> right? >> Uh, so we we had to let her go. There
there's I have several problems with this. Okay. Mhm. >> What What the hell happened between
being picked up at 9:00 p.m. and midnight that made you go from this chick is crazy to, "Oh, she's well
spoken and she knows what the heck's going on. Let's go ahead and release her." >> Well, and what we were talking about
earlier is we have this idea that these deputies show up, the three deputies, cuz it's a slow night.
>> But then we give her a field sobriety test because we think that she's drunk or she's crazy. Well, she passed the
test, so she's probably not drunk. So then she's probably crazy, right? So it's really the transfer of power when
they have her in custody and then they hand over the custody of Matrice to the the actual jail, then it's on the jail.
And was did the deputies not speak up to the jail enough? you know, and I'm not look, you know, you have to file a
report and all that stuff, but when you're transferring the person, what was that conversation like? Because did that
conversation happen and then the then the jailers just go, "Well, we're going to let her sit here and see what
happens." You know, because if there wasn't much of a conversation, right, and there wasn't this much of a
interaction and there was not a hey, this girl's acting a little crazy, well, then you put her in a cell and for 3
hours she just kind of paces around in the cell. It is odd, >> which is understandable, but what's your
point? >> When they transferred custody, did they provide the information correctly? And
if the jail was provided that information, what made them overturn that information? Because the protocol
would be, well, let's put her on a watch and then she won't be able to be released until a doctor and it's a
Wednesday. So, you know that there's a doctor going to be coming in on that Thursday.
>> Thursday morning, >> right? And then they get psych evaluated and it covers your ass. But again, it's
it's miscommunication and handing over custody. So, Matrice has been released by the sheriff's department and then at
5:35 a.m. her mother calls back to the sheriff's department. Now, let's play that clip.
>> Sheriff's Day. I'm here to help you. >> Yes. Good. Good morning. My name is Letic. I'm calling to follow up on my
daughter who was brought in last night around 10:30, 11:00. >> Okay. Let me chat for the jailer. Hold
on, please. >> Thank you. Lost station Bombgardner. >> Yes. Hi, my name is Latis and I called
not too long ago regarding my daughter Mike Richardson. How long before a missing person's report can be filed? Is
it 24 or 48 hours? >> Yes. Well, it depends on the circumstances, but uh um I I didn't take
your call, so I'm not familiar with it. Did she just not return home after going
out? >> She was arrested last night. This is the first time she's been arrested. Um,
she's in an unknown area >> that she's never been in. She's without a vehicle. Nobody can find her.
>> And And where was this at? Where was she arrested at? >> Your your facility. Her name is Maitrice
Richardson. >> Okay. Do Do you know if she's if she's here now or was she released?
>> They said she was released. >> Okay. And what time was she released? um at at just shortly after 12 a.m.
>> Yeah, normally I we wouldn't I wouldn't recommend doing one uh that soon. Um >> right. What is the time frame?
>> You know, I I guess probably 24 hours would be reasonable. I mean, if if there
would be some some mitigating factors, you know, where you know, you s would suspect maybe something
>> quite right. >> She doesn't know the area. She's never been in your area. >> Where where do you where does she live?
>> She is unfamiliar with that area. >> Do you think she possibly could have gotten a bus home? And Oh,
>> listen. My child has never ridden a bus. No, she would not know how to ride a
bus. I would probably wait till, you know, early this morning and if she doesn't
turn up, you can certainly call. I don't suspect anything um bad happened. >> I'm concerned because well, first of
all, I thought they were going to keep her overnight because she was highly intoxicated.
>> Um something some something is obviously going on with her. >> Have you talked to the jailer and
>> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, I have. He said he tried to get her to stay, but because she was an adult, they had to let her
go. I I believe that she is highly depressed. Um, and she she she's in a depressive state.
[Applause] you know, it could be possible that maybe she I mean, there's a lot of
options and I a lot of possibilities and I don't think all of them would be um you know, something dire, but I can
certainly understand your fears, you know, being your daughter and all that. >> Well, I think she's depressed. That's
what has me >> that's worried you more than just her. >> Okay. >> That and the fact that she's in an area
where she doesn't know where she's at. Yeah. Does she take medication at all? >> No, she I I I believe it's a state that
she's in right now because of just the the weird activity that's been going on a day. What's your name? Her name is Her
name is Matrice Richard. >> Okay. And your name, ma'am? >> Let here's what I want you to do. Let get
why don't you wait a couple hours and and give us some time to kind of I'll go back and talk to the jailer and try and
get a timeline of when she was released and you know make sure she's not asleep in our lobby or anything like that and
then once you give us a call back in a couple hours she hasn't shown up or made contact with you then maybe we can do
something for you. Okay. And with that um phone call, you can really hear the emotion going through the mother and the
and her gut feeling is saying that there's something wrong. Yeah. I mean, she doesn't know where her daughter is.
She knows that the daughter's been released. Uh she called while the daughter was in transit to the sheriff's
department. And she even says, "As long as you guys are not going to, you know, let her out,
>> you know, cuz it's crazy out here. people get pe, you know, she could get her head chopped off, I think, is what
she says. >> And so, you hear the concern and and how scared she is. But >> I will say one thing that I commend her
on is she keeps her composure. >> She's talking to the officer in a respectful manner, asking him questions
for his advice. >> Um, I think that >> Mrice was a wellspoken lady and and it comes stems from her family.
seems like her family is of of I don't want to say high intelligence, but they're definitely intellectual
>> and they carry themselves in a professional manner from from what I've seen. And as we heard here on this phone
call, she's in probably the worst situation, the worst day she could ever have. Her daughter's missing and she's
still being respectful of the officer and asking his opinion on when the when is it the proper time to file the
missing person's report. >> Yeah. And the proper time is now. >> Yeah. >> You know, well,
>> for the officer, for her, she doesn't know any better. You know what I mean? I
get what you're saying as a parent, you you should you should push the envelope.
But I think what we're seeing here is I I've put myself in her shoes because I can be forward when I need to be. But at
the same time, I do start off every conversation in a respectful manner and try to be nice to because I want the uh
I always go into everything as you know how can I help you to help me kind of thing you know I don't want to come in
there aggressively saying you got to do this you got to do that because they might not follow through. The only thing
is the disconcerning thing here is with the officer Bumgardner. He he he can understand that she's distressed
>> and he says he's going to go back and talk to the jailer and he's going to work on these things. I don't doubt that
he's going to do these and maybe I'm reading him the wrong way. I just I just hate when I hear the sheriff's
department and and I say them particularly because I've I've experienced this in my own life in a in
a much less um severe situation, but I've seen a lot of passing the buck with some of these sheriff's departments
where it's always like I mean he keeps saying, "Well, why don't you call back in a couple hours?" Well, is his shift
over soon? You know, is is this is 5:35. If it's anything like Columbus >> shifts over at about 7. It should be a
seven if if they do things they wait >> call back in a couple hours when I don't
have to deal with you. >> Exactly. Exactly. It sounds like a lot of paperwork. >> Well, but time and time again it's you
know mother's intuition is normally not wrong. And she has this gut feeling that's saying, "Hey, something's not
right." One, it's weird that she went to this restaurant. I don't I don't understand the area. I don't understand
why she didn't have money to pay for this. Right. This is not like her. She's talking crazy talk. Okay. I I don't know
what the hell's going on. Are you going to keep her? No. Okay, good. Cuz if you're going to keep her, awesome.
Because I don't want her head chopped off, right? >> And oh, you let her go. What the [ __ ]
Right. I I just got done talking to you and said, "Don't let her go." you know, and and and that's the issue because
like I said, the transfer of power when of custody when when the deputies took her in and then on top of that, you have
a mother going, "This is out of character." And and I think if she would have said certain words, well, I'm very
concerned. Maybe she's depressed. Maybe she's suicidal. If she would have said certain words, but
>> she would have said suicidal, that could have been big. Yeah. >> Yeah, it could have been big. But I'm
not going to put the fault on the mother. She is trying to be >> respectful, you know, of of the sheriff
department, right? She's trying to be respectful. She's not going, "Hey, you need to do this or you need to do that."
And they constantly, "Well, let's have you call back again." >> Um, >> well, I like here, and I when I say
like, I mean I'm being sarcastic here, but she asked, "When do when can I file a missing person's report? Do you have
to wait 24 hours or 48 hours?" And his answer is, "Well, that's usually the case unless there's other mitigating
factors." Well, guess what, officer? The mother calling you is another is that mitigating factor that you're talking
about. >> And you can hear her breaking up. You can hear her choking up. >> And and uh and what's the worst thing
that can happen? You released her. She's in an area she's not familiar with. And
they're going, "What's the worst thing that can happen?" Hey, we should probably just pick her up. Let's put out
a couple squads or units, right? Put out a couple units. It's a Wednesday. This can't be that busy. You You sent three
deputies over for a girl not paying her bill for a citizen's arrest, right? >> Put out a couple units to look for
Thursday morning. >> If we find her, bring her back and her mother will come and pick her up in a
couple hours. Mhm. >> And and and this all this stuff could be uh all this this whole tragedy could
have been avoided if if they would have just got off their ass and did a couple things. And that brings us to the next
thing. So then we have this uh report about a a prowler on on some property. >> Yeah. So, they received that call from
from Matrices's mother at 5:35 a.m. and then less than an hour later at 6:30 a.m. they receive this phone call.
Sheriff Station can help you. >> Yeah. Hi. Hey, this is Smith at Cold Canyon. We had a prowler walking around
through the backyard here, but we don't know what the situation was. I don't know if you had a unit in the area.
Might do a little drive by or something. >> Okay. Where's this at? >> This is Cold Canyon Cold in Malito.
Uh but it's in the back of the house. uh which is right where Woodluff hits the hits uh Cold Canyon.
Uh and we just had a strange woman walking through the backyard here, the fairly
large properties and she was sitting on the steps right right in the back of the
house here. This is kind of a circular driveway and the gates were closed. So we don't know where this woman came
from. >> You see the cross was Woodluff. >> Yeah, that's right. There there's a a
horse trail hiking trail access through here, but we've never had this kind of happen thing happen before.
>> What's she look like? white, black man. >> Uh, you know, a tall, slim black woman
with afro hair. >> How tall? >> Uh, well, she was sitting down, stretched out on the wooden steps in the
back of the house. Hard to tell, but she looked like she might have been medium to slightly tall. Uh, with a big afro
hair, very skinny, and I think she was wearing maybe jeans or tight pants with a t-shirt.
>> You never You've never seen her there before? >> No, never. Nobody's ever does that. I
mean, the people hike on the trail all the time. We, you know, the trail goes through our property, but we leave it
open on purpose cuz it's kind of a nice thing for horses and people. >> And you said she's laying across the She
was laying across the steps or >> she was sitting kind of sprawled out on the on these wooden steps in back of the
house, right against the back of the house. >> She since got up and left. >> Uh, she since gone. Yeah, she's been
gone about 5 minutes now, but as we followed over, we thought maybe a little driveby wouldn't be a bad idea.
>> And what direction was she last seen heading? >> Never saw her. She once she left, she
just disappeared. We I moved from one window to another. I said to her, I hollered down, "Are you all right?" And
she said, "I'm just resting." Or something like that. Uh, but she's certainly gone out of her way to get to
that close to the house because the hiking trail is not that close. It's on the ridge.
>> Great. We'll send you ahead and check the area for her. >> Appreciate that very much. Not a
problem, sir. >> Thank you. Bye. Bye. >> So, that is Bill Smith. He's a retired KTLA reporter. That's the guy that calls
in saying reporting the Prowler. Uh, and he lives in Monte Neato, which is about
6 milesi west of the sheriff's station. Uh, I do want to clear one thing up cuz he's a little muffled at the end there,
and it's a little confusing what he's talking about, but at one point he says that he opened up his window to ask the
woman if she was okay, and she says something like, "I'm just resting." Right? >> And that's when he said he went to
another window to try to get a better look. And at during that time, she had left.
>> She had left the property, you know? So, where he says, "I don't know. I never
saw her. That's what he That's what he's referencing, >> right? He never saw her the second time
he went to look for her, >> right? He saw her there. He didn't see which direction she left.
>> These dispatchers crack me up, though, cuz every time somebody says something,
they're like, "What was that again?" >> Yeah. Well, it's like the first part of the phone call it you like they greet
you, but you have to prove to them reason for them to continue the phone call. You
>> But we see this happen twice when he goes, "Well, I'm here." And we got a prowler. Where are you at? where are you
at? And then when when the mother is talking to the one dispatcher and says, "I'm calling about my daughter, you
know, my trice Richardson." And he's like, "Who are you talking about?" >> Well, not only that, I think when when
uh Let's on the phone. Yeah. >> The call we heard the mother, uh I believe that she's actually speaking
with a detective or an officer. It's not just a dispatcher at that point. That Bumgardner guy is is an officer of some,
you know, he's not just some dude paid to answer the phone. Like maybe when you answer the phone, have a pad by you.
Don't pull a nick and not pay attention when people talk. >> I'm not in public service. These people
are in public service. >> You are in public service. This podcast is a public service.
>> You need to listen. >> We should point out though that it's not 100% verified that this is actually my
my trees, >> right? But we we can assume >> the vague description that's given it it
matches her very well. Yeah. you know, >> and when you see her mug shot of that night, her her hair is kind of it's not
a a it's not an afro. I mean, look, I'm a white dude from the suburbs, so I have
no uh uh you know, African-Amean hairstyle expert, >> but it's uh but it's kind of disheveled,
>> you know? It's like it's not but it's not I wouldn't consider it afro, but this white reporter is going, "Wow,
here's this uh black lady. She's middle to tall. >> She has tight pants. Of course, it's
such a man thing. Well, I noticed that her pants were tight. >> Well, if if you look up pictures of my
trice now, she did pageantss. Um, so she's, you know, she's attractive and most of the pictures you will see of
her, she's pretty well done up. >> Um, now if you see the arresting photo from that night, uh, her hair is quite
poofed out compared to the the pictures. And I can only imagine that if if that's
what her hair looked like around midnight, let's say now she's been released. And let's let's assume here
because we don't know for certain, but let's assume that she made that 5 and a half, six mile hike to Bill Smith's
backyard on foot. If that hair was pretty poofed out before then, well, it might be it might be full, you know,
Diana Ross afro at some point. I don't know. No, but at the end of the day, she has jeans on. This this prowler has
jeans on. It's Africanamean lady. Uh it's slender and and not tall. >> Medium to tall,
>> right? And she has a black shirt on, which we know that she um my trice had a
Bob Marley black t-shirt. >> Mhm. >> So, we could just assume that it's it's more likely her.
>> Yeah. I think I to me I I feel good saying about 90% that it that it's her. And one of the things that come up over
and over in this case is that people say that this call is fishy. And the reason
why they say this is fishy is the way that the caller the way he talks to the officer as if he's done this before. So,
a lot of people say, "Well, this guy was probably a retired officer or if it is this conspiracy and that this sheriff's
department is in charge of this girl going missing and and they're uh charged, they're responsible for
everything that happened to her. What they're saying is that they think this call was like a part of the conspiracy
and that this was actually a police officer on duty." Well, we know we know that it was a reporter and that's
probably why the lingo is coming out the way it is because he is a reporter and how much has a reporter dealt with law
enforcement? >> Yeah, especially if he was a field reporter, you know, he might be used to
being in situations of of stressful situations. Plus, he also says that they have there's trail access right by the
house there >> and that you know, so you you often see hikers or people on horseback on this
trail. So even though he said we've never had somebody in the backyard like this before, it wouldn't be crazy for
him to think, well, this is not really a prowler. This might just be somebody that came off the trail and they might
be experienced exhaustion or something like that. And that's probably why he opened up the window and said, "Hey, are
you okay?" >> Um and and then when she doesn't seem to go anywhere, you know, then you know, at
first that's when he's probably like, "We might want to have a have a squad car just do a driveby."
>> Yeah. And I think it was safety for the neighborhood, but I think it was also
safety for this individual. >> I think you're right. >> You know, like here's this walking path
and maybe this person came off, but but they there are walking path, so it's not
super uncommon. Now, the question is if it is her, how did she get 6 miles away?
Now, the average person can walk a mile in about 15 minutes. >> Right. >> Right. So, that puts her at about an
hour and a half >> to get that length. And we're talking roughly about 6 hours. >> Yeah.
>> Roughly about 6 hours afterwards. So that's about the time or that would be so we have
>> the time doesn't match up. >> No, the time doesn't match up. So what I'm saying is that we have this gap,
>> but >> was she walking on these trails and that's how she got to this neighborhood?
a good portion of that travel would have been conducted in the dark >> first off and second of all this is an
area that on especially on foot she's not going to know where she's going you know we've we've heard her mother say
that she does not know Malibu that Matrice doesn't know Malibu uh she's not from there this is an area unfamiliar to
her well on the streets there's street signs and things to help direct you even if you don't know the area if she's on
foot and wandering around and again we don't know that her state of mind at this time It's very well that she could
have it could have taken her 5 hours, 6 hours to get to this point. The other thing, too, is how long was she sitting
there or lying there until Bill noticed her outside? >> Yeah. What if she what if she made she
could have made it through those trails and onto this property, you know, within, let's say, 2 hours and then she
was sleeping, >> right? Because Bill could have been asleep the whole time and never noticed
her. Maybe he wakes up at 6:15. They just spotted her at 6:30 >> and he says sprawled out. But so my gut
feeling is it's her. >> Me too. The strange thing here is that he he does more than once say how close
she is to the house. >> And that's what he found strange that that you know maybe it wouldn't be so
strange for somebody to wander into his backyard. But he's saying she's she came
really close to the house to be up on those steps. >> Well, like like we know with the whole
valet thing. I mean, she got into a valet's car. I mean, that's talking talking about invading personal space.
So, I feel like uh based off that evidence, again, my gut feeling it is my trees.
>> Me, too. Now, a few days later, the sheriff's department conducts their first search, but they start the search
at Bill Smith's house. Um, this is one thing that I thought and interesting that a reporter brought up because they
were using uh scent dogs to to sniff out and try to track my trice from Bill Smith's house. Right.
>> Yeah. >> Now, this reporter brought up a a good thing that that I would probably
wouldn't have thought of on my own here, but they suggested, why wouldn't you have the dogs start off at the sheriff's
department? Because she she left there on foot. You know, she had no vehicle. If you would have had the scent dogs
trace her from the sheriff's department, you would be able to make the determination most likely whether she
had actually left on foot or if she was picked up in a vehicle. >> Yeah. >> Um that that would be interesting to
know. But of course, they didn't do it in that fashion. They started the dogs off at Bill Smith's house and they did
find um >> they did discover what appeared to be sneaker prints in the front yard. Um,
and they're guessing these would have been Maitrices's uh footprints. Uh, and it appeared, they say it appeared that
she had been running. Um, I'm guessing maybe that maybe the footprints are further apart than you would expect for
walking. There's some way they could probably determine uh the movement of the person creating those prints. But
they say it appears that she had been running. Uh, now remember this area is filled with horse trails. So eventually
they lose these tracks. They lose the footprints amongst all of the horse tracks.
>> Well, not only the horse tracks, but this is also a walking path. So, basically all the tracks combined, it
just got too much where it's lost. >> So, if it is my trees, uh, we don't know if at that point if she got in a vehicle
or if those tracks were just simply stamped out by the horses, >> right? And what we don't know is did she
get in a vehicle to get to this neighborhood? If if we're assuming that this was her, the the aka prowler,
>> then did she get there by foot or did she get there by a vehicle? And then did
she know the person in the vehicle or did did she just was she able to hitch a ride? Cuz like we said, she's an
attractive female. There's probably a lot of guys that were would be willing to give her, you know, a ride.
>> Oh, yeah. >> So, and so then she's there. But again, if you would have if you would have
followed the scent dogs from the police department, we'd have a little more clarity on that.
>> Well, let's talk about LAPD here because we the actual fact of the investigation
is that because Maitrice lived in LA, LAPD was put in charge of the actual investigation of her missing person's uh
investigation. So LAPD found amongst other items in they they went and searched her vehicle and they found
these items amongst others they found her ATM card, a checkbook and cell phone in the car. They also found journals and
after reviewing yeah that's the word. So yeah, they they reviewed the journals and there's
several days and what they did too, which I thought was pretty fascinating, was they went back through her MySpace,
which that's dating this case a little bit, uh I think she held on to the MySpace account a little too long, but
uh MySpace and Facebook and any social media. So they basically took the journal entries and then looked at
entries online >> and to try to and what they realized was there's so many journal entries in so
many social media that they they started questioning was she even sleeping properly.
>> Right. Right. And they're able to determine that from the journals as well. They conclude that she may have
been sleepd depraved for several days leading up to that day. And it's quite possible that she had suffered a bipolar
episode that night. Now just to be clear that there bipolar is a very difficult thing. It's one of the most mental
illnesses that it's a mix misdiagnosed bipolar is. And so um and normally to get a clear concise bipolar diagnosis,
it normally takes years. So there is no she is not being treated for this, right? This is just speculation that
this stuff was going on and that maybe she was in a manic or a hyper manic state. And so by being in this state,
yeah, you will be you would just will be sleepd deprived because you will just be
turning your wheels or turning. >> Now, we're going to start to see a lot of back and forth from the sheriff's
department with the uh family with the Richardson family because the Richardson family don't they don't feel like the
sheriff's department has done their job. They don't think that they should have released their daughter and they're they
want answers from the sheriff's department and they're not >> they're not overwhelmingly, you know,
giving these answers. They're not don't seem to be working the case to the satisfaction of the Richardsons. Uh so,
>> well, I mean, what's your stance on that? I mean, I I I agree that they shouldn't they probably shouldn't have
released her based on her actions at the restaurant, based on what the deput deputies thought and then when they
transferred the power. I just think that was that was the first fumble here and they should just not have released her.
>> I'm with you. I The thing I keep going back to is is their statements saying why they released her. We let her go.
There was no reason to keep her. She was well educated, well spoken, and she was
fully aware of her environment and her situation. Again, I keep going to back back to how different that account is.
You know, for me to say she's well spoken, she knows of her environment, yet 3 hours ago, she was saying complete
nonsense to the point >> to the point where we thought she was heavily intoxicated. Then we found out
she's not intoxicated. Then we have to ask her, "Are you on medication? Have you ever been locked up for
psychological problems? So, it that's your assessment 3 hours before either drunk, medicated, or or psycho, you
know, some kind of medical issue, me mental issue, right? >> Uh and then 3 hours later, oh, she's
perfectly normal, perfectly happy, normal human being. Send her off into the darkness. That's that's the big
problem. >> And like, like I said, in defense of them, it always comes back to me on the
that they don't know her baseline. they don't know what her normal is, >> right?
>> So then when you start hearing some clarity coming from her, you're just and again, but I I'd still argue that if
anybody's looked up much about hypermanic or manic states that people become very capable of doing what they
want to do. >> It's almost like the crazy takes over to make you look a certain way so you can
get out of this. And like you said, maybe she was talking to herself on the phone. I mean, who knows? Well, and you
said the sheriff's department, they don't know her norm. They don't know how she would normally behave. But guess who
would? Her family would. And her family wants to know. >> Well, her mom was calling and telling
you this is not normal. >> Well, right. But her family wants to know, you know, okay, you've said your
reasoning for letting her go. Okay. Now, we know that the jails are typically under surveillance. We want to see the
video, the video footage of her that evening because we want to see how she was acting. We want to see if she was
behaving abnormally so we can get an idea of what we think happened to our daughter. Do we think she went wandering
off on her own or did she leave the sheriff's department, get picked up by some evil dude?
>> Um, and so they're they're they're told there is no videotape. They are told that there is no video.
>> Okay. So, so this uh this sheriff's department, their jail, uh their their phone that records the phone calls and
their log, >> that's broken, >> right? >> And they don't have cameras. >> Yeah. The here's the exact wording. They
were told no such video existed. The captain of the sheriff's department, Captain Martin, was quoted in the Malibu
Surfside News as saying, "There is no video or tape of any kind." Well, that's pretty darn black and white here right
now, Captain. It's You can't confuse that statement in any way. Right. No. >> He said there is no video tape.
>> No video or no tape of any kind. >> Mhm. So, let's make this clear. There are videos. They're claiming that
there's video cameras in the jail, but those are just to monitor. Those don't actually record.
>> Well, they we don't know exactly what they're there for because according to his statement, all he says is there's no
videotape of any kind. right now. Uh but yeah, there clearly are cameras in this
facility. >> Um so, you know, like you said, are they just using them to monitor live action
or are they using them to record anything? The problem here though is >> he he makes that statement very clear.
And what's the strangest part of it is in January of 2010, the same person, Captain Martin, then confesses that
there was a tape and it is in his desk. >> Okay. Okay. Well, let's break this down.
This is how it happened. So, Matrices's uh mother and aunt are in a meeting >> and they asked for the tape. Hey, they
there has to be a tape. These cameras can't just be for monitoring, right? This doesn't add up. And they and
they're still during this meeting. No, no, no. We have no tape. >> And then the aunt won't let it go.
>> Proud proud of her for doing that. She won't let it go. And then all of a sudden in the middle of this
conversation, the guy goes, "And by the way, we do have a date." >> And and it's not just a guy, it's the
captain, right? >> He's in charge of that sheriff's of that building. >> Well, and on top of that, on on top of
all this, it's in my desk. >> Yeah. >> I mean, if that's not a red flag of we're trying to cover some [ __ ] up, I I
don't know what a red flag is. Right. Well, do you know what kind what that kind of honesty will get you?
>> Uh, promoted obviously. >> Yes, it will get you a promotion. Um, later that month. Later that same month,
Captain Martin was promoted to com to commander. >> No. Captain friend of mine. >> Now, this promotion moved him to the
Monterey Park location. So, his old post at Lost Hills, >> he lived just minutes away for the
entire six years that he was in charge of the Lost Hills Sheriff Station. The promotion took him an hour away and he
was replaced by Joseph Steven uh who note is the first African-American captain at the Lost Hills location. Due
to technical difficulties, it was about 3 months later before the Richardson family was allowed to view the video
that was sitting in Captain Martin's desk. So, I want to point a few things out here.
>> Yeah, there's a bunch of red flags. Point them out for Well, I want to cover my own butt here real quick, too. I I I
don't want to give the impression that Joseph Steven is not capable of being the captain of the Lost Hills Sheriff's
Department. Okay. I think he I think he can. I do. I think it's a little convenient that you replaced him, you
know, that you replace Captain Martin with an African-American man. Might be. Is does this does this sound a little
bit like the Catholic Church that that takes a priest that's under suspicion and ships them off elsewhere?
>> A little bit. Um, I think that the the sheriff's department was really not trying to help the family or the
investigation. I think they were just covering their own butts here >> constantly. Well, and then it also leads
to the idea that if if there's this technical difficulty, so we have the tape and and by the way, it's in my
desk, but by the way, you can't watch it for months and months, >> three months,
>> because you know, we're got to pay some college interns to come in and doctor up
this video. >> Mhm. >> I mean, that's it's it's it is [ __ ] strange. After the after the video is
released to the family, uh the family >> three months afterwards >> the family states that my trice looked
to be distressed and agitated. Uh they also commented that the tape the video footage appeared to have been edited. Uh
and they're citing one one part here is that one second there's a >> on the footage there's one second where
she is holding my trice is holding a piece of paper and in the very next second the paper is crumbled up on the
floor. >> Um the video so you know you want to know what happened between the time
she's holding the paper and then it's crumbled up on the floor. And the video also shows Maitrice walking out of the
station and two minutes later a deputy goes out an adjacent door. Uh the department refused to release the name
of that. >> Of course they they refused to release the name of that deputy. They got to
wait three months and they got to they got to doctor up his name and they got to get I mean this case just it's just
question after qu and red flags and is the cops involved or are they just incompetent douchebags. I'm not really
for sure but there is a lot to get more into this case and uh you know do you just want to stick around and we'll
knock out another >> Sounds good. Sure. >> All right. Do we have a recommended reading for this episode?
>> We do. The case we're talking about tonight comes from California. So, I picked a book from California, another
California case. This is The Zodiac Unmasked. Um, and this is The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer
Revealed by Robert Gay Smith. And according to the New York Press, it's by far the best book on the subject of the
Zodiac Murders. Uh, it's one of my favorite as well. So check out the Zodiac Unmasked by Robert Gaymith and
you can do that by going to true crimegar.com and click on the recommended page. We have all of our
books listed there as well as a couple videos. Just click on the Amazon banner and pick up anything you want through
Amazon, including our recommended reading. >> All right, hold on. I'm coming back.
>> And a big thank you to everybody that tells a friend, anybody that shares it on social media with it. Without you
guys, we wouldn't be able to do this. And so, uh, we might as well, like we said, we'll just stick around and, uh,
we'll release this episode. We'll do two parts this week. >> That's right. We will see you back here
in the garage tomorrow. Until then, be good, be kind, and don't flitter. [Music]

Mitrice Richardson /// Episode: 75 /// Part 1

TrueCrimeGarage.com

September 16th, 2009 - 24 year old Mitrice Richardson is briefly detained by deputies for not paying her bill at Geoffrey's restaurant on the Pacific Coast Highway. After midnight she is released from the Malibu/ Lost Hills Sheriff's station. She is without her car, purse and cellphone. She simply sets off on her own without provisions and walks off into the darkness. A little after 6am a trespasser matching Mitrice's description is spotted in the backyard of a home in Cold Canyon. Was this Mitrice? Regardless Mitrice was sent out into the dark, alone with no transportation in an area that she is unfamiliar and she disappears. Tonight we look for Mitrice Richardson and ask who could have taken her?

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Brief Summary

Maitrice Richardson was arrested for not paying a bill and disappeared after being released from police custody in Malibu.

Key points

Maitrice Richardson's Strange Night. A 24-year-old woman is detained for not paying her restaurant bill, leading to bizarre events.
Confusion at the Restaurant. Maitrice exhibits strange behavior at the restaurant, leading to police involvement.
Maitrice's Arrest. Maitrice is arrested after failing to pay her bill, despite passing a sobriety test.
Phone Call Mystery. Maitrice attempts to call her great-grandmother from jail, but claims are disputed.
Maitrice's Release. Maitrice Richardson is released from jail with no money or transportation, raising concerns.
Mother's Distress. Maitrice's mother calls the sheriff's department, expressing her fears about her daughter's safety.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Subliminal, man.

Maitrice's strange response to the valet.

10:41WatchSep 1, 2025

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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