The family of the 24-year-old, whose remains were found last year in Malibu Canyon, watched, as her casket was unearthed.
By Julie Ellerton / Special to The Malibu Times
The remains of Mitrice Richardson were exhumed Wednesday morning at approximately 8:35 am by the Los Angles County Coroner’s office. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winters was present.
The 24-year-old woman was found dead in a remote area of Malibu Canyon last year nearly a year after being released from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station where she was booked for not paying a restaurant bill in Malibu.
Richardson’s remains were buried at the Inglewood Cemetery where her tombstone awaits placement.
“I cannot in good conscious lay her headstone down knowing that there are parts of her that are being held somewhere” Latice Sutton, Richardson’s mother, wrote to The Malibu Times in an e-mail.
Her family had requested that Richardson’s remains be exhumed so they could be further examined, and analysis and sampling be done that was not performed when her remains were first found, her mother said.
Sheriff Lee Baca notified Sutton in January that her formal request to have her daughter’s remains exhumed had been accepted.
The family hired in independent forensic pathologist present at the exhumation, ?to observe, so that he could produce an independent report to me,” Sutton said in an interview Thursday.
The FBI in February declined involvement in the Richardson case.
On Wednesday, Richardson’s family watched from afar as two men from the Inglewood Cemetery dug for hours, shovel after shovel, until her casket was unearthed. It was a moment that made all present stand motionless.
“The amount of pain and devastation a mother can feel after losing her child tragically … it’s incredible, and at times unbearable at the same time,” Sutton said. “I’m finding out that there are different levels of despair. When you lose a loved one quickly, there’s a ripping that happens that you just can’t gain composure.”
Richardson was taken into custody for possession of marijuana in her car and defrauding an innkeeper on Sept. 16, 2009.
She disappeared on Sept. 17, 2009, after being released from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at approximately 1 a.m. She was without transportation, a cell phone, or any type of identification.
After leaving the station, Richardson was briefly sighted on the lawn of a nearby residence, and then was never seen again.
Richardson’s remains were discovered on Aug. 9, 2010 in Malibu Canyon, nearly one year after she was reported missing.
Many people have said it was at best a poor decision to release Richardson. The jailer who processed Richardson’s release, told the Los Angeles Times she recommended to the young woman that she stay until the morning, but Richardson refused.
Her family, through TV, print and radio interviews had galvanized the public and local governmental and law enforcement officials to search for her. Several search and rescue teams were sent into Malibu’s canyons in the ensuing months, but her remains were not found until nearly a year later.
More controversy arose after Richardson’s bones were found in a ravine in Malibu Canyon in August last year. A Los Angeles County coroner’s official criticized Sheriff’s deputies for moving the bones without consent from the coroner’s office. A Sheriff’s spokesman said deputies moved the bones because it was getting dark and they feared animals might destroy them.
Questions about the thoroughness of the department’s handling of the case continued when Sutton claimed to have found a finger bone while visiting the site. A few months later, in February, authorities discovered eight more bones in the area, months after her body was found.
A lawsuit by the Richardson family against the county Sheriff’s Department for its handling of the case is currently pending.
Richardson’s clothing, which Sutton said had never been tested, will be taken to the Sheriff?s Department’s crime lab for testing.
“For whatever reason the clothing was never claimed by the Sheriffs Department to be taken to the crime lab and tested for potential evidence that could lead to a potential suspect,” Sutton said. “That was crucial back in August 2010 and somebody dropped the ball.”