Young woman’s body found in Malibu nearly a year after her release from the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has re-established and doubled the reward for information in solving the mysterious death of Mitrice Richardson. The 24-year-old from West Covina went missing after being released from the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station in 2009. Richardson was released from custody September 17 at 1 a.m. without transportation, cell phone or her purse. The young woman had been arrested hours earlier when she was unable to pay her dinner bill at Geoffrey’s restaurant in Malibu. Investigators in the case say the Cal State Fullerton graduate student was suffering from bipolar disorder. Richardson may have been awake for five straight days when she appeared confused and was speaking nonsense at the restaurant. Richardson’s family sued the county saying authorities should have recognized her erratic behavior and placed her on a psychiatric hold rather than releasing her in the middle of the night. The LACO Office of Independent Review concluded deputies acted properly. Richardson’s remains were found less than a year later in a remote Malibu canyon. The family settled a $900,000 lawsuit with the county, but the LACO BOS wants to solve the cold case with a new reward of $20,000 for information leading to a conviction in Richardson’s death.