Mitrice Richardson: Too Many Questions

In driving home last night from work in Malibu, I considered the distance between the Lost Hills Sheriff's station in Calabasas and Malibu Canyon and Piuma Roads.

It is about five miles from the sheriff station to Malibu Canyon and Piuma Roads. Consider a woman, in the cold, on foot in the dark walking that distance. Or did she walk it?

It was cold last night in Malibu Canyon. Malibu Canyon was described as cold that night last September when Matrice Richardson was released in the dead of night without a purse, phone or car. Except for a few street lights and headlights from passing cars, there's no illumination on Malibu Canyon Road. The intersection of Malibu Canyon and Piuma Road is lit, but leaving it puts one in pitch dark conditions.

Last night, I saw one raccoon, one skunk and one coyote on Malibu Canyon Road. Richardson was described by her mother as afraid of the dark and afraid of wild animals.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

Richardson said she would rather leave. At 12:15 a.m., she left with the possessions she came in with — her shirt and jeans, a brown hat and pink belt; two keys and her driver's license — signing a citation promising to return to the Malibu courthouse on Nov. 16, 2009.

Around dawn the morning she was released, a homeowner on Cold Canyon Road in the Monte Nido area of Malibu discovered a woman napping in his backyard and called the Sheriff's Department.

Left, the location of the sheriff station in Calabasas. Las Virgenes Road turns into Malibu Canyon Road. North is at top, Malibu would be south. Malibu Canyon and Piuma Roads would be south of this image.



Investigators are convinced that it was Richardson, having somehow made her way from the sheriff's station on Agoura Road in Calabasas down into Malibu Canyon and east on Piuma Road to Cold Canyon. The woman left when the homeowner discovered her.

Investigators believe she was spotted two more times — once walking down Malibu Canyon Road about 7:30 a.m. and then a few hours later on Piuma Road east of Malibu Canyon. Her remains were found about 2 1/2 miles from that last sighting.

KFI-AM in Los Angeles had numerous calls yesterday from people who have experienced the Sheriff's practice in releasing vulnerable female arrestees without any provisions of protecting their safety. One woman called who said her daughter was released into the night and came upon some gang members. They attacked. Fortunately, the girl knew martial arts and was able to fend off her attackers and flee.

The deputies may have followed procedures, but it doesn't mean those procedures are wrong. In Richardson's case, they were tragic.

Why didn't they allow her to retrieve her car? Why was it impounded? Why wasn't she allowed to get her purse and cell phone from her car?

And, how did Richardson get to the location where her remains were found? Here's a map of where she was found.

According to CNN:

The remains, which included a human skull, were found Monday by park rangers searching the area for marijuana groves, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

"It's incredibly treacherous terrain," Whitmore said of the remote site. "There is no road, no trail even if you know exactly where you are going."

Many people following this case believe that the L.A. County Sheriff is guilty of gross negligence. From the way the L.A. County Sheriff handled this matter, I tend to agree.