The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said today that it has opened a homicide investigation into the disappearance of a Cal State Fullerton graduate who vanished into the hills near Malibu three months ago.
Mitrice Richardson, 24, has not been seen since the September night when she was arrested for not paying her bill at a Malibu restaurant. She was released that night from a sheriff's substation, 40 miles from home, without her car, her phone, her jacket or any money.
Wow...
I'm surprised. I noticed something last week on my drive through this area. I almost posted about it but I didn't want to alarm anybody. Now that I read this post, I hope it was not what I think it was.
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Well, now that you have said that and piqued my interest, you have to say what you noticed.
JMO, IMHO, IMO
are your friends.
I don't like doing that, but I didn't want to say anything unless asked...
There was a strong, bad odor between Piuma Rd and the tunnel. The odor was noticeable for about a 1/4 mile. This was about a week or so ago. A couple of hours ago on my way home I noticed the odor was still present, but not as strong.
When I read that this was being investigated as a homicide, I thought others may have reported the same smell and the police knew something. I read the article though, and it looks like they are classifying it as a homicide to get more resources on the case, and not because of a specific tip.
Thanks for posting this.
How far is it from the tunnel to where the police station is?
My opinion: not that I was asked:
Call the police.
Any lead can be helpful.
It has been three months since Mitrice went missing.
There's is no way around asking in a delicate manner.
Would a body
still have a distinct smell after 3 months?
did you report the smell????? if not please do...I don't like doing that, but I didn't want to say anything unless asked...
There was a strong, bad odor between Piuma Rd and the tunnel. The odor was noticeable for about a 1/4 mile. This was about a week or so ago. A couple of hours ago on my way home I noticed the odor was still present, but not as strong.
When I read that this was being investigated as a homicide, I thought others may have reported the same smell and the police knew something. I read the article though, and it looks like they are classifying it as a homicide to get more resources on the case, and not because of a specific tip.
A resident called about 5:30am (this has been reported as 6 and 6:30, it's confusing) that they saw a woman matching her description. This would be at Cold Canyon or Woodbluff and Piuma Rd. This area where the smell was is about 0.7 miles from there, via Google maps.
From the police station to where she was last seen, 5.5 miles.
That's why I hesitated to post. My dad knows about this stuff; will ask him and go from there. My guess is whatever it was, it died very soon before I smelled it. But the location is what made me suspicious. It was so bad everyone had to notice, as well as the residents that live in the area. May have been what lead to the change of direction in the case. I am hoping it is a false positive that will get this case the attention it needs.
I reported it today. They received other calls about it and they think it's a very large animal but are looking into it.
An article posted here yesterday
http://www.ocregister.com/news/homicide-224028-richardson-angeles.html
has some interesting info from the father. He says that the hills are not safe due to mountain lions and sex offenders. There are only a couple in the Santa Monica Mtns, one of them in the same neighborhood Mitrice was last seen in, and on the same street.
She was supposedly "staggering" in neighborhoods off Piuma Rd. As I mentioned in an earlier post, if she kept going east, rather than back to Malibu Canyon Rd., she would have ended up in the wilderness on what turns into "Mulholland Raceway." It's basically a remote canyon road that people sometimes race cars on. Point is, she may have gotten lost and wandered into the wilderness.
Now that the case is a homicide investigation, the article states that they are going to search more in the west and the EAST of where she was last seen and they are much more rugged areas. The original search only involved Malibu Canyon which is south of where she was last seen, and which assumes she walked back to Malibu Canyon Rd from the neighborhood she was seen in.
LOS ANGELES, CA - Day 87 and Michael Richardson, father of Mitrice Richardson has announced he's selling his two custom designed cars in an effort to raise money to independently search for his daughter's whereabouts.