Update I, 12:02 pm:

The skeletal remains found in Malibu Canyon on Monday afternoon have been identified by authorities as those of Mitrice Richardson, the young woman who vanished nearly a year ago after being released from the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station, according to a source familiar with the investigation. [link]


According to CNN, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office hopes to release results Thursday morning of their examination of skeletal remains found in a remote area of Malibu Canyon.

The family of Mitrice Richardson, who has been missing for almost a year, visited the site where the bones were found on Monday. The remains, which included a human skull, were found by park rangers searching the area for illegal marijuana groves.

“It’s incredibly treacherous terrain,” said Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore of the remote site. “There is no road, no trail even if you know exactly where you are going.”

The LA Times reported that the remains were those of a female who had been exposed to the elements “for quite a while.” Female clothing, including a pair of Levis blue jeans, were found near the body. When last seen alive, Mitrice was wearing a brown Bob Marley t-shirt and blue jeans.

Mitirce’s mother, Litrice Richardson, held a news conference on Tuesday outside the coroner’s office to appeal to LA County officials to let her view the clothing.

Despite police evidence that Mitrice was last seen wearing blue jeans, Litrice Richardson said, “I do know that my daughter was wearing jeans that night.”


Richardson, who would be 25 now, vanished after leaving a Los Angeles County sheriff’s station in Malibu during the early morning hours of September 17, 2009.

She had been arrested the previous evening for allegedly not paying her bill at an upscale Malibu restaurant. The restaurant manager said Mitrice appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance.

Earlier this year, an acquaintance of Richardson’s claimed he saw her inside a Las Vegas casino. Her father also said he spotted a woman on a Las Vegas street corner who looked like Mitrice.

Mitrice, a former beauty pageant contestant, was openly gay to her friends and family.


Thanks to loyal reader HD Kaplan for the tip!