Mitrice Richardson 24, Missing 9/17/09 From Los Angeles, CA(Remains Found)

[trimmonthelake]

http://malibusurfsidenews.com/stories/201008/201008050004.html
Two Separate Rewards in Mitrice Richardson Case Have Different Terms
BY ANNE SOBLE 08/05/10
With the announcement of what is described as a credible but still unverified sighting of Mitrice Richardson came a flurry of media coverage exceeding all of the attention received by the case so far.

With this attention came misstatements that were reported by many in the mainstream media and then picked up by multiple news outlets and blogs, a number of whom further compounded the mistakes. 

Major among these is that there is a $25,000 reward for information leading to the missing woman’s whereabouts. This was misstated by law enforcement officials at the Las Vegas press conference who put the single amount on a flyer and then repeated it during the actual briefing.

In reality, there are two separate rewards with different requirements.

One is a $10,000 reward offered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. It states that the board “has established a reward in the amount of $10,000 in exchange for information leading to the whereabouts of Mitrice Richardson, who disappeared after being released from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Substation in Calabasas, on Sept. 17, 2009 [and] for successful resolution of any criminal prosecution of person or persons who were involved in her disappearance.”

The second reward is in the amount of $15,000 from the City of Malibu. This reward is more narrowly defined. It is “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson.”
As previously reported in The News, the City of Malibu has not allocated funds for the reward from the current municipal budget, as is required from year to year.

But Malibu City Manager Jim Thorsen told the newspaper, “The council has already committed to the reward and the city will stand behind it.”

Thorsen added, “Our only issue is a bookkeeping one, as the funds were not carried over into this fiscal year. I am fully confident the council would approve the re-appropriation of reward funds for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Ms. Richardson at such time it is necessary. Therefore, I have not planned to go to council and have the funds placed into the budget, unless it is deemed necessary.”

The city manager reiterated that “the reward is for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the disappearance. It is not a reward for finding her.” 

 

[trimmonthelake]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/08/malibu-body-mitrice-richardson.html
Authorities find body in Malibu Canyon, seek possible Mitrice Richardson link [Updated]
August 9, 2010 |  4:48 pm

Police investigators went to a remote area of Malibu Canyon on Monday afternoon after park rangers told L.A. County sheriff's officials that they'd found what appeared to be human remains.

It was not immediately clear if the bones, found more than 20 miles southeast of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station, were those of Mitrice Richardson, who vanished after being released from Sheriff's Department custody last September.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said investigators had been dispatched to an area he described as "treacherous terrain filled with overgrown trees and brush" and possibly would have to be taken in by helicopter.

"All we know know is that there is a report of some bones," Whitmore said. "No one from law enforcement has seen this other than the park rangers."

Whitmore cautioned about drawing any quick conclusions given the remote location and the lack of
additional facts.

[Updated at 6 p.m.: The remains--including a skull and assorted bones--were found in a deep ravine that had previously been identified as an area where marijuana had been grown, Whitmore said. Park Rangers were checking the area, which had been used to grow pot in the previous growing season but was found to be inactive.]


Last month, authorities held a news conference to say that Richardson could be alive and well in Las Vegas.

A friend from Richardson's teenage years said he saw her in a bar at the Rio on Father's Day weekend in June, prompting a search by L.A. County sheriff's investigators. Her father, Michael Richardson, said a Sheriff's Department official told him that they had information on numerous sightings.

But authorities have neither located her nor established for certain that it was Richardson who was spotted, and not simply a woman who resembles her.

Nothing has been definitive since Richardson — a Cal State Fullerton graduate whose 25th birthday was in April — showed up at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu last Sept. 16, acting bizarrely and speaking in gibberish. Unable to pay her $89 dinner bill, she was arrested and taken into custody.

Shortly after midnight, she was released from the Malibu/Lost Hills sheriff's station in Calabasas without her car, which had been impounded, or her cellphone and purse, which were in the car. Several months later, police investigators discovered evidence in her diaries that she was probably suffering from severe bipolar disorder.

-- Andrew Blankstein and Carla Hall

Photo: KTLA

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Matrice-Richardson-Detective-Summoned-to-Malibu-Crime-Scene-100308844.html
Matrice Richardson Detective Summoned to Malibu Crime Scene By JACK NOYES
Updated 6:26 PM PDT, Mon, Aug 9, 2010
NBCLA has learned that a detective who oversees the disappearance investigation of Mitrice Richardson was called to a scene Monday afternoon where bones were found in Malibu Canyon just above the Malibu city limit.

Authorities have not drawn a connection between the discovery of the bones and the disappearance of Richardson.  A family spokesman contacted late this afternoon by NBCLA knew nothing about the Malibu Canyon discovery.

A crime scene was cordoned off along Dark Canyon road off Piuma Road.  The bones were discovered in dense chaparral in a ravine.  California State Park Rangers discovered the bones during a marijuana eradication effort around 1:30 p.m.

Around 6:15 p.m. investigators told NBCLA they had found a human skull was found among the bones.

Lt. Mike Rosson from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide detective bureau was summoned to the crime scene as well as the main spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Steve Whitmore.

[MuffyBee]

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/spot-news/malibu-body-mitrice/
Body Found In Malibu Canyon; L.A. Times Ponders Possible Mitrice Richardson Connection
August 9, 2010

A badly decomposed body was found in the unincorporated community of Monte Nido north of Malibu Monday, with ABC7 reporting that it was so far gone that authorities had trouble identifying it as belonging to a man or a woman.

Still, the Los Angeles Times wondered aloud whether the body belonged to long-missing twentysomething Mitrice Richardson, who was last seen in the hills above Malibu -- at the sheriff's Lost Hills station, last summer.

The body was apparently found about 20 miles from the station, which is about as far as downtown L.A. is from Malibu. The Times reported the body was discovered more than 20 miles from the station, but a map indicates the area is within about five miles of the Lost Hills outpost. The discovery was reported about 1 p.m., sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

If the body does belong to Richardson, the find would put an end to speculation that she could be in Las Vegas, where a childhood friend reported seeing her in June.

Richardson, a Cal State Fullerton graduate, went missing Sept. 17 after she was released from the Lost Hills station in the early morning darkness. She had been arrested after she allegedly failed to pay a Malibu restaurant tab.

[trimmonthelake]

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/city-news/not-mitrice-richardson-body/
 City News
Sheriff's Spokesman Steve Whitmore Doubts Bones Belong To Missing Woman Mitrice Richardson
By Dennis Romero, Tue., Aug. 10 2010 @ 7:03AM
A sheriff's spokesman said late Monday it was unlikely that remains found in a remote canyon near Malibu  belong to missing twentysomething Mitrice Richardson, even as her family descended on the sheriff's Lost Hills station in search of answers.

The find of bones in an unincorporated area called Monte Nido was reported about 1 p.m. Monday after Park Rangers making a routine check of a canyon used to grow marijuana in the past came across the remains, according to authorities and television news reports. The area is about five miles from the sheriff's Lost Hills station. Still, spokesman Steve Whitmore said he doubted the bones belonged to Richardson:

"We have no idea who it is, but there's nothing to indicate that it is Richardson,'' Whitmore said. "We've had reports of several other missing people out there.''

Coroner's assistant chief Ed Winter told reporters and family members that investigators in his office could find out as early as Tuesday -- through X-rays and other techniques -- whether the remains belong to Richardson.

Richardson's mother and sister went to the station Monday night. Sister Litrice Sutton told reporters, "I'm a little numb right now."

Responding to reports that Richardon was spotted in Las Vegas by a childhood classmate in June, she said, "I definitely do not believe that Mitrice is in Las Vegas."

Richardson went missing from that very sheriff's station in September after she was arrested for allegedly failing to pay a restaurant bill and then released into the remote area early in the morning. She did not have her vehicle, which was impounded, or her mobile phone, which was in the car.
Her mother and father are separately suing the sheriff's department.

[trimmonthelake]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/08/sketetal-remains-found-in-malibu-canyon-link-to-mitrice-richardson-is-unclear.html
Remains found in Malibu Canyon said to be that of a woman; link, if any, to Mitrice Richardson is unclear
August 10, 2010 | 11:25 am
The skeletal remains found Monday afternoon in Malibu Canyon are believed to be that of a woman, according to a law enforcement source.


Women's clothing was also found near the scene, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.

L.A. County sheriff's officials and the L.A. coroner's office are trying to determine whether the remains belong to Mitrice Richardson, who has been missing since September, or one of several people who were reported missing in the area.
The bones were found about 2 1/2 miles from the last credible sighting of Richardson.

The L.A. coroner's office said it was conducting exams on the remains Tuesday morning.

Police investigators went to a remote area of Malibu Canyon on Monday afternoon after park rangers told L.A. County sheriff's officials that they'd found what appeared to be human remains.

The bones were found more than 20 miles southeast of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station. Richardson vanished after being released from Sheriff's Department custody on Sept. 17, 2009.

Last month, authorities held a news conference to say that Richardson could be alive in Las Vegas.

A friend from Richardson's teenage years said he saw her in a bar at the Rio on Father's Day weekend in June, prompting a search by L.A. County sheriff's investigators. Her father, Michael Richardson, said a sheriff's department official told him that they had information on numerous sightings.

But authorities have neither located her nor established for certain that it was Richardson who had been spotted, and not a woman who resembles her.

Nothing has been definitive since Richardson -- a Cal State Fullerton graduate whose 25th birthday was in April -- showed up at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu last Sept. 16, acting bizarrely and speaking gibberish. Unable to pay her $89 dinner bill, she was arrested and taken into custody.

Shortly after midnight, she was released from the Malibu/Lost Hills sheriff's station in Calabasas without her car, which had been impounded, or her cellphone and purse, which were in the car. Several months later, police investigators discovered evidence in her diaries that she was probably suffering from severe bipolar disorder.
-- Carla Hall and Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Mitrice Richardson. Credit: KTLA via Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

[cookie]

oh my...

[trimmonthelake]

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/10/california-remains-found/
August 10, 2010
Mitrice Richardson's remains found?
Posted: 06:29 PM ET
Authorities in Southern California are working to determine if skeletal remains found Monday in a remote area of Malibu Canyon are those of a woman missing for nearly a year.

"It's incredibly treacherous terrain," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office spokesman Steve Whitmore told CNN. "There is no road, no trail even if you know exactly where you are going."

Whitmore confirmed park rangers discovered "a human skull and some bones"
during a search Monday for marijuana groves in the area, but he declined to comment on a Los Angeles Times report Tuesday quoting law enforcement sources as saying the remains are that of a woman and that "women's clothing was also found near the scene."

"Let the coroner do its job. ... We should know more in a couple of days," Whitmore told CNN.

At the scene Monday, Whitmore told CNN iReporter Julie Ellerton that "there's no apparent skin or clothing" around the remains and "it looks like it may in fact have been there for quite awhile."

The family of missing Mitrice Richardson have been waiting to hear whether the remains are those of their loved one.

Richardson, who would be 25 now, is a former beauty pageant contestant who was last seen 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 at an upscale restaurant for allegedly not paying for her meal, and patrons at the restaurant said she exhibited strange behavior.

Her family has said the college honors graduate suffered from mental health issues and should have been kept at the sheriff's station until a relative arrived to pick her up.

Rhonda Hampton, a friend of the Richardson family, said Tuesday that a local reporter told her that authorities "are not going to make any statements about the results that they have thus far until the lead forensic anthropologist makes a final determination."
 Pam Perryman was also at the scene Monday, believing that the remains found could belong to her husband, Timothy, who went missing six years ago while on a hike in the area, according to Ellerton.

"I've been praying that we would find him because it's our anniversary this Saturday," Perryman said. "I just have a feeling ... in a way I hope it is him, in a way I hope it's not."

Hampton said the family of Richardson has had a difficult time getting in contact with the police for developments.

"If the information that has been leaked to the Los Angeles Times is correct, it's inexcusable that the family would have to find this out this way," she said.

Latice Sutton, the mother of Richardson, filed a lawsuit in June against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, accusing deputies of negligence in her daughter's disappearance.

Whitmore told CNN in September that the decision to release Richardson was made because "she was not intoxicated, she didn't exhibit any mental issues, so when we were done running her fingerprints and criminal history, then we are obligated by law to release her from custody."

Most recently, police have spent about six weeks checking out what they called a credible sighting of Richardson in Las Vegas. A high school friend of Richardson said he saw her at a hotel casino, authorities said. Detectives have talked to several witnesses since then who believe they have seen her in the area, they added.

Richardson's family has expressed doubts about the veracity of the Las Vegas sighting.
n a recent statement, Sutton said she "hopes this is not a diversionary tactic to redirect attention and efforts away from where Mitrice was last known to be last seen - leaving the Los Angeles Sheriff's department, Malibu/Lost Hills station, without her cell phone, money, transportation, or asthma medication, which is where their massive search efforts and public plea should be concentrated."

Follow the Falcon File on Twitter @FalconCNN

[trimmonthelake]

oh my...

I know.
Feel bad for this family.   


Prayers for Mitrice.   

[cookie]

oh my...

I know.
Feel bad for this family.   


Prayers for Mitrice.   

even if it isn't Mitrice, it is someone elses's loved one...sad for the family of whoever this person is..

thanks for the articles on this Trimm...

[MuffyBee]

oh my...

I know.
Feel bad for this family.   


Prayers for Mitrice.   

even if it isn't Mitrice, it is someone elses's loved one...sad for the family of whoever this person is..

thanks for the articles on this Trimm...

 

[MuffyBee]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/08/mitrice-richardsons-parents-await-word-as-coroner-examines-remains.html
Mitrice Richardson's parents await word as coroner examines remains
August. 11, 2010



As the L.A. County Coroner's Office tries to identify skeletal remains that were found in a Malibu Canyon ravine, the parents of Mitrice Richardson said they are praying that the body is not their daughter's.

Richardson vanished after being released from the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff's Station last September.

"No one wants her home more than me," said Latice Sutton, Richardson's mother, at a news conference Tuesday evening.
"Nothing has been concluded," father Michael Richardson said on KJLH-FM. "We're going to remain hopeful, prayerful and steadfast."

A law enforcement source said Tuesday that the remains appear to be that of a woman and that women's clothing was found at the scene.

Although family and friends of the missing woman — whose 25th birthday was in April — gathered on a grassy trail Monday not far from where the remains were found, they weren't the only ones searching for answers. The wife of a hiker missing for several years also had come to Malibu, wondering if it was her husband's body that had been found.

"I've got two families, both missing a loved one up in the area," said Ed Winter, spokesman for the county coroner's office on Tuesday morning before a preliminary examination of the remains. "And it could be a third person."

Tuesday evening, Sutton held a news conference outside the coroner's office, saying that officials had confirmed that women's clothing, specifically a pair of Levis, was found at the scene.

"It is unfortunate that they will not let me view those articles of clothing," she said, adding that her daughter was wearing jeans the night she was arrested. She said she was making a personal plea to the coroner to let her see the clothes.

Richardson was arrested at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu after acting bizarrely and saying she was unable to pay her $89 dinner tab. She was released from custody shortly after midnight without her car — which had been impounded — or a cellphone or purse. Investigators believe she was spotted three times in the canyon area in daylight hours that morning.  After that, she was never heard from again.

The remains — which include a skull — were found about 2 1/2 miles from the last credible sighting of her on Sept. 17. The discovery casts an ominous shadow over the case of the missing woman.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/11/california.remains.found/
Coroner's officials examining remains found in Malibu CanyonBy the CNN Wire StaffAugust 11, 2010 5:52 p.m. EDT
(CNN) -- County coroner's officials in Los Angeles, California, were conducting an examination Wednesday of skeletal remains found in a remote area of Malibu Canyon, while the family of a woman missing nearly a year awaited word on any clues the bones were yielding.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told CNN that an anthropologist and pathologist were examining the remains Wednesday, and an odontologist -- or dental expert -- was expected to arrive Wednesday night to make a final identification.

Winter said he hopes to make an announcement of the examination's findings by Thursday morning.
<snipped>

[akmom]

Thanks Trimm, JVM to be covering this shortly....first I had heard

[trimmonthelake]

Issues With Jane Velez Mitchell Transcript
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1008/11/ijvm.01.html
<snipped>
Switching gears in a big way. Pure hell -- that`s what Mitrice Richardson`s family has been through these past 11 months, desperately trying to find their daughter. Now they`re waiting to hear if remains found earlier this week are Mitrice`s.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WHITMORE, L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF`S DEPT: We have discovered a human skull and we`ve discovered some bones. There`s no apparent skin or clothing or whatever. It looks like it may, in fact, have been there for quite a while.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The question is, is it Mitrice? The teacher was arrested in September when she couldn`t pay her $89 tab at a swanky Malibu restaurant. The then 24-year-old seemed mentally unstable, speaking in apparent gibberish. She went missing shortly after she was released from a Los Angeles sheriff`s station in the dead of night, without her cell phone, money or transportation because they had confiscated her car. Just a few hours later a resident reported the last credible sighting of Mitrice.

And now, just two miles from that last sighting, bones have been found in a remote area of Malibu canyon.

Joining me now, Mitrice`s heartbroken, devastated, frantic father -- Mr. Richardson, we`ve been following your saga and I cannot imagine what you`re going through. First of all, how are you holding up? What is your reaction to this big news?

MICHAEL RICHARDSON, MITRICE RICHARDSON`S FATHER: Well, first of all, Jane, thank you for keeping her story on your show often. And as far as how I`m doing, I`m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. I`m still remaining hopeful, positive, prayerful, and meditating.

Until they can give me a definitive answer about it, Mitrice is still needing for us to search for her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, there is a possibility that this might be another person, perhaps a man who went missing near this area six years ago.

Pam Perryman (ph) was also at the scene. She says her husband, an avid hiker, disappeared in that vicinity and she believes that this could be him.
Now, just yesterday, Mitrice`s mom, Latice Sutton, who`s been critical of law enforcement, held a news conference, and she had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUTTON: It is most unfortunate that today I`ve had to learn through the media that there are preliminary findings that those bones in Malibu are of a female.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Carla Hall, you`re a "Los Angeles Times" reporter. The L.A. coroner wouldn`t even confirm the gender of these remains. What do we know about the bones and the other evidence and where it was found?

CARLA HALL, REPORTER, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, our sources say that the bones are those of a female. And they say that clothes found near the remains are clothes that -- that are somewhat -- definitely a woman`s clothing and it includes Levi`s, which as her mother has said, she was wearing that night. So we know -- that`s about all we know for sure right now.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But that`s certainly not promising, to find Mitrice alive, if what you`re saying pans out, Carla.

HALL: There`s some compelling reasons to think that this might be Mitrice; mainly the fact that the location of the remains is about two miles, as you said, from where she was credibly seen that day. The fact that the remains are probably those of a woman and that there are clothes near the scene that might have been -- that look like clothes she might have worn. So there are reasons to wonder if it is her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: If this is Mitrice, it totally flies in the face of the police investigation over the past few weeks. There have been close to 100 sightings of her in Las Vegas.
Now, there was a huge controversy over one lead, a high school friend who brought Mitrice to her winter formal years ago said he saw her at the bar of the Rio Casino and Hotel and actually approached her and tried to talk to her. Mitrice`s mom has been adamant about those sightings not being her.

Let`s hear from the mom and then we`ll get your reaction. All right.

All right. You know what, I can tell you -- we don`t have that sound bite -- but the mother did say she didn`t buy it. She didn`t think that her daughter was in Las Vegas and she kind of implied that the police were trying to make it look like oh, yes there she is in Las Vegas so that they didn`t have to really, you know, be in the hot spotlight over how they handled her disappearance. Carla?

HALL: Well, I think that they had to follow it up. This is a man who had known her as a teenager. Yes, he hadn`t seen her in a long time but he seemed to truly feel that he saw her that night at the Rio Hotel.

He looked at her; he went up to this woman. He said "Hi Mitrice". The woman looked at him. She didn`t say she was Mitrice but she didn`t say anything and she walked away. How could the police not follow that up? It would have been irresponsible not to.

I think what happened was they got there and then they started asking around and other people said, oh, we`ve seen a woman who looks like the photo on the flyer that you`re passing out. It could be that both the woman that the teenage friend saw in the hotel as well as the woman that these other people in Las Vegas are seeing is someone who just looks like Mitrice.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, everybody stay right where you are --

RICHARDSON: Carla, I need to ask you a question.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right on the other side. We`re going to go break. And then on the other side, sir, we`ll take your question.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I got to tell you, Mr. Richardson, we`re talking about your daughter. You recently filed a lawsuit based on civil rights violations in connection with your daughter`s disappearance. You allege that L.A. County sheriff`s deputies were negligent for releasing Mitrice in the middle of the night without a car, without a cell phone, without a purse, without holding her because she was obviously, in your opinion, exhibiting signs of mental illness.

RICHARDSON: That`s correct.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What were you hoping this lawsuit might do?

RICHARDSON: We still need some answers and some information of why did no one follow all the policies that are listed in their procedure. And they are not being forthcoming with a lot of information we need to get some answers.

So in a lawsuit it just says suppress all evidence and maybe some of the questions that I`ve had that they`ve had shut down and said they can`t answer and they won`t release at this time -- they will finally produce to us.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You wanted to ask a question of Carla Hall, a "Los Angeles Times" reporter. Go ahead.

RICHARDSON: Right. Carla, you know, we`re good friends and everything like that now over this tragic situation, but what people don`t know, Jane, is I was in Las Vegas in January of this year. I reported a sighting of my daughter not just based on the way she looked but this girl had a similar walk and body movement to the point I jumped out of a car on a busy street almost getting hit.

When I turned that information in to the sheriffs who are investigating they didn`t really follow up on it. Six months later they then decided to take this young man`s -- and I`m glad they did -- information and follow up on it.

A lot of people, you know, really think it`s Mitrice. We had a lot of look-a-likes out here but I spent five days in Las Vegas last week and there`s not a lot of people that look like Mitrice.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What was your question to Carla, though?

RICHARDSON: Huh?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What was your question to Carla? You said you wanted to ask her a question.

RICHARDSON: My question is, if these other people think they`ve seen her, what is your credibility of me as the biological father of my own daughter thinking I saw her?

HALL: Well, Michael, I think that -- I do believe you think you saw her. I believe that her teenage friend, her friend who knew her as a teenager believes he saw her. I don`t doubt that either of you think that you saw her which is why I think that the police should follow it up. I`m just not sure that it really was her and I`m not even sure, Michael, that you`re absolutely sure it was her. You, yourself, told me that --

(CROSS TALKING)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to jump in here. I know what you mean. I want to jump in with John Lucich because there was a very troubling mural that we`re going to show you very briefly depicting pornographic images of a woman that looks very much like Mitrice and even has the same kind of hair. And it was on the very route where people were searching for her. To me this adds a whole sinister component that goes way beyond a missing person, John.

JOHN LUCICH, FORMER INVESTIGATOR: Absolutely. Women are abducted and sold into -- as sex slaves and a lot of other things. What the family`s got to keep in mind when law enforcement`s investigating is that number one, they are sensitive to the fact that every sighting is going raise their hopes. When they take a look at these bones before they release anything about it they want to make sure whether it is Mitrice or isn`t Mitrice because they don`t want to start generating those false hopes again.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We have to leave it right there. We`re going to have Mitrice`s dad back tomorrow.

This is a breaking story.

Thank you, fabulous panel.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/11/california.remains.found/
Coroner's officials examining remains found in Malibu Canyon
August 11, 2010


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

    * The family of missing Mitrice Richardson believes the remains may belong to their loved one
    * The coroner's office hopes to make a final identification by Thursday morning
    * Clothing was found "near the body," assistant chief coroner says
    * Richardson was last seen leaving a Malibu sheriff's station September 17

(CNN) -- County coroner's officials in Los Angeles, California, were conducting an examination Wednesday of skeletal remains found in a remote area of Malibu Canyon, while the family of a woman missing nearly a year awaited word on any clues the bones were yielding.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told CNN that an anthropologist and pathologist were examining the remains Wednesday, and an odontologist -- or dental expert -- was expected to arrive Wednesday night to make a final identification.

Winter said he hopes to make an announcement of the examination's findings by Thursday morning.

The remains, which included a human skull, were found Monday by park rangers searching the area for marijuana groves, according to 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."

Whitmore said it appeared the remains had been in the area "for quite awhile."

The family of missing Mitrice Richardson have been waiting to hear whether the remains are those of their loved one.

Richardson, who would be 25 now, is a former beauty pageant contestant who was last seen 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 at an upscale restaurant for allegedly not paying for her meal, and patrons at the restaurant said she exhibited strange behavior.

Her family has said the college honors graduate suffered from mental health issues and should have been kept at the sheriff's station until a relative arrived to pick her up.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the remains are female and that "women's clothing was also found near the scene," citing unidentified law enforcement sources.

Winter would not confirm Wednesday the gender of the remains. He said clothing was found "near the body," but declined to elaborate on what type, saying many people had been using the area where marijuana was known to be harvested.

Latice Sutton, the mother of Richardson, held a news conference Tuesday night outside the coroner's office, saying she had been told that the clothing found was a pair of Levis, and appealed to officials to let her view the clothing.

"I do know that my daughter was wearing jeans that night," Sutton said.

Michael Richardson, Mitrice's father, told HLN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell on Wednesday, that he isn't giving up the search for his daughter.

"I'm still remaining hopeful, positive, prayerful ... and until they can give me a definitive answer about it, Mitrice is still needing for us to search for her," he said.

The family of Richardson was joined at the canyon site Monday by another woman who believed the remains could belong to her husband, Timothy.

Pam Perryman said her husband went missing six years ago while hiking in the area.

"I've been praying that we would find him because it's our anniversary this Saturday," Perryman told CNN iReporter Julie Ellerton. "I just have a feeling ... in a way I hope it is him, in a way I hope it's not."

[MuffyBee]

I was checking this morning for information on the bones that were found, and so far I haven't seen an article that gives an ID.  But here is an update article, dated today:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/12/california.remains.found/
Examination results on bones found in Malibu Canyon to be released
August 12, 2010


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

    * The family of missing Mitrice Richardson believes the remains may be her
    * Clothing was found "near the body," assistant chief coroner says
    * Richardson was last seen leaving a Malibu sheriff's station September 17

(CNN) -- County coroner's officials in Los Angeles, California, hope to release results Thursday morning of their examination of skeletal remains found in a remote area of Malibu Canyon.

The family of a woman, missing nearly a year, await word on any clues the bones will yield.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said that an anthropologist and pathologist were examining the remains, and an odontologist -- or dental expert -- will also help make a final identification.

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."

Whitmore said it appeared the remains had been in the area "for quite awhile."

The family of missing Mitrice Richardson have been waiting to hear whether the remains are those of their loved one.

Richardson, who would be 25 now, is a former beauty pageant contestant who was last seen 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 at an upscale restaurant for allegedly not paying for her meal, and patrons at the restaurant said she exhibited strange behavior.

Her family has said the college honors graduate suffered from mental health issues and should have been kept at the sheriff's station until a relative arrived to pick her up.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the remains are those of a woman and that "women's clothing was also found near the scene." The newspaper cited unidentified law enforcement sources.

Winter would not confirm Wednesday the gender of the remains. He said clothing was found "near the body," but declined to elaborate on what type, saying many people had been using the area where marijuana was known to be harvested.

Latice Sutton, the mother of Richardson, held a news conference Tuesday night outside the coroner's office, saying she had been told that the clothing found was a pair of Levis, and appealed to officials to let her view the clothing.

"I do know that my daughter was wearing jeans that night," Sutton said.

Michael Richardson, Mitrice's father, told HLN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell" on Wednesday that he isn't giving up the search for his daughter.

"I'm still remaining hopeful, positive, prayerful ... and until they can give me a definitive answer about it, Mitrice is still needing for us to search for her," he said.

The family of Richardson was joined at the canyon site Monday by another woman who believed the remains could belong to her husband, Timothy.

Pam Perryman said her husband went missing six years ago while hiking in the area.

"I've been praying that we would find him because it's our anniversary this Saturday," Perryman told CNN iReporter Julie Ellerton. "I just have a feeling ... in a way I hope it is him, in a way I hope it's not."

[MuffyBee]

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/12/mitrice-richardsons-remains-found/
Mitrice Richardson's remains found
August 12, 2010

The skeletal remains of a woman found Monday in Malibu Canyon are that of Mitrice Richardson, who had been missing for nearly a year, a family friend told CNN.

Rhonda Hampton said the coroner's office called Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, Thursday morning to report that a positive identification was made for her daughter.

Richardson was 24 when she was last seen leaving a Los Angeles County sheriff's station in Malibu in the early morning hours of September 17, 2009.

She had been arrested the previous evening at an upscale restaurant for allegedly not paying for her meal, and patrons at the restaurant said she exhibited strange behavior.

Her family has said the college honors graduate suffered from mental health issues and should have been kept at the sheriff's station until a relative arrived to pick her up.
******************************

Prayers for Mitrice and her family.  And I hope there will be a very thorough and transparent investigation. 
With heavy heart, I'm moving this to "Missing Found Deceased". 

[MuffyBee]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/08/malibu-remains-identified-as-mitrice-richardson.html
Malibu remains identified as Mitrice Richardson, source says
August 12, 2010

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.

The identification of the remains, found deep in a ravine by park rangers checking for marijuana plants, apparently brings to a grim close the much-publicized mystery over the whereabouts of the Cal State Fullerton graduate who would have celebrated her 25th birthday this past April.

An official announcement is scheduled at the Sheriff's Department headquarters at 9:15 a.m.
 

[trimmonthelake]

Than you Muffy.
I kept checking during the night,I knew in my heart is was going to be her.