Season 4 · Examined: The Backfire Effect
Coming Soon - Season 4, Dark Canyon | Lost Hills
30 May 2024 · 3 min
Episode notes
The disappearance and death of Mitrice Richardson remains Malibu, CA’s most baffling unsolved case. It’s been nearly 14 years since her remains were discovered in a remote canyon, and still, no one has been held accountable for her demise. From the beginning, the LA County Sheriff’s Department said Richardson’s case likely couldn’t be solved. And to this day, her death remains a mystery. The truth lies in the remote Malibu community where Mitrice was last seen. And now, finally, people are starting to talk. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Read the transcript · about 460 words, follows along as you listen
Speaker 1:Pushkin. At 12.25 a.m. on September 17, 2009, 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson was released from the Malibu Lost Hills Sheriff's Station. She had no money, no phone, and no ride. She walked out of the station and into the night. and she never made it home. A beauty contestant, an honor student, and now a missing person. We were told he's just another Black girl missing out of Malibu, that we were wasting our time. Nearly a year later, Mitrice's naked, skeletonized remains were discovered in a remote canyon six miles from the station. Her death is Malibu's greatest unsolved mystery. I'm Dana Goodyear. Five years ago, I started reporting on the Mitrice-Richardson case. Everyone knows something horrible happened to Mitrice. Nothing about her case makes sense. And for 15 years, the Sheriff's Department has failed to solve it. I got a text message. Hey, there was a partially mummified skeletal remains, naked, found in Montanito. They discovered a skull. They discovered a pelvis and they discovered a leg, just bones. So it was a cover-up from the time Mitrice was released all the way up and still to now, to this day,
Speaker 1:it's still a cover-up. Homicide will continue their investigation. If there was foul play involved, someone could confess. It's likely that we can never find out exactly how she got there, but they're going to do their very best to figure that out. Mitrice was young and black and beautiful, a professional dancer who was applying to graduate school in psychology. She was also in the midst of what law enforcement now acknowledges was a severe mental health episode. The cops say this might explain her death. Maybe she wandered into that canyon and died. Maybe she was bitten by a rattlesnake or a poisonous spider. What they don't say is that her mental state would have made her an easy victim for a human predator. Malibu is a place of secrets, but no secret can stay buried forever. I mean, that's what I told the cops. If anybody was to get suspected, it'd probably be him. Do you know anything about that girl?
Speaker 1:And he's like, what girl? What girl? She's like, the girl, the girl, you know, the girl that fucking, the girl that's dead. The girl that they found. He knew exactly where she was, which gives me the chills. In Malibu, Every seductive surface has a dark side. The beauty is the danger. The unspoiled wilderness hides unspeakable crimes. And a place like that, a place like that breeds monsters. Coming June 10th, Lost Hills, Dark Canyon. Subscribe to Pushkin Plus to hear the whole season early and ad-free. Find Pushkin Plus on the Lost Hills show page in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm slash plus.
Transcript supplied by the publisher with the episode.
Podcast
Examined: The Backfire Effect
Pushkin Industries · True Crime · English
About Examined: Overlooked cases that never got the real investigation they deserved. Each season features deeply reported stories about crime, punishment, and the people inside the criminal legal system. Nearly 40 years ago, in the parking lot of a community college in Port Huron, Michigan, a 20
More from Examined: The Backfire Effect All episodes →
-
S4 · E5 · 19 Jun 2024 · 40 min
5. So Close | Lost Hills
As the months pass with no sign of Mitrice, rumors abound. Law enforcement questions the artist behind a creepy mural. And deputies raid a fort in the wilderness looking for human remains. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S4 · E4 · 17 Jun 2024 · 32 min
4. Hopscotch | Lost Hills
Six hours after her release from Lost Hills Station, Mitrice is spotted in the rural community of Monte Nido. Investigators find Mitrice’s footprints, and neighbors report unusual disturbances around the time of her disappearance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S4 · E3 · 12 Jun 2024 · 42 min
3. Call for Help | Lost Hills
Mitrice arrives at Geoffrey’s restaurant in Malibu on Sept. 16, 2009, claiming she’s there to “avenge the death of Michael Jackson.” When she walks out without paying, a restaurant staffer calls 911. Deputies bring Mitrice to Lost Hills Station, where Mitrice’s cellmate overhears a worrying conversation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S4 · E2 · 10 Jun 2024 · 42 min
2. My Light | Lost Hills
Investigators search Mitrice’s impounded car and find several journals she wrote in the last months of her life. Never before shared publicly, the journals offer details about Mitrice’s mental state and her complicated love life. We track down an old girlfriend, who reveals Mitrice’s secret struggle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S4 · E1 · 10 Jun 2024 · 36 min
1. Vultures | Lost Hills
As Mitrice Richardson’s disappearance dominates news headlines, the Sheriff’s Department defends its decision to release her with no phone, no wallet, and no ride. Meanwhile, Mitrice’s autopsy raises puzzling questions about a missing bone, and a long-buried interview introduces a new witness. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S3 · 27 Jul 2023 · 25 min
Black Heroes of Surfing | Lost Hills
Textured Waves is a Black female surf collective focused on promoting diversity in the water and teaching Black youth to surf. In this bonus episode, Dana talks to two of the collective’s founding members, Chelsea Woody and Martina Duran, about joy in the ocean, localism, and an accomplished Black surfer from the era of Miki Dora. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S3 · 24 Jul 2023 · 22 min
The Toughest Girl in Malibu | Lost Hills
Malibu, 1950. Before Gidget, before even Miki Dora, there was one surfer who ruled the waves and was known for cutting down anyone who got in her way. And she thought Miki was the kook. In this bonus episode, Dana talks to Vikki Flaxman Williams, the original surfer girl of Malibu, who at 91 is still as tough as ever. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S3 · E12 · 20 Jul 2023 · 41 min
12. A Nasty Piece of Work | Lost Hills
When he dies, in 2002, Miki leaves wreckage in his wake. A stash of letters reveal his deepest and most toxic beliefs. And Linda Cuy explains the true cost of Miki’s rebellious search for surf. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S3 · E11 · 17 Jul 2023 · 40 min
11. Writing on the Wall | Lost Hills
After prison, Miki is a changed man . . . kind of. He knows better than to break the law again. So he finds other ways to make money. He gets Quiksilver, the surf apparel company, to put him on the payroll. And with the help of a couple of celebrity surfers, Kelly Slater and Chris Malloy, Miki tries to get back on top. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
S3 · E10 · 13 Jul 2023 · 38 min
10. Aging Boy of Summer | Lost Hills
After getting busted in France in 1981, Miki finally surrenders himself to the FBI. Agents have spent years interviewing denizens of the surf world, gathering dirt on Miki. His criminal file is 876 pages long. Miki decides to face the music, but he still has a couple tricks up his sleeve. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Take it with you
The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.
