Mitrice Richardson Part 1

0:00About success Hello everybody and welcome, episode 481 of the True Crime All the Time Unsolved podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me is always my partner in True Crime, Mike Gibson. Give me how are you? I'm good man, you. I am doing great. Yeah. We have a brand new True Crime All the Time episode out right now and it's on Star Harris. She was a beloved mother and office manager in a small town in Tennessee.

1:00After her body was found in the woods behind her home, DNA evidence revealed a surprising suspect. Always like those type of episodes. Yeah, it's very mysterious. I think people will like it. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs. We had Lisa Nutt. Hey, Lisa, she's kind of nutty and story. What's going on, Ann? Cooxy. Hey, Cooxy. Tanya Dries. Hey, Tanya. Virginia Toretta. Well, thanks for Virginia. Jenny. Hey, Jenny. From LeBlanc. Yeah. Boral H. It's Boral. AA6CP. Well, AA, we really appreciate it. Ellen Mojra. What's going on, Ellen? And last but not least, Jo Lane W. Ah, the Jo Lane. And if you go back into the vault. This week we selected Liz Daniel. Theat Liz. We appreciate all the Patreon support. We also had a great PayPal donation from Kristy Derry. Thanks, Kristy. Yeah, thanks to everyone.

2:01Love it. Hi, buddy. Are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime All the Time Unsolved? I was born, ready. You were born, ready. Yeah. So what's your mom said? She did, actually, yeah. And we have a two-parter. So this is part one on the disappearance and death of mytree's Richardson. 24-year-old mytree's Richardson was arrested in September 2010 at a Malibu restaurant. After she was unable to pay her bill, hours later, she was released from custody in the middle of the night, but without her car or cell phone, and no ride waiting for her. In part one of the mytree's Richardson case, we'll discuss her life and the circumstances leading up to her disappearance. The events that transpired on the night of her arrest and the initial search-up. You ever not pay your bill? No. Not once. Not once.

3:01Never dined and dashed or whatever you want to call it. I was too scared, too worried that I would get in trouble. And then I would not, I would have not only the police, but then I'd have to go home and probably get a weapon by my parents. Yeah. Fear can be a powerful motive. It really can be. Yeah. I do feel like I've dined and dashed here for the last seven years. Yeah. Eight, nine, ten. Yeah. It's been a while. I call it more of mooching than dining and dashing, but you know, mytree's Richardson was born on April 30th, 1985 in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, Littie Sutton, and Michael Richardson met during high school in South LA. Michael played Karenette. Michael played Clarenette, and Littie's was on the drill team. Did you play any instruments like the flute or something? I actually played the trumpet. Did you? I don't know why you would initially go to the flute for me, but I appreciate that.

4:02No, I played the trumpet until maybe seventh or eighth grade. And then I didn't in high school. Or anything like that. You're a real Kenny G, aren't you? Yeah. Yeah. I know you were on the drill team, baton, twerler. You had a lot of talents, man, back in the day. Nobody could twerl better than I. Littie's had a difficult childhood. She and her seven siblings were split up in foster care. And she was raised by her grandparents, Eddie and Mildred. When Littie's was 12, she witnessed her grandfather shoot her grandmother three times. And then turned the gun on himself. Mildred survived the shooting. Man, 12 years old. That's a heck of a thing. The experience at such a young age. Yeah, absolutely horrifying. It would be horrifying if it was strangers. Yeah, but this your grandfather shooting your grandma. Littie's new, she wanted to earn good grades to make a better future for herself.

5:04She and Michael fell in love. During her senior year, Littie's became pregnant with mitres and tried her best to keep her grades up. After they graduated, Mildred took care of baby mitres. So the teeth and Michael could work. Michael was imprisoned for small time hustles that turned into a series of felonies according to LA Magazine. By 1989, he was serving in eight years since. He was later transferred to a lower security facility and released after just four years. But while Michael was in prison, Littie's met and married a man named Jimmy. In 1993, they moved to the San Gabriel Valley where Littie's opened a legal services business. Got a lot of activity going on. Well, there is a lot going on, right? I think the sense that I'm getting is, okay, Michael spends time in prison.

6:05Littie's had such a bad childhood that she is determined to get good grades to make something of her life. She isn't going to live like that. And she doesn't want to wait for Michael to get out of prison. She moves on with her life. My trees grew up in Covina and the suburbs east of Los Angeles with her mother and stepfather. She was described as an outgoing girl. Who loved to dance and make others laugh. In middle school, she did cheerleading. And in high school, she took dance lessons. My trees his friend, Jalanda Davis, told LA Magazine, we'd be waiting for her parents to pick us up. And my trees would break into some silly dance or make up a wrap about whatever you were talking about. She was uninhibited and funny. But at the same time, her parents background really drove her ambition. Littie's recalled that she tried to teach my trees the importance of rules.

7:05I always taught her to do it right the first time. So that you don't have to do it a second time. And that'll free you up to do more of the things you want to do. That's a very good saying. I think it's a perfect way to look at what? You know, work hard on something the first time so that you don't have to redo it. Waste a bunch of time. I think you and I both kind of work that way, always have. My trees was a good student and got into Cal State, Fullerton. She was the first in her family to go to college. That's always a big deal. It is a big deal. The fact that I did it at 12 years old, I wasn't really trying to set the bar, but I set the bar. Pretty high. Actually, sorry, brothers. During college, she was a straight A student. Those who knew her said she was intelligent and had good intuition when it came to people.

8:07And I take a lot from that statement. You know, it's one thing to get good grades, but it's something else completely yibbs to have intuition. It really is. Street smarts. Absolutely. Those are very different. Yeah. And you can tell when someone doesn't have one or the other. Exactly. My trees was a psychology major. She did an internship with psychologists, Rhonda Hampton, Hampton told LA Magazine, she was awesome, intelligent, personable, eager to learn. She was always well put together, the kind of girl who looked good on her worst day. But there were signs something was on. Some days, my trees seemed out of swords. Other days, she was angry or uncharacteristically to shovel. On those days, she said she had stayed up late study. Rhonda Hampton was concerned enough to refer my trees to campus counseling.

9:07She began to suspect my trees might have bipolar disorder. After their discussion, my trees went to the counseling center and seemed to even out. In 2008, my trees graduated with honors from Cal State Fullerton with her degree in psychology. According to LA Magazine, it was a year of radical change for her. She considered a career as a psychologist and passed a test to become a substitute teacher, which was how she planned to pay for grad school. My trees also came out as a lesbian. She marched in the Long Beach, lesbian and gay pride parade and started dating a female boxer named Tessamoon. While figuring out where she wanted to go to grad school, my trees lived with her great grandmother, Mildred, in South LA and dig clerical work for the Santa Fe Springs shipping company owned by Tessamoon. Sounds like she's keeping busy.

10:08Yeah, I mean, she's got a lot going on. She's already done quite a bit in her life, but she wants to do more. She's working to maybe pay her way through grad school, but then she has this relationship with Tessam. But Tessamoon, my trees broke up in the spring of 2009. My trees began performing as a go-go dancer on Friday nights at Debris, a popular lesbian club in Long Beach. She went by the stage name Hazel. My trees also started auditioning for modeling gigs. And that's tough, man. I mean, I know, you know, the get on stage, you know, on the weekends. Yeah, it's not easy to do. And you've also done quite a bit of modeling. Still do to be fair. I mean, I wasn't capping it. I mean, had done, have done, still are doing. Yeah, I get it.

11:09Just use the term modeling a little lightly. Well, I'm not saying you're walking the runway in Paris at Fashion Week, but there are different types of modeling. I mean, I just did that shoot with Joe's discount moors. It was on those postcards that went out. Yeah, yeah, that's a quote unquote modeling. You also did that spread in a low version, a low rent version of Playgirl as Mike Hancho. I mean, to be fair, they did put the staple in a weird spot. And so that's why it may appear to be, you know, so it's the same smaller than advertised. Yeah, they did something to happen wrong with the, we just need to move on from this. In August, my tree's attended the hot summer night's party at the Playboy mansion as a guest model. The next night, she won $500.

12:09Whoa. In a reggae dance contest in Hollywood. Around this time, she fell in love with a woman named Vanessa, who was a regular at the club where she danced. Vanessa had a girlfriend, but my tree's was determined to win her over. It got to the point where my tree's was obsessive and she drove to Las Vegas to join Vanessa's birthday celebration. Eventually, Vanessa told her to stay away. Ouch. That hurts. Yeah, I mean, it's verging on stalking, right? You have to say that. My tree's was starting to exhibit some unusual behavior. She stopped talking on the phone with her friends and family, soft and as she used to, she began posting her thoughts regularly on my space. She wrote in one post per LA magazine, have you ever woke up at 7 a.m. crying on a Saturday? Because now that you see the light, you see all the people lost in the dark.

13:09Welcome to my reality. Okay, it's strange, right? It is. And if you're one of her friends or family members, you're probably wondering what's going on. At the very least, there's going to be some love love concern, right? My trees talked to at least one friend about going to therapy, but as far as anyone knew, she never dealt with mental illness. And that's been a huge thing over the last years, right? Mental illness. Well, and I said it earlier, I think, right? Somebody at least hinted at the fact that she might have had bipolar disorder, I think it was her mother. Her ex-girlfriend Tessa told LA Magazine, my trees wanted people to think she had everything under control. And the days leading up to her disappearance, she sent her mother, Latisse, some concerning text messages. Latisse texted her daughter, you have to tell me what's going on with you. You've been somewhat elusive and philosophical.

14:11Tell me what's up. Have you found yourself in a state of sadness? Are you crying without reason or understanding? I'm concerned. Help me understand what's going on with you. Are you feeling lost, helpless, alone, rejected? I mean, that's a really good text. Why, I think it shows you, Latisse undoubtedly cares about her daughter. She wants to help her, but in order to help her, she has to know what's going on with her. But she appears to be sincere in asking the right question. Absolutely. I took that as well. My trees replied, I'm writing a book because you told me I can be anything I want. You told me I was Miss America. You told me I was America's next top model. Now, do you know what I want to be when I grow up? Miss Mother Nature. Because Miss America is a fake ass joke, along with everything else we see. So I'm trying to find my way to Michelle Obama,

15:15to see if she will talk to Mr. Obama about creating my position within the White House. Yeah, I mean, that's going to be alarming on the other end. Oh, I mean, if anybody gets that, right? I mean, this is so far kind of out there that any mother who got this text from a son or daughter, you're going to be very concerned. Latisse wrote, call me. My trees responded, I feel joy, Mommy. Not everyone has to die to live. I heard in the Bible, Jesus thought so we can live forever. Now I have to prove the unlawedgic. Okay. So what's she saying that you should live forever and be happy? I'm assuming at this point, Latisse has to be concerned even more. Yeah. I think any parent would, and for that matter, I think any friend would or or a partner, anybody's going to be concerned because these are not what we typically think

16:21of just random everyday text messages. Some of these seem like they are pretty far out there on September 16, 2009 when Latisse was sleeping. She received more concerning texts from my trees. According to a coworker, my tree showed up at the shipping company on the morning of the 16 and an unusually bubbly mood. She worked through the morning, went to lunch and never returned. My tree stopped at her great grandmother, Mildred's house in the afternoon and left without saying where she was going. In the early evening, my tree says Aunt Lauren found her hazel business cards plastered all over the porch of her home in Englewood. My tree's also left a note on Lauren's husband's windshield that was a collection of her random thoughts. She wrote, I uncle Johnny slash Jimmy in the right margin.

17:22She scribbled black women's score. She signed the note by writing more, almost like, whoa. Yeah. That's where I took it. M-U-A-H. I think that's what that is. Strange. Everything about, right? And her communication right now is strange. And I think to most people, and maybe even at the very least her mom, it's kind of screaming out that there's some sort of mental illness going on. That day, my tree drove herself to Malibu. An area she didn't know. She came upon Jeffery's restaurant and decided to stop there. She pulled up to the Valet area and waited. By the time the valet came to her car, he found her seated in his vehicle, which was part nearby with the door open. He asked my tree's why she was there. She responded, it's subliminal and talked about avenging the death of Michael Jackson according

18:27to LA magazine. I'm sure the Valet is trying to figure out what is going on with this lady. Yeah. Yeah, I get it. But doesn't everything seem as though it's pointing towards mental illness, right? It's got to be something related or at least along those lines. It doesn't. It kind of reminds me of how sometimes people will say something like, man, that person forgot to take their meds, didn't they? Yeah. Yeah. And I've actually encountered that. I think I told that story before, but I had a guy who worked for me prior to the job that you and I worked at together. He had bipolar disorder. He was very frank about it. He used to talk to everybody about it. But there was no doubt you could tell the days where he had not taken his medicine. He was like a completely different person. Yeah. I think the thing here is that we don't know if she was on anything.

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21:33Plus, you may even be able to buy it using pre-tax FSA or HSA dollars. Right now, our listeners can save up to 48%. On your first order at pendulumlife.com slash all the time. That's pendulumlife.com slash all the time. To save up to 48% off your first order. Again, that's pendulumlife.com slash all the time and get almost half off today. My trees gave the valet her keys. And before she went into the restaurant, she asked Vanessa here. She asked the valet to be on the lookout for a girl with tattooed arms. So this valet warned the hostess that my tree was acting strangely. My tree was seeded alone, but she got up and sat down with a table of seven. And joined their conversation. She began talking about astrological sign, a worker checked in with the group. One of them said everything was fine.

22:33Still bizarre, right? If someone, if you're out with friends and family and some random person just comes up to your table and sits down and just starts talking about, you know, stars and things like that. Well, yeah, I mean, it would be one thing for that person just to sit down and kind of join in on the conversation. Another thing to then start talking like, you know, astrological and things like that, especially if they're not offering to pay the bill. Well, I mean, if you want to pay the bill for the table, I'll sit and listen to you talk about just about anything. I know you would do it all the time. My trees were turned to her table to eat, but then she went back to the table to talk more. She told the group she was going to Hawaii and would contact them when she arrived. After the group of seven left, my trees went to the entrance as if she was leaving to, but the manager intercepted her and asked her how she planned to pay her $89 bill.

23:38She said the other tables should have covered her, but the manager said they had not. And I got to be honest with you, this seems like something that comes straight out of the Michael Gibson playbook. I'm not going to lie. What do you mean I have a tab? Didn't they pay because they said they were going to pay? Yeah, they invited me here. You just have to really sell it, which I'm sure you're probably pretty good at. While the manager talked to her, my tree was looking at the numbers on a restaurant computer screen. As if she was in a trance, she told the manager she was from Mars and remarked about settling her dad with sex. She emptied her pockets to prove she had no money and a joint was visible. And I know we've used words like strange, bizarre, but it just keeps getting more so, right? As this story goes on, yeah, and say, look, okay, I owe the $89, so you want to go back

24:38to the back room and I'll take care of it. Let's take it out and trade or something like that. A restaurant worker called the Malibu Lost Hills Sheriff Station, the substation of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. As sheriff's deputies were on the way, my tree's told the hostess that she was watching a soap opera at work when God instructed her to take the afternoon off. She claimed she had no parents, only her great grandmother, Mildred. The hostess actually called Milton, who offered her credit card number to pay my tree's bill. But the restaurant required a signature. Mildred, who was 90 years old, couldn't easily drive over and assist. Mildred was still on the line around 9 p.m. When Malibu, slash Lost Hills deputies Frank Bauer, Armando Lerero and John McKay arrived at the restaurant and spoke to the manager who described my tree's strange behavior.

25:39One of the deputies spoke to Mildred and handed the phone to my tree. My tree didn't seem phased by the trouble she was in. And I think that tells you a lot. It does. I don't think that she is operating or was operating with all of her faculties intact. Something is going on with her. Yeah, and we know she's a very intelligent woman. After Mildred hung up at the restaurant, she called Latee's to tell her what was going on. Deputies, McCay and Brower searched my tree's vehicle. They didn't report finding her phone, money or wallet, but they did find her license, marijuana scraps, and partially finished bottles of alcohol. So we have talked quite a bit about mental illness, but could some of this also have had to do with drug use, alcohol use, any kind of substance abuse?

26:45It could or it could add to. Right. It could be a combination of deputy Brower was informed by the arresting officer, deputy Armando Lerero, that my tree was possibly drunk, making odd statements. Brower said he was instructed to administer a field sobriety test. He checked my tree's eyes and pulse and determined she was sober. When he asked why she was at Jefferson, she told him she was drawn by the light. She said she wasn't on medication and had never been placed on a 72 hour hold for psychological evaluation. And here's how nice some people are Gibbs employees at Jeffries considered paying my tree's bill. So she would only get a misdemeanor ticket for marijuana possession, but they concluded she wasn't safe on her due to her strange behavior. And so the manager chose to press charges.

27:45So the manager's thinking, okay, she's not in a good space. So if I press charges, they're have to take her, put her in the jail or wherever, right, holding tank until they can evaluate her or somebody can come get her. Which given how we know she was acting might not be the worst course of action in the world. The manager didn't speak to the media much after everything that happened, but he did tell local reporter Julie Ellerton that the deputies taking my tree's send was almost like a blessing to my heart at that point, like, okay, good. This is all going the way that it should. My tree's car was then impounded. Latisse Sutton called the Malibu Lost Hill station. She reasoned that if my tree's was going to be held all night, she may as well let her other daughter who was only 10 years old at the time, sleep rather than take her to the station to wait until sunrise.

28:48Latisse also thought that a night in jail would give my tree's a chance to think about her life. The deputy on the phone assured Latisse that her daughter was safe at the station. And that as a mom, that's all you really wanted to hear at that moment. Yeah, because the situation kind of has spiraled out of control. I mean, first and foremost, what do you want? You want your loved one to be safe. Now she's in jail so you can argue, right? How safe can she be? But Latisse said is quoted by LA magazine. I think the only way I will come and get her tonight is if you guys are going to release her tonight, she definitely is not from that area. And I would hate to wake up to a morning report, girl lost somewhere with her head chopped off. Wow. So a little dark, but I get what she said in California, if an officer determines an arrest, he is mentally unstable.

29:49They can detain that person as a 51 50, the official code for an individual who poses a danger to oneself or others. The officer will either put the arrest on watch commander hold for more scrutiny or if necessary, send them to a facility for a 72 hour psychological evaluation. Both instances mean extra time and paperwork and possibly a trip to the hospital. Extra time and paperwork. You know who hates extra paperwork? You. Well, yeah, from my time working together. Yeah, I'm sure police officers do as well. Paperwork is not the most fun part of their job. I'm sure. No, can be tedious. The arresting deputy, Lerero, didn't mention my treason unusual behavior or odd statements in the arrest report. She was charged with defrauding and in keeping and possession of marijuana because she had

30:52a clean record keeping her in jail could have been a violation of policy. So I guess their policy was if they have a clean record, set them free. But now we may have a problem here, right? Because latiss is kind of told she's going to be there all night. Yeah. So she doesn't make the drive. She doesn't wake up her 10 year old daughter and my trees didn't call her mother from jail. The only number she had memorized was her great grandmother, Mildred's number. Logbook show that she called her tried to call Mildred four times after she was arrested. But we said right at this point in the story, Mildred is 90 years old. The LA Sheriff's Department said my trees was overheard having a conversation, but Mildred claimed her phone never rang. The pay phone that records outgoing calls was broken at the time. So calls were being made from a non-recorded law.

31:53Oh man, you kind of wish that was operational that might have helped tell a little bit of the story. Well, at the very least it would have given them an idea of not only what she said, but who this person was. Who was she actually talking to? Meanwhile, the T's figured her daughter would sleep through the night. So she didn't call the station until 5.35 a.m. She spoke to Jailer Sharon Cummings who informed her my trees was no longer there. According to LA magazine Cummings knew my trees his car had been in pound and no one was coming to pick her up. She also knew my trees had no personal items besides her license and two keys in her pocket. Cummings maintained that my trees declined an offer to stay in the lobby and said she was going to meet friends. My trees left the station around 1215 a.m. on September 17, 2010.

32:53She was 40 miles from home with no phone, no money, and no transportation. The closest open businesses were about a mile away out of view of the station with nothing in between except sidewalks and closed commercial buildings. It does seem kind of like a very strange situation. A few Gibbs, Latisse was more than happy to come get her daughter. Yeah, if she needed to, she would have made the drive. But I think she felt that she could have done it in the morning because my trees was going to end up spending the night. Now we know that didn't happen. She was told otherwise. Yes. And then my tree skits out, but she doesn't call her mom to come get her because she doesn't know her mom's number. Allegedly. Allegedly. Yeah. And I get it. I couldn't tell you, I don't know if I remember anybody's number because I just depend on

33:54my phone so much. Yeah, it's funny because when we were younger, you had to memorize everybody's number. Or at the very least you had to write it down. Nowadays, nobody has to memorize anything. It's just in your phone, you know, I look up, Gibby and hit the button and it calls you. Yeah. True crime all the time unsolved is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies. The process only takes minutes and it can mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit Progressive.com. After this episode to see if you could save more progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, potential savings will be not available in all states. Make this back to school season your family smoothest start yet. Weissant is the nation's largest network of tutors with over 65,000 experts across more than 350 subjects.

34:55That personalized one-on-one online tutoring built around your child's goals, schedule and learning style right from home. No subscriptions, just the help you need when you need it. Go to wisant.com. That's w-y-z-a-n-t.com and use code podcast15 for $15 off your first lesson. After speaking to the jailer that morning, Latee's called the station again and talked to Deputy Kenneth Baumgardner. He asked if she had to wait 24 or 48 hours to file a missing persons report, Baumgardner replied per LA magazine. Well, it depends on the circumstances. Normally I wouldn't recommend doing one that soon. But Baumgardner didn't know about my treason's arrest or release. So Latee's filled him in. She asked again about the time frame for filing a report. He said, you know, I guess probably 24 hours would be reasonable. I mean, if there would be some mitigating factor, she know where you would suspect maybe

35:56something is not quite right. Latee's began crying and said, well, yeah, she doesn't know the area. She's never been in your area before. Baumgardner advised her to wait until early this morning and said she could call if my trees didn't show up. Latee's told him she believed my trees to be highly depressed and in a depressive state. He suggested, why don't you wait a couple hours and give us some time? Then why don't you give us a call back in a couple of hours? And if she hasn't shown up or made contact with you, then maybe we can do something for you. And this, it seems a little bit strange to me, but then it doesn't. You know, this has happened a lot in different places throughout the years. You know, she isn't a dog. She is. But he does say if there would be some mitigating factors. And man, I'm telling you Gibbs, if there's not some mitigating factors here, I don't know

36:56what you would call a mitigating factor. Well, that's exactly what I'm thinking. You know, I mean, you know why she was brought to the station. You chose to send her out with no phone, no ride, no money, and now she can't be found by anybody. And just go back to all of the things that it was reported that she said, yeah, it did not. Again, seemed to me that she was operating in full capacity, right? There was something going on at 6.30 a.m. The Malibu Los Hills station received a call from retired KTLA reporter, Bill Smith, lived in the community of Montenito, about 6 miles west of the station. Smith reported that there had been a prowler in his backyard. He described the trespasser as a slim black woman. Smith opened his window and asked the woman if she was okay. She replied, I'm just resting.

37:59When Smith went to another window to get a better look at her, she was gone. Malibu, Los Hills, and a cruiser to the house, but they weren't able to find anyone in the immediate area. But deputies didn't issue a bolo for my treat for another six and a half hour. And that's a shame. It is a shame. Obviously, if she had shown back up, you know, to her mom, then we would never know about. But in a case where someone goes missing or they're and or they're later found dead, well, it's not going to make the police look good, right? What's the difficulties in issuing a bolo? Yeah, I mean, I guess you are putting officers on alert and they have to spend time looking for that vehicle. But I don't know that it's a huge manpower. Not vehicle. Yeah.

38:59They spend, you know, their resources looking for this individual. I just don't know if it's a huge manpower drain. They're already out on the job. Right. You're basically just saying, Hey, while you're working, be on the lookout for this person. Yeah. Here's the description. You see it? Detain and call us. The Sheriff's Department waited two days to conduct its first search. Rather than having sent dogs follow my treason's trail from the station, searchers started at Bill Smith's house. My treason's location last seen out front. They found her sneaker tracks. It appeared she had been running. They lost the pattern among the shoe and hoof prints less than a hundred feet from dark creek. Montenito is known for having horse trip. Okay. I wonder where the hoof prints were coming from. Yeah. Officers didn't hike into dark canyon. That specific area within Malibu Canyon. Since my trace was an LA resident, the investigation was transferred to the LAPD missing persons unit.

40:05But the LA Sheriff's Department remained heavily involved three days into the search. The case was reassigned to robbery homicide because officials said that office had better resources. However, they emphasized it was not a homicide investigation. When the LAPD got my treason's car, they found her ATM card, checkbook, and phone inside. Her family and friends went to the area where she disappeared to pass out flyers and the media picked up the case. Yeah, but now you got to remember it's over three days ago. Yeah. Right. And that's kind of what we always talk about. Is there a harm in waiting? And I would say sometimes, yeah, there is. Now, it's hard to quantify. It is. Because you could make the argument that if they started right from the get go, they may not have found her, but they may have. There you go. Michael and Latisse who had been broken up for about two decades, looked past their

41:06dislike of one another because they both wanted answers. They questioned why the police released their daughter in the middle of the night in a remote area. And why they didn't take her strange behavior seriously. Yeah, good concerns. And I have an issue with both of them, right? But especially the latter part, I don't think there's any doubt, Ibs, that she was acting very strangely. I think a lot of people within law enforcement saw it, but they just didn't really do anything about it. I mean, you had plenty of witnesses saying that she was not acting normal. Yeah. And we talked about the different things, right? The 5150 hold. Is there something more they could have done rather than just letting her out in the middle of the night with basically nothing to her name, no car, and no one coming to pick her

42:08up? Yeah. I mean, if anything, why not hold her until her mom showed up the next morning? Yeah, because as you mentioned, it's not like her mom hadn't been in contact with on September 20th, 2009, three days after my trees when missing Malibu lost Hills, stations, Lieutenant Scott, you emailed his supervisor, Captain Thomas Martin, about my trees as a rest and release, a source provided LA magazine with the contents of the email. Choo wrote that arresting deputy LaRera booked my trees because he wanted to make sure she was all right. She was a little didsy at Jeffries and a deputy tractor for intoxication. She wasn't drunk, but LaRera felt she was acting unusual and was uneasy about letting her go. In the end, he brought her because of his instincts, the fact that she disappeared validated his instinct.

43:09Choo concluded at the station, it became obvious. She was well educated and intelligent. So there was nothing to justify keeping her overnight. According to LA magazine, Choo claimed he didn't remember writing the email or talking to deputy LaRero and deputy LaRero insisted he didn't remember the conversation with Choo and that my trees was of sound mind at the restaurant. He denied asking deputy Frank Bauer to perform a sobriety test because my trees was making odd statements. It sounds like a cover. Well, yeah, CYA. Yeah. Yeah, that's what it sounds like. And after the fact, CYA, five days after Lucennet Choo's email, Malibu Lost Hills issued an addendum to the sobriety test reiterating that my trees appeared to be entirely aware of her surroundings and did not seem confused. Well, if that doesn't sound like somebody in the legal department said, hey, I know we've

44:14already been through all this, but let's go ahead and this a man that statement and use this for a bitch, please. But then it got even worse because on September 25, 2009, Sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore defended the release and told LA Times she exhibited no signs of mental illness or intoxication. She was fine. She's an adult. Now I get it. She may not have been intoxicated. But to say she exhibited no signs of mental illness, I think that's a tougher mark to make. I think so too. Based on all the different things that we've talked about. Yeah. Are you saying everybody at the restaurant that we're dining there and also the people that were working there fabricated all this? And let's not forget law enforcement. Law enforcement too. This deputy Lerero even noted some of the very strange behavior that she was exhibited. Whitmore noted that the department has a series of checks that are done before anybody

45:18has released. My trees also was offered to stay in jail, but refused. In November 2009, Sheriff Lee Baca wrote to his bosses at the LA County Board of Supervisors that all applicable laws, policies and procedures were followed. You know, when they say she was offered to stay in jail, but refused, do we know that for sure? Who's speaking on her behalf? Yeah, we don't know that to be true, but even so, if you are experiencing some sort of mental illness, if you're asked that question, are you going to really say, yeah, I want to stay in jail? No, you're mean I want to get the heck out of here. Right. But it doesn't mean that maybe you should. In December 2009, authorities released information about my tree says diaries for or five journals were found in her car. It appeared that she had been living out of her car, even though she wasn't homeless.

46:18Her friends told police it wasn't unusual for her to stay in her car for several days. Authorities came to believe that in the days before she was arrested, my tree said possibly gone without sleep for up to five nights and had a major mental breakdown. Okay. That kind of aligns with what happened at the restaurant. But doesn't it contradict all of the things that the authorities put out later? Yeah. During that time, she made calls, sent texts, posted on my space and Facebook and wrote in her journal. Mental health professionals read the diaries at the request of police and said my trees may have been suffering from severe bipolar disorder. And that's the second time that somebody has mentioned that she may have been suffering from that detective Chuck Knowles told the LA Times. There was no evidence my tree was the victim of a crime or involved in drugs. He theorized that she may have succumbed to the elements or that she may have gotten

47:22herself into a comfortable relationship outside of her immediate friends and family. If that's true until that falls apart, she may not reach out to her friends and family. My tree says father Michael Richardson quoted one of her dire entries about being rejected by Vanessa. It's tough to be in love with someone who doesn't love you back. And that is a very true state. Very true. So we mentioned it right up front Gibbs. This is going to be a two part or you know, as we wrap up this part one man, there's a lot going on. You have this notion that my tree says actions that night kind of paint her as a person who was suffering from some sort of mental illness. You also have the authorities who by my way of thinking, they're really trying to cover their butts. It seems like it.

48:23It's not unusual. If they admit that they did something wrong, well, what's the first thing that's going to happen? They're going to get sued and they're going to have to pay a bunch of money. So you throw out things like, well, she was an adult. She wasn't intoxicated. And let's be honest, all of that stuff is true. But it doesn't mean she wasn't exhibiting signs, right? Of being in the throes of some sort of mental illness or something along those lines. And that is why I think they should have. They should have held on to her through the night. Yeah. If they had the legal option, what would be the harm? And when they talk to the mom that evening, did they not jot her number down? Was it not on the caller ID? Could they have not have called and said, hey, I know. I told you that you don't need to worry. We're going to keep her here till tomorrow morning. But the decision has been made to release her, which will probably take place in the next

49:27hour. And you would think she probably would have gotten her younger daughter up and made the drive. Yeah. But she wasn't in for that option. No, because she thought her daughter was going to be there until the morning. So in part two next week of the My Trees Richardson case, we'll discuss the discovery of her body nearly one year later. She was found several miles from where she was last seen in Malibu, Kenyan. Her cause of death is classified as undetermined, but her family believes she was murdered. So there is a lot more to come, a lot more. But that's it for our part one on My Trees Richardson. We got a voicemail. You want to check that out? Yes, here it is. I'm making Jimmy. This is Darian calling from New York. It's been a while since I called. As you know, I've been listening to all the unsolved from the very beginning and trying to play Ketchah. Well, I am on episode 444.

50:31So I am almost there. I am in current times it feels like. So I just wanted to call on Vivian up there. I've been meaning to, but life, I'm so glad to be in grade school. I'm actually going to start. I can't have our mom attend, so I'm not well with that. Just be a adjustment. And yeah, I hope you guys have had a great summer. And I will definitely give you a call. I would probably say by the end of the month I should be caught up. You know, I listen to you guys every time I'm at work. You know, I mean, how does it have a cleaning business? So I'm going through about two to two and a half episodes each job. And then every time I clean my house, it seems to be like an eight hour plus shift. You know, you're cleaning and you're the entire time. So I appreciate you. And I'm going to be very sad when I'm caught up in only two episodes a week from unsolved and false.

51:32But you know, you're very appreciated and thank you for being my only friend. So I wish you guys a great week. And I will reach out to you soon. Have a great day and keep your own time ticking. Bye. That's awesome. Thank you so much for calling in. We love you. We love you. Absolutely. Now, she hasn't been listening for a while, Gibbs. She may not know that we now have three episodes a week. That's right. So I'm going to do a T-cat and one on unsolved. Yep. To come out on Sunday night and the second T-cat comes out on Thursday, which is awesome. Kindergarten. Tough on the parents, right? I remember dropping my daughter off at kindergarten. And then I cried like a baby the whole way home. Yeah. It was rough. Do you remember when you went to take you three times to get through it? No, it did not. Oh. I actually passed every grade in one shot. Really? Yes. Interesting.

52:32I graduated with my class the way I was supposed to. I was just asking for a friend. Okay. Just curious. Right? Yeah. Doing a study. I got you. All right, buddy. That is it for another episode of True Crime All the Time Unsolved. So for Mike and Gabby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking. Hello and welcome to Pluto for a new episode of True Crime All the Time Unsolved. Hello and welcome to Pluto for a new episode of True Crime All the Time Unsolved.

53:37That is so fast.