County to open inquiry into handling of Mitrice Richardson’s skeleton
Los Angeles County sheriff’s and coroner’s officials have agreed to launch an inquiry into the handling of Mitrice Richardson’s remains, which a coroner’s official said were removed from a ravine without his department’s permission.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said in an interview that he was “very clear” in telling sheriff’s officials that they should not to move Richardson’s remains until coroner’s investigators had arrived on the scene or until clearance had been granted.
A sheriff’s spokesman acknowledged that deputies removed Richardson’s body from the scene without the coroner’s permission, but said they did so because detectives were concerned that it was getting dark and that animals might destroy the remains.
Richardson, 24, drew national media attention in September 2009 when she disappeared after being released from the sheriff’s Lost Hills/Malibu station around midnight without her car, purse or cellphone. Nearly 11 months after her disappearance, her remains were spotted in a remote Malibu Canyon ravine.
Initially, sheriff’s officials believed that only a skull and possibly a couple of other bones were there. Winter said that at that point, sheriff’s officials were told they could move the bones only after coroner’s officials reviewed photos of the scene and gave clearance. Sheriff’s officials disagreed, saying permission was granted to remove partial remains.
But when the rest of her skeleton was found, sheriff’s officials proceeded without clearance to move all the remains. Winter said he told sheriff’s officials not to do so, but a sheriff’s captain said that message never got to deputies on the scene.
Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said the goal of the inquiry is to “minimize such miscommunications … in the future.”
The inquiry will be overseen by the Office of Independent Review, the sheriff’s watchdog agency. “It’ll be thorough but also expeditious,” Whitmore said, adding that the goal is to make any findings public.
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