58 episodes

Lost Hills investigates the dark side of Malibu, California. Beneath a seductive facade, this city of billionaires, celebrities, and surf bums is hiding something menacing.

On September 16, 2009, 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for failing to pay her bill at a restaurant in Malibu, CA. After being released from Lost Hills Station shortly after midnight, she disappeared. Eleven months later, her naked, skeletal remains were discovered in a canyon some six miles away. 

For nearly 15 years, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Mitrice’s friends and family, and generations of internet sleuths have tried to crack the case. 

To this day, her death remains an unsolved mystery. 

The truth lies in the remote Malibu community where Mitrice was last seen. And now, finally, people are starting to talk.

Hosted by Dana Goodyear (The New Yorker) and produced by Western Sound and Pushkin Industries. Show artwork copyright Francesca Gabbiani.

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.

Follow us @losthillspod on Twitter and Instagram for a deeper dive into the stories.

Lost Hills: Dark Canyon Pushkin

    • True Crime
    • 4.0 • 20 Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

Lost Hills investigates the dark side of Malibu, California. Beneath a seductive facade, this city of billionaires, celebrities, and surf bums is hiding something menacing.

On September 16, 2009, 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for failing to pay her bill at a restaurant in Malibu, CA. After being released from Lost Hills Station shortly after midnight, she disappeared. Eleven months later, her naked, skeletal remains were discovered in a canyon some six miles away. 

For nearly 15 years, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Mitrice’s friends and family, and generations of internet sleuths have tried to crack the case. 

To this day, her death remains an unsolved mystery. 

The truth lies in the remote Malibu community where Mitrice was last seen. And now, finally, people are starting to talk.

Hosted by Dana Goodyear (The New Yorker) and produced by Western Sound and Pushkin Industries. Show artwork copyright Francesca Gabbiani.

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.

Follow us @losthillspod on Twitter and Instagram for a deeper dive into the stories.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    1. Vultures

    1. Vultures

    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.

    • 36 min
    2. My Light

    2. My Light

    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.

    • 42 min
    3. Call for Help

    3. Call for Help

    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.

    • 42 min
    4. Hopscotch

    4. Hopscotch

    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.

    • 32 min
    5. So Close

    5. So Close

    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.

    • 40 min
    Bonus: Get Jim

    Bonus: Get Jim

    Three years before Mitrice’s arrest, Mel Gibson was arrested for drunk driving on Pacific Coast Highway. An interview with the arresting officer, James Mee, reveals the power wielded by celebrities in Malibu. Would Mitrice’s story have ended differently if she were rich and famous? 
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 32 min

Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5
20 Ratings

20 Ratings

Irishangie ,

Engaging throughout

Very well done. A level above the standard murder investigation podcasts.

david iain ,

Started well finished poorly

Engaging first couple of episodes....intriguing possibilities well set up... and then it dragged and dragged. Didn’t move forward and a Very poor ending that came to the conclusion that the most pedestrian, most boring possibility was the one she went with....the court case has yet to play out....releasing a podcast before any legal case and evidence was heard is a poor production decision.

Top Podcasts In True Crime

The Real Carrie Jade
RTÉ Documentary on One
Crime World
Sunday World
Troubled Waters
Casefile Presents
Carrie Jade Does Not Exist
Audio Always
Intrigue
BBC Radio 4
Bronwyn
The Australian

You Might Also Like

Deep Cover: The Nameless Man
Pushkin Industries
Smoke Screen: My Friend, the Serial Killer
Sony Music Entertainment
Happily Never After: Dan and Nancy
Wondery
Status: Untraced
Tenderfoot TV & Audacy
White Devil
Campside Media
Blood is Thicker: The Hargan Family Killings
CBS News

More by Pushkin Industries

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Pushkin Industries
Deep Cover: The Nameless Man
Pushkin Industries
Revisionist History
Pushkin Industries
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
Pushkin Industries
Against the Rules with Michael Lewis: The Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried
Pushkin Industries
Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond
Pushkin Industries