WEBVTT - 6. Reconnaissance 0:00:15.036 --> 0:00:26.716 Pushkin. Four or five months before My Trees disappeared, her 0:00:26.756 --> 0:00:31.876 girlfriend Desiree, began to have a recurring dream. There's a 0:00:31.876 --> 0:00:36.116 blanket of thick fog covering everything, so she can't see, 0:00:36.596 --> 0:00:40.676 but she can hear My Trees calling her name over 0:00:40.796 --> 0:00:41.556 and over. 0:00:42.796 --> 0:00:46.996 But I can't find her, and so I'm running through 0:00:46.996 --> 0:00:49.356 the fog to where I think she's at. And when 0:00:49.396 --> 0:00:54.236 I think I find her, it's just the fog clears 0:00:54.276 --> 0:00:55.156 and nothing's there. 0:00:57.876 --> 0:01:00.956 Desiree was so affected by this dream that she did 0:01:00.996 --> 0:01:04.996 something totally out of character. She got a tattoo. 0:01:06.756 --> 0:01:12.756 So it's really abstract of a face kind of coming 0:01:12.836 --> 0:01:13.996 through the fog. 0:01:15.196 --> 0:01:19.036 The tattoo stretches from Desiree's ribs to her navel. It's 0:01:19.116 --> 0:01:23.036 my Teresa's face, one almond shaped eye, a pair of 0:01:23.036 --> 0:01:27.596 bright red lips, partially obscured by swirls of fog, and stars. 0:01:28.996 --> 0:01:32.556 Underneath My Teresa's lips is the word princess. That was 0:01:32.596 --> 0:01:36.236 one of Desire's nicknames for her. Was she flattered? 0:01:37.876 --> 0:01:39.716 She was? She was. 0:01:40.396 --> 0:01:44.356 I think that she was still a little disappointed that 0:01:44.436 --> 0:01:49.196 it wasn't her name, just because I mean, she had 0:01:49.396 --> 0:01:53.476 she had a little ego about it. And I call 0:01:53.516 --> 0:01:58.116 her princess, but it was like two handed. 0:01:59.516 --> 0:02:03.796 In retrospect, the dream seems like a premonition. My teres 0:02:04.116 --> 0:02:07.436 alone in Dark Canyon, staring up at the night sky, 0:02:08.636 --> 0:02:12.356 and the tat two is there to remind Desiree every day. 0:02:13.836 --> 0:02:18.956 And I had no idea that it was going to 0:02:19.196 --> 0:02:24.916 mean what it means to me now. 0:02:27.876 --> 0:02:31.396 My Trees was found on August ninth, twenty ten. She'd 0:02:31.436 --> 0:02:34.996 been missing for eleven months. People had been searching for 0:02:35.036 --> 0:02:37.996 her all over the Santa Monica Mountains and as far 0:02:38.076 --> 0:02:41.596 away as Las Vegas, but the way she was found 0:02:41.756 --> 0:02:46.596 was entirely unexpected. Here's the story as law enforcement told it. 0:02:47.676 --> 0:02:51.636 There was aknown illegal marijuana grow in Dark Canyon. It 0:02:51.676 --> 0:02:54.276 had been discovered in two thousand and nine. Before My 0:02:54.396 --> 0:02:59.436 Trese went missing, a marijuana enforcement team, including state park 0:02:59.556 --> 0:03:03.756 rangers and rangers from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, 0:03:04.156 --> 0:03:08.036 had come across plants and irrigation lines, which they destroyed. 0:03:09.116 --> 0:03:12.556 The following summer, some of these rangers returned to see 0:03:12.556 --> 0:03:16.196 if the operation had resumed. They were hiking through the 0:03:16.196 --> 0:03:19.676 creek's drainage when one of the rangers saw a skull 0:03:19.796 --> 0:03:23.396 and a leg bone, partially submerged in the heavy leaf 0:03:23.476 --> 0:03:27.236 litter of the canyon floor. Attached to the skull was 0:03:27.276 --> 0:03:31.756 a hank of hair identifiable as a black woman's. One 0:03:31.876 --> 0:03:37.916 ranger believed they might have found my Terce Richardson. What 0:03:38.076 --> 0:03:41.596 happened next was a communication meltdown that turned into a 0:03:41.596 --> 0:03:47.196 pr catastrophe. The remains were removed from the canyon before 0:03:47.276 --> 0:03:49.916 the coroner had a chance to examine them on site. 0:03:50.836 --> 0:03:53.876 That led to a public dispute between the Sheriff's department 0:03:53.916 --> 0:03:57.436 and the coroner, an internal inquiry, and a whole new 0:03:57.476 --> 0:04:00.596 reason for my Teres's friends and family to be suspicious 0:04:00.796 --> 0:04:06.356 of law enforcement. But while so much attention was trained 0:04:06.396 --> 0:04:09.556 on how her remains got out of the canyon, the 0:04:09.596 --> 0:04:14.516 focus shifted away from the most important question, how she 0:04:14.596 --> 0:04:20.076 got in there in the first place. I'm Dana Goodyear 0:04:20.476 --> 0:04:51.076 and this is Lost Hills, Episode six, reconnaissance. 0:04:59.996 --> 0:05:04.636 So now we're heading back pretty much over Melbolt Canyon, 0:05:05.356 --> 0:05:08.996 and we'll go back towards I'll show you the Montanito area. 0:05:10.156 --> 0:05:13.276 Five years ago, when I started looking into my Teresa's case, 0:05:13.596 --> 0:05:16.636 I took a helicopter ride with Sergeant Twoey Wright from 0:05:16.676 --> 0:05:18.116 Malibu Search and Rescue. 0:05:18.716 --> 0:05:22.116 Yeah, this is Montanito area down here, and this is 0:05:22.196 --> 0:05:24.876 Dark Canyon that we're flyever. Yeah, we're flying over Dark 0:05:24.876 --> 0:05:28.636 Canyon right now. And of course it's where Montesa Richardson's 0:05:28.636 --> 0:05:29.516 remains are found. 0:05:30.236 --> 0:05:32.756 The sides of the canyon fell away beneath us at 0:05:32.756 --> 0:05:33.596 a steep pitch. 0:05:34.556 --> 0:05:37.996 I keep going this way and bank a little to 0:05:38.036 --> 0:05:42.076 the left. So Mtesa was last seen down here here, 0:05:42.156 --> 0:05:45.356 these streets down here, but Dark Canyon goes up there 0:05:45.356 --> 0:05:46.956 and here's where it gets real steep. 0:05:47.356 --> 0:05:49.956 On one wall of the canyon, the rock face was 0:05:50.036 --> 0:05:53.196 marked with vertical lines like a layer cake turned on 0:05:53.236 --> 0:05:56.876 its side. And how far up the canyon was she found? 0:05:57.396 --> 0:06:02.316 Oh? Show see the middle area there with the most trees. 0:06:02.836 --> 0:06:05.636 The shadow cuts right through it. Yep, right in there, 0:06:06.796 --> 0:06:09.356 underneath the canopy of some of those trees. 0:06:12.036 --> 0:06:14.916 To shock us, Starwell, who'd been helping my Teresa's family 0:06:14.956 --> 0:06:18.476 with their searches, told doctor Ronda Hampton that human remains 0:06:18.516 --> 0:06:19.796 had been found in Montanito. 0:06:20.796 --> 0:06:24.356 I got a text message from him saying, Hey, there 0:06:24.436 --> 0:06:31.156 was a partially mummified skeletal remains naked found in Montanito. 0:06:31.676 --> 0:06:33.276 So I think you guys should head out there. 0:06:33.716 --> 0:06:37.956 She let the family know. My Terce's aunt called Lieutenant Rawson, 0:06:38.276 --> 0:06:39.716 one of the homicide detectives. 0:06:40.796 --> 0:06:42.676 She called the detective to say, hey, this is what 0:06:42.716 --> 0:06:46.636 we are hearing. That there's you know, partially mummified remains. 0:06:46.956 --> 0:06:51.436 And she spoke to Lieutenant Rawson who said, no, no, no, 0:06:51.476 --> 0:06:54.156 there's just a couple of bones. It's not complete. There's 0:06:54.196 --> 0:06:55.716 just a few bones. We don't even know. You guys 0:06:55.716 --> 0:06:59.276 don't need to come out, which alerted us to come out. 0:07:00.156 --> 0:07:03.196 Now that there was a body in the Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction. 0:07:03.716 --> 0:07:07.916 They took over from the LAPD. The sheriff set up 0:07:07.916 --> 0:07:10.956 a command post at a large ranch overlooking Dark Canyon. 0:07:12.276 --> 0:07:14.956 It's known as the Porn Ranch because they shoot a 0:07:14.996 --> 0:07:18.316 lot of porn out there. It has a long driveway 0:07:18.356 --> 0:07:20.436 that runs along one side of Dark Canyon. 0:07:21.756 --> 0:07:25.196 So we get out there, the media is there. It's 0:07:25.436 --> 0:07:30.596 like a media frenzy, like clearly something has been found. 0:07:30.636 --> 0:07:32.996 But they couldn't get access to the site. 0:07:33.036 --> 0:07:34.756 Like they only let us go so far, so we 0:07:34.796 --> 0:07:37.796 didn't know where her remains were. We just know it 0:07:37.836 --> 0:07:40.916 was somewhere around there. And eventually they told us you know, 0:07:41.156 --> 0:07:43.156 after a few hours, it's getting dark. You guys should 0:07:43.196 --> 0:07:45.996 just go home. We're probably just going to lift her 0:07:45.996 --> 0:07:50.036 remains in the morning, and you guys can just leave. 0:07:50.476 --> 0:07:52.596 I felt like they were waiting us out because we 0:07:52.676 --> 0:07:53.356 just wouldn't leave. 0:07:53.796 --> 0:07:56.836 Finally, as the sun was setting, they saw a helicopter 0:07:56.956 --> 0:08:00.716 leaving Dark Canyon and heading for Lost Hill Station. Apparently 0:08:00.756 --> 0:08:03.676 there'd been a change of plans. 0:08:02.676 --> 0:08:05.356 And then, to shock us, looked up and said, hey, look, 0:08:05.396 --> 0:08:06.356 I bet you that's hurt. 0:08:06.836 --> 0:08:09.396 When they got to the station, there was a briefing. 0:08:09.716 --> 0:08:12.316 And they told us we don't know if it's male 0:08:12.396 --> 0:08:15.396 or female, we don't know the race of the person. 0:08:15.756 --> 0:08:21.676 We don't know that much details about anything, and that's 0:08:21.716 --> 0:08:23.476 all they would actually tell us. 0:08:23.996 --> 0:08:27.796 Two days later, the assistant Chief coroner, Ed Winter called 0:08:27.836 --> 0:08:30.116 to confirm that the remains belonged to my Teres. 0:08:31.076 --> 0:08:32.916 So we were kind of just waiting for the phone call, 0:08:33.116 --> 0:08:36.756 and we knew it was her. I mean, the way 0:08:36.756 --> 0:08:41.556 that they were acting, we believed that they knew who 0:08:41.636 --> 0:08:41.956 it was. 0:08:44.276 --> 0:08:46.956 This was the horrible news my Teresa's friends and family 0:08:46.956 --> 0:08:50.676 had been waiting for. They'd looked everywhere for her, but 0:08:50.796 --> 0:08:53.636 all along she'd been in Dark Canyon, about a mile 0:08:53.716 --> 0:08:56.276 from where she was last seen at the Tennis Court 0:08:56.316 --> 0:09:01.596 House on Cold Canyon Road. Now, presumably a new investigation 0:09:01.636 --> 0:09:05.596 would begin, this time led by the Sheriff's Department, and 0:09:05.676 --> 0:09:09.556 presumably someone would be held accountable for my Tercea's death. 0:09:11.396 --> 0:09:12.676 But that's not what happened. 0:09:13.876 --> 0:09:17.316 So then they had a press conference and said it 0:09:17.356 --> 0:09:20.356 was her and proceeded to say we're not likely to 0:09:20.356 --> 0:09:23.276 ever know what happened to her during that press conference. 0:09:23.116 --> 0:09:25.876 It's likely that we can never find out exactly how 0:09:25.876 --> 0:09:28.036 she got there, but they're going to do their very 0:09:28.036 --> 0:09:29.236 best two figure. 0:09:28.996 --> 0:09:32.596 This attitude, will never know what happened. It's impossible to 0:09:32.636 --> 0:09:37.076 find out. It's not what the public expects from investigators 0:09:37.116 --> 0:09:43.476 responsible for solving crimes. But the autopsy conducted on August eleventh, 0:09:43.716 --> 0:09:47.956 two days after the remains were found, had discovered no trauma. 0:09:49.116 --> 0:09:53.716 My Teresa's cause of death was ruled undetermined, and because 0:09:53.716 --> 0:09:57.716 it was not ruled a homicide, the Sheriff's Department apparently 0:09:58.076 --> 0:10:01.196 settled on the only explanation that made sense to them 0:10:01.636 --> 0:10:04.756 that my Teres, in the midst of a bipolar episode, 0:10:05.196 --> 0:10:08.636 had walked into the canyon on her own and died. 0:10:10.876 --> 0:10:13.436 But for many reasons, her friends and family had a 0:10:13.436 --> 0:10:17.676 hard time believing that. They didn't believe the autopsy. They 0:10:17.716 --> 0:10:21.156 didn't think the coroner had the full picture. They thought 0:10:21.316 --> 0:10:24.756 the Sheriff's Department had intentionally botched the recovery of my 0:10:24.876 --> 0:10:29.716 Teres's remains so that the case could not be solved. 0:10:30.716 --> 0:10:33.276 They didn't even believe the story of how the remains 0:10:33.276 --> 0:10:36.356 were discovered because no one would tell them who these 0:10:36.436 --> 0:10:40.516 rangers were who had stumbled across my trees. We thought 0:10:40.556 --> 0:10:44.516 that was curious too. The information released about the discovery 0:10:44.676 --> 0:10:49.036 was so minimal. We filed public Records Acts requests with 0:10:49.156 --> 0:10:53.316 California State Parks and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, 0:10:53.836 --> 0:10:56.956 the two agencies listed in the report whose rangers made 0:10:56.996 --> 0:11:01.556 the discovery, and we got a very strange reply. Both 0:11:01.596 --> 0:11:05.236 agencies claimed to have no records related to the discovery, 0:11:05.916 --> 0:11:10.596 nothing connected to the search words my Terce Richardson remains, cannabis, 0:11:10.756 --> 0:11:14.116 or dark Canyon, no records at all of the operation 0:11:14.436 --> 0:11:17.516 in which they originally disrupted the grow in July two 0:11:17.556 --> 0:11:20.716 thousand and nine, and no records of what happened when 0:11:20.756 --> 0:11:24.036 they went back to check it on August ninth, twenty ten, 0:11:24.516 --> 0:11:29.676 and unexpectedly discovered human remains, and they refused to make 0:11:29.836 --> 0:11:33.356 anyone available for an interview to explain how such a 0:11:33.436 --> 0:11:38.316 lapse was possible. But that bizarre and inexplicable lack of 0:11:38.356 --> 0:11:42.836 information about the circumstances of the discovery, it would be 0:11:42.876 --> 0:11:45.636 lost in the chaos that was about to engulf the 0:11:45.716 --> 0:12:01.796 my Teres Richardson investigation. Michael Richardson, my Teres's father, was 0:12:01.836 --> 0:12:04.876 three hundred miles away when my Teres's remains were found. 0:12:05.676 --> 0:12:09.076 He was attending a press conference about recent alleged site 0:12:09.676 --> 0:12:13.836 trees in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he does not think 0:12:13.916 --> 0:12:15.036 that was a coincidence. 0:12:16.196 --> 0:12:19.556 I just knew it was a deviation plot to get 0:12:19.636 --> 0:12:21.876 us out to Vegas so they can do what they did. 0:12:22.756 --> 0:12:26.316 He thinks law enforcement deliberately sent him to Las Vegas 0:12:26.396 --> 0:12:28.876 so he'd be out of the way when they purposely 0:12:29.076 --> 0:12:33.076 contaminated the evidence scene, so they know. 0:12:33.236 --> 0:12:36.996 Lee Barka said, well, it was getting dark and we 0:12:37.116 --> 0:12:40.436 had officers out there, and they have wild life, and 0:12:40.556 --> 0:12:43.316 so we had to hurry up and clean up the 0:12:43.356 --> 0:12:47.436 crime scene and leave. They did a botched up job anyway, 0:12:47.516 --> 0:12:50.876 by sweeping or remains in a plastic bag, flying it 0:12:50.876 --> 0:12:53.316 out before the coroner got there to make the call, 0:12:54.476 --> 0:12:59.156 which contaminated the crime scene, and by them tampering with it, 0:12:59.556 --> 0:13:02.756 we don't know if my Trees was killed elsewhere and 0:13:02.916 --> 0:13:06.476 dumped there because they botched up the crime scene. 0:13:07.756 --> 0:13:11.356 If this seems like an elaborate conspiracy theory, I get it. 0:13:12.036 --> 0:13:15.956 I'm not convinced by Michael's version of events, but considering 0:13:16.076 --> 0:13:19.476 everything that happened with my Teres's remains, I understand how he. 0:13:19.556 --> 0:13:20.236 Arrived at it. 0:13:21.836 --> 0:13:25.276 According to an official timeline, my Teres's remains were discovered 0:13:25.316 --> 0:13:29.476 by the rangers at one pm. A few hours later, 0:13:29.756 --> 0:13:34.996 LASD homicide detectives Dan Mackildery and Kevin Asabado, along with 0:13:35.076 --> 0:13:38.516 Sergeant Towey Wright and other Malibu Search and Rescue personnel, 0:13:38.916 --> 0:13:43.116 were lowered by helicopter to the spot. One detective observed 0:13:43.116 --> 0:13:45.636 the skull, a leg, and a pelvic bone in a 0:13:45.676 --> 0:13:49.876 depression covered in leaves. The detectives also saw the clothing 0:13:50.036 --> 0:13:52.676 which the rangers had found a few hundred feet down 0:13:52.716 --> 0:13:57.236 the drainage. Then the rangers hiked out and everyone else 0:13:57.436 --> 0:14:02.676 waited for the coroner's team to arrive. They waited and waited, 0:14:03.476 --> 0:14:07.516 but the coroner's team never came because the helicopter that 0:14:07.596 --> 0:14:11.356 was supposed to bring them in was diverted twice, both 0:14:11.436 --> 0:14:16.596 times to rescue stranded teenage hikers. The helicopter had just 0:14:16.756 --> 0:14:19.116 enough fuel to extract the team that was already on 0:14:19.156 --> 0:14:22.676 the ground, and just enough time. The sun was setting 0:14:22.916 --> 0:14:25.876 and it was too dangerous to attempt an extraction in 0:14:25.916 --> 0:14:29.276 the dark. The deputies at the site were faced with 0:14:29.316 --> 0:14:32.676 a dilemma leave the remains for the coroner to examine 0:14:32.716 --> 0:14:35.396 in place the next day, or bring them out on 0:14:35.476 --> 0:14:38.756 the last helicopter flight of the day. No one was 0:14:38.796 --> 0:14:42.036 prepared to stay overnight in dark canyon guarding the bones. 0:14:42.476 --> 0:14:46.036 The site was infested with fire ants, venomous spiders, and 0:14:46.116 --> 0:14:50.076 poison oak, and they had no supplies, and. 0:14:51.116 --> 0:14:52.596 You know, it was a remote area. 0:14:53.396 --> 0:14:55.836 Sergeant to we write, there was no way to. 0:14:55.796 --> 0:14:59.156 Sleep there, and no way to be prepared to stand 0:14:59.236 --> 0:15:01.556 up stand all night, and no need to. 0:15:01.756 --> 0:15:06.516 Quite frankly, Detective Macelderry argued that leaving the remains overnight 0:15:06.716 --> 0:15:10.676 was unacceptable. He didn't want to risk there being disturbed 0:15:10.676 --> 0:15:14.036 by animals or even by a potential perpetrator who could 0:15:14.076 --> 0:15:18.476 have observed the police activity in the canyon. He called 0:15:18.476 --> 0:15:22.356 the command post and spoke to a coroner captain. Eventually, 0:15:22.556 --> 0:15:25.116 the coroner captain agreed they could bring out the bones 0:15:25.116 --> 0:15:29.116 they'd found the skull, a leg bone, and the pelvis, 0:15:30.116 --> 0:15:32.596 But when the search and rescue team lifted the skull 0:15:32.676 --> 0:15:35.596 from the leafy ground, they found it was attached to 0:15:35.676 --> 0:15:40.396 a nearly complete human skeleton. They put the skeleton on 0:15:40.436 --> 0:15:43.036 a plastic sheet in a body bag, along with the 0:15:43.036 --> 0:15:46.276 clothing my Terce's, jean's braw and belt. 0:15:46.956 --> 0:15:51.516 Macklderry called back, and that's when some media at the 0:15:51.556 --> 0:15:56.156 command posts on the corner side said, and put it back, 0:15:56.276 --> 0:15:59.156 And I said, no, we don't do that. We're not 0:15:59.196 --> 0:16:01.956 going to pretend like we didn't move the bones. And 0:16:02.396 --> 0:16:06.676 it was a done deal at that point. You know, 0:16:06.756 --> 0:16:11.356 it was controversial because the corner did get permission. I 0:16:12.596 --> 0:16:15.596 was a witness to that on the end on the 0:16:15.676 --> 0:16:18.036 Dark Hanyon side, and of course there were witnesses at 0:16:18.036 --> 0:16:20.196 the command posts also ed. 0:16:20.236 --> 0:16:24.876 Winter the assistant chief corner, was incensed. He said no 0:16:24.916 --> 0:16:28.396 one had his permission to move an entire skeleton, and 0:16:28.436 --> 0:16:32.556 he publicly accused the sheriff's Department of compromising his evidence scene. 0:16:33.516 --> 0:16:37.036 He even suggested the Sheriff's department might have broken the law. 0:16:38.156 --> 0:16:41.196 Under the law, the corners ultimately have the authority to 0:16:41.236 --> 0:16:44.076 decide how remains are going to be removed that are discovered. 0:16:44.596 --> 0:16:45.716 There's no question about that. 0:16:46.716 --> 0:16:48.996 This is Michael Janaco, But. 0:16:49.036 --> 0:16:52.996 In reality, the corner's office doesn't have the wherewithal to 0:16:53.036 --> 0:16:55.196 make some of the rescues and recoveries that need to 0:16:55.196 --> 0:17:00.916 be done, and in those cases, almost always they request 0:17:01.876 --> 0:17:05.236 search and rescue and other law enforcement agencies to assist 0:17:05.676 --> 0:17:06.836 in removing remains. 0:17:07.836 --> 0:17:12.116 He's an expert in law forcement procedures, policies, and officer wrongdoing. 0:17:12.956 --> 0:17:15.036 It was his job to figure out if the Sheriff's 0:17:15.036 --> 0:17:20.396 Department had acted improperly by removing my Teresa's bones. You've 0:17:20.796 --> 0:17:26.196 looked at probably thousands of cases of police misconduct. 0:17:26.036 --> 0:17:29.636 Certainly in getting close to one thousand, if not surpassing 0:17:29.756 --> 0:17:30.916 that number over the years. 0:17:32.476 --> 0:17:36.036 Does this case stand out for you for any reason? 0:17:38.516 --> 0:17:44.076 The unique set of circumstances, for sure, the tragic outcome 0:17:44.756 --> 0:17:51.036 for sure, the unanswered questions for sure. 0:17:52.356 --> 0:17:55.396 In twenty twelve, Janako produced a report for the Office 0:17:55.396 --> 0:17:59.396 of Independent Review which oversees the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. 0:18:00.796 --> 0:18:04.836 It was extraordinary the degree of disconnect in this case. 0:18:06.516 --> 0:18:11.036 Some of it's explainable by the unusual circumstances, but it 0:18:11.156 --> 0:18:12.716 was a significant disconnect. 0:18:13.476 --> 0:18:17.836 And the unusual circumstances that you referred to are what. 0:18:20.636 --> 0:18:24.836 The time of day, the remoteness of the location, the 0:18:24.876 --> 0:18:29.676 inability to effectively communicate on the cell phones. There was 0:18:29.716 --> 0:18:32.796 also some issues with regard to who was in charge 0:18:32.796 --> 0:18:35.796 of the Corners team, which I think created some issues 0:18:35.836 --> 0:18:36.756 for the Shif's department. 0:18:37.596 --> 0:18:40.116 Do not Go and his staff reviewed all the materials 0:18:40.156 --> 0:18:43.316 related to the recovery. He even hiked to the remain 0:18:43.436 --> 0:18:46.516 site to see it for himself. He's still not sure 0:18:46.636 --> 0:18:51.476 exactly what happened, but he doesn't believe it was police misconduct. 0:18:51.876 --> 0:18:55.316 And as indicated in the report, there was some communication 0:18:55.396 --> 0:18:58.116 with the Corners. The Corners and went back and forth, 0:18:58.156 --> 0:19:02.396 and it's hard to figure out, you know, exactly what happened, 0:19:02.516 --> 0:19:07.876 but the decision was made by homicide to remove the 0:19:07.956 --> 0:19:10.796 remains as it was getting to and they they felt 0:19:10.836 --> 0:19:11.836 like they needed to do that. 0:19:13.236 --> 0:19:15.796 Dunako was able to determine that the removal of the 0:19:15.836 --> 0:19:19.876 remains didn't influence the outcome of the autopsy. The harm 0:19:19.916 --> 0:19:22.676 was in the relationship with the family and public perception, 0:19:23.916 --> 0:19:25.436 and that harm was significant. 0:19:27.076 --> 0:19:29.556 And the reason that we write about it, and the 0:19:29.596 --> 0:19:33.476 reason that it's so unfortunate is because any missteps by 0:19:33.556 --> 0:19:36.956 law enforcement in these kinds of cases, even then, when 0:19:37.036 --> 0:19:38.596 all of a sudden done, it might not have made 0:19:38.636 --> 0:19:44.596 a difference to the eventual outcome, it does create distrust 0:19:44.956 --> 0:19:47.396 by those who are most impacted by what's going on, 0:19:47.516 --> 0:19:50.996 family members and others. And certainly the back and forthing 0:19:50.996 --> 0:19:54.356 between those two agencies did not create an element of 0:19:54.396 --> 0:19:58.396 trust and the capability of the law enforcement agencies and 0:19:58.476 --> 0:19:59.596 recovering her remains. 0:20:00.716 --> 0:20:05.316 And there was more after the autopsy. The coroner accidentally 0:20:05.356 --> 0:20:09.756 released my Teresa's clothing to the funeral home were discovered 0:20:09.756 --> 0:20:11.916 in the body bag with her remains on the day 0:20:11.956 --> 0:20:12.676 of her funeral. 0:20:13.636 --> 0:20:16.156 That was also a mess. That's a legal term, by 0:20:16.156 --> 0:20:23.516 the way, But yeah, releasing the clothes to the family, 0:20:23.676 --> 0:20:25.996 or for the family discovering that the clothes were still 0:20:26.036 --> 0:20:30.516 with her remains was was wrong. I think there was 0:20:30.556 --> 0:20:34.436 a recognition that the clothing needed to be transferred over 0:20:34.476 --> 0:20:36.956 to an investigative agency, and I think eventually it was. 0:20:38.076 --> 0:20:40.276 But that certainly would have led the family to feel 0:20:40.636 --> 0:20:45.556 that the whole process and investigation and inquiry hadn't been 0:20:45.556 --> 0:20:50.556 handled carefully. That is correct, And yet, in spite of everything, 0:20:50.756 --> 0:20:54.076 Janako has never doubted the core contention of law enforcement 0:20:54.596 --> 0:20:57.476 that my Trees was not a victim of homicide and 0:20:57.516 --> 0:21:00.596 that she made her way into Dark Canyon on her own. 0:21:01.396 --> 0:21:02.636 Can you tell me why you think. 0:21:02.516 --> 0:21:05.236 That, because I don't have any other explanation for how 0:21:05.276 --> 0:21:08.676 she got up. She got tired, she was disoriented, she 0:21:08.676 --> 0:21:11.516 couldn't her way out, and she expired as a result 0:21:11.556 --> 0:21:18.116 of probably like a water where food or both. Certainly, 0:21:18.236 --> 0:21:22.236 the allegations that I've heard over the years that deputies 0:21:22.276 --> 0:21:26.076 were involved in her demise, there's absolutely not one shred 0:21:26.116 --> 0:21:28.916 of evidence to support that theory. 0:21:29.636 --> 0:21:32.676 But just as my Teresa's family didn't think she walked 0:21:32.756 --> 0:21:36.876 six miles to Montanito from Lost Hills Station, they certainly 0:21:36.876 --> 0:21:40.036 didn't think she climbed up into Dark Canyon on her own. 0:21:41.596 --> 0:21:44.796 And when they went into Dark Canyon themselves, they knew 0:21:44.796 --> 0:22:02.076 it for sure. When the coroner's team finally made it 0:22:02.116 --> 0:22:04.756 to the site of my Teresa's remains. More than two 0:22:04.796 --> 0:22:09.276 weeks after the initial discovery, they retrieved several additional bones. 0:22:10.196 --> 0:22:14.156 The Sheriff's department, working hastily against the dying light, had 0:22:14.156 --> 0:22:20.476 missed them. Michael Richardson was outraged and he did something outrageous. 0:22:20.876 --> 0:22:24.116 He sent a box of chicken bones to Sheriff Lee Baca. 0:22:24.596 --> 0:22:27.436 He called it his bone to pick campaign. 0:22:28.836 --> 0:22:34.916 So the way that they took my trees remains and 0:22:35.076 --> 0:22:38.156 just boxed them up and threw them in a plastic bag, 0:22:40.076 --> 0:22:43.636 we went to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffle, and the bones 0:22:43.716 --> 0:22:47.476 that was left remaining, we put them in a box 0:22:47.516 --> 0:22:50.836 and mailed them to Bacca and says, imagine if this 0:22:51.116 --> 0:22:54.316 was your kid that was swept up and put in 0:22:54.356 --> 0:22:55.156 a box like this. 0:22:57.116 --> 0:23:00.676 Even after the coroner's team searched Dark Canyon, there were 0:23:00.716 --> 0:23:04.876 still bones missing. My Teresa's friends and family wanted to 0:23:04.876 --> 0:23:06.436 do their own recovery. 0:23:07.276 --> 0:23:11.796 So we had wanted to go hike back into the site. 0:23:11.876 --> 0:23:13.516 Doctor Ronda Hampton again. 0:23:14.116 --> 0:23:17.596 So finally I'm I called Liebaka and so we have 0:23:17.676 --> 0:23:21.476 a meeting and he's and he says, well to his 0:23:22.396 --> 0:23:24.436 commanding staff, like I don't understand why we can't just 0:23:24.516 --> 0:23:27.676 let the family know, and then he says, no better yet. 0:23:27.756 --> 0:23:29.676 I want the search and rescue team to hike the 0:23:29.676 --> 0:23:33.796 family in there so that they can, you know, you know, 0:23:33.876 --> 0:23:37.156 feel where she was and you know, kind of have 0:23:37.236 --> 0:23:37.916 their memorial. 0:23:38.796 --> 0:23:42.116 In November of twenty ten, three months after my Rise 0:23:42.276 --> 0:23:46.596 was found, her mother, her aunt, Doctor Hampton, and Clea Koff, 0:23:47.036 --> 0:23:50.636 an independent forensic anthropologist who was working with the family, 0:23:51.156 --> 0:23:55.716 hiked up Dark Canyon. They were escorted by Sergeant Wright 0:23:55.756 --> 0:23:58.676 from Malibu Search and Rescue and several members of his team. 0:23:59.476 --> 0:24:02.436 It was a grueling hike. At one point they had 0:24:02.436 --> 0:24:05.756 to put on harnesses and belay up a sheer rock face. 0:24:06.356 --> 0:24:09.196 They had an equipment on us and everything, and they 0:24:09.836 --> 0:24:12.876 it was overgrown, so they would hack through the poison 0:24:13.316 --> 0:24:16.436 oak and whatever. And when we need to go over boulders. 0:24:16.836 --> 0:24:19.316 There wasn't a chance they thought my trees had come 0:24:19.396 --> 0:24:23.556 this way. She was a suburban girl in vans who 0:24:23.636 --> 0:24:27.916 had asthma. It took them several hours to reach the site. 0:24:28.116 --> 0:24:30.876 In a depression about forty feet off the creek bed. 0:24:31.796 --> 0:24:36.436 Looking around, doctor Hampton felt a rush of anger. People 0:24:36.476 --> 0:24:40.396 had been there. There were metal irrigation pipes related to 0:24:40.396 --> 0:24:43.436 the marijuana grow, and there was a ton of trash. 0:24:43.916 --> 0:24:47.556 When we were down there. There were food wrappers. Certainly 0:24:47.596 --> 0:24:51.116 the marijuana grow had all their equipment down there. I 0:24:51.116 --> 0:24:53.116 didn't want to touch it because I thought, oh, I'm 0:24:53.116 --> 0:24:54.916 going to tell the detectives about this so they can 0:24:54.916 --> 0:24:55.676 come and look at it. 0:24:56.356 --> 0:24:58.716 There was no way the growers would have carried all 0:24:58.796 --> 0:25:02.796 that stuff up the creek bed. Clearly there was another 0:25:02.836 --> 0:25:03.156 way in. 0:25:04.156 --> 0:25:07.116 I don't believe that they would access all that equipment 0:25:07.116 --> 0:25:08.796 through the creek bed the way that they took us. 0:25:08.836 --> 0:25:11.596 I think there's a much easier and probably more than one, 0:25:11.916 --> 0:25:13.156 much easier way to get there. 0:25:13.716 --> 0:25:16.996 But how would my Teres, stumbling around in the dark 0:25:17.356 --> 0:25:20.996 have found that way in unless she was taken there 0:25:21.236 --> 0:25:27.836 by someone who knew the trails. Clia Cough, the forensic anthropologist, 0:25:27.996 --> 0:25:31.596 had worked in Rwanda after the genocide, helping to exhume 0:25:31.756 --> 0:25:35.516 victims and look for evidence of war crimes. She was 0:25:35.556 --> 0:25:39.996 trained in finding and identifying small bone fragments. That's why 0:25:40.036 --> 0:25:42.916 the family wanted her there. They wanted to find the 0:25:42.956 --> 0:25:44.476 rest of my Teresa's bones. 0:25:45.676 --> 0:25:50.196 When we were down there, I had already arranged for 0:25:50.396 --> 0:25:53.956 Clia to show me how to search for bones. 0:25:54.636 --> 0:25:57.116 Doctor Hampton started sifting through the leaves. 0:25:58.076 --> 0:26:00.916 I was mimicking her hand movements, and as soon as 0:26:01.316 --> 0:26:04.076 I did that like that, then there was a bone 0:26:04.156 --> 0:26:07.676 right there. She looked at me like like shocked that 0:26:08.196 --> 0:26:10.676 it was just the bone that was right there. And 0:26:10.676 --> 0:26:13.316 then she had to alert to E that we found 0:26:13.316 --> 0:26:15.116 a bone. And then that was it. They had to 0:26:15.156 --> 0:26:18.036