Lost Hills: Dark Canyon
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.
Latest episodes
Dec 15, 2021 • 35min
6. Cold Pricklies
The sheriff’s department orders a new set of autopsies on Verna and Doug, to be conducted in secret. Now, there’s enough evidence to arrest Fred. Meanwhile, detectives talk to his neighbors, coworkers, and friends. Some say he’s a charming, dedicated family man, while others whisper of a dark side and a hair-trigger temper. Also, one of Doug’s best friends remembers life in the Roehler household. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 13, 2021 • 33min
5. Who Would You Take?
Shortly after Jeanne’s death, Fred starts seeing Verna, one of Jeanne’s closest friends. It’s a whirlwind romance, and soon they’re merging families. The timeline of their relationship stokes Malibu gossip, and, later, piques the interest of detectives. Was it just a coincidence that Verna’s first husband had died unexpectedly, too? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 8, 2021 • 33min
4. The Shallow End, Part 2
It’s 1976 and Jeanne is in thrall to Lifespring, a self-improvement group, or, some would say, a cult. She is manifesting her future—without Fred. This alternative reality never arrives. Instead, Jeanne dies. And the similarities to Verna’s death are eerie. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 6, 2021 • 27min
3. The Shallow End, Part 1
Fred’s first wife, Jeanne, a flight attendant for United Airlines, is glamorous, outgoing, the life of the party. But there are tensions in the marriage and they’re mounting. Jeanne tells her sister she’s had enough. She’s in love with someone else. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 1, 2021 • 32min
2. Quiet No Longer
The Ventura County Medical Examiner determines Verna and Doug’s deaths to be accidental drownings, so Fred moves forward with funeral plans. But the cremations are halted after a family friend calls in a tip to the sheriff’s department. Fred receives some unexpected visitors. . . and they want to know what happened to his first wife. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 1, 2021 • 36min
1. Mr. Malibu
Fred, Verna, and their four young children are the happiest-looking family in Malibu. It’s a Brady Bunch story, a blended family living by the beach. But when they take their 50-foot sailboat, Perseverance, to the Channel Islands, tragedy strikes, and Verna and Doug mysteriously drown. Fred’s story—that it was all a terrible accident—has a problem. And her name is Lady. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 22, 2021 • 4min
Introducing Lost Hills Season 2
In January 1981, Verna Johnson-Roehler and her young son, Doug, drowned while boating thirty miles off the coast of Malibu. Verna’s husband, Fred Roehler, was the sole survivor and only witness. Initially, the deaths were ruled accidental. But a phone call from a Malibu neighbor changed everything. Was Fred a monster, masquerading as the perfect Malibu dad? Or was an innocent man convicted by his gossiping neighbors? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 17, 2021 • 22min
Season 1 bonus: "Signs of Anthony"
Since Lost Hills debuted, two sources have come forward with new information about Anthony Rauda: a new, alleged victim and his half-sister. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 28, 2021 • 21min
Season 1 bonus episode: "The Eyewitness"
On the night that Tristan Beaudette was killed while camping with his daughters, the campground at Malibu Creek State Park was full of families. Just across the access road from Beaudette’s tent, Stacey Sebourn was in a tent with her eight-year-old daughter and her daughter’s best friend. Sebourn provides a harrowing first-hand account of her experience. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 27, 2021 • 49min
8. East of Eden
Two hikers who stumbled on Rauda’s camp before the Beaudette murder lament a missed opportunity to stop the crime before it happened.Sgt. Wright and Lt. Royal file whistleblower lawsuits against the sheriff’s department, and Sgt. Wright shares damaging information.Erica Wu prepares to move, and, after nearly three years, scatters some of Tristan Beaudette’s ashes.With Anthony Rauda in custody, will peace return to Malibu? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
