Woods said, "I. There will be a trial; the states suspect has pleaded not guilty. Cece is the mother of twoa daughter, Tatum Hengel, and a son, Travis Hengel. He and Scott and their kids drove north to Malibu Creek State Park. It felt like a societal defect, or a trend, or I dont even know whatmaybe people have always been this way, like they dont care about their surroundings and their fellow humans and the people around them. It was a tall, skinny guy who maneuvered very military-like. Rogers told me that some time later, after he realized he'd actually been shotwith bird shot, he believes; Rauda was allegedly arrested with a riflehe drove back to the park. Their life was rounding into what theyd pictured: They were in the same place, headed toward what they hoped was the same future. It'll still be an adventure. They want reasons. She has investigated and reported on crime stories in her publications as an amateur sleuth. Nothing was done properly. So maybe, someday, they would have had three. The award went to Tristan. Discovery+ delves into the world of amateur investigators in its new docuseries Citizen P.I., debuting for streaming on Tuesday, July 27. They dont want bad luck, randomness, institutional confusion, simple neglect. How do you stop the cops and military from protecting us? But that, to the best of anyones understanding, is what happened to Tristan Beaudette. Shed already taken the week offshe knew it was going to be hard, and there were things she hadnt confronted yet, like what to do with Tristans ashes, and then a friend had invited her to come join her on a trip, and so she decided to go. But it was news to him that he was named as a victim in the complaint against Rauda. So maybe there was a dangerous man with a gun on the loose? And he got the short end of the stick for it., She and James Rogers knew each other a bit, she saidMalibu was a small community. On her website The Local Malibu, Woods has suggested repeatedly that the LASD was involved in a cover up of the shootings that preceded Tristans death. With expansion into regional news with The Current Report platform, Cece grew the 90265 Magazine brand to includeCali Mag, offering a behind-the-scenes, authentic look at the iconic California lifestyle. Editor in Chief, Cece Woods, started her career in publishing in 2013 with the launch of 90265 Magazine. And at least we'll get away. In 1892, Rhoda May Rindge, with her husband, a sickly, rich New Englander, bought Rancho Malibu, a former Spanish land grant that stretched from the. They hold a community meeting in August but tell anxious residents that they cant really tell them anythingif the earlier shootings are connected to the death of the man in the tent, the LASD has found no evidence of the fact, according to James Royal, one of the lieutenants leading the meeting. Stephenie Glas says, "Hello, Cece" from the grave. To Erica, there was no mystery to this mystery: Her husband was gone. He told me he had photos from the day before Tristans death that he still looked at, sometimes. The events on that day felt like the physical manifestation of a lack of respect and a lack of compassion and maybe even a lack of acknowledging our fellow man, Dylan said. A Facebook post by Cece Woods, whose bio says she is a co-host & news radio producer at TNT Radio as well as an investigative journalist, claimed that Claudia was found safe and was o her way. Tristan wanted two. Collectively, the claim alleges, the agencies negligently failed to care and to provide a safe space for Beaudette and his children, instead causing his death. Anthony Rauda is currently charged with nearly every one of the unsolved shootingsin all, ten counts of attempted murder. You know that show Veep, on HBO? And I can sort of choose to go down that rabbit hole a little bit if I feel like it or if I have the energy, but then I pull back and it's like, I have to take care of the girls, and we have to get to school tomorrow, and work, and I just don't have the time, she said. But the line between fact and rumor in her reporting sometimes seemed porousshe hinted at things she couldnt prove and reprinted ominous stories from Malibu residents without further verification. Like Ericas, his family had fractured during childhood; his parents split up when he was just threeyoung, but still old enough to remember. And also I think, obviously, I'm trying to get as far away as possible from lots of things. He's not that guy. Most recently, in the article A Chance to Star Over: How Malibu Embraced Optimism After the Fire. The first increase in the Malibu City contract with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department in fifteen years was executed on June 29th, 2021. By: Caroline John - Published: July 22, 2021 at 8:42 am. Erica, who has long loose hair and high cheekbones and a thoughtful face, is the fourth-youngest of five sisters; her father passed away when she was eight years old. But he didnt know. The earliest count supposedly took place in November 2016 and involved James Rogers, the wildlife biologist who was sleeping in a hammock when he was shot in the arm. I'm a truth seeker. Malibu, California Current City and Hometown No places to show About Cece Activist, Investigative Reporter, Editor in Chief, Messaging Expert. An older man with tinted glasses and close-cropped white hair, a man with too much time on his hands, as he introduces himself to others in the court gallery, declares confusingly that he has it on good authority that the accused never even entered the tent of the man who died. I still feel like I'm watching myself sometimes, you know?, We arrived at the day care center, and she went in to get the girls while I waited outside with Milo. From my memory, they never took pictures. It was January when Tristan took Erica to the winter formal. He loved nature and chemistry and Ultimate Frisbee. But the story, effectively, is that there is no story. She was plunged into this world when she started investigating what seemed like a cover-up of a rash of shootings at Malibu Creek State Park in 2018, and was the only journalist providing on-the-ground, up-to-the-minute coverage of the Woolsey Fire, which devastated the area in December 2018. Most recently, Cece exposedthe Lost Hills Station failure to issue a Public Safety notice after a sexual predator gained access to a condominium complex and sexually assaulted a Pepperdine student which led to disciplinary against the deputies and a change in command staff at the station. Brissa Bradfield Leaving WICU-TV: Wheres 12News Eries Anchor Going? Because there was no reason that that man had to get murdered there. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE Barely one year removed from a crash in the 300-meter hurdles in the section meet, ROCORI junior Cecelia Woods set a personal best by nearly a second to win the Class 2A state title in the event on Saturday. But I was too aware., It was a Friday, and Erica had plans to meet one of her sisters, Liz, and her husband, Pete, and their two kids at a nearby Mexican restaurant. But then I never really heard back from them, he said. At the end of December 2018, Erica Wu files a claim against the LASD, the California State Parks and Recreation Commission, the California State Park Police, and the California Department of Parks and Recreation, alleging that the agencies were aware of multiple unsolved shootings in the area where Tristan was killed but failed to appropriately alert the public. Tristan and Scott got off the trail, to let them pass. In late 2014, after noticing a void in local investigative journalism with the departure of Surfside News founder Ann Sobel, Woods started The Local. It still might be a total disaster, Erica said. She already knew she was leaving, to go to school at Stanford; Tristan was going to study abroad for a year in Switzerland. Maybe theres always been a lack of respect. When she awoke to discover a hole in the back of her car and an apparent slug at the bottom of it, she called the LASD. Its not going to bring us closure, she said. When the case goes to trial, at a date still yet to be determined, the state will finally unveil its theory of the crime. As the only local news sources reporting from the front lines, New Yorker Magazinefeatured her in the article The Woolsey Fire Engulfs Southern California, as well as the L.A. Times coverage South Bay Surfers Deliver Supplies to Malibu Residents Affected By the Woolsey Fire.. She did not forgive whoever had done it. June 22 will mark the one- year anniversary of Tristans death. Tristan, who had his pick of chemistry labs, chose Berkeley. Four incidents with a shotgun, Woods speculated, and at least three of them were inside state parks and not investigated at all. Woods also had alternate theories about Tristans death. Scott, who had been there for the end, was still reckoning with that, too. He had the caretaker gene: For major holidays, Ericas big family would meet up in San Diego, where her sister Priscilla lived, and Tristan would cook for the whole extended clanlarge-format meat, was the family joke. Tatum works in the corporate end of DoorDash in San Francisco. In four short years, The Local has become the most trusted voice in local media. And then came a small group of bikers in the other direction. But mostly she feels like none of the speculation has anything real to do with her or her husband, a man shed known and depended on for just about half her life. And I know the community there is incredibly frustrated with the string of incidents and just the fact that all of these things have happened and there hasn't been a lot of follow-up., Tristans brother-in-law Scott, who was there at the campground, and who was the first adult to respond to Tristan, told me he, too, was waiting for the trial to see what story the state told about its actions. Theyd bring alcohol and more food than they needed and spend the whole day walking or climbing. If the city would have done what they needed to do and at least warned their citizens, he could have made a conscious choice to go there or not. She grew up in Malibu, California, where she still resides. Of course I want to go talk on-camera about this. I think deep down, too, I think I know that no matter what happens, that it's not going to change anything for us. He does not yet enter a plea. Were the disappearances of Richardson, Park, and others somehow linked to this new crime? In October, Spectrum Development, an engineering consultancy, reports a third break-in: Surveillance footage from the site shows a man stealing food while carrying a rifle and wearing what sheriffs deputies call tactical gear. The next day, residents report an ominous massing of SWAT vehicles, patrol cars, and other tactical units near the Spectrum Development offices. She grew up in Malibu, California, where she still resides. A thing that could've happened to anyone happened to them. Theres something about the prosecution of the burglary suspect, she says, that feels convenienta result, perhaps, of the political fallout that followed Tristans death. Ceces activism and investigative reporting have led to being quoted regularly in the media, and featured many articles related to Malibu and LA politics. In 2012, Cece became involved in local environmental and political activism at the urging of former husband Steve Woods, a resident for more than 4o years. The 2020 pandemic inspired Cece to develop two new publications, The Current Report and Cali Mag. In late July, the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center is burglarized; in September, its a commercial building owned by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District. As bailiffs drag him out, he attempts to fire his court-appointed attorney. Cece is a true local investigative reporter who publishes both The Local Malibu and The Current Report. Woods was the only local Malibu media on the ground during the Woolsey Fire and provided the most comprehensive coverage generating over a million hits across social media platforms during the most devastating wildfire in Malibu's history. Erica said she was aware she and Tristan become characters in any number of stories told by other people. Theyd continue to make up their own minds. The Guardian UK article Malibu Residents Fear Serial Attacker in Their Scenic Enclavequoted Cece as the editor of an online newsletter linking back to her reporting on the Malibu Creek State Park Shootings. He featured in a publication with a young Woods beside him. The area, homicide investigators say, was known to be a dumping ground for bodiesgang-related killings, mostly, with no other connection to the region. So it was easy for people to start putting together these stories, and, you know, if you're the first one that's what people believe. She is the company's editor-in-chief, investigative reporter, brand strategist, and communications guru. Whether the goal is holding government officials accountable or seeking reform in the justice system, exposing all the facts that are reported in a story is the focus on The Current platform Cece created in 2020. The department turned the power of the badge against one of its own, McNicholas said. Having spent most her childhood on sands of Zuma Beach, Cece left Southern California in her early 20s, but it was only a matter of time before she returned to the idyllic place that held so many wonderful memories from her youth. But at that point nobody would listen to us. People in Malibu liked to think sudden, violent death was something that happened elsewhere. But while the tragedys aftermath publicly played out like a new season of, Sex Lives: A Guy Who Left Conservative Morocco for a Florida Blonde, Sex Lives: A Guy Who Draws the Line at Married Men. After they emerged, with auburn hair and backpacks and little cups of granola, we walked over to a nearby playground. And the girls and I still just have to get up the next morning. The city of Malibu never put out a public safety announcement, and I believe it's because they don't want to make the sheriffs look bad, Woods tells the Hollywood Reporter. 90265 Magazine Established as a passion project to get back to our roots, 90265 Magazine is known for its intimate look at the authentic Malibu lifestyle, featuring local activists, creatives, influencers and tastemakers who live in Malibu. You guys aren't even going to do anything about this. I know it doesnt make sense, but I always wonder, would wouldve happened if I just ignored it? blog. There was no real lesson from what had happened to her and her girls, she said. So this chaplain offered to let us come stay at his house, while we waited for word on whether we'd be able to go.. presents sufficient evidence to move forward, this trial could hit O.J. But she didnt really recognize herself in any of them. SEND CECE A MESSAGE. Upon further investigation, she wrote, it seems many, especially those employed by State Parks, are not convinced the murder suspect is in custody. Which isnt to say it wasnt murder: Someone fired a weapon into a crowded campground and a man died because of it. Not long after the winter formal, they went on their first proper date. But they were happy there. Woods is not in law enforcement, nor is she a conventional journalist by definition. The victims daughters, who are unharmed, are collected by the victims wifes brother-in-law, who was camping at an adjacent site with his own two young children, and taken to the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriffs Station. It took both of them time to adapt to Orange County, where everything was a drive away from everything else. I had to go personally and use my Facebook to write my story to tell the people in my community what had happened. She tried to alert the local news stations, she said. Please see our "Terms of Service" Is it safe to go back to Malibu Creek State Park? shed written. The park worker, noting the mans resemblance to the suspect in the prior burglaries, refuses; instead he drives off and calls the sheriffs department, prompting the second massive manhunt in the area in one week. The noise from the kitchen while she was still in bed would make her feel safe and taken care of. Their first, a daughter, was born in 2014. therealmalibu 9 years ago Did Cece Stein secretly want to be Stephenie Glas? Then the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center is broken into for the second time: The burglar shatters a glass window early in the morning and vandalizes a vending machine inside, presumably in search of food. I remember I would just have conversations with Tristan: Dont you worry about this? Dont you worry about that? He was just always very satisfied with where he was and what he did. Erica was never able to let go in quite the same way. Local news outlets report that sheriff's deputies have responded nine different times to claims of gunfire in the area. Cece Woods The Current Report Editor in Chief Cece Woods started The Local Malibu, an activism based platform in 2014. The Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project was the first high profile environmental battle Cece was involved in. Eleven months later, Richardsons remains were found within a few miles of the station. Except, even amid the chaos and her grief, Erica thought she recognized this man. Leading the pack was a guy on a mountain bike with a trailer attached, and two kids in the back, and he just bombed down the hill theyd come up, the kids screaming in joy as they descended. Both times, his suit claims, he was forbidden from doing soRoyal claims his superiors told him it was a State Parks problem and not theirs. He was going around with the kids, and collecting cool shells and pieces of driftwood and rocks and things, and the kids put them all in this big pile. In 2018, Woods exposed the law enforcement cover-up in the Malibu Creek State Park Shooting case and provided the most comprehensive coverage during the Woolsey Fire with over a million hits across social media platforms during the most devastating wildfire in Malibus history. Tristan became a morning person, waking up with the girls while Erica caught up on sleep. I dont know if thats because of how I grew up. They by and large go back to sleep and wake up only when deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department unzip the doors of their tents, some hours later, to ask precisely when and how they arrived, and whether they have any weapons with them. There was one moment in particular he returned to, he said, nearly a year on. Her name is Erica Wu. The LASD has no leads that they are willing to disclose to the public. No chilling new detail, or elaborate reconstruction of the way he died, was going to bring him back. The publication was instrumental in the success of pro-preservation ballot measures and seating five top vote-getters in the Malibu City Council elections. The father in the tent is pronounced dead at the scene. Travis often shares pictures with his girlfriend on Facebook. One of the first grief counselors I spoke to after Tristan passed, this all came out in the first session, talking about how I grew up without my dad and now, with raising girls without Tristan, and he made some sort of comment about how there's no one else who's better equipped to be their mom right now. But now that what's done is done, I don't know that anything is going to make a difference., She said that the irony was, if people knew what shed actually gone throughthe details of her experience that day were worse, and more surreal, than any theory or fiction a person could possibly come up with. He fell in with a tight-knit group of fellow grad students, who were surprised that this tall, mellow surfer-looking guy had the same aptitude for the work that they did. But we'll see.. There was the way that she found out, when her sister arrived at the door of her and Tristans place in Irvine, at 6:45 a.m., when she was preparing to take her board exam, a test shed never end up taking. In 2012, Cece used her P.R. She also helped a friend, Stephenie Glas, found The Real Malibu 411, a website that helped locals obtain and discuss information on Malibus civic, environmental, and political issues, among other local happenings. We wouldn't have taken our kids there., The Wu familys claim against Los Angeles County and the state of California notes that four different local and state agencies were aware of unsolved shootings in the area before Tristan and Scott went to camp there. It took hourshundreds of names were read off, and one by one students would come up to collect their diplomas. Not long after, LASD homicide detectives issue a second release, adding that they are aware that there have been other shootings near the location in the past, however, there is no evidence that suggests this incident is related to any prior shootings near the location. Nevertheless, stories begin to trickle out: A man trained as a wildlife biologist was camping in the area in early November 2016 when he was awoken in his hammock by a stinging pain in his right arm. Want to kill off the sickmake sure hospitals do not have reliable electricitythis will stop the machines from working. Nothing happens in Malibu, right?, After Tristan died, she said, she commented on a story about his death on Facebook, noting what had happened to her, and all of a sudden everybody was all interested in it. Tatangelo remains angry, she said. My understanding is that it is a million percent random, Erica told me. It's a ten-year crime spree that could make a Hollywood movie, one detective says. Law enforcement sources tell the media that their suspect is a survivalist, who often slept outside, breaking into various places in search of food. The self-proclaimed accidental activist has turned her focus to investigative reporting. My mother was a sun worshipper. At 22, she said, she married a professional baseball player, and had two children with him. Cece Woods started her career in publishing in 2013 with the launch of 90265 Magazine. Years ago, before they had kids, Tristan and Scott had taken a mountain-bike trip to Malibu Creek State Park. I started 90265 Magazine in May of 2013 followed by The Local . And now there was only survivalan arrow that pointed only forward, no matter how much she would like to go back. The Hollywood Reporter, has featured Cece numerous times in the last year. The first increase in the Malibu City contract with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department in fifteen years was executed on June 29th, 2021 as a result of almost three years of Ceces reporting and educating the Malibu community regarding the lack of adequate patrol coverage in the area. Cece was the only media present on September 14th, 2022 at LA Metro Headquarters when the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department served warrants in a criminal case involving former CEO Phillip Washington who the Biden administration nominated in July to be head of the FAA. Its Malibu. During Ericas second year of medical school, they got engaged. And I married a few times after that. The man in the tent had been a scientist at a pharmaceutical company; had he been targeted for assassination due to something valuable he was working on? The hospital gave him a shot for rabies and sent him home. About anything, really. "There is no confirmed connection, and remember, even now there is no confirmed connection," he said at the meeting. She returned to Malibu in 2006 and was focused on preserving the local environment. An amateur sleuth, she has investigated and reported on crime stories in her publications. Her claim seeks $90 million in damages from Los Angeles County and the state of California. He said hed been in intermittent touch with detectives affiliated with the LASD Major Crimes Bureau. In four short years, The Local became the most trusted voice in local media and was the only publication to support two successful ballot measures, seat three City Council members, and behind multiple environmental victories for the Malibu Community. The campground area of Malibu Creek State Park was closed immediately after the homicide. It was a hard-fought battle won by activists and community members in 2015. Mostly, Tristan talked and Scott listened. Being a parent made Tristan happy. For the first couple of months, Nolan said, Id make two and then dump the second one out. He said, It sounds like the guy who committed the murder, and potentially the Tesla thing, hit smack right in the hood to pop it open. At the beginning, after Tristan died, hed monitored the news about the search for his killer obsessively. Must have been close to something, who knows? No matter what you do. She said she wasnt following much about the criminal case. When she met Tristan, he seemed like the opposite of everything she was. You're the only Zach I've talked to at all since then, so I know you're the Zach. She said that in those sessions, the reader gave her hints, leads to pursue: She said, The ballistics won't match. I don't think they have a ballistics match. A month before the death of the man in the tent, a mutilated body was discovered across the street from Malibu Creek State Park, followed by a second body in July, also showing signs of violence. I think I just wish I could turn back time more than anything else. After high school, Erica went to Stanford and, after he returned from Switzerland, Tristan went to U.C. How to get the kids to school every day? There the kids discovered a play kitchen in the back, and so Erica went to watch them as Liz, Pete, and I talked. Dylan Beaudette, Tristans brother, told me he didnt want to say much before the upcoming trial. When they arrived Tristan looked around and decided they could do better. Yesterday, when I talked to this homicide detective, he's got like an 80-percent-plus conviction rate. Measure W was the second ballot measure Cece was involved in, and the firstmedia campaign spearheaded by her publicationThe Local Malibu,which included a special edition print publication, and proved to be part of a successful strategy winning the No on W ballot initiative in 2015 with 60% of the vote. The project was highly charged, dividing the community, and made global headlines. Click edit button to change this text. Could you just die from being in the wrong place at the wrong time? The new regional investigative reporting platform The Current Report is focused on L.A. County politics, exposing public corruption and impacting long-term reform. Its also the one-year anniversary of the board exam she never took. But it seems like a powerful force, or a powerful trend, in our current society. I don't knowthe me of a year ago would never have just gotten on a plane with them and just flown somewhere. It would mean that all that chaos, paranoia, and terror added up to just this guy, one haunted guy, who was afraid of people. Erica said she knew more about raising daughters without a father than she wanted to, because she herself had lost her father when she was young: For me, I feel like it was a big part of my childhood, growing up without him. Editor in Chief, Cece Woods, started her career in publishing in 2013 with the launch of 90265 Magazine. The girls were out of school, and so Tristan, with Ericas brother-in-law Scott, offered to take their daughters out of the house the night before, so that she could study. In Richard Wintons article There Were Five Shootings At and Near a Malibu Park Over Two Years. At first, during graduate school, Erica lived in San Francisco, and Tristan lived in Berkeley. Cece Woods is a grifter, an opportunist and a manipulator. It had been a lot of years of Erica leaning on Tristan as she moved toward her professional degree. In the last year of her residency, Erica found a job in the Bay Area. And now Tristan was about to move back up to the Bay Area. Woods also spoke to what she called an insider at State Parks, who told her: The are [sic] rangers are scared and we are in no hurry to see this campground re-opened., Woods also thought it was reckless that the park was again open to the public, especially when doubt remained, in her eyes and in the eyes of those shed talked to, about whether Rauda was in fact guilty. In 2009, Tristan and Erica moved to Southern Californiato Long Beach and then Irvinewhere Erica had found a residency at U.C. or Who is this person outside of this?, On his worst days, Dylan said, he felt like Tristans death was emblematic of something darker and more systemic that was happening in the world at large. I was so worried all the time, she told me. It was only as his arm began to heal that he noticed that metal pellets, similar to bird shot, were trickling out of the wound. Are you kidding me? They got there in the early afternoon and were assigned a campsite at the gate. In June, Erica came down from San Francisco to attend Tristans college graduation in San Diego, on a huge outdoor field on a hot day. After that, she said, shes going to fly to Asia with her daughters. Thats what some residents in the area begin to theorize. You're just going to sweep it under the rug because you want to protect your citys image.. At the arraignment, the suspect is restrained in a chair and says very little. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. Also if the police really had a ballistics match, wouldnt they have charged him with murder then and there? View Cece Woods' profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. At night theyd talk about their kids, or their futures, which for Tristan seemed increasingly to mean a return to the Bay Area. They were introduced through a mutual friend. Tristan and Erica went to different schools but met their senior year, when Tristan needed a date to his winter formal. Like Erica, hed grown up in Fresno, California, descended on both sides from longtime residents of the area.