Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 'Depressed' Dad Kidnapped Young Sons and Took Off for Mexico: Cops

Episode Date: May 26, 2026

Police in Saratoga Springs, Utah, are searching for Dane Richman, 46, and his sons: 10-month-old Wesley and 22-month-old Will. Police issued an Amber Alert after Richman failed to meet the mother of the boys for a planned custody exchange on Saturday May 23. Prior to that, police say Richman sold his house, was depressed and took other measures to buy time so he could flee to Mexico. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the case in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: Meg Strickler https://x.com/megstricklerCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

So we are coming on here today to TikTok to ask for your help to bring these boys home. A desperate plea after a man disappears with his two young sons, the search is now on for those boys and their dad, and it's going international. With infectious smiles, they both have dimples and blue eyes, and they will be giggly, hopefully, and laughing. Please help us find well and less me. I'll dig into the clues police say that dad left behind. I'm Janette Levy, and this is crime fix. Mothers will go to the ends of the earth to protect their children. So imagine what you would feel like if you had two little boys, one a toddler who's almost two,

and one just a baby, who just disappeared. That would make any mom feel sheer terror, heartache, and panic, especially if the children are with someone who is supposed to love and protect them as much as you do. That's what a mom in you. Utah is going through right now. Her name is Lizzie Tomich. Her sons are Will and Wesley Richmond. They're two young brothers who are just gone, missing, and their mom is in absolute agony. And you're going to hear from Lizzie in just a moment. Wesley is just a baby. He's 10 months old, and Will isn't far ahead of him at 22 months. And police in Utah say they believe their father

took them. And there is grave concern for Will and Wesley because their dad has been described as severely depressed. And no one can reach Dane Richmond, not by phone and not by text. He simply vanished. The concerns started on Friday, May 22nd, right at the beginning of the long Memorial Day weekend. Lizzie and her lawyer posted a video on TikTok explaining what happened. And I am Brittany Skinner, her family law attorney. We're coming to TikTok today to ask for some help and to provide a timeline and an update of what's going on and also details surrounding the current custody orders that are in place. I flew in on Thursday night of this week for a deposition on May 22nd. Minutes before the deposition was to start, we learned that Dane had fired his attorney and would not

be attended the deposition. I immediately contacted him via calling his phone and texting. He did not respond. At that point, we called the police to do a welfare check on him. When the police, he was the police arrived, we learned that the house was vacant and there were things being moved out, there was no car, and Dane and the boys were not home. When we learned this, we knew something was wrong. I did get some messages from Dane. They will be posted here. He did confirm that he was camping, the boys were okay, and that he would be meeting me at our agreed upon time and location to exchange the boys. According to the current temporary order

that are in place by the court, each party has a leak of parenting time. So Dane picked up the boys on May 16th from Lizzie. On May 23rd, they had agreed that he would drop them off to her at noon. That is the current court order in place. However, also, when there is a custody case in place, there is a domestic relations injunction that issues,

and neither party is allowed to leave the state without court permission. Now, we'll get into the text that Dane Richmond sent to Lizzie very shortly. Lizzie Tomich and her lawyer were concerned, so they called police in Saratoga Springs, Utah, where Dane lived, as you heard. The next day, Panic set in when she went to meet her ex to pick up their sons.

On Saturday, I showed up to our designated location. I showed up about 15 minutes early prior to the designated time. As if the time approach, I began calling and texting him asking for an ETA. He did not respond. Approximately 1201 is when I began to panic and when we call police. After further investigation with the police, we've learned that Danes quit his job. He's sold almost all of his possessions.

He has left with almost everything he has with the clear intention of not returning with these children. So we are coming on here today to TikTok to ask for your help to bring these boys home. Shock, fear, gut-wrenching panic struck Lizzie Tomich. Dane Richmond was gone, and so were their boys. Lizzie Tomich posted photos of Will and Wesley on Facebook, writing, Urgent, my boys are missing as of today. They were last seen in Shelton, Washington, with their father, Dane Richmond. They could be in any state at this point.

He is either in a black Toyota Camry or a white Toyota Tundra truck. Then there was an update. Dane's license plate is A561HL and he is believed to be in the black 2025 Toyota Camry. We know he is not in the white Toyota Tundra. Police in Saratoga Springs, Utah issued an Amber Alert for Wesley and Will. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released a poster writing, Update, vehicle possibly has a temporary tag. License plate may not be visible.

There is concern for the safety and well-being of the children. as the suspect has been seriously depressed, selling possessions, facing financial stress, and abandoned his home. A poster from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children writes of Dane. The first suspect is identified as Dane Stephen Richmond. He is six feet two inches tall, weighing 195 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. He was last seen wearing unknown. The first child abduction victim is identified by police as Wesley Dane Richmond. He has He has blonde or strawberry hair and blue eyes. He is two feet two inches tall, weighing about 23 pounds.

The second child abduction victim is identified by police as Will Thomas Richmond. He is one and was wearing unknown. He has blonde or strawberry hair and also blue eyes. He is two feet six inches tall, weighing 31 pounds. The abduction happened. At Saratoga Springs, the suspect was driving a black 2025 Toyota Camry with license plate, A561HL. Dane Richmond had originally picked up the boys from Lizzie all the way back on May 16th in Washington

State where she lives. But police actually believed Dane Richmond may have taken off from Mexico as early as May 19th. Richmond is now charged with custodial interference in Utah. And there is much more to discuss since that custodial interference charge was filed against Dane Richmond. And to do that, I want to bring in Meg Strickler. She's a criminal defense attorney, has represented people facing this charge in the past, and also knows what will happen when and if Dane Richmond is caught.

So Meg, thanks so much for coming on. Thank you very much for having me. How concerning is this to you that we have a dad who really, according to everything the police have laid out, this sounds well planned, that he really prepared for this because he picked those boys up, his sons on May 16th and by May 19th we're learning now that he had crossed into Mexico so mom didn't even know the boys were missing until May 23rd so he had essentially a four or five day head start yeah it's it's it's awful to think these these these children are so young I can only imagine how many times that are asking for their mother I don't mean I

It's hard for me to wrap my head around this. And the fact that he planned to have the money to be able to do this, to be able to cross through a border that is porous in the sense that when you normally leave the country, meaning on an airplane, they request documentation of who are these children you're with, are they yours? But when it's Canada and Mexico, it's different. It's a little easier, as we have learned, to cross the border. now faces that custodial interference charge. So the cops are saying in the warrant for his arrest that basically he picks up the boys on May 16th, May 18th, he's in Carlsbad, California.

So he picked the boys up in Washington State on the 16th, goes all the way south to Carlsbad, California, where he gets his car worked on. And then by May 19th, the next day, he's crossed into Mexico. They say that he was having these financial difficulties. He quit his job, emptied the house, he was selling possessions. So he was having a really hard time with this separation from Lizzie, his ex and the mother of the boys. Should we be concerned that he is so desperate that he would harm the boys? Or do we think he just felt like this is all he had left and took off with these boys? And he thinks he's going to move to Mexico and just live with them somehow happily ever after?

It's a very good question. I think historically we would want to look at some of the communications in the fight in the divorce and the custody battle. You know, were there statements saying, you know, if I can't have the kids, no one can or something like this, that would be an indication of thought process of what would happen moving forward. Or did he absolutely love these kids and is just so heartbroken? So there's two different kinds of custody battles where, you know, I had my kid and I really, really love this child and I want to have more and more and more time. That's one kind.

Or I hate you so dangle how much, I'm going to take your kids. There's two different levels. And unfortunately, the one I just said, spoke of as the one, the latter is more often the case, which is they're so angry in this divorce proceeding. The kids are basically chattel, you know, arguments to be fought over versus human being. So I'm not sure. We'd have to really look at the depth of the fighting and what was said. I want to look at the text messages that they said were exchanged between Dane and Lizzie. Lizzie posted these on TikTok and we're going to put those up on the screen.

The first one says, hi, Dane, I understand you're not coming to the deposition. This was on Friday, May 22nd. I'm just checking in on you and the boys and making sure you all are okay. And he responded, yes, all good. Will is no longer sick. And then she said, where are you? Can you call me please? He said, I can later.

She then said, where are you? Where are the kids right now? With me, I'm driving, he responds. And so this is on that Friday. So I would assume the cops could ping his phone. It then picks up with her saying, did you move? Why is your phone off? What city are you in?

Where are you taking the boys? If you moved, you are required to tell me the address. and Dane responds, we are camping, we will see you tomorrow at noon. So then she goes to the house at noon on May 23rd that Saturday, and he's not there. And the cops had seen the day before that it looked vacant. And so then she calls the police five minutes after she gets to the house and he's not there. And all heck breaks loose. So she continues with her messages and says,

Why is your phone going straight to voicemail? How are you texting me if your phone is off? Camping with who? Where is your truck? Send me a picture. She wants a picture of the children, and he's, of course, not responding. And she continues, is there another adult with you and the boys? So that's pretty interesting to me.

What do you make of those text messages? Obviously, the police and Lizzie are going to say, he was lying he's in Mexico and he's just this is a ruse yeah he's buying time he probably had legal custody of them initially as you were aware and so he's just like yeah we're coming yeah we're doing this yeah we're doing that to get him more and more time to get to wherever it is he was wanting to be it is really difficult to just disappear off the face of the earth in 2026 in today's universe, we have so much James Bond technology that, as you already saw in some reports, they were able to ping his cell phone and see San Diego. They're ultimately going to get his

crossing on video, because that's obviously under video. They're going to see wherever that car went as far as they can on camera is coming into Mexico. And if he ever turns on that phone in any which way, that'll ping. If he uses any sort of transaction, that links to any sort of credit card or access bank accounts or accesses email, any which way, all of that is trackable. License plate reader technology is there as well. They're ultimately going to be able to give us a blow by blow from Washington State all the way down.

So they're gathering all of that. And there may be some things he purchased on the way down from the state of Washington that might indicate where he is in Mexico. I don't know yet. Very interesting. And I'm sure authorities here in the United States, especially Saras Toga Springs Police, you know, there may be some other agencies involved at this point, are working with Mexican authorities. And so they'll be able to track him down potentially, but we just don't know how long that could take. Mexico is a big country, but then there's also, you know, Central America. Who knows where he went off to? We don't know. But my guess, there's going to be a trail that's going to lead to some things perhaps he's corresponding with a new girlfriend I'm not saying that's the case but maybe

that person's not calling police we don't know what investigative threads have already been gotten by doing an analysis of what he's done leading up to you know May 23rd Lizzie suspected she asked if there was another adult with him is it possible because and I could be reading too much into this in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, missing poster that they put out, there was something about, you know, suspect one. So is it possible that they think someone is working with him and helping him? I'm thinking that. And I'm just talking as a, as a person who's had two young kids. If you have a 10-month-old and a 22-month-old,

that is a handful by definition. I mean, it just is. One 10-month-old is a lot. It's just a lot. I mean, we all know anybody's had children, it's a lot. So it would kind of, I could leap to the conclusion that there's someone else or some others involved in assisting in this, in this whole storyline. So let's say he's still in Mexico, but let's look at that, you know, possibility or likelihood according to what the police have said. Because there could be a lot they're not telling us as far as where his phone has pings since crossing into Mexico. Mexico. I'm sure they're not telling us a whole lot, that they're they're just releasing what they have to for probable cause. Once he's captured, if he is captured, what happens then? I mean,

can he fight extradition? I mean, hopefully the children are safe and sound and will be found safe and sound. It's a very good question. How it works is we have extradition trees with a lot of the and across the globe. Mexico is one of them. And the only reason Mexico would say, we don't want to give him to you, is if we were charging him with something that didn't have a similar statute in Mexico. I can tell you confidently, kidnapping and custodial interference,

and these kinds of charges are very similar in the state of Mexico, the country of Mexico. We call country states in the extradition world. So that, he won't be able to fight it. He may try to fight it, but a judge is ultimately going to say, ultimately going to say you got nothing. Okay, and this is not a political issue, this is not a political prosecution. There's no real viable reason to fight that would say no Mexican authorities are going to rule,

no, we're not going to give them to you. It's going to be, we're going to give him to you. And then the United States will come get him, they'll plop him on a plane and they'll bring them back. And it will not be a fun transport. Now the children are different. They're not going to be treated so poorly. children what should happen is if he's found they're going to put it put they're

going to immediately give the family hey we have them they're going to fly down and that part will be easy and they'll be brought back home very quickly and swiftly and I want to make sure we're putting up Will and Wesley's pictures so people see what these beautiful baby boys look like I mean they're just little 22 months and 10 months old I mean they're they're just little tiny kids it's so much work I mean, I just had kids too close in age too, and that is, oh, I shudder. It's so much work. It's a lot to handle.

I mean, to basically toddlers, you know. Yeah, so maybe grandma's involved. I mean, I just, I'm not throwing shade to grandma here, but I'm just saying there could be family members who have assisted because they can't stand the ex-wife. I mean, you know with these family dynamics and family fights and things that who knows who's assisting, all of it will come. all of it will be shown because where the phone went in California and in Oregon and all that, all the money that went through his account, these are things that they're finding out. And it will give investigative threads that will lead to anybody who's been an accomplice in this. And we are not indicting grandma.

I want everybody to know that. We were just coming up with hypotheticals. Like what if somebody were. I said that. I wasn't going to say the grandma. What if somebody were helping Dane Richmond? These custody cases get so volatile and so heated, Meg, we see this all of the time, where people just, I feel like, make really, really bad decisions when it comes to custody of children.

And so there is a concern, though. There is a concern that I think for the safety of these children, because nobody really knows how desperate this man may feel right now. Well, remember, he's already done some desperate actions. He quit his job, he drained his account, emptied his house, and he took his kids across a border. Those are, like you just said, those are already like, wow, this man is not making mentally stable decisions, which then leads us to worry about these children and their safety. And will he, if he is caught, will he lose custody of these children?

I mean, I would venture to guess, yes, but I would not want to speak to there could be some other extenuating storyline here that were this unbeknownst to us that somehow then could be resolved where he would get some sort of access. But, you know, I'd hate to comment on that. Yeah, I just can't even imagine what the extenuating circumstance would be. Well, everybody is praying for these sweet little boys. these children because they are beautiful and they deserve to be with their mother. There's obviously been, in what the police view, a violation of the custody agreement, which is a civil issue, but now it's turned into a criminal issue with these charges. If he is caught, will there be even a tougher charge brought against Dane Richmond?

Well, there's the endangering children, cruelty to children. And again, I'm not saying those would be charges that would occur. I don't know statutes, the state level, the interference with the custody, taking them across the country lines, turns it into a federal case versus the state. You know, who knows, but he will have a pile charges, both probably at the state and federal level, because you have the state case of whatever he did, but then it gets federal because he was in Washington and it gets federal because he went to Mexico. So there's a lot going on here that he will have to combat and you know his text messages when he's saying I'm camping and we have no proof of that being camping. That's not a good look. It only exasperates his situation. Yeah, just awful. Obviously a story was laid out there, you know, to buy time as you said and to get out a Dodge and then, you know, May 23rd, it all comes to a head. we will keep a close eye on it.

Meg Strickler, thank you so much. Thank you very much. Anyone with information about Dane Richmond or the whereabouts of Will and Wesley is asked to call the Saratoga Springs Police Department. If you see Dane Richmond, you are asked to call 911 and not approach him. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix.

I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.