Federal probe sought in case of woman who disappeared outside Malibu sheriff's station

The family of Mitrice Richardson, who went missing after her release from the Malibu sheriff's station in September, will call today for a federal investigation into her disappearance.

The request is the latest effort by the family to find Richardson, whose disappearance has garnered much attention, including segments on cable TV news shows and a cover story in People magazine.

The trail has gone cold since late October, when the family said there were sightings of Richardson in South Los Angeles.

By all accounts, the Cal State Fullerton graduate who was living in South L.A. was responsible, employed and working on a way to pay for graduate school. Detectives, family and friends believe her disappearance is probably related to a psychological problem that surfaced the night of Sept. 16 when Richardson went to Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu, told people she was from Mars and began spouting gibberish.

Detectives interviewed a group of Geoffrey's diners she joined uninvited -- who described her as odd but entertaining -- and her colleagues at the Mercantile Freight office in Santa Fe Springs who last saw her at work the day of her arrest. LAPD Det. Steven Eguchi said they told him that she was "giddy, really giggly. Out of the ordinary."

Richardson's odd behavior -- as well as her failure to pay for a steak and a drink -- prompted restaurant staff members to call sheriff's deputies. Richardson was arrested, then released at 1:25 a.m., having no car, purse or cellphone.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has since come under fire for not holding her for a psychological evaluation. The Los Angeles Police Department is handling the matter as a missing-person case, assigning it to the robbery-homicide division, which has greater resources.

-- Shelby Grad

Photo: Mitrice Richardson; courtesy of the Richardson family

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Comments

[Pepsi]

Prior to Richardson turning up missing my granddaughter was arrested on traffic warrants in Los Angeles she was transfered to Lynwood Sheriffs Stations. My granddaughter called us and told us she was being processed for release but we had to pick her up before 10:00 p.m. becuase the neighhborhood was not safe and the Sheriff would not release her if noone was there to get her prior to 10:00 p.m. That is the policy for the southcentral area. Why was it different for the north county that is isolated? Why did the Sheriff's Dept. choose to change that policy for public safety that particular night in the Richardson case?

[Joshua R. Rosen]

What were they thinking? ( Malibu sheriff's deputies). Not only give Ms. Richardson a psyche evaluation, why release her @ 1:25 am on O.R. with no transportation or communication device. Here we have a relatively good looking woman roaming PCH @ 1:30 am talking martian. You have got to be kidding me? As I see it, MSD is responsible, and should be held accountable.

[pmg]

Yes, let's waste Federal resources by looking for your family member. There is more to the story than the family is letting on.

[Al Gator]

From what I read, when the time came for her to be released it was late, the sheriffs offered to let her stay in the cell until morning and she declined. You can't just keep someone locked up because you think it's a good idea.

About the psyc evaluation. The authorizing section is 5150 wic, says the person has to be an immediate threat to others or theirselves. Not a maybe, or a little off but basically suicidal or homicidal. If you don't believe it look on the streets at all the mentally disturbed that have been psych'd and released.

My hopes and prayers are with this young lady and her family and I understand their anger.

[Quinn]

Law enforcement is not a babysitting service. I'm constantly amazed by families who attempt to fault law enforcement for their own family's failure or the inability of law enforcement to read people's minds. Where was Richardson's family when she was having problems? People don't just develop mental problems instantaneously. This just sounds like another family who will play lawsuit lottery and the taxpayers will end up footing the bill for the family's failure to shepherd their own members.

[Ruby Jackson]

Quinn, I think you're forgetting the "Protect" part of "To Protect and To Serve".

[davidozone]

If she was responsable,employed and a college graduate,then she must have had a vehicle and cell phone.if not then did she take the Bus to work and malibu?If she had no cell phone then did she have a land line.If so then check phone records and interview all calls to and from that telco number.If she had her one call as required by law once at the police station,who was it to?Sounds like she was picked up after her realease by a wierdo,and that wierdo could be a sheriff who purpously realeased her at that time.Do sheriff stations not have outside survalience cameras?If they do and that time frame was not recorded then we have a dirty station.Pretty simple questions that need adressing by the press.The person responsable is the one who took her to malibu,someone at the resteraunt, or the someone at or in the Malibu sheriff's station.Can't believe the Station is not proving its innocents by showing video of her leaving its premises alone,or with unidentified subjects.

[Ana]

Quinn, I am with you on this. The police department is not a babysitter. They have already went through their share of layoffs and the jails are over crowded. Now you want them to take care of your GROWN children? It is horrible that she is missing and I hope she is found safe and alive. If she was having problems, her family should have been there. When someone is having psych-problems, you don't leave them alone. She apparently wasn't psych enough to go to a nice luxurious restaurant. I do feel a lawsuit coming on, what is this world coming too. Everyone trying to get money for anything. No wonder we are in such a financial crisis.

[Alex]

Quinn, Ana and a few others are so off base it is sickening. Read the facts on the case and you will see how wrong you are! Read the LA Times editorial on Nov 23rd. stating that she was not released reasonable and responsibly. She was not in her right mind when she stumbled upon Geoffrey's and she should have been protected. Law enforcement takes ownership of a person they arrest and must look out for their safety. In the sheriffs office in downtown LA you are not allowed to leave after 10PM yet a black woman is allowed to leave at 1:00 AM in the middle of no where. The mere fact she is missing shows this is all wrong! The jail was not overcrowded. She was the only one there. Law enforcement officers are trained "to read other people's minds" - so to speak. They had many resources to call on to evaluate her mental state and did not use one of them. Get the facts before you accuse!!

[mary]

Alex, why don't we have all the facts? Such as the phone calls between Mitrice and her mother, or the mother speaking with the Sheriff station during the time frame that Mitrice was in custody?
Or how about putting some blame on her friends, co-workers, family who supposedly received quite odd emails, texts and such from her all day prior to her going to a restaurant? No, we have the family and friends actually trying to place blame on the restaurant patrons themselves for not offering to take Mitrice under their protective wings?!
This is NOT about blame, it should be about finding Mitrice and then determining why such a lovely young lady would not be comfortable contacting her family. That is an easy deduction for me, based upon the facts as you state where she lived with her elderly grandmother (or great grandmother?) and contacted her for assistance on that fateful evening rather than either of her parents, her other family members or her friends.....or did she and they refused her?
The efforts to find Mitrice so far seem clouded in attacks, racial disparity claims, misguided alignment with other missing CHILDREN cases as an attempt to paint this as a minority issue, and hiding the 'lifestyle' of Mitrice.
Above all, Mitrice is a college educated adult of an age that provides her particular rights and those rights were protected by her release. If you don't like that, good luck trying to change things for "women" as a protected segment of society in any enforcement capacity. The ACLU has made certain that Mitrice had enough freedom to endanger herself.
To Pepsi - your post would have more relevance if you provided your granddaughters age, however, to compare Lynwood and the Lost Hills regions are implausible and laughable. The Lost Hills station is adjacent to a freeway amid plenty of gas stations, stores, restaurants, hotels, offices, etc that offered Mitrice options she seems to have ignored. She walked away from the heavily populated areas but the route she took is by no means isolated and without human presence.

[Sylvia, Malibu]

You are all missiing the point here. In the coolest place on the rim of the West Coast "Malibu", if Ms. Richardson had blond hair, big boobs, and looked like Pam Anderson believe me she would have gotten a ride to the bus station or there would have been some effort to have this young lady home safe. And excuse me, but how really busy is the Malibu Sheriff station, other than busting celebrities for being on drugs or alcohol. As far as I am concerned the Malibu Sheriff's department must be held accountable for what ever happened to this young lady, with it's mishandling of such a thoughtless release. Oh, and bye the way I speak from having knowledge about Police Departments, my mother-in-law worked for the Santa Monica Police Department for 37 years.

[nellie]

when my brother suffered from a mental breakdown i called the sheriff's department -- and they went and found him wandering the streets. they have special units within the department and jails that deal with someone who is having a mental breakdown. it's part of their job and training. if she said she was from mars and speaking gibberish at any point -- she shouldn't have been released into the night as "okay." they can and should have kept her overnight based on her breakdown, which was documented by patrons at the restaurant. their evaluation at one in the morning was not a sound one. quinn is confused about the responsibilities of the sheriff's department to protect and serve. his callous response reminds me of the news report about a woman at the police station telling her parents that they aren't "babysitters." that person should actually be severely reprimanded for that conduct.

[alexa]

apparently mary seems to even know the route the woman took. are you omniscient? hovering above malibu on dark nights monitoring human presence? uh, yeah it's isolated. that's why people enjoy living here. how many times have you seen people walking the canyon roads in the dead of the night.

Pepsi -- your post has relevance. whereas mary's lack of understanding about mental illness is empty, painful and sad to read.

[Michael L. Richardson]

Well as the father of this young lady, you must learn the law. It has been determined by the LAPD investigation that my daughter displayed a character that wasn't normal, (www.bringmitricehome.org) which I've been stating since day one. Because of her strange behavior and all the witnesses, she should have had an assessment in the field, if one was not available she should have been taking to the nearest mental/medical facility for a 51/50 hold. You see ladies and gentleman, it's the law. However if she had not displayed a psych behavior you right not a baby sitting camp. Please visit www.bringmitricehome.org under the facts and get complete details. You see, even though the Sheriff added several days later, the field sobriety test determined Mitrice wasn't drunk. During the investigation they found Mitrice credit cards with several thousands of dollars in her account in her car. Also, based on Mitrice record, she was never to be arrested, these are citiable offenses and to this day, no one can explained why she was even taken to jail. To date, they can't provide evidence that Mitrice entered or exited Lost Hills Station. In light of all of this, Geoffreys turned over their tapes to the lost hills station who now state no tapes exist. The Manager of Geoffreys stated that Mitrice stood out when she came through the door but yet he served her another drink, and made it difficult for someone in Mitrice family able to pay the bill. Well my friends, this is how human trafficking works. But please follow this case because I will be on this relentlessly! Thank you for your comments!

[Joseph W. Walden Jr.]

I normally get pretty worked up in my view of things but let me express my view from a minority's perspective, 1st off socially we dont really have a middle class when comes to wealth
Peoples of any race who are not among the affluent caste will more often than not become subject to crimminal profiling by & abuse by local enforcement officers. Simply put the LAPD/LASD cater to local and media Hollywood celebrities.
Meaning you can win a tri-state lottery and buy that new Boxster Spyder you've always wanted, just to be pulled over, accused of theft and possibly beaten and shot.
The only way to deal with law enforcement is to be self informed know your legal rights, otherwise your are subject to any method of abuse the arresting officer can imagine.
The facts in Mitrice richardson's dissappearence are this,
She was reported to have strange behavior by the employee's of Geoffry's resturant.
The LASD officer's search her vehicle and arrested her for a minor drug charge, ignoring the mental disorder report made by the resturant employee's.
They impounded all of Mitrice's personal processions, purse, id, cell phone, atm/bank card within her vehicle.
The officer's then moved Mitrice Richardson some 60 miles away from her home address to the remote Lost Hills Station next to a National Park, then lied to Mitrice Richardson's mother who had contacted the station several times as to the hour of her release from custody.
Then in a act of complete disregard for her well being released a now proven woman suffering from a severe bi-polar condition into the night at 1am.
Mitrice Richardson was a celebrity and she doesn't need to be, cases like this prove the the offices of the LASD/LAPD have lost all commom sense in regard to public safety.
They purposely placed Mitrice Richardson in harms way because her life meant nothing to them and created this human tradegy we endure today.