Mitrice Richardson, the 24-year-old lesbian arrested in Malibu for allegedly failing to pay an $89 restaurant bill, has been missing since September. That’s when Los Angeles sheriffs released her in Calabasas without a car, phone, or purse — a violation of her civil rights, says Rep. Maxine Waters, who is calling on the Justice Department to investigate her whereabouts.
In a letter sent last week to DoJ, Waters writes, “The roads of Malibu are dark and dangerous at night, and since the Los Angeles Police Department later concluded that Mitrice appeared to be suffering from bipolar disorder that evening, I believe that the circumstances surrounding her disappearance warrant a thorough federal investigation.” Waters initially asked the FBI to investigate; it responded it doesn’t deal with adult missing persons.
Uh, great, let’s begin the missing person’s investigation eight months after the disappearance.
Richardson’s father has already filed a claim against Los Angeles County. Waters’ letter will only help his cause. But more importantly, it could help bring Mitrice home. Prayers, please.
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Jean
Eight months. Is there anything more to be said? Gosh.
Hilarious
This poor woman has been missing a very long time. I’ve been seeing stories about her since day 1. I feel so bad for her and her family. I hope they find her but after all this time I really just don’t know.
The officers responsible for this should pay hard, but I doubt they will. The government just loves to throw a little money and pretend it never happened.
All this over $89. Doesn’t even seem like it should be a police issue. That’s what collections is for.
tjr101
This is sad, there are hardly ever happy endings after such a long period of time. My best wishes to her, her family and friends.
Ian
Well in America we know it’s hardly a surprise that a black lesbian with Bipolar Disorder would take over 8 months to receive even a glimmer of assistance. We in America also know that if she had been straight, white, and as close to jail-bait age as possible, the media and police would have been on this story 24-7.
Ian
Oh yeah, I also forgot blonde, can’t forget that 🙁
j
@Ian: So, so true. There’re times where I’ve been in very vulnerable situations and somehow everything turned out ok. This girl needed the police to look after her and they failed in that duty. Leaving someone in a cold dark street in the middle of the night with no way of contacting anyone or any money is NOT what our tax dollars should go to.
Jaroslaw
I’m not excusing the police for one minute, but there are two separate issues here: the other being the vast majority of restaurants operate on a tiny profit margin and don’t have months to wait for collection agencies. The other subissue is – how did the police get there fast enough to even arrest her? I would imagine one could just walk out of a restaurant. Is there more to the story?
sherrymandalay
There’s going to be another search June 5 and/or 6 fyi.
http://www.findmitrice.info
Dr. Rhonda Hampton- contact # if u have any info
(951)660-8031
It seems to me that when the police are dealing with someone with mental health issues, they are supposed to release them to some local mental health facility…this is what I don’t understand. Also, why didn’t she just get a ticket for public intoxication- all this over $90? Why impound her car? It doesn’t make sense to me. And to release a young woman alone to a dark, unlit industrial area with no money, phone, transportation, etc. just seems so cold and callus. This girl graduated with honors with a degree in psychology. You can’t graduate from college and be a total disaster at the same time. It sounds like she had some problems managing her bipolar disorder that the police just disregarded or didn’t care about. So sad. It just feels like no one is looking out for women anymore. Especially black ones. To the police, it seems like they think we are all crackheads, criminals, or prostitutes, until we prove otherwise. sorry just venting
Hopeful
Thank you for taking the time to share my good friend, Mitrice Richardson story. Although she has been missing for quite sometime, her father and friends at http://www.BringMitriceHome.org are very hopeful that she is indeed alive.
As far as the search, it will be held on Saturday June 5th and Sunday June 6th in the Malibu / Topanga Canyon area.
Searches will run from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Volunteers are needed as well as supplies donations.
Those who would like to take part must be over 18, have a valid ID to register as a volunteer and be dressed for backcountry terrain wearing jeans, long-sleeved shirts, and high boots. Volunteers can sign up by telephone: 323-777-0453. You can also register by email at [email protected].
If anyone would like more information about the many forms of negligence within the case and upcoming events please vist http://www.BringMitriceHome.org– follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/FindMitrice– or join our group on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=158453601982&ref=ts
These three websites are THE ONLY OFFICIAL WEBSITES run directly by her family and close friends, not doctors or those who hardly knew her for over a year before she disappeared. Thank you for your time! God Bless!
jvmfan
This is so sad..don’t watch this clip if you get upset easily. Mitrice’s heartbroken mother breaks down the other night on “Issues.”: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2010/08/13/jvm.latice.richardson.intv.cnn