http://www.bringmitricehome.org/
on 12/6/2010, you missed a rare opportunity to have your issues of concerns with Law Enforcement heard. Note, I did not say resolved, I said heard!
Steve Whitmore graced us with his presence and began to sink down in his seat and cover his face as I spoke about what a fine job he does as a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Department. As you know, Mr. Whitmore does an outstanding job at placing a spin and twist on all actions and activities conducted by Sheriff's personnel, especially when they are "called on the carpet" for any wrong doing and/or for reporting falsified information to the public. Even more appropriately, Michael Gennaco, who was also present, should change their name from Office of Independent Review to Office of Dependent Review.
Sheriff Lee Baca did not refute any of the facts I outlined regarding the way Mitrice was unjustedly mistreated on the night of September 17, 2009 and how I, the father of Mitrice, continue to be unjustedly treated in my efforts to seek answers and justice for my daughter.
~ Michael L. Richardson, father ~
http://www.bringmitricehome.org
Sheriff Lee Baca Confirmed to Attend Town Hall Meeting on Mitrice Richardson
http://www.jasmynecannick.com/blog/?p=9776
Sheriff Lee Baca Confirmed to Attend Town Hall Meeting on Mitrice Richardson
Sheriff Lee Baca Confirmed to Attend Town Hall Meeting on Mitrice Richardson
December 2, 2010
Yes–you read right. Sheriff Lee Baca is confirmed to attend the National Association for Justice and Equality in America’s town hall meeting regarding Mitrice Richardson this Monday.
This might not ever happen again so if you’re in the Los Angeles area, you don’t want to miss it.
Here are the details… and please click the RSVP link if you’re planning on attending. There’s an effort to get Radio Free 102.3 KJLH to broadcast the meeting live and it all depends on how many people are planning to turn out for it.
The Details
Nat’l Assoc. for Justice and Equality in America
Mitrice Richardson Town Hall Meeting
Monday, December 6, 2010
7 p.m.
600 North Alameda Blvd.
Compton, CA 90220
Sheriff Lee Baca Confirmed to Attend Town Hall Meeting on Mitrice Richardson
Sheriff Lee Baca Confirmed to Attend Town Hall Meeting on Mitrice Richardson
December 2, 2010
Yes–you read right. Sheriff Lee Baca is confirmed to attend the National Association for Justice and Equality in America’s town hall meeting regarding Mitrice Richardson this Monday.
This might not ever happen again so if you’re in the Los Angeles area, you don’t want to miss it.
Here are the details… and please click the RSVP link if you’re planning on attending. There’s an effort to get Radio Free 102.3 KJLH to broadcast the meeting live and it all depends on how many people are planning to turn out for it.
The Details
Nat’l Assoc. for Justice and Equality in America
Mitrice Richardson Town Hall Meeting
Monday, December 6, 2010
7 p.m.
600 North Alameda Blvd.
Compton, CA 90220
Coroner Rules Cause of Death for Mitrice Richardson Cannot Be Determined
• Sheriff's Department Says Its Investigation Continues • By Anne Soble
http://malibusurfsidenews.com/stories/201010/201010290001.html
The family of Mitrice Richardson was notified by the Los Angeles County of Coroner that it has closed its investigation in the case of the 24-year-old Los Angeles woman, who went missing after her booking at the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station in September 2009 and was found dead 11 months later, and ruled that a cause of death is undeterminable.
DOC Assistant Chief Ed Winter contacted Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, by telephone Thursday afternoon, and she remains in seclusion after learning the ruling, which also has been communicated to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
Neither the family, nor the LASD, said it has received a copy of the official written report of the DOC's conclusions, which currently is not expected to be available until Friday. The report cannot be released to the public until the family and the LASD have obtained copies of it.
LASD spokesperson Steve Whitmore told the Malibu Surfside News late Thursday, "The case is not closed for the sheriff's department. We still have an ongoing investigation into how her remains ended up where they did. That is ongoing and will continue. "
• Sheriff's Department Says Its Investigation Continues • By Anne Soble
http://malibusurfsidenews.com/stories/201010/201010290001.html
The family of Mitrice Richardson was notified by the Los Angeles County of Coroner that it has closed its investigation in the case of the 24-year-old Los Angeles woman, who went missing after her booking at the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station in September 2009 and was found dead 11 months later, and ruled that a cause of death is undeterminable.
DOC Assistant Chief Ed Winter contacted Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, by telephone Thursday afternoon, and she remains in seclusion after learning the ruling, which also has been communicated to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
Neither the family, nor the LASD, said it has received a copy of the official written report of the DOC's conclusions, which currently is not expected to be available until Friday. The report cannot be released to the public until the family and the LASD have obtained copies of it.
LASD spokesperson Steve Whitmore told the Malibu Surfside News late Thursday, "The case is not closed for the sheriff's department. We still have an ongoing investigation into how her remains ended up where they did. That is ongoing and will continue. "
The Crenshaw Car Wash Teams Up with Michael Richardson, Father of Mitrice Richardson for Fundraiser
WHEN: Saturday, September 11, 2010
TIME: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
COST: Cars $8.99 & vans, trucks, SUVs, limos, and jeeps are $11.99
WHERE: Crenshaw Car Wash (4220 Crenshaw @ Stocker Blvd.)
The famed Crenshaw Car Wash is teaming up with the family of Mitrice Richardson for a car wash to raise money for the fund founded in her name. The body of Mitrice Richardson was found in August in a Malibu Canyon ravine after she disappeared 11 months earlier from the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department. On Saturday, September 11 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., partial proceeds raised will go towards the Mitrice Richardson fund to aid in the inquiry regarding the 25-year-olds mysterious disappearance and death.
“I am a part of this community,” explains Nuriel “Uri” Zeituni, owner of the Crenshaw Car Wash since 1985. “I was so moved by the story of Mitrice Richardson that I wanted to try and do something to help the family. I felt like this was one way I could help give back to the community while offering my condolences.”
“We’re grateful for Uri’s support,” commented Michael Richardson, father of Mitrice Richardson. “It just goes to show you that my daughter’s murder touched everyone—Blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians, men, and women. Through Mitrice, we are all coming together for a bigger cause, justice.”
The cost of each car wash is $8.99, vans, trucks, SUVs, limos, and jeeps are $11.99.
The fundraiser will take place on Saturday, September 11 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Crenshaw Car Wash located at 4220 Crenshaw Blvd. in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.
Mitrice Richardson Vigil ~ Monday · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
It is with great sadness that we must report to the public that the body of Mitrice Richardson, who has been missing since September 17, 2009, was found Monday, August 9, 2010 in a rugged ravine in the city of Malibu, California.
Please join the Richardson family in celebrating the life of Mitrice Richardson with a Candle Light Vigil on Monday, August 16, 2010 at Leimert Park in Los Angeles at 6:00pm. All are welcomed.
We hope that you will join us and if you are not of the area, we would still appreciate your prayers and continued support.
We would sincerely like to thank you for all for your generous amounts of time, positivity, prayers and efforts and would also like you to know that the family and friends of Mitrice Richardson will continue to work to provide Mitrice with the Justice she deserved the night she was released into the darkness of Malibu who no cell phone, identification, money or ride.
Justice for Mitrice Richardson NOW.
www.BringMitriceHome.org
Please Sign Petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/leebaca1/petition.html
Malibu remains identified as Mitrice Richardson, source says - L.A.NOW
VIDEO
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/?watchId=37ae427f-4954-47ff-8557-74ba4a90f63e
The skeletal remains found in Malibu Canyon on Monday afternoon have been identified by authorities as those of Mitrice Richardson, the young woman who vanished nearly a year ago after being released from the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff's Station, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
The identification of the remains, found deep in a ravine by park rangers checking for marijuana plants, apparently brings to a grim close the much-publicized mystery over the whereabouts of the Cal State Fullerton graduate who would have celebrated her 25th birthday this past April.
An official announcement is scheduled at the Sheriff's Department headquarters at 9:15 a.m.
Her arrest for being unable to pay an $89 dinner tab at a Malibu restaurant and her subsequent release in the dark hours of the early morning last Sept. 17 without a car, cellphone or purse sparked widespread criticism of Sheriff's Department personnel and triggered two lawsuits accusing the department of negligence.
Beyond that, her disappearance provoked debate over the L.A. County Sheriff's Department's procedures for releasing people at night as well as whether she should have been held for a mental health evaluation after she acted bizarrely at the restaurant.
And at a time when law enforcement agencies and the media have been accused of devoting less attention to minorities who go missing than to pretty white women who disappear, Richardson — a black woman who was a strikingly attractive former beauty pageant contestant — got extraordinary attention, becoming a high-profile enough case to make the cover of People magazine last fall along with several other missing people.
Over several months, law enforcement carried out four searches — the last being the most extensive ever undertaken by the county -- covering a total of 40 square miles of Malibu Canyon while investigators from the L.A. Police Department spent months tracking clues and were eventually joined by L.A. Sheriff's Department detectives. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas got the county to offer a reward for information leading to her whereabouts. Friends and family followed up on sightings and arranged a fifth search of the canyon by unmanned drones. "If you knew how many buses I've chased down," Ronda Hampton, a psychologist who was friends with Richardson, said recently.
Earlier this summer, Los Angeles investigators scoured Las Vegas for the missing woman after a friend of Richardson's from her teen years said he saw her at a bar in a Las Vegas hotel in June and approached her, calling her by name. The woman looked at him and wordlessly walked away. But investigators called it their best lead to date and held a news conference in Las Vegas pleading with Richardson to come forward and let them know if she was alright.
The bones that were found in the ravine on Monday were about a mile out of the range of the county's last big search for her.
-- Carla Hall and Andrew Blankstein
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/?watchId=37ae427f-4954-47ff-8557-74ba4a90f63e
The skeletal remains found in Malibu Canyon on Monday afternoon have been identified by authorities as those of Mitrice Richardson, the young woman who vanished nearly a year ago after being released from the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff's Station, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
The identification of the remains, found deep in a ravine by park rangers checking for marijuana plants, apparently brings to a grim close the much-publicized mystery over the whereabouts of the Cal State Fullerton graduate who would have celebrated her 25th birthday this past April.
An official announcement is scheduled at the Sheriff's Department headquarters at 9:15 a.m.
Her arrest for being unable to pay an $89 dinner tab at a Malibu restaurant and her subsequent release in the dark hours of the early morning last Sept. 17 without a car, cellphone or purse sparked widespread criticism of Sheriff's Department personnel and triggered two lawsuits accusing the department of negligence.
Beyond that, her disappearance provoked debate over the L.A. County Sheriff's Department's procedures for releasing people at night as well as whether she should have been held for a mental health evaluation after she acted bizarrely at the restaurant.
And at a time when law enforcement agencies and the media have been accused of devoting less attention to minorities who go missing than to pretty white women who disappear, Richardson — a black woman who was a strikingly attractive former beauty pageant contestant — got extraordinary attention, becoming a high-profile enough case to make the cover of People magazine last fall along with several other missing people.
Over several months, law enforcement carried out four searches — the last being the most extensive ever undertaken by the county -- covering a total of 40 square miles of Malibu Canyon while investigators from the L.A. Police Department spent months tracking clues and were eventually joined by L.A. Sheriff's Department detectives. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas got the county to offer a reward for information leading to her whereabouts. Friends and family followed up on sightings and arranged a fifth search of the canyon by unmanned drones. "If you knew how many buses I've chased down," Ronda Hampton, a psychologist who was friends with Richardson, said recently.
Earlier this summer, Los Angeles investigators scoured Las Vegas for the missing woman after a friend of Richardson's from her teen years said he saw her at a bar in a Las Vegas hotel in June and approached her, calling her by name. The woman looked at him and wordlessly walked away. But investigators called it their best lead to date and held a news conference in Las Vegas pleading with Richardson to come forward and let them know if she was alright.
The bones that were found in the ravine on Monday were about a mile out of the range of the county's last big search for her.
-- Carla Hall and Andrew Blankstein
Mitrice Richardson’s Father Snubbed by LAPD Detective in Las Vegas
From Jasmyne Cannick
http://www.jasmynecannick.com/blog/?p=9060
July 30, 2010 · 167 Views · 1 Comment
Michael Richardson on 7/29/2010 Las Vegas Press Conference
Most media doesn’t have the guts and in some cases the know how to report what really happens behind the scenes. That’s just a fact. And watching the news tonight, you might think that everything was honky dory in Las Vegas at the press conference for Mitrice Richardson, but that was from the case. So here’s what you won’t read about in the newspaper or see on the television news report.
Michael Richardson, the father of missing Mitrice Richardson was never notified about yesterday’s press conference in Las Vegas by authorities. He was never invited to the press conference by authorities.
He only found out about the press conference through Los Angeles Times reporter Carla Hall who inquired if he was planning on going.
He was now, he thought.
Michael has taken the rest of the week off from work because when he got off work Wednesday evening, he purchased a one-way ticket on Southwest Airlines for $161 to Las Vegas leaving Thursday morning at 6:15 a.m. He paid for the ticket himself with money collected from supporters online and at a recent fundraiser in Leimert Park. He booked a room in downtown Las Vegas near the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department where he was told the press conference would be.
He arrived in Las Vegas without incident and caught a taxicab to his hotel. By then he had received word that the press conference for 11 a.m. was now going to be 22 miles away from where he was staying.
After confirming this was the case—by way of a three-way call with a very hostile Las Vegas Police Officer in charge of the event who actually asked Michael if he’d gotten permission to come to Las Vegas and participate in the press conference for his own missing daughter—Michael paid $45 dollars taxicab fare one way to get there.
As timing would have it, when his taxicab arrived in front of the Enterprise Area Command Center, LAPD Detective Chuck Knolls happened to be out front—Michael believes waiting on him.
Detective Knolls told Michael that he could not participate in the joint press conference between the LAPD, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departments but that if he so wanted in the 108 degree whether, he could hold his own press conference outside.
So that’s just what he did. He let the media known himself that he was Mitrice’s father who came in from Los Angeles but wasn’t allowed to go to the police’s press conference but that he’d be happy to talk to them outside in the 108 degree weather about his daughter, including the fact that he’d reported seeing her in January to the same detectives who are now “hot on the case.”
Michael will be in Las Vegas for the rest of week to look for his daughter.
Why is it that when it comes to news about his daughter, Michael Richardson has to hear about on the news or from news reporters? Why is it that the LAPD and LASD personnel assigned to his daughter’s case continue to keep him in the dark and act as if he’s a pain in their ass when it’s actually the other way around? Do you think that the LAPD and LASD would have acted this way if they were dealing with a white mother and father looking for their white daughter? Who tells the parents of a missing person that the y are not welcome at a press conference to talk about a sighting of their missing daughter. Who does that?
Something to think about.
Please pray, chant, sprinkle holy water, light an incense, give up an offering at the altar, or whatever it is that you do to the higher being of your belief for Michael Richardson and Mitrice’s family.
Some of us would have been underneath the jail by now had they blocked us from participating in searching for our own child…I’m just saying.
http://www.jasmynecannick.com/blog/?p=9060
July 30, 2010 · 167 Views · 1 Comment
Michael Richardson on 7/29/2010 Las Vegas Press Conference
Most media doesn’t have the guts and in some cases the know how to report what really happens behind the scenes. That’s just a fact. And watching the news tonight, you might think that everything was honky dory in Las Vegas at the press conference for Mitrice Richardson, but that was from the case. So here’s what you won’t read about in the newspaper or see on the television news report.
Michael Richardson, the father of missing Mitrice Richardson was never notified about yesterday’s press conference in Las Vegas by authorities. He was never invited to the press conference by authorities.
He only found out about the press conference through Los Angeles Times reporter Carla Hall who inquired if he was planning on going.
He was now, he thought.
Michael has taken the rest of the week off from work because when he got off work Wednesday evening, he purchased a one-way ticket on Southwest Airlines for $161 to Las Vegas leaving Thursday morning at 6:15 a.m. He paid for the ticket himself with money collected from supporters online and at a recent fundraiser in Leimert Park. He booked a room in downtown Las Vegas near the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department where he was told the press conference would be.
He arrived in Las Vegas without incident and caught a taxicab to his hotel. By then he had received word that the press conference for 11 a.m. was now going to be 22 miles away from where he was staying.
After confirming this was the case—by way of a three-way call with a very hostile Las Vegas Police Officer in charge of the event who actually asked Michael if he’d gotten permission to come to Las Vegas and participate in the press conference for his own missing daughter—Michael paid $45 dollars taxicab fare one way to get there.
As timing would have it, when his taxicab arrived in front of the Enterprise Area Command Center, LAPD Detective Chuck Knolls happened to be out front—Michael believes waiting on him.
Detective Knolls told Michael that he could not participate in the joint press conference between the LAPD, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departments but that if he so wanted in the 108 degree whether, he could hold his own press conference outside.
So that’s just what he did. He let the media known himself that he was Mitrice’s father who came in from Los Angeles but wasn’t allowed to go to the police’s press conference but that he’d be happy to talk to them outside in the 108 degree weather about his daughter, including the fact that he’d reported seeing her in January to the same detectives who are now “hot on the case.”
Michael will be in Las Vegas for the rest of week to look for his daughter.
Why is it that when it comes to news about his daughter, Michael Richardson has to hear about on the news or from news reporters? Why is it that the LAPD and LASD personnel assigned to his daughter’s case continue to keep him in the dark and act as if he’s a pain in their ass when it’s actually the other way around? Do you think that the LAPD and LASD would have acted this way if they were dealing with a white mother and father looking for their white daughter? Who tells the parents of a missing person that the y are not welcome at a press conference to talk about a sighting of their missing daughter. Who does that?
Something to think about.
Please pray, chant, sprinkle holy water, light an incense, give up an offering at the altar, or whatever it is that you do to the higher being of your belief for Michael Richardson and Mitrice’s family.
Some of us would have been underneath the jail by now had they blocked us from participating in searching for our own child…I’m just saying.
From Pasadena Weekly
The handwriting on the wall
Racist murals depicting black women in sexual situations are found during the latest search for Mitrice Richardson
By André Coleman , Justin Chapman 07/22/2010
The search for Mitrice Richardson has taken a bizarre racial turn, the Pasadena Weekly has learned, with a group searching the last places Richardson was seen discovering an isolated drainage culvert in unincorporated Calabasas covered with degrading murals of nude African-American women, some bearing a resemblance to the missing woman.
The site, located in Monte Nido, is near the home of veteran Los Angeles newsman Bill Smith, formerly of KTLA Channel 5, who reported seeing a woman who looked like Richardson sitting on the back steps of his home some five hours after Richardson was released from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station — located about 12 miles from there — the morning of Sept. 17. Smith could not be reached for comment by press time.
The 24-year-old Richardson, a dean’s list graduate of Cal State Fullerton who has been caring for her aging great-grandmother and has bi-polar disorder, was in custody briefly on Sept. 16 for allegedly skipping out on an $89 tab for meals for two people at Geoffrey’s Restaurant in Malibu at 10 p.m. A resident of South Los Angeles, she was released shortly after midnight the following morning without a phone, money or transportation to her home, where she was living with her great-grandmother.
Her car, which was parked at the restaurant, was impounded the next day, said her mother. Inside the vehicle was her cell phone and purse, she said.
A search party led by Maurice Dubois, father of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who was kidnapped and murdered in February 2009, discovered the disturbing graffiti June 6. Authorities painted over it soon afterward.
Pasadena’s Shirley Spencer, television producer Chip Croft and Dr. Ronda Hampton, a psychologist and mentor to Richardson, also helped organize the search party.
According to Hampton, the search ventured so far away from where Richardson was released because a few hours after she was released Smith called the Sheriff’s Department to report a woman fitting Richardson’s description in his backyard at approximately
6 a.m. Believing this was the last known sighting of Richardson, the search party checked a number of sites in the area.
According to Richardson’s mother, Latice Sutton, trained dogs picked up Richardson’s scent just down the street from Smith’s home, but lost it on that block. The Sheriff’s Department is continuing its investigation of the racist murals, which the missing woman’s mother and others remain convinced are somehow tied to Richardson’s disappearance.
“We certainly hope the Sheriff’s Department conducts a full, thorough, detailed investigation,” said Croft. “They definitely should check for fingerprints, as there would likely have been some left on the paint tools,” he said of some of the implements left behind at the scene. The perpetrators left paint can lids, brushes, feces, toilet paper and other evidence in the isolated, mountainous area. Searchers had previously put out a call for volunteers to look for Richardson, and whoever did this could have known the search was being conducted that day.
“These images are hateful and degrading to African-American women and are obviously the work of a very sick, deranged mind,” said Croft. “Also, I feel analysis of the paint could determine the time of application, the manufacturers and ultimately point of sale,” he said. “This is another reason for the FBI to come in. Plus, this is potential evidence of a hate crime. So now we need to keep pressure on the sheriff’s detectives to be sure they take this seriously and conduct the best possible investigation.”
According to Richard French of the LAPD media relations office, the LAPD has become involved in the case because Richardson is a resident of Los Angeles. Sutton filed the original missing person report at the Malibu/Lost Hills Station and, after discussing the case with the missing woman’s family, Sheriff Lee Baca had his detectives open a homicide investigation.
“His theory is that it would offer more resources to detectives if he assigned it to homicide,” said Sutton, a resident of Diamond Bar. “They say they have no proof that Mitrice is deceased. I think that’s ludicrous. They must have some evidence of foul play. They don’t just give away extra resources.”
In December, Congresswoman Maxine Waters sent a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller requesting that the FBI “open an investigation into Mitrice’s disappearance and the circumstances surrounding her arrest, detention and release from the custody of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff Station,” according to her letter. The letter goes on to say that “there are questions as to whether the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station acted properly in releasing this young woman during the pre-dawn hours without money or transportation, all while she was suffering from what the Los Angeles Police Department’s doctors have concluded to be bipolar disorder.”
On June 29, attorney Leo Terrell filed a lawsuit against LA County and individual deputies alleging negligence in releasing Richardson without a ride or resources the night she disappeared. Filed on behalf of Richardson and her mother, the suit alleges that the Sheriff’s Department committed negligent and discriminatory acts that caused Richardson’s disappearance.
“Mitrice was going through a mental crisis at the time of her arrest,” said Sutton. “I watched the booking video and it’s very clear from her behavior that someone should have known that there was something going on with her. She passed the field sobriety test, but the sheriffs never had an answer for her behavior. She had a severe bipolar episode. Absolutely, they should have referred her to a psychiatric evaluation.”
She added that she personally witnessed an unidentified uniformed deputy in the video leave the station right after Mitrice was released. He followed her out the same door and walked in the same direction Mitrice went.
The Sheriff’s Department has since declined to release the videotape. The Pasadena Weekly has filed a state Public Records Act request to gain access to that tape. The paper has obtained digital images of the racist murals.
“With this lawsuit, we hope to subpoena the Sheriff’s Department to get them to release that booking video and other related documents,” said Sutton. “We’re trying to hold them accountable for misleading us, for withholding information and not gathering information. They also tell us that when we go to the media, we impede the investigation. If we didn’t go to the media, we wouldn’t have gotten a lot of the information we have now. Of course, the sheriffs go to media when it suits them and makes them look good.”
Spencer, a longtime local activist and head of the Friends of the Pasadena Commission on the Status of Women who has been working with Richardson’s family and pushing the Sheriff’s Department to do more on the case, was shaken after seeing the images firsthand.
“It seems that the images were painted in anticipation of being discovered by the searchers,” said Spencer, who was there when the group walked onto the scene. “I have had difficulty finding words to express my shock in seeing this sick creation.”
On July 13, the LA County Board of Supervisors renewed a $10,000 reward for information leading to Richardson’s whereabouts. The city of Malibu has offered a $15,000 reward.
Mitrice’s father, 43-year-old Michael Richardson of Hawthorne, who was not married to Sutton, said he has been in contact with sheriff’s investigators and does not believe his daughter is dead. He blames the young woman’s mother for what happened to his daughter.
He also does not think it is right to sue the county over his daughter’s disappearance.
“There’s some gross negligence on the part of my daughter’s mother,” said Michael Richardson. “This is not publicity or fun, this is my kid. There is some fault on the part of the sheriffs, but her mother could have got her ass up and got her that night. If you start blaming people, then you have to claim some accountability also. This is my damn daughter.”
He said the last time he saw his daughter was at a barbeque a couple weeks before her disappearance and that Mitrice was exhibiting bizarre behavior before the incident at the restaurant in Malibu.
According to the Malibu Surfside News, which published a story containing edited versions of the murals, Capt. Joe Stephen of the Lost Hills station said deputies are looking at the monikers the taggers used and are comparing the murals with samples in their database.
Mitrice’s father doesn’t believe the graffiti is connected to his daughter’s disappearance. According to both parents, Lt. Andrew Rosso of the Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the murals.
“I think Mitrice is having a nervous breakdown and someone is capitalizing on it,” Michael Richardson said. “I wouldn’t even say someone is holding her against her will. If someone has her, they may not even be holding her against her will. They could be feeding her drugs to keep her under their control.” He added that Mitrice did not have a history of drug use.
Mitrice’s mother believes wholeheartedly that the murals are connected in some way to her daughter’s disappearance because the search party widely publicized that they would be searching in that area prior to the search. She noted that Michael Richardson was not part of the search and did not even know about the murals until she told him about them. According to his own Web site, Michael Richardson has been repeatedly asked by detectives to provide a DNA sample, but he has refused to do so. “Haven’t we learned anything from Mark Fuhrman,” he wrote, referring to the former LAPD officer in the OJ Simpson murder case accused of tampering with blood evidence.
“I most certainly believe they are connected to Mitrice, whether it’s the person who took her in that area or someone who knows what’s going on,” said Sutton. “I don’t think it’s coincidental. Taggers normally want their work to be seen and this was such an isolated area. Of course, the authorities think it’s a far-reaching theory.”
Sutton does, however, agree in part with Michael Richardson that it is possible Mitrice is being held against her will. She said anyone who knows Mitrice would say that she would not willingly run away from home.
“I don’t have any recent communications with Michael,” Sutton said. “Our interactions are very contentious. I do believe Mitrice had a nervous breakdown.
If she is not deceased, someone is definitely holding her against her will. She loves me and her sister more than anyone on this planet. She wouldn’t willingly let us believe she’s dead if she wasn’t.”
These photos were taken of a wall down the street from Malibu Sheriff's station, and along the road Mitrice was last seen walking. Your Participation in the Mitrice Raffle for a Private Investigator is needed. After viewing these pictures, you should be outraged at the manner in which the Sheriff is conducting the Mitrice Richardson investigation. Private Investigation is warranted.
Michael Richardson Tell's The Truth About The Face to Face Meeting with Congresswoman Maxine Waters On 5/10/10
Well, I did not ambush the Congresswoman as stated in a recent article out of Malibu. I find it very hard to ambush someone wearing a button down dress shirt, slacks, and a pair of Coach Loafers. I simply attended a press conference that was announced on KJLH Front Page earlier that morning that the Congresswoman would attend. I called her LA Office and asked could they send her a text message asking her could I have two (2) minutes of her time while she's walking to her car, (my phone bill will reflect). When the Congresswoman came out I approached her with a camera in which she asked that I put away and she would talk with me and I immediately complied. I just thought it would be great to post on www.bringmitricehome.org to show supporters that she did in fact speak with me. I first thanked the Congresswoman for all of her help and then went into my concerns with how some of the things were done. A couple of words were shared about it and we moved on to discussing a possibility of implementing Mitrice Law on a County, State and Federal level which will eliminate prisoners of any race, creed or color from being released as Mitrice was. She explained what steps needed to be taken before this could happen. After answering all of my questions I thanked her for her time and left.
Although we learned that Mitrice did not reside in Congresswoman Maxine Waters district but she was willing to help was great! However, my concerns about how things was handled and the importance of what I as the father is doing to bring Mitrice home come from her residents that are in her district. It has nothing to do with credit but everything to do with hope and here’s why, a lot of people do not understand is I have a lot riding on this entire situation. There are fathers out here connecting with me daily telling me I'm a voice and an example for fathers like them. These guys think I speak and write well (which I disagree with) and a positive example of how to handle a situation that could outrage a community. When you have fathers that approach you and tell you, “man I wish I could handle myself like you because I have custody of my children and every time the police have to get involve they automatically handcuff me not knowing the mother is in violation of a restraining order. Yes the cuffs come off and then their placed on the mother but black fathers are automatically depicted as the abandoned parents. I hear stories like this daily! These fathers think no one hears them nor cares.
I'm out here promising these fathers in Congresswoman Waters District, and other places such as the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center that I will not do anything stupid and I will fight my daughter’s situation with intelligence and tact. With all of this positivity and support, we are hit with a bombshell, an article written about me in Malibu Surfside Newspaper depicting me as an absent father, among anything else you can think of negative. Since the release of that article, my phone calls now consist of, "you see man they don't give a damn about us.” For a minute I agreed, but we are back on track; Yes I feel like David fighting Goliath the Giant, but God has led me to my rock, and it states, stay strong and fearless in your search for your daughter and all the lies, untruths, and defamation of character about you against your daughter will be revealed in the court of law, and based on information you have provided, there’s some people who will have a whole lot of explaining to do! God is good not some of the time but all the time!” All my life nothing has ever been easy for me, but I learned very early everything I have is because I had to fight and work extremely hard and I mean extremely hard for. I will prevail, I promise!
~ Michael L. Richardson, Father ~
Although we learned that Mitrice did not reside in Congresswoman Maxine Waters district but she was willing to help was great! However, my concerns about how things was handled and the importance of what I as the father is doing to bring Mitrice home come from her residents that are in her district. It has nothing to do with credit but everything to do with hope and here’s why, a lot of people do not understand is I have a lot riding on this entire situation. There are fathers out here connecting with me daily telling me I'm a voice and an example for fathers like them. These guys think I speak and write well (which I disagree with) and a positive example of how to handle a situation that could outrage a community. When you have fathers that approach you and tell you, “man I wish I could handle myself like you because I have custody of my children and every time the police have to get involve they automatically handcuff me not knowing the mother is in violation of a restraining order. Yes the cuffs come off and then their placed on the mother but black fathers are automatically depicted as the abandoned parents. I hear stories like this daily! These fathers think no one hears them nor cares.
I'm out here promising these fathers in Congresswoman Waters District, and other places such as the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center that I will not do anything stupid and I will fight my daughter’s situation with intelligence and tact. With all of this positivity and support, we are hit with a bombshell, an article written about me in Malibu Surfside Newspaper depicting me as an absent father, among anything else you can think of negative. Since the release of that article, my phone calls now consist of, "you see man they don't give a damn about us.” For a minute I agreed, but we are back on track; Yes I feel like David fighting Goliath the Giant, but God has led me to my rock, and it states, stay strong and fearless in your search for your daughter and all the lies, untruths, and defamation of character about you against your daughter will be revealed in the court of law, and based on information you have provided, there’s some people who will have a whole lot of explaining to do! God is good not some of the time but all the time!” All my life nothing has ever been easy for me, but I learned very early everything I have is because I had to fight and work extremely hard and I mean extremely hard for. I will prevail, I promise!
~ Michael L. Richardson, Father ~
RESULTS FROM MAXINE WATERS CAME ABOUT AFTER MICHAEL RICHARDSON'S COMMITTEE MEMBERS WROTE THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DISABILITY SECTION
Although the supporters of The Committee To Find Mitrice Richardson (http://www.bringmitricehome.org) are very grateful for Congresswoman Maxine Waters assistance, the record needs to be made clear in regard to her level of support where the Department of Justice is concerned.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters would have her constituents believe that she has worked tirelessly to garner the cooperation of the Department of Justice in support of Mitrice Richardson’s disappearance. The Fact Is – that is an untruth.
On April 7, 2010 Michael Richardson submitted a letter to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Section of Disability Rights. This letter included 5,300 signatures from a Change.org petition. Michael Richardson submitted this letter to the Disability Rights section of the DOJ at the suggestion of Nancy Lockhart, M.J., a legal analyst working with his committee. (http://www.nancylockhart.blogspot.com) As a result, a letter campaign was initiated and a sample letter was posted for supporters of The Committee To Find Mitrice. This letter was initially e-mailed, faxed and mailed to President Obama and the US Justice Department by numerous supporters.
The Fact Is – On May 6th Waters constructed a letter to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Section of Disability Rights – A month after Michael Richardson initiated this action. Waters has simply acted upon the countless hours of research that The Committee To Find Mitrice Richardson members have conducted.
The Fact Is – Waters has not shown an interest in this case since her letter to the FBI dated December 22, 2009. Five months later she grabs the ball and runs with Michael Richardson’s resources.
On May 10, 2010, Michael Richardson met face to face with congresswoman Maxine Waters as she left the press conference of Reggie Jones – Sawyer. Jones-Sawyer is running for the Democratic nomination to the 47th State Assembly District.
Upon approaching the congresswoman she hid behind one of her staff members stating that she would speak with Michael Richardson if he removed the camera and recorder. Richardson immediately complied. Upon introducing himself to Waters she stated that she knew who Michael Richardson was. In addition she stated “You’re the one who has been using up all of my staff’s time regarding your daughter’s case.” Richardson responded – “isn’t that what my tax dollars are for?” In addition, Richardson stated “it would not be necessary if you and your staff would at least return a phone call.” Waters replied, “they do” at this point Richardson asked, “are you calling me a liar?” The conversation progressed to a discussion regarding the next steps which involved the Department of Justice findings within the next couple of weeks. Richardson then requested that Waters not go behind his back and undermine the hard work which is continuously places in his daughters case. Richardson stated that it’s a “slap in his face” and thanked Waters for her time.
Again, Congresswoman Water’s assistance is appreciated.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters would have her constituents believe that she has worked tirelessly to garner the cooperation of the Department of Justice in support of Mitrice Richardson’s disappearance. The Fact Is – that is an untruth.
On April 7, 2010 Michael Richardson submitted a letter to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Section of Disability Rights. This letter included 5,300 signatures from a Change.org petition. Michael Richardson submitted this letter to the Disability Rights section of the DOJ at the suggestion of Nancy Lockhart, M.J., a legal analyst working with his committee. (http://www.nancylockhart.blogspot.com) As a result, a letter campaign was initiated and a sample letter was posted for supporters of The Committee To Find Mitrice. This letter was initially e-mailed, faxed and mailed to President Obama and the US Justice Department by numerous supporters.
The Fact Is – On May 6th Waters constructed a letter to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Section of Disability Rights – A month after Michael Richardson initiated this action. Waters has simply acted upon the countless hours of research that The Committee To Find Mitrice Richardson members have conducted.
The Fact Is – Waters has not shown an interest in this case since her letter to the FBI dated December 22, 2009. Five months later she grabs the ball and runs with Michael Richardson’s resources.
On May 10, 2010, Michael Richardson met face to face with congresswoman Maxine Waters as she left the press conference of Reggie Jones – Sawyer. Jones-Sawyer is running for the Democratic nomination to the 47th State Assembly District.
Upon approaching the congresswoman she hid behind one of her staff members stating that she would speak with Michael Richardson if he removed the camera and recorder. Richardson immediately complied. Upon introducing himself to Waters she stated that she knew who Michael Richardson was. In addition she stated “You’re the one who has been using up all of my staff’s time regarding your daughter’s case.” Richardson responded – “isn’t that what my tax dollars are for?” In addition, Richardson stated “it would not be necessary if you and your staff would at least return a phone call.” Waters replied, “they do” at this point Richardson asked, “are you calling me a liar?” The conversation progressed to a discussion regarding the next steps which involved the Department of Justice findings within the next couple of weeks. Richardson then requested that Waters not go behind his back and undermine the hard work which is continuously places in his daughters case. Richardson stated that it’s a “slap in his face” and thanked Waters for her time.
Again, Congresswoman Water’s assistance is appreciated.
Birthday Celebration 5/2/2010
Hello Everyone,
As you know today is my daughter’s 25th Birthday. As many of you know she has been missing since September 17, 2009. I am very positive and prayerful about what’s going on with her. So to celebrate, I will be given her a 25th Birthday party at Leimert Park, Sunday, May 2, 2010 from 4-7 p.m. Nothing sad, because that’s not my scene. I will be celebrating just as we normally do. I would love for you to come out and share a piece a cake in her honor.
Should you have any questions, feel free in contacting me at 310-283-4717 and always visit her website, www.bringmitricehome.org for all the latest updates and information. You can also follow me on twitter.com/mitricefather
Respectfully Yours,
Michael L. Richardson
As you know today is my daughter’s 25th Birthday. As many of you know she has been missing since September 17, 2009. I am very positive and prayerful about what’s going on with her. So to celebrate, I will be given her a 25th Birthday party at Leimert Park, Sunday, May 2, 2010 from 4-7 p.m. Nothing sad, because that’s not my scene. I will be celebrating just as we normally do. I would love for you to come out and share a piece a cake in her honor.
Should you have any questions, feel free in contacting me at 310-283-4717 and always visit her website, www.bringmitricehome.org for all the latest updates and information. You can also follow me on twitter.com/mitricefather
Respectfully Yours,
Michael L. Richardson
Drone to search Malibu canyons for Mitrice Richardson
April 8, 2010 | 9:25 am
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/04/drone-to-search-malibu-canyons-for-missing-woman-mitrice-richardson.html
A team of engineers from San Diego State University will use a small unmanned aircraft Thursday to search for a missing woman in Malibu.
The drone, equipped with high-resolution cameras, will be able to dip into canyons that search teams have had difficulty accessing by helicopter and on foot, said Chip Croft, who has helped lead the search for Mitrice Richardson since she went missing in September.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will assist with the drone search and helped cover the costs to bring it to Malibu, Croft said.
The drone, which is from SDSU’s Immersive Visualization Center, has been used in the past to find the remains of missing people after traditional search efforts fail. Croft, who is a working on a documentary about Richardson’s disappearance, said he first learned about the drone after talking to the family of Amber Dubois, an Escondido teenager who disappeared last year.
The drone was used in the high-profile search for Chelsea King, a San Diego teenager who went missing Feb. 25.
Richardson, 24, a Cal State Fullerton graduate, disappeared after she was released from the Malibu-Lost Hills sheriff's station after midnight on Sept. 17, 2009, without a car, purse or cellphone. Richardson had been arrested earlier that night at a Malibu restaurant for not paying her bill. Restaurant staff told police she was acting strangely.
Authorities have searched the hills and canyons of Malibu several times. So far, they have found no trace of her.
-- Kate Linthicum
Booking Cage Video of Mitrice Richardson Generates New Family Concerns~ By Anne Soble
http://malibusurfsidenews.com/stories/201004/201004010002.html
Booking Cage Video of Mitrice Richardson Generates New Family Concerns
• Mother Demands Information on Deputy Apparently Leaving Station Right After the Missing Woman
BY ANNE SOBLE’
A series of citywide all-volunteer field searches for the Los Angeles woman who disappeared after a Malibu restaurant incident led to her being booked on two misdemeanor charges at the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Sept. 16, 2009, took place last Sunday but produced no new leads.
Mitrice Richardson, 24, a Cal State Fullerton honors graduate, was released from Lost Hills shortly after midnight the next day with no money or cell phone. Her purse was in her impounded car in the Malibu tow yard.
Richardson had been arrested at Geoffrey’s restaurant for not paying a dinner bill. Staff and diners indicated she was acting bizarrely and speaking gibberish.
Several official agency search efforts, including local search and rescue teams, covered areas surrounding the Lost Hills station but there has not been a single clue to her whereabouts.
Latice Sutton, the mother of Mitrice Richardson who agrees with medical assessment that her daughter might have been experiencing a bipolar onset, and a circle of relatives and friends say they are growing impatient with what they see as foot-dragging by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the City of Los Angeles Police Department—the agency in charge of what is still classified as a missing person case six months later.
Last Sunday’s volunteer search teams were in Malibu, Calabasas, Santa Monica, Venice, Hollywood, Skid Row and the South Central area on a sunny afternoon to distribute flyers and ask people if they might have seen the missing woman.
Family members say they continue to be buffeted by a broad spectrum of official views that run the gamut from being told to accept that Richardson is dead—the “she succumbed to the elements” theory—to hearing inferences that she is alive somewhere and does not want to be found.
Latice Sutton speaks out in frustration about the implications of both views, which she thinks are largely devised to get the family to back out of the picture and cease its ongoing efforts to keep Richardson’s name in the spotlight.
On Monday, Sutton, and her close friend and the young woman’s college mentor, psychologist Ronda Hampton, were among the small group shown an approximately two-hour videotape, the existence of which was first adamantly denied by the LASD, but is now reluctantly acknowledged.
In a conference call with the Malibu Surfside News on Tuesday, Sutton contended that the video “supports [my] theory that [sheriff’s] officers could very likely be involved in my daughter’s disappearance.”
She says, “Two minutes after the jailer walked back from letting [Richardson] out the station’s side door, an officer in uniform went outside the station.” Sutton says, “He might have offered her a ride back to her car, but didn’t do that.”
She says her daughter appears stressed in the “booking cage,” the mesh-enclosed holding pen for the booking process. “She clutches at the mesh screening and is rocking side-to-side like a small child.”
Sutton adds, “It looks as if she can’t make the telephone calls that the redacted booking records say she attempted to place to her great grandmother Mildred Harris,” who has told family members she did not receive any calls from Lost Hills the night Richardson was booked.
Sutton says it then seems as if her daughter is seeking assistance from personnel, and “is being ignored.”
Richardson is said to be tugging at strands of her hair. “Clearly something is very wrong,” Hampton assesses. “This is not normal behavior.” At one point, “[Richardson] appears to be trying to get into a fetal position face down on the concrete.”
Another aspect of the viewing that disturbs Sutton is that she says she was told by Lt. Michael Rosson, now the lead LASD investigator on the case, that the reason her daughter had to be taken to Lost Hills was because she had no identification on her, but the booking slip indicates that she had her California’s driver license and it was returned to her after the booking process was completed.
But what the women describe as “sending chills down [their] spines” was something they didn’t see at first that was spotted by Sutton’s nephew, Jonathan Sutton, “Who noticed that as the tape finished rolling and everyone’s attention was focused on Rosson, a uniformed deputy can be seen exiting the station right after Richardson left.”
They asked that the tape be shown again, and those present say, “There is no doubt that is what is on the tape minutes after [Richardson] was released.” Since that is not a routine shift time change for deputies, the women are interpreting this ominously.
Sutton is now aggressively asking that the arresting deputies and all personnel at the Lost Hills station that night and early morning be investigated.
Hampton adds that there appear to be what she calls “blips” in the tape, which she thinks indicate the possibility of editing.
The videographer who accompanied the women to the LASD meeting was not allowed to film the video with his equipment.
Additional information about the case is available on the mother’s website at www.findmitrice.info; the father Michael Richardson’s website at www.bringmitricehome.org; or by contacting Dr. Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031; or LAPD Homicide Lt. Charles Knolls and Detective Steven Eguchi at 213-486-6900.
Booking Cage Video of Mitrice Richardson Generates New Family Concerns
• Mother Demands Information on Deputy Apparently Leaving Station Right After the Missing Woman
BY ANNE SOBLE’
A series of citywide all-volunteer field searches for the Los Angeles woman who disappeared after a Malibu restaurant incident led to her being booked on two misdemeanor charges at the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Sept. 16, 2009, took place last Sunday but produced no new leads.
Mitrice Richardson, 24, a Cal State Fullerton honors graduate, was released from Lost Hills shortly after midnight the next day with no money or cell phone. Her purse was in her impounded car in the Malibu tow yard.
Richardson had been arrested at Geoffrey’s restaurant for not paying a dinner bill. Staff and diners indicated she was acting bizarrely and speaking gibberish.
Several official agency search efforts, including local search and rescue teams, covered areas surrounding the Lost Hills station but there has not been a single clue to her whereabouts.
Latice Sutton, the mother of Mitrice Richardson who agrees with medical assessment that her daughter might have been experiencing a bipolar onset, and a circle of relatives and friends say they are growing impatient with what they see as foot-dragging by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the City of Los Angeles Police Department—the agency in charge of what is still classified as a missing person case six months later.
Last Sunday’s volunteer search teams were in Malibu, Calabasas, Santa Monica, Venice, Hollywood, Skid Row and the South Central area on a sunny afternoon to distribute flyers and ask people if they might have seen the missing woman.
Family members say they continue to be buffeted by a broad spectrum of official views that run the gamut from being told to accept that Richardson is dead—the “she succumbed to the elements” theory—to hearing inferences that she is alive somewhere and does not want to be found.
Latice Sutton speaks out in frustration about the implications of both views, which she thinks are largely devised to get the family to back out of the picture and cease its ongoing efforts to keep Richardson’s name in the spotlight.
On Monday, Sutton, and her close friend and the young woman’s college mentor, psychologist Ronda Hampton, were among the small group shown an approximately two-hour videotape, the existence of which was first adamantly denied by the LASD, but is now reluctantly acknowledged.
In a conference call with the Malibu Surfside News on Tuesday, Sutton contended that the video “supports [my] theory that [sheriff’s] officers could very likely be involved in my daughter’s disappearance.”
She says, “Two minutes after the jailer walked back from letting [Richardson] out the station’s side door, an officer in uniform went outside the station.” Sutton says, “He might have offered her a ride back to her car, but didn’t do that.”
She says her daughter appears stressed in the “booking cage,” the mesh-enclosed holding pen for the booking process. “She clutches at the mesh screening and is rocking side-to-side like a small child.”
Sutton adds, “It looks as if she can’t make the telephone calls that the redacted booking records say she attempted to place to her great grandmother Mildred Harris,” who has told family members she did not receive any calls from Lost Hills the night Richardson was booked.
Sutton says it then seems as if her daughter is seeking assistance from personnel, and “is being ignored.”
Richardson is said to be tugging at strands of her hair. “Clearly something is very wrong,” Hampton assesses. “This is not normal behavior.” At one point, “[Richardson] appears to be trying to get into a fetal position face down on the concrete.”
Another aspect of the viewing that disturbs Sutton is that she says she was told by Lt. Michael Rosson, now the lead LASD investigator on the case, that the reason her daughter had to be taken to Lost Hills was because she had no identification on her, but the booking slip indicates that she had her California’s driver license and it was returned to her after the booking process was completed.
But what the women describe as “sending chills down [their] spines” was something they didn’t see at first that was spotted by Sutton’s nephew, Jonathan Sutton, “Who noticed that as the tape finished rolling and everyone’s attention was focused on Rosson, a uniformed deputy can be seen exiting the station right after Richardson left.”
They asked that the tape be shown again, and those present say, “There is no doubt that is what is on the tape minutes after [Richardson] was released.” Since that is not a routine shift time change for deputies, the women are interpreting this ominously.
Sutton is now aggressively asking that the arresting deputies and all personnel at the Lost Hills station that night and early morning be investigated.
Hampton adds that there appear to be what she calls “blips” in the tape, which she thinks indicate the possibility of editing.
The videographer who accompanied the women to the LASD meeting was not allowed to film the video with his equipment.
Additional information about the case is available on the mother’s website at www.findmitrice.info; the father Michael Richardson’s website at www.bringmitricehome.org; or by contacting Dr. Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031; or LAPD Homicide Lt. Charles Knolls and Detective Steven Eguchi at 213-486-6900.
PRESS CONFERENCE MARCH 16TH 10:45AM-11:00AM ~ WEST TEMPLE STREET, LOS ANGELES
============
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MICHAEL RICHARDSON
Website: www.bringmitricehome.org
E-Mail: applicantmlrich@aol.com
MICHAEL RICHARDSON DISCUSSES CONTINUED POLICE NEGLIGENCE AND FILING CLAIM ON MISSING DAUGHTER - MITRICE RICHARDSON
Los Angeles, California ---- A press conference will be held on Tuesday March 16, 2010 from 10:45am to 11:00am in front of Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration – 500 West Temple Street. Michael Richardson, the father of missing Mitrice Richardson will discuss continued police negligence and cover up, on behalf of the sheriff department. Richardson will also discuss lack of communication with the sheriff and elected officials employed by our tax dollars. “The very system that I pay taxes into is failing me,” Richardson says. Richardson says that it has become impossible to have telephone calls returned and questions answered.
I Always Knew the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriffs Were Providing Me with Untruths and Deception-- So What Do We Do About It?
Believe it or not, I knew early on that the Sheriff department was withholding information about video tapes and additional information regarding Mitrice. Our Congresswoman makes statements about working with the family for the ears and eyes of the public, but behind the scenes - refuses to return phone calls from any of Mitrice's family members. When speaking to other Elected Officials, responses are "Mitrice Who?" It is therefore quite clear that our Congresswoman is not working in our interest.
This is all very discouraging and does not lend to any compassion or leaves me totally comfortless, especially where dignitaries, who claim to know our communities and want to do what is best for the people who reside in these communities. I continue to do my homework and I feel that I need to prepare myself for a long, long battle in finding my daughter because no one is listening to my cry --- now it is time to yell from the mountain tops and do what it takes to find my daughter and I will not rest until this is fully accomplished!!!
I am hurt, disappointed, disgusted and angry at the steps a father must take to obtain the ears of local officials.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MICHAEL RICHARDSON
Website: www.bringmitricehome.org
E-Mail: applicantmlrich@aol.com
MICHAEL RICHARDSON DISCUSSES CONTINUED POLICE NEGLIGENCE AND FILING CLAIM ON MISSING DAUGHTER - MITRICE RICHARDSON
Los Angeles, California ---- A press conference will be held on Tuesday March 16, 2010 from 10:45am to 11:00am in front of Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration – 500 West Temple Street. Michael Richardson, the father of missing Mitrice Richardson will discuss continued police negligence and cover up, on behalf of the sheriff department. Richardson will also discuss lack of communication with the sheriff and elected officials employed by our tax dollars. “The very system that I pay taxes into is failing me,” Richardson says. Richardson says that it has become impossible to have telephone calls returned and questions answered.
I Always Knew the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriffs Were Providing Me with Untruths and Deception-- So What Do We Do About It?
Believe it or not, I knew early on that the Sheriff department was withholding information about video tapes and additional information regarding Mitrice. Our Congresswoman makes statements about working with the family for the ears and eyes of the public, but behind the scenes - refuses to return phone calls from any of Mitrice's family members. When speaking to other Elected Officials, responses are "Mitrice Who?" It is therefore quite clear that our Congresswoman is not working in our interest.
This is all very discouraging and does not lend to any compassion or leaves me totally comfortless, especially where dignitaries, who claim to know our communities and want to do what is best for the people who reside in these communities. I continue to do my homework and I feel that I need to prepare myself for a long, long battle in finding my daughter because no one is listening to my cry --- now it is time to yell from the mountain tops and do what it takes to find my daughter and I will not rest until this is fully accomplished!!!
I am hurt, disappointed, disgusted and angry at the steps a father must take to obtain the ears of local officials.
Michael Richardson - Father of Mitrice Richardson Will Meet with Committee of Independent Review This Week
Mr Richardson has agreed to meet with members of the Office of Independent Review this week. Mr. Richardson will also submit a list of (25) twenty-five questions to Congresswoman Maxine Waters' http://waters.house.gov office as they have requested. This intensive list of (25) twenty-five questions has been requested to justify why the FBI should be involved in the missing persons case of Mitrice Richardson and is written from a misconduct perspective, rather than simply a missing persons case.
The above mentioned request is a result of a phone call received after the media informed the public that Mr. Richardson has never received a return phone call from Waters' office.
Mr. Richardson states that his agenda also entails surprise visits to Black "leaders" seeking re election, those so called leaders have done absolutely nothing as it relates to Mitrice Richardson's missing persons case.
Please visit Mr. Richardson's website at: http://www.bringmitricehome.org
The above mentioned request is a result of a phone call received after the media informed the public that Mr. Richardson has never received a return phone call from Waters' office.
Mr. Richardson states that his agenda also entails surprise visits to Black "leaders" seeking re election, those so called leaders have done absolutely nothing as it relates to Mitrice Richardson's missing persons case.
Please visit Mr. Richardson's website at: http://www.bringmitricehome.org
President Obama To Appear On America's Most Wanted This Saturday - Chelsea King
President Obama will be on America's most wanted this Saturday, March 6th, discussing Chelsea King, Mitrice Richardson is not mentioned anywhere. The Father of Mitrice is outraged and calls for campaign to AMW. Please contact through the link below. Ask that AMW - America's Most Wanted - Cover The Mitrice Richardson case also.
http://www.amw.com/contact/
White Female Found in 5 Days…167 Days Later Still No News in Disappearance of Mitrice Richardson, http://www.jasmynecannick.com/blog/?p=8476
About Mitrice
ABOUT MITRICE
Age: 24
Sex: Female
Height: 5’ 5”
Weight: 125 lbs.
Race: Black
Missing From: Malibu, CA
Date Missing: 9/17/2009
Education: BA Degree in Psychology, 4.0 Grade Average
Hobbies: Singing, Dancing and Performing Arts
Tattoos: Lower abdomen, Chinese looking symbol on back of neck, wording Tessa and paw prints on stomach
I Always Knew the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriffs Were Providing Me with Untruths and Deception-- So What Do We Do About It?
2/12/2010 - Father of Mitrice States:
I Always Knew the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriffs Were Providing Me with Untruths and Deception-- So What Do We Do About It?
Billboard Campaign
Believe it or not, I knew early on that the Sheriffs were withholding information about video tapes and additional information regarding Mitrice. According to Malibu Surfside News under Sheriff's and Public Safety Page 14, Sheriffs routinely use video coverage for evidence. How is it they have video citing a person for loud music and nothing for a missing person? When you're directly involved you tend to pay close attention, and the Sheriff's Spokesperson has modified his reports surrounding Mitrice's disappearance at least a dozen times since day one. Our Congresswoman make statements about working with the family for the ears and eyes of the public, but then refuses to return phone calls from any of Mitrice's family members. When speaking to other Elected Officials, responses are "Mitrice Who?"
This is all very discouraging and does not lend to any compassion or leaves me totally comfortless, especially where dignitaries, who claim to know our communities and want to do what is best for the people who reside in these communities. I continue to do my homework and I feel that I need to prepare myself for a long, long battle in finding my daughter because no one is listening to my cry --- now it is time to yell from the mountain tops and do what it takes to find my daughter and I will not rest until this is fully accomplished!!!
I am hurt, diappointed, digusted and angry at the steps you must take to get local officials to listen to a citizen of their community and more importantedly what it takes to warrant any assistance in a matter that is as serious as this is.
Many residents of Lost Hills/Malibu have contacted me and shared their experiences with the same Sheriffs with me. The problem is most of them are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation. Well, as many of you know, "if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."
Malibu Residents, this is an invitation to e-mail me at mvrichardson@bringmitricehome.org and share your experiences and complaints that have been ignored or placed in the trash, or your children were later retaliated against. If you do not believe you should be involved with what happens in your community, just take a look of some examples (below) that you should be outraged over. Why is the public shield from this information?
I Always Knew the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriffs Were Providing Me with Untruths and Deception-- So What Do We Do About It?
Billboard Campaign
Believe it or not, I knew early on that the Sheriffs were withholding information about video tapes and additional information regarding Mitrice. According to Malibu Surfside News under Sheriff's and Public Safety Page 14, Sheriffs routinely use video coverage for evidence. How is it they have video citing a person for loud music and nothing for a missing person? When you're directly involved you tend to pay close attention, and the Sheriff's Spokesperson has modified his reports surrounding Mitrice's disappearance at least a dozen times since day one. Our Congresswoman make statements about working with the family for the ears and eyes of the public, but then refuses to return phone calls from any of Mitrice's family members. When speaking to other Elected Officials, responses are "Mitrice Who?"
This is all very discouraging and does not lend to any compassion or leaves me totally comfortless, especially where dignitaries, who claim to know our communities and want to do what is best for the people who reside in these communities. I continue to do my homework and I feel that I need to prepare myself for a long, long battle in finding my daughter because no one is listening to my cry --- now it is time to yell from the mountain tops and do what it takes to find my daughter and I will not rest until this is fully accomplished!!!
I am hurt, diappointed, digusted and angry at the steps you must take to get local officials to listen to a citizen of their community and more importantedly what it takes to warrant any assistance in a matter that is as serious as this is.
Many residents of Lost Hills/Malibu have contacted me and shared their experiences with the same Sheriffs with me. The problem is most of them are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation. Well, as many of you know, "if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."
Malibu Residents, this is an invitation to e-mail me at mvrichardson@bringmitricehome.org and share your experiences and complaints that have been ignored or placed in the trash, or your children were later retaliated against. If you do not believe you should be involved with what happens in your community, just take a look of some examples (below) that you should be outraged over. Why is the public shield from this information?
REWARD
There is currently a $25,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Mitrice Richardson.
Los Angeles County - $10,000
Sup. Mark Ridley-Thomas (2nd District) and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 29 authorized a $10,000 reward for information leading to Mitrice's whereabouts.
City of Malibu - $15,000
The Malibu City Council established a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson.
Los Angeles County - $10,000
Sup. Mark Ridley-Thomas (2nd District) and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 29 authorized a $10,000 reward for information leading to Mitrice's whereabouts.
City of Malibu - $15,000
The Malibu City Council established a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson.
Mitrice Richardson’s Father Challenges Attorney’s Negligence Claims Filed against Los Angeles County
Malibu Surfside News - News Alert
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Mitrice Richardson’s Father Challenges Attorney’s Negligence Claims Filed against Los Angeles County
• Charges and Countercharges Could Have Impact on Case of Woman Missing for Over Four Months
BY ANNE SOBLE
What is already acknowledged as a terrible tragedy, in that a young woman was arrested on two otherwise citable misdemeanor counts, transported to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Sept. 16, ostensibly released at 12:30 a.m. the next day, and now has been missing for over four months, has taken on a new dimension as her separated parents and the attorney who seemingly represented them pro bono are engaged in a heated public dispute.
Latice Sutton and Michael Richardson are the parents of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson, the Cal State Fullerton honors graduate who medical experts think may have been experiencing a bout of severe mental illness when she engaged in what was described as totally unusual behavior for her, which included acting bizarrely and not paying an $89.51 dinner tab at Geoffrey’s restaurant in Malibu.
The parents, who never married, have for the most part presented a united front when claiming that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department acted negligently in allowing the young woman to leave the Lost Hills Station alone, on foot (her vehicle was impounded in Malibu), poorly attired for cold weather and without money or her cell phone, which was kept by the LASD for as yet undisclosed reasons.
This front appeared to have broken down when civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, who has repeatedly appeared with both parents at rallies and press conferences, indicated that he filed separate claim papers for the mother and father on Jan. 6, the first step in a possible lawsuit against Los Angeles County for negligence. The form names nine sheriff’s deputies, as well as “all persons” who had contact with Mitrice Richardson during any stage of her arrest, booking or release process. No sum for damages is indicated in the paperwork.
When the filing became public in the media and was described as a family claim, Michael Richardson sent out emails and put a post on his blog saying that this information is incorrect.
Michael Richardson’s post states that he “has not filed a claim” and adds, “Leo Terrell has not been retained by Michael Richardson, does not represent Michael Richardson and never has represented Michael Richardson.”
In a subsequent email to the Malibu Surfside News, Michael Richardson said, “Add that the father is appalled that an attorney would do something like this in this day and age. I can’t believe that people are still doing [Mitrice Richardson] wrong even with her being missing. This was ugly and tacky, and it has turned a lot of people off from wanting to continue with the search and [following up on] what the sheriff’s [deputies] did to her that night.”
The father said filing the claim encourages those people who “believe I am just another black person they can throw some money at to buy some gold and a Cadillac and I will be happy. This time I want justice and to find my daughter at this time. I still need those who believe as I do, that Mitrice Richardson still can be found.”
Leo Terrell on Tuesday responded that if Richardson does not remove these comments from his blog and “if he doesn’t retract his statements, I will take legal action.” Terrell said he served as the father’s attorney until Jan. 14 and is so described on the man’s website, in numerous broadcast interviews, including Terrell’s own radio program, in communications with the county, and countless other contexts. He noted that after that date, Richardson retained separate counsel, Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris and Hoffman, with whom Terrell is in contact and has told, “I will sue him for slander if he continues this.”
Terrell said he filed the paperwork for separate claims for each parent. He said Michael Richardson has been asking him to file for months. “Even now, when I asked Richardson if he wants his claim withdrawn, he said no.”
Terrell said Michael Richardson was largely out of his daughter’s life for about 10 years until she was 13. The father counters that the pair are now close, he is the one who emphasizes that she is alive and he has overseen the effort to get federal involvement in the search for her. The father said he prefers to act on his own rather than work with other family members. which he added may have ruffled feathers.
Terrell stressed that no one should interpret the filing to be an indication that anyone believes that Mitrice Richardson is dead. He said the timing of the filing was necessary to protect family members’ legal rights to seek redress.
Both the LASD and the Los Angeles Police Department—the lead agency in what is still a missing person case—previously stated that peripheral family issues do not impact the agencies’ determination to find the missing woman.
Terrell expressed concern that the public dispute over the claim filing could impact public interest in the missing woman’s case. If any consensus remains, it is that everyone wants Mitrice Richardson to be found soon, so she can take whatever legal action she wants to take on her own behalf.
posted by MalibuSurfsideNews @ 4:49 PM
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Mitrice Richardson’s Father Challenges Attorney’s Negligence Claims Filed against Los Angeles County
• Charges and Countercharges Could Have Impact on Case of Woman Missing for Over Four Months
BY ANNE SOBLE
What is already acknowledged as a terrible tragedy, in that a young woman was arrested on two otherwise citable misdemeanor counts, transported to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Sept. 16, ostensibly released at 12:30 a.m. the next day, and now has been missing for over four months, has taken on a new dimension as her separated parents and the attorney who seemingly represented them pro bono are engaged in a heated public dispute.
Latice Sutton and Michael Richardson are the parents of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson, the Cal State Fullerton honors graduate who medical experts think may have been experiencing a bout of severe mental illness when she engaged in what was described as totally unusual behavior for her, which included acting bizarrely and not paying an $89.51 dinner tab at Geoffrey’s restaurant in Malibu.
The parents, who never married, have for the most part presented a united front when claiming that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department acted negligently in allowing the young woman to leave the Lost Hills Station alone, on foot (her vehicle was impounded in Malibu), poorly attired for cold weather and without money or her cell phone, which was kept by the LASD for as yet undisclosed reasons.
This front appeared to have broken down when civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, who has repeatedly appeared with both parents at rallies and press conferences, indicated that he filed separate claim papers for the mother and father on Jan. 6, the first step in a possible lawsuit against Los Angeles County for negligence. The form names nine sheriff’s deputies, as well as “all persons” who had contact with Mitrice Richardson during any stage of her arrest, booking or release process. No sum for damages is indicated in the paperwork.
When the filing became public in the media and was described as a family claim, Michael Richardson sent out emails and put a post on his blog saying that this information is incorrect.
Michael Richardson’s post states that he “has not filed a claim” and adds, “Leo Terrell has not been retained by Michael Richardson, does not represent Michael Richardson and never has represented Michael Richardson.”
In a subsequent email to the Malibu Surfside News, Michael Richardson said, “Add that the father is appalled that an attorney would do something like this in this day and age. I can’t believe that people are still doing [Mitrice Richardson] wrong even with her being missing. This was ugly and tacky, and it has turned a lot of people off from wanting to continue with the search and [following up on] what the sheriff’s [deputies] did to her that night.”
The father said filing the claim encourages those people who “believe I am just another black person they can throw some money at to buy some gold and a Cadillac and I will be happy. This time I want justice and to find my daughter at this time. I still need those who believe as I do, that Mitrice Richardson still can be found.”
Leo Terrell on Tuesday responded that if Richardson does not remove these comments from his blog and “if he doesn’t retract his statements, I will take legal action.” Terrell said he served as the father’s attorney until Jan. 14 and is so described on the man’s website, in numerous broadcast interviews, including Terrell’s own radio program, in communications with the county, and countless other contexts. He noted that after that date, Richardson retained separate counsel, Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris and Hoffman, with whom Terrell is in contact and has told, “I will sue him for slander if he continues this.”
Terrell said he filed the paperwork for separate claims for each parent. He said Michael Richardson has been asking him to file for months. “Even now, when I asked Richardson if he wants his claim withdrawn, he said no.”
Terrell said Michael Richardson was largely out of his daughter’s life for about 10 years until she was 13. The father counters that the pair are now close, he is the one who emphasizes that she is alive and he has overseen the effort to get federal involvement in the search for her. The father said he prefers to act on his own rather than work with other family members. which he added may have ruffled feathers.
Terrell stressed that no one should interpret the filing to be an indication that anyone believes that Mitrice Richardson is dead. He said the timing of the filing was necessary to protect family members’ legal rights to seek redress.
Both the LASD and the Los Angeles Police Department—the lead agency in what is still a missing person case—previously stated that peripheral family issues do not impact the agencies’ determination to find the missing woman.
Terrell expressed concern that the public dispute over the claim filing could impact public interest in the missing woman’s case. If any consensus remains, it is that everyone wants Mitrice Richardson to be found soon, so she can take whatever legal action she wants to take on her own behalf.
posted by MalibuSurfsideNews @ 4:49 PM
Michael Richardson Has Not Filed A Claim Against L.A. County
============
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MICHAEL RICHARDSON
641-715-3900 Extension 74090
MICHAEL RICHARDSON HAS NOT FILED A CLAIM AGAINST L.A.COUNTY
Los Angeles, California ---- Several media outlets have reported that Michael Richardson is a party to a multi million dollar claim against Los Angeles County. The claim, filed by a California attorney, alleges that personnel from the sheriff department acted negligently upon releasing Mitrice Richardson at 12:30 a.m. on the morning of September 17th 2009. Mitrice was released from the Lost Hills Sheriff department and has not been seen since.
Michael Richardson has not filed a claim. An attorney has not been retained by Michael Richardson, an attorney is not representing Michael Richardson and never has represented Michael Richardson in this matter. On January 13, 2010, Carla Hall published an article in the Los Angeles Times which states the contrary. Hall states that Terrell filed a claim in behalf of Richardson’s mother, father and her estate. The claim was not filed in behalf of Mitrice’s father.
Michael Richardson maintains that the article written by Carla Hall does not reflect or, represent any current actions, thoughts or, deeds as they apply to the mission of finding his daughter.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MICHAEL RICHARDSON
641-715-3900 Extension 74090
MICHAEL RICHARDSON HAS NOT FILED A CLAIM AGAINST L.A.COUNTY
Los Angeles, California ---- Several media outlets have reported that Michael Richardson is a party to a multi million dollar claim against Los Angeles County. The claim, filed by a California attorney, alleges that personnel from the sheriff department acted negligently upon releasing Mitrice Richardson at 12:30 a.m. on the morning of September 17th 2009. Mitrice was released from the Lost Hills Sheriff department and has not been seen since.
Michael Richardson has not filed a claim. An attorney has not been retained by Michael Richardson, an attorney is not representing Michael Richardson and never has represented Michael Richardson in this matter. On January 13, 2010, Carla Hall published an article in the Los Angeles Times which states the contrary. Hall states that Terrell filed a claim in behalf of Richardson’s mother, father and her estate. The claim was not filed in behalf of Mitrice’s father.
Michael Richardson maintains that the article written by Carla Hall does not reflect or, represent any current actions, thoughts or, deeds as they apply to the mission of finding his daughter.
FBI Will NOT Join Mitrice Richardson's Investigation - Father Speaks About Lazy Sheriff Department
Family Is Told FBI Will Not Join Mitrice Richardson Investigation: Major Field Search Yields No Clues to Missing Woman’s Whereabouts
• Family Expresses Appreciation for Saturday’s Effort But Still Holds LASD’s Feet to the Fire
BY ANNE SOBLE
Over 300 members of highly trained and well-equipped search and rescue crews from Los Angeles County and other Southland communities combed an 18-square-mile area of rugged terrain in Malibu Canyon last Saturday and found no new clues to the whereabouts of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson, who has been missing since Sept. 17.
The 10-hour search, coordinated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, included teams on foot, horseback. mountain bikes and all-terrain vehicles. The LASD Rescue 5 helicopter transported crew members into what would otherwise be inaccessible terrain.
Family members gathered at the search command post, including Richardson’s parents, Latice Sutton and Michael Richardson. They thanked the agencies and volunteers for their efforts, even as they continue to hold the LASD responsible for their daughter’s disappearance.
Mitrice Richardson, a Cal State Fullerton honors graduate preparing to begin substitute teaching and start graduate work in clinical psychology, mysteriously vanished after reportedly walking out of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at 12:25 a.m. on Sept. 17, 40 miles from her home. She was alone, inadequately attired for cold weather, and without money, cell phone or means of transportation.
Richardson had been booked at Lost Hills on two misdemeanor counts after being placed under citizen’s arrest the evening of Sept. 16 by personnel at Geoffrey’s restaurant for one of the counts—not paying an $89.51 dinner tab.
Richardson’s father says he “was told by Lost Hills that the restaurant’s manager insisted that she be taken in for booking.”
The young woman’s speech and behavior were described by people at the restaurant as “crazy,” but at Lost Hills, LASD personnel said she was lucid and they had no cause to detain her.
The second count was for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana that was reportedly found when deputies searched the woman’s car, which was then impounded, even though both of the charged allegations are usually field citations.
Journal entries found in that vehicle during a subsequent search have been interpreted by mental health professionals to show Richardson may have experienced days of sleep deprivation and was exhibiting signs of mental illness, possibly bipolar disorder.
Michael Richardson is also asserting that he has since determined that his daughter’s vehicle was experiencing mechanical problems, which might explain her being in Malibu when she was.
He told the Malibu Surfside News that the mechanical issue “makes those sheriff’s deputies and the Geoffrey’s manager liars.” He indicated that he will soon make “more information about the car and what it might mean public.”
FBI DENIES REQUEST
Richardson’s father also told The News this week that Sheriff Lee Baca informed him on Tuesday that the FBI has denied a request to become involved in the investigation.
Family members have been adamant that the FBI must be brought into the investigation—currently under the direction of the LAPD because Richardson is a Los Angeles resident—as it has not addressed numerous inconsistencies in official statements.
Michael Richardson said, “The FBI is the only agency that can investigate all 20 of the inconsistencies and suspicions “[connected with LASD spokesperson] Steve Whitmore, [Lost Hills Sheriff’s] Captain Tom Martin and the officers on duty the night of Mitrice’s disappearance.”
Congressmember Maxine Waters, in whose district the woman resides, had asked the FBI to look into the circumstances of her arrest, as well as the handling of her booking and release from LASD custody.
The father said he now wants “a federal grand jury, where individuals can go to jail for perjury and possibly lose their pensions and careers. Only then, will people start talking.”
LASD CRITICISM
Michael Richardson paraphrased the LASD stance as one of, “Just keep your mouth shut, they don’t have anything. The father is just shooting off at the mouth. We can fix this as long as no one breaks under pressure.”
The missing woman’s father maintains, “People are just hoping I go away, but Sheriff Baca is not going to save these people. They’re going to jail. It’s taking longer because Sheriff Baca would rather put on the show he did Saturday, than have it hit the air waves that his precious deputies did something wrong to Mitrice Richardson.”
The missing woman’s official LAPD description is “African-American with brown hair and hazel eyes. Five-feet-five to five-feet-six inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds.” She was last seen wearing a Bob Marley dark T-shirt and blue jeans.
For more information, see Latice Sutton’s website at www.findmitrice.info, Michael Richardson’s site at www. bringmitricehome.org, or contact Dr. Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031, or LAPD Homicide Lieut. Charles Knolls or Detective Steven Eguchi at 213-486-6900.
• Family Expresses Appreciation for Saturday’s Effort But Still Holds LASD’s Feet to the Fire
BY ANNE SOBLE
Over 300 members of highly trained and well-equipped search and rescue crews from Los Angeles County and other Southland communities combed an 18-square-mile area of rugged terrain in Malibu Canyon last Saturday and found no new clues to the whereabouts of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson, who has been missing since Sept. 17.
The 10-hour search, coordinated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, included teams on foot, horseback. mountain bikes and all-terrain vehicles. The LASD Rescue 5 helicopter transported crew members into what would otherwise be inaccessible terrain.
Family members gathered at the search command post, including Richardson’s parents, Latice Sutton and Michael Richardson. They thanked the agencies and volunteers for their efforts, even as they continue to hold the LASD responsible for their daughter’s disappearance.
Mitrice Richardson, a Cal State Fullerton honors graduate preparing to begin substitute teaching and start graduate work in clinical psychology, mysteriously vanished after reportedly walking out of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at 12:25 a.m. on Sept. 17, 40 miles from her home. She was alone, inadequately attired for cold weather, and without money, cell phone or means of transportation.
Richardson had been booked at Lost Hills on two misdemeanor counts after being placed under citizen’s arrest the evening of Sept. 16 by personnel at Geoffrey’s restaurant for one of the counts—not paying an $89.51 dinner tab.
Richardson’s father says he “was told by Lost Hills that the restaurant’s manager insisted that she be taken in for booking.”
The young woman’s speech and behavior were described by people at the restaurant as “crazy,” but at Lost Hills, LASD personnel said she was lucid and they had no cause to detain her.
The second count was for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana that was reportedly found when deputies searched the woman’s car, which was then impounded, even though both of the charged allegations are usually field citations.
Journal entries found in that vehicle during a subsequent search have been interpreted by mental health professionals to show Richardson may have experienced days of sleep deprivation and was exhibiting signs of mental illness, possibly bipolar disorder.
Michael Richardson is also asserting that he has since determined that his daughter’s vehicle was experiencing mechanical problems, which might explain her being in Malibu when she was.
He told the Malibu Surfside News that the mechanical issue “makes those sheriff’s deputies and the Geoffrey’s manager liars.” He indicated that he will soon make “more information about the car and what it might mean public.”
FBI DENIES REQUEST
Richardson’s father also told The News this week that Sheriff Lee Baca informed him on Tuesday that the FBI has denied a request to become involved in the investigation.
Family members have been adamant that the FBI must be brought into the investigation—currently under the direction of the LAPD because Richardson is a Los Angeles resident—as it has not addressed numerous inconsistencies in official statements.
Michael Richardson said, “The FBI is the only agency that can investigate all 20 of the inconsistencies and suspicions “[connected with LASD spokesperson] Steve Whitmore, [Lost Hills Sheriff’s] Captain Tom Martin and the officers on duty the night of Mitrice’s disappearance.”
Congressmember Maxine Waters, in whose district the woman resides, had asked the FBI to look into the circumstances of her arrest, as well as the handling of her booking and release from LASD custody.
The father said he now wants “a federal grand jury, where individuals can go to jail for perjury and possibly lose their pensions and careers. Only then, will people start talking.”
LASD CRITICISM
Michael Richardson paraphrased the LASD stance as one of, “Just keep your mouth shut, they don’t have anything. The father is just shooting off at the mouth. We can fix this as long as no one breaks under pressure.”
The missing woman’s father maintains, “People are just hoping I go away, but Sheriff Baca is not going to save these people. They’re going to jail. It’s taking longer because Sheriff Baca would rather put on the show he did Saturday, than have it hit the air waves that his precious deputies did something wrong to Mitrice Richardson.”
The missing woman’s official LAPD description is “African-American with brown hair and hazel eyes. Five-feet-five to five-feet-six inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds.” She was last seen wearing a Bob Marley dark T-shirt and blue jeans.
For more information, see Latice Sutton’s website at www.findmitrice.info, Michael Richardson’s site at www. bringmitricehome.org, or contact Dr. Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031, or LAPD Homicide Lieut. Charles Knolls or Detective Steven Eguchi at 213-486-6900.
Search for Mitrice Richardson draws 300 volunteers to Malibu Canyon
Search for Mitrice Richardson draws 300 volunteers to Malibu Canyon
January 9, 2010 | 2:10 pm
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/search-for-mitrice-richardson-draws-300-volunteers-to-malibu-canyon.html
Mitrice map More than 300 volunteers on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicles joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department today to scour the Malibu Canyon area for traces of Mitrice Richardson, who has been missing for nearly four months.
Sheriff's officials described the search as among the largest ever conducted by the department, taking in an 18-square-mile area of ridges, canyons and trails. A team of divers even searched a dam pool in the area. The volunteers are trained in search and rescue operations and were combing mountain areas east and west of Malibu Canyon and north to Mulholland Highway.
This is the fourth search for Richardson, who was arrested for not paying an $89 dinner bill at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu. She was released from custody at 12:30 a.m. without her car at the sheriff's Malibu-Lost Hills Station. After Los Angeles police detectives learned that Richardson was probably suffering from a severe mental disorder at the time of her Sept. 17 disappearance, they requested Saturday's renewed search effort.
"The assumption right now is that we are searching for evidence, clues, anything that can help solve this mystery," said Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore. "It's not a question of whether she's alive; it's about looking for clues."
Both of Richardson's parents publicly thanked searchers while they waited for news at the search command post in Malibu Creek State Park. In a clearing, a giant Sikorsky helicopter picked up searchers to ferry them to remote areas.
"My thoughts as to where Mitrice is right now? My thoughts are many," said her mother, Latice Sutton. "Pretty much anything you can think of, I've already thought of.... I'm going to always hope and believe Mitrice is out there."
--Carla Hall, reporting from Malibu Canyon
January 9, 2010 | 2:10 pm
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/search-for-mitrice-richardson-draws-300-volunteers-to-malibu-canyon.html
Mitrice map More than 300 volunteers on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicles joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department today to scour the Malibu Canyon area for traces of Mitrice Richardson, who has been missing for nearly four months.
Sheriff's officials described the search as among the largest ever conducted by the department, taking in an 18-square-mile area of ridges, canyons and trails. A team of divers even searched a dam pool in the area. The volunteers are trained in search and rescue operations and were combing mountain areas east and west of Malibu Canyon and north to Mulholland Highway.
This is the fourth search for Richardson, who was arrested for not paying an $89 dinner bill at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu. She was released from custody at 12:30 a.m. without her car at the sheriff's Malibu-Lost Hills Station. After Los Angeles police detectives learned that Richardson was probably suffering from a severe mental disorder at the time of her Sept. 17 disappearance, they requested Saturday's renewed search effort.
"The assumption right now is that we are searching for evidence, clues, anything that can help solve this mystery," said Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore. "It's not a question of whether she's alive; it's about looking for clues."
Both of Richardson's parents publicly thanked searchers while they waited for news at the search command post in Malibu Creek State Park. In a clearing, a giant Sikorsky helicopter picked up searchers to ferry them to remote areas.
"My thoughts as to where Mitrice is right now? My thoughts are many," said her mother, Latice Sutton. "Pretty much anything you can think of, I've already thought of.... I'm going to always hope and believe Mitrice is out there."
--Carla Hall, reporting from Malibu Canyon
Searchers to comb Malibu Canyon area for Mitrice Richardson
Searchers to comb Malibu Canyon area for Mitrice Richardson
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/searchers-to-comb-malibu-canyon-area-for-mitrice-richardson.html
January 9, 2010 | 6:30 am
Law enforcement authorities are undertaking their most ambitious search this morning for Mitrice Richardson, the young woman who disappeared in the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 17 after being released from the Lost Hills sheriff's substation in Calabasas.
Richardson, who LAPD detectives now think was suffering from a severe form of bipolar disease, was arrested at the Malibu restaurant Geoffrey's when she could not pay her dinner bill.
An estimated 300 trained volunteers, aided by dogs, will fan out across the rugged terrain in the Malibu Canyon area where Richardson is believed to have been spotted on foot by a couple of area residents in the early morning of her release. An equine search unit as well as helicopters will join the search.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is coordinating the search at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department, which took the lead in the search for her months ago. This is the third organized search the Sheriff's Department has undertaken.
"We're looking for additional clues," said Police Det. Chuck Knolls, one of two detectives who have been investigating Richardson's disappearance. "Clothing, anything that may indicate she was out there. We can only hope for that. If she's out there, she probably has succumbed to the elements."
The search was scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. and may last until dusk, depending on the weather. Unlike in the currently frigid parts of the country, the obstacle facing the searchers in Malibu Canyon is excessive heat. "If it's overcast, they can keep the horses and dogs out longer," Knolls said.
--Carla Hall
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/searchers-to-comb-malibu-canyon-area-for-mitrice-richardson.html
January 9, 2010 | 6:30 am
Law enforcement authorities are undertaking their most ambitious search this morning for Mitrice Richardson, the young woman who disappeared in the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 17 after being released from the Lost Hills sheriff's substation in Calabasas.
Richardson, who LAPD detectives now think was suffering from a severe form of bipolar disease, was arrested at the Malibu restaurant Geoffrey's when she could not pay her dinner bill.
An estimated 300 trained volunteers, aided by dogs, will fan out across the rugged terrain in the Malibu Canyon area where Richardson is believed to have been spotted on foot by a couple of area residents in the early morning of her release. An equine search unit as well as helicopters will join the search.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is coordinating the search at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department, which took the lead in the search for her months ago. This is the third organized search the Sheriff's Department has undertaken.
"We're looking for additional clues," said Police Det. Chuck Knolls, one of two detectives who have been investigating Richardson's disappearance. "Clothing, anything that may indicate she was out there. We can only hope for that. If she's out there, she probably has succumbed to the elements."
The search was scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. and may last until dusk, depending on the weather. Unlike in the currently frigid parts of the country, the obstacle facing the searchers in Malibu Canyon is excessive heat. "If it's overcast, they can keep the horses and dogs out longer," Knolls said.
--Carla Hall
A Father's Search 108 Days - From ReelUrbanNews.Com
In the one hundred eighth day of his daughter’s disappearance, ReelUrbanNews.com conducted an exclusive interview with Michael Richardson, father of missing person Mitrice Richardson. Richardson discussed the merits of his daughter’s missing person case becoming a homicide investigation following his meeting with Los Angeles County Sheriff, Lee Baca. Richardson stated with certainty that he believes the sheriff department deputes who arrested Mitrice on the evening of September 16, 2009, are persons of interest in his daughter’s homicide investigation. “I wouldn’t be asking for the FBI’s help if I didn’t think that!”
Richardson admitted not seeing his daughter in 108 days has been troubling. However, he feels closer to Mitrice now than ever before. “I come into this living room and dim the lights, no radio and no television and have one of the most real conversations with Mitrice, and she’s telling me, ‘Dad I’m all right. I don’t know what’s going on, but I need you to find me.’ Where that’s coming from I have no idea.”
Copy and Paste Link Below To View Interview
http://reelurbannews.com/main.html?src=%2Findex2.html#2,0
Richardson admitted not seeing his daughter in 108 days has been troubling. However, he feels closer to Mitrice now than ever before. “I come into this living room and dim the lights, no radio and no television and have one of the most real conversations with Mitrice, and she’s telling me, ‘Dad I’m all right. I don’t know what’s going on, but I need you to find me.’ Where that’s coming from I have no idea.”
Copy and Paste Link Below To View Interview
http://reelurbannews.com/main.html?src=%2Findex2.html#2,0
Search For Mitrice Richardson Saturday Jan. 6th 2010
http://www.malibusurfsidenews.com/blog_news_alert/
Malibu Surfside News - News Alert
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
LAPD and LASD Plan Major Field Search This Saturday for Mitrice Richardson
• Joint Forces to Comb Large Expanse in Area Where Woman Went MIssing
BY ANNE SOBLE
The County of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the City of Los Angeles Police Department will join forces for a major field search of the greater Lost Hills/Malibu Canyon area on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 9, for the Watts woman who disappeared after being released from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Sept. 17.
LAPD Detective Steven Eguchi told the Malibu Surfside News on Tuesday that representatives of the two agencies met last week to set the date and specifics for the search, which will include county search and rescue crews who took part in the massive effort undertaken two weeks after Mitrice Richardson went missing.
Richardson, who was preparing to begin substitute teaching and doctoral work in clinical psychology, mysteriously vanished after reportedly walking out of the Lost Hills station at 12:25 a.m. on Sept. 17, 40 miles from her home. She was alone, inadequately attired for cold weather, and without money, cell phone or means of transportation.
The 24-year-old had been booked on two misdemeanor counts after being placed under citizen’s arrest the evening of Sept. 16 by personnel at Geoffrey’s restaurant for not paying an $89.51 dinner tab. Her speech and behavior were described as “crazy” by people in the restaurant, but when she was taken to Lost Hills, sheriff’s personnel said she was lucid and they had no cause to detain her.
In November, writings found in the woman’s car, which was impounded at the time of her arrest, were interpreted by health professionals as documentation of up to a week of sleep deprivation and possible signs of serious mental illness.
Representative Maxine Waters, who is the Congress member for Richardson’s district, has asked the FBI to initiate an investigation into her disappearance and the circumstances of her arrest and subsequent handlingof her booking and release from LASD custody.
FBI Director Robert Mueller has not yet replied to Water’s request, so bureau personnel are currently not expected to take part in the upcoming search.
An online justice activist group—Change.org located at www.change.org—has collected 4439 signatures toward a goal of 5000 signatures on a petition urging federal investigation of Richardson’s disappearance.
Richardson is described on the LAPD blog as an “African-American with brown hair and hazel eyes. Five-feet-five to five-feet-six inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. She was last seen wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans.”
Malibu Surfside News - News Alert
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
LAPD and LASD Plan Major Field Search This Saturday for Mitrice Richardson
• Joint Forces to Comb Large Expanse in Area Where Woman Went MIssing
BY ANNE SOBLE
The County of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the City of Los Angeles Police Department will join forces for a major field search of the greater Lost Hills/Malibu Canyon area on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 9, for the Watts woman who disappeared after being released from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Sept. 17.
LAPD Detective Steven Eguchi told the Malibu Surfside News on Tuesday that representatives of the two agencies met last week to set the date and specifics for the search, which will include county search and rescue crews who took part in the massive effort undertaken two weeks after Mitrice Richardson went missing.
Richardson, who was preparing to begin substitute teaching and doctoral work in clinical psychology, mysteriously vanished after reportedly walking out of the Lost Hills station at 12:25 a.m. on Sept. 17, 40 miles from her home. She was alone, inadequately attired for cold weather, and without money, cell phone or means of transportation.
The 24-year-old had been booked on two misdemeanor counts after being placed under citizen’s arrest the evening of Sept. 16 by personnel at Geoffrey’s restaurant for not paying an $89.51 dinner tab. Her speech and behavior were described as “crazy” by people in the restaurant, but when she was taken to Lost Hills, sheriff’s personnel said she was lucid and they had no cause to detain her.
In November, writings found in the woman’s car, which was impounded at the time of her arrest, were interpreted by health professionals as documentation of up to a week of sleep deprivation and possible signs of serious mental illness.
Representative Maxine Waters, who is the Congress member for Richardson’s district, has asked the FBI to initiate an investigation into her disappearance and the circumstances of her arrest and subsequent handlingof her booking and release from LASD custody.
FBI Director Robert Mueller has not yet replied to Water’s request, so bureau personnel are currently not expected to take part in the upcoming search.
An online justice activist group—Change.org located at www.change.org—has collected 4439 signatures toward a goal of 5000 signatures on a petition urging federal investigation of Richardson’s disappearance.
Richardson is described on the LAPD blog as an “African-American with brown hair and hazel eyes. Five-feet-five to five-feet-six inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. She was last seen wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans.”
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