The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday re-established a $20,000 reward for information about the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson. He disappeared after being released from the Malibu Police Department and found in the middle of the night.
The incident began when Richardson failed to pay an $89 bill at Geoffrey’s restaurant in Malibu. The Sheriff’s Department was called and Richardson was arrested and taken to the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station.
In the early morning of September 17, 2009, she was released and her car was gone. She also didn’t have a wallet or cellphone on her person. Never saw her again.
“My hope is that for people who live in that community … maybe they’ll take something to heart and bring closure to the family,” said Richardson’s father, Michael Richardson.
Richardson’s mysterious disappearance lasted for nearly a year, ending in August 2010 when her skeleton was found in a Malibu canyon. While her death has not yet been ruled a homicide, her family has maintained in the past that she was the victim of foul play.
They said her family blamed the Sheriff’s Department for releasing Richardson overnight despite her mental illness.
She was acting strangely at the restaurant before her arrest, and LAPD investigators later determined she may have suffered from severe bipolar disorder.
A friend said that in the weeks before her disappearance, Richardson had been telling people that she knew the late Michael Jackson and that she was going to Mars.
While she was at Jeffrey’s restaurant, she also talked about being from Mars.
Despite her erratic behavior, the department’s sheriff’s deputies had “no legal basis to deprive her of her liberty,” according to a report from the Office of Independent Review.
