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Mitrice Richardson Update: $25,000 Reward Offered, Police Searching in Las Vegas
Mitrice Richardson (Personal Photo)
LAS VEGAS (CBS/AP) Investigators pleaded publicly Thursday for information about Mitrice Richardson, the 25-year-old California woman who disappeared after walking out of a Malibu sheriff's station 10 months ago, and are offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to her.
PICTURES: Mitrice Richardson Missing
Los Angeles police Capt. Kevin McClure told reporters in Las Vegas that more than 70 waitresses, bartenders, security officers and others in Nevada and California have told investigators they think they've seen Mitrice.
A man who once dated Richardson reported seeing her in early June at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, just off the Las Vegas Strip, McClure said. She turned away, but the man told authorities he was sure it was Richardson.
"Mitrice, if she is listening, is not in any kind of trouble," said Capt. Dave Smith, head of the Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide bureau.
"She is not subject to any kind of arrest...We are concerned about her welfare," he continued. "Mitrice, if you're out there, please contact us."
Richardson's father, Michael Richardson, who has filed a civil negligence lawsuit against authorities in California, traveled on his own to Las Vegas to stand in sweltering heat outside the Las Vegas police substation and blame sheriff's deputies for his daughter's disappearance.
"No one had common sense," Richardson, 43, told reporters after the police news conference. "They let my daughter go out and go missing."
PICTURES: Mitrice Richardson Missing
Authorities say Richardson vanished after she was released early Sept. 17 at a sheriff's substation in Calabasas for failing to pay an $89 restaurant bill in Malibu.
The father, who said his daughter has bipolar disorder, said his daughter was released far from home with no money, no purse, no cell phone and no car. The items were in her vehicle, which was impounded when she was taken into custody.
The Sheriff's Department has said Richardson appeared rational and deputies believed they had a legal obligation to release her in a timely manner.
Michael Richardson said he believed his daughter might be involved in prostitution in Las Vegas, and might be under the influence of someone preventing her from contacting friends and family.
The police and sheriff's officials said Thursday that a $25,000 reward is being offered by the City of Malibu and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas for information about Richardson.
Richardson is black, 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. She has brown, curly hair and hazel eyes, and was last seen wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans, police said. According to a flyer made by her family, Richardson has tattoos on her lower abdomen and on the back of her neck.
Police asked anyone with information on her whereabouts to call the LAPD's Missing Persons Unit at (213) 485-5381 or 1-877-LAPD-24-7 after business hours or on weekends.
Complete Coverage of Mitrice Richardson at Crimesider.
MEDIAPICTURES: Mitrice Richardson Missing
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