REPORTS: "Credible" Sightings of Mitrice Richardson in Las Vegas?

There's an update to the mysterious disappearance of Mitrice Richardson, the now-25-year-old lesbian Los Angeles woman who disappeared ten months ago. The former beauty queen vanished after she was released from a Malibu sheriff's station in 2009. A Los Angeles court recently declared her dead. Authorities are investigating dozens of sightings of the missing woman in Las Vegas, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Richardson's father, Michael Richardson, said Wednesday that a Sheriff's Department official told him recently the department had gathered information on 80 possible sightings of his daughter in Las Vegas. [Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore] would not confirm that number but said, "They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't believe they had credible information of her whereabouts. They want to prove or disprove beyond a shadow of a doubt that these sightings are indeed fact or indeed not fact."

According to Michael Richardson, a Sheriff's Department official discussed with him the possibility that his daughter was working as a prostitute in Las Vegas. Richardson said it was possible she was under the influence of someone keeping her from contacting family and friends. Or that she may have simply shrugged off old connections on her own. It's also possible that the multiple sightings are not of Richardson but of a woman who resembles her. "Absolutely possible," Whitmore said. "They want to make it definitive."

CNN reports a former high-school classmate now living in Las Vegas reported seeing Richardson at a casino in early June. "The casino's security cameras didn't have video of the incident that was of a high enough quality. But since then, investigators have talked to more than 70 people who say they have seen her."

On September 17, the California State-Fullerton graduate was arrested for not paying her $89 tab at a Malibu-area restaurant. At 12:30am, she was released from a Los Angeles County Sheriff's station in without her purse, cellphone or automobile, which was impounded. It was later revealed that Richardson was troubled and bi-polar.

In May 2010, Rep. Maxine Waters asked the Justice Department to investigate the disappearance. Earlier this month, Richardson's mother filed a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County and Sheriff's Department officials. 

You May Have Missed:
Mitrice Richardson's Family Sues LA County
Maxine Waters Asks for DOJ Probe Into Richardson

Comments

[Black.and.White.Mage]

Just reading about this make my stomach turn...the sheriff department just sat her out there @ 12:30 midnight without anything?

I don't understand it. Don't these people have daughters, nieces, granddaughters, female cousins etc and would they want one of their female family member to be release @ 12:30 midnight without anything?

The world would be a better place if people just took the time out and think about the various possibilities and consequences of their actions.

[Taylor Siluwé]

I didn't know the details of this case 'til now.

My first thought is how reminiscent her being released at an odd hour and utterly helpless is to the infamous case of the Mississippi civil rights workers who were also released late - right into the hands of the Klan.

Strange case indeed ....

[DT]

They were not trying to find her, they aren't trying to find her they are not trying to do their job. Too bad she's not some blond prom queen. She would have been found and home safe and sound a long time ago, hate to say it and I don't like pulling the race card but that's what this really looks like.