Desperate Search Missing Teacher

SLIDESHOW - Mitrice Richardson — MySpace Photo

It's been three weeks and still no sign of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson. Since the substitute teacher from Los Angeles went missing on Sept. 17, more than 180 officers and volunteers have combed the rugged heart of the Santa Monica Mountains, from the Malibu-Lost Hills station to the coastline. Still no Richardson.

"I just don't know where she is," Richardson's great-grandmother Mildred Harris told Crimesider in a phone interview. "I love her so much." Richardson disappeared soon after being released from a sheriff's station in the middle of the night. 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.

Mitrice Richardson was arrested at a Malibu, Calif. restaurant and went missing after she was released hours later from a sheriff's station. Now, her family is desperately searching for her. 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.

At the restaurant, Mitrice Richardson joined a table of diners uninvited, appeared to be drunk or out of sorts and finally could not pay her bill, say police. According to detectives who interviewed the table Richardson joined, she was acting odd, "giddy" and "out of the ordinary." She began "sprouting gibberish" and claiming she was from Mars, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Mitrice Richardson is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton and recently moved to Los Angeles to live with her grandmother near the area where she planned on teaching. Police say she last made contact with her family at her home Southeast LA on Sept. 16, 2009.

Mitrice Richardson was arrested at a Malibu, Calif. restaurant and went missing after she was released hours later from a sheriff's station. Now, her family is desperately searching for her. 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.

Mitrice Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, told a CNN i-reporter that she believed reports that her daughter may have been having mental problems before she was arrested and was angry with police for releasing her without providing any additional medical care.

Mitrice Richardson was intoxicated and unable to pay her $89 bill at Geoffrey's restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 17, 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was arrested at the restaurant and went missing after she was released hours later from the Malibu-Short Hills sheriff's station.

According to Mitrice Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, a manager she spoke to at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu, Calif., said her daughter appeared to be in "no condition to drive." Sutton reportedly called the Malibu-Short Hills sheriff's station to ask about posting bail and picking up her daughter, but deputies told her they had released her because they did not have room to keep her in jail.

Mitrice Richardson is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton and recently moved to Los Angeles to live with her grandmother. She is African-American, 5 feet 5 inches tall and approximately 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 behind her neck.

Mitrice Richardson was arrested at a Malibu, Calif. restaurant and went missing after she was released hours later from a sheriff's station. Now, her family is desperately searching for her. 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.

Deputies arrested Mitrice Richardson, 24, at a Malibu, Calif. restaurant and booked her on suspicion of not paying for the meal and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, according to officials. 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.

It's been three weeks and still no sign of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson. Since the substitute teacher from Los Angeles went missing on Sept. 17, more than 180 officers and volunteers have combed the rugged heart of the Santa Monica Mountains, from the Malibu-Lost Hills station to the coastline. Still no Richardson.

According to Mitrice Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, a manager she spoke to at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu, Calif., said her daughter appeared to be in "no condition to drive." Sutton reportedly called the Malibu-Short Hills sheriff's station to ask about posting bail and picking up her daughter, but deputies told her they had released her because they did not have room to keep her in jail.

Mitrice Richardson is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton and recently moved to Los Angeles to live with her grandmother. She is African-American, 5 feet 5 inches tall and approximately 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 behind her neck.

Mitrice Richardson was arrested at a Malibu, Calif. restaurant and went missing after she was released hours later from a sheriff's station. Now, her family is desperately searching for her. 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.

It's been three weeks and still no sign of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson. Since the substitute teacher from Los Angeles went missing on Sept. 17, more than 180 officers and volunteers have combed the rugged heart of the Santa Monica Mountains, from the Malibu-Lost Hills station to the coastline. Still no Richardson.

Mitrice Richardson was intoxicated and unable to pay her $89 bill at Geoffrey's restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif. about 10 p.m. on Sept. 17, 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was arrested at the restaurant and went missing after she was released hours later from the Malibu-Short Hills sheriff's station.

"I just don't know where she is," Richardson's great-grandmother Mildred Harris told Crimesider in a phone interview. "I love her so much." Richardson disappeared soon after being released from a sheriff's station in the middle of the night. 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.

Police asked anyone with information on Mitrice Richardson's 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.