$25,000 reward announced for missing woman

By Jackie Valley

Thursday, July 29, 2010 | 1:24 p.m.

Los Angeles law enforcement officials are in town hoping to find a missing woman who is believed to be in the Las Vegas area.

At a morning press conference with Metro Police, Los Angeles officials announced a $25,000 reward for anyone who knows the whereabouts of Matrice Richardson, a 25-year-old last seen Sept. 17, 2009 in Malibu, Calif.

Capt. Kevin McClure of the Los Angeles Police Department said Richardson was arrested that day after leaving a Malibu restaurant without paying her bill. She was booked for the misdemeanor at a Los Angeles County sheriff's station in Lost Hills and released in the lobby of the station, where she left that night in the semi-rural area.

"She decided on her own that she'd leave in the middle of the night," McClure said.

Law enforcement received a phone call the next day about a sighting of Richardson in a backyard lawn chair a few blocks from the station, McClure.

In June, the search shifted to Las Vegas because a high school friend of Richardson saw her at the Rio Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, McClure said. When the friend approached her and said "hi," Richardson appeared shocked and immediately left, officials said.

Since then, Los Angeles officials, who have been working with Metro Police, have received 70 tips about sightings of her in Las Vegas but haven't been able to locate her again, which is why they're asking for the public's help now.

"If she is out there, I'd love to know why she hasn't come forward," McClure said, adding that she is not in any trouble with law enforcement.

Police have no theory as to why Richardson might be in the Las Vegas area, and they don't have any reason to believe that she is in danger out here. A few weeks prior to the day she went missing, police said McClure visited Las Vegas with friends, but they don't know why she was here or what she was doing.

Richardson's family has been conducting its own private investigation into her disappearance, angry at how Los Angeles law enforcement authorities have handled the investigation after releasing her at 12:38 a.m. Sept. 17, 2009, without her purse, cell phone, money or car.

Her father, Michael Richardson, who was outside Metro's Enterprise station on Windmill Lane following the police press conference, said he filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles law enforcement Tuesday, charging them with a violation of civil rights, wrongful release and gross negligence.

"This is a nightmare you can't wake up from," said Michael Richardson, 43, in town to search for his daughter, who he says suffers from Bipolar Disorder.

Michael Richardson said his daughter's disappearance is out of character, and she has never been in trouble with the law.

McClure, from the LAPD, acknowledged that it has been a "very tense relationship" with Richardson's family since her disappearance, with her family ridiculing the agencies.

But Los Angeles law enforcement officials dispute the family's claims that they have been dragging their feet on the investigation.

McClure said between 10 and 20 people from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and LAPD are in Las Vegas working with Metro Police to track down Richardson. They will be here at least through the end of the weekend, hoping to follow new tips after reaching out to the public.

Mitrice Richardson is described as a black female, 5-foot-6-inches tall and weighing about 135 pounds with black hair and hazel eyes. She may be referred to as Hazel, Brenda, Brice, Richardson, Sutton or Harris.

Police officials ask anyone with any information about Richardson to call (702) 750-4338.