Missing Women May be in Las Vegas, Police Say

The L.A. County Sheriff Department says there have been multiple credible sightings of missing women Mitrice Richardson in a Las Vegas Hotel.

Captain Kevin McClure announced at a press conference that an acquaintance saw Richardson at the Rio Hotel recently and said investigators have been dispatched to Las Vegas to conduct a search.

The mother of Matrice Richardson sued the sheriff department several weeks ago alleging negligence. Michael Richardson, filed a similar suit earlier this week.

Richardson, then 24, was arrested at Geoffrey’s restaurant, in Malibu on September 17, 2009 for refusing to pay her bill. Restaurant employees reported to deputies that she was also acting “crazy” and may have under the influence of drugs.

Richardson was released from the sheriffs station early the next morning with no money or mode of transportation. That was the last time she has been seen.

The sheriffs department says they followed standard arrest procedure, which included impounding her vehicle. They said there was no reason to hold her for psychological evaluation.

Her disappearance triggered triggered numerous searches of the Calabasas and Agoura Hills area.

The lawsuit alleges unlawful arrested and negligent conduct after the arrest.

“The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department was grossly negligent, and the officers on that shift, grossly negligent in allowing her to leave and walk out without any form of communication with her family or friends,” said Leo Terrell, the family’s attorney, during a downtown news conference Tuesday.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages. The primary purpose according to Sutton is to gather information about the night Richardson vanished.

The videotape, taken at the sheriffs station, reportedly shows Richardson behaving erratically prior to her release.

Her mother, who said she continues to search for her daughter, gave a more complicated answer: “My hope is she’s alive…. But based on how long she’s been missing, she’s either being held and transported or she’s dead. I have to face that possibility.”