Saturday Motorcycle Rally Focuses Attention on Unknown Fate of Mitrice Richardson

• Criticism of LASD Treatment of Woman Who Has Been Missing for 10 Weeks Increases

BY ANNE SOBLE

It’s getting to be increasingly difficult for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to cast aspersions on local media that have kept a spotlight on the Mitrice Richardson case, as the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station’s treatment of the woman who has now been missing for 10 weeks is steadily attracting mainstream attention from coast to coast.
From articles to editorials, questions are being raised about the way Richardson was placed under citizen’s arrest, booked on two misdemeanor counts, and then released from Lost Hills at 12:25 a.m. on Sept. 17 with no money, cell phone or means of transportation in what is essentially an isolated industrial area. The specifics of the case, well known to Malibu Surfside News readers, are now becoming familiar on a broader scale, provoking expressions of public concern that range from racism to gender and sexual bias.
Thanksgiving is expected to be an extremely trying time for family members of the missing 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton honors graduate. In addition to a complete lack of contact, Richardson has not accessed her credit cards or checking account funds. Alleged sightings of the black, five-foot-five, slightly built woman, clad when last seen in a T-shirt, jeans and possibly a hat, have not led anywhere. Field searches, rallies and flyer distribution have been ongoing since a missing person report was filed.
This Saturday, Nov. 28, a “Bike Ride and Rally for Mitrice Richardson” will make a 65-mile loop from Marina Del Rey to Malibu via Pacific Coast Highway, then take Malibu Canyon Road to Highway 101 to the 110 Freeway to South Los Angeles.
Over 100 riders, including members of two dozen African-American motorcycle clubs, volunteers, friends, and family are expected to take part. For more information, email mvrichardson@bringmitricehome.org
The online activist group—change.org—has now collected 3020 signatures toward its goal of 5000 signers of a petition urging state and federal officials to initiate a federal investigation and bring the FBI in on the Richardson case. The text of the petition can be found at the website: www.change.org
Anyone with information related to the missing woman can contact the family at www.findmitrice.info or Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031, Michael Richardson at 310-283-4717, or LAPD Detective Chuck Knolls (Homicide-Robbery) at 213-485-2531.