RIDLEY-THOMAS CALLS FOR $10,000 REWARD IN SOUTH L.A. WOMAN'S DISAPPEARANCE

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

September 29, 2009                                                                                                                             Contact:      Aurelio Rojas 213-280-6579

                                                                                                                                                                                       James Bolden 213-200-5314

 

SUPERVISOR RIDLEY-THOMAS CALLS FOR $10,000 REWARD IN SOUTH L.A. WOMAN’S DISAPPEARANCE

 

LOS ANGELES – On a motion by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, the Board of Supervisors today offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson and the criminal prosecution of persons involved in her disappearance.

 

The Cal State Fullerton graduate -- who was living with her great-grandmother in South Los Angeles -- mysteriously disappeared following her September 17 predawn release from a sheriff's substation in Calabasas where she was booked for allegedly failing to pay a restaurant bill.

 

Her vanishing prompted a massive but unsuccessful ground and air search on Saturday by members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department and trained volunteers. 

 

“Every minute counts in our effort to safely reunite Ms. Richardson with her family,” Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said. He noted the current investigation is being conducted by the LAPD, which welcomes the reward offer.

 

Richardson, who had no transportation, cell phone or purse when she left the station at about 1:25 a.m., was reportedly wearing jeans and a dark T-shirt.

 

With the exception of a couple of probable sightings later that morning in the canyon, Richardson, a slender, 5-foot-5 African American woman, has not been heard from since, her family says.

Richardson had recently passed a test to become a substitute teacher. She was working as an executive assistant for a freight company. 

 

The Supervisor urges anyone with information on the whereabouts of Mitrice Richardson to contact Det. Chuck Knolls or Det. Steven Eguichi at (213) 485-5381 or the LAPD’s Adult Missing Persons or (877) 527-3247.

 

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