Twenty-Four year old Mitrice Richardson is missing and her family is out actively looking for her. Mitrice is a Cal-State Fullerton graduate and is set to begin her doctoral program. According to the website www.findmitrice.info, she suffers from mental health issues and was released from the Malibu police station at about 1:00 a.m. Thursday, September 17th, into the remote Malibu canyon area without a car, I.D, phone, money or assistance. Richardson is a slender, 5-foot-5-inch black woman.

Mitrice’s story began at Geoffrey’s restaurant in Malibu. She apparently was dining alone. That evening she had Kobe beef steak and an Ocean Breeze cocktail of rum, vodka and fruit juices. Her tab came to $89.21. At some point, Mitrice left her table and joined a larger group of people dining at the restaurant.

According to the restaurant owner, Jeff Peterson, “She seemed a little euphoric — a little odd.” Peterson added “the people she joined seemed OK with it. When she said they were going to pay her tab for her and they weren’t — that’s when we realized we had a situation.”

When she could not pay, she apparently offered her grandmother’s number who then agreed to pay but the restaurant would not take her grandmother’s credit card number over the phone without having a faxed signature. Her grandmother did not have access to a fax and instead the police were called in.

Prior to their arrival, Peterson said Mitrice told them “she was from Mars and started speaking in a made-up language.” Peterson also said a member of his staff told him. “she was here to avenge Michael Jackson’s death.”

Booking photo

Upon their arrival — the police — her car was searched and a small amount of marijuana was found. Her car was subsequently impounded and Mitrice was taken to the sheriff’s station where she was booked. At 1:00 a.m., Mitrice was released on her own recognizance (ROR) without her purse, cell phone, ID or car, which was impounded because of the marijuana found inside.

Except for one good sighting of Mitrice, a phone call received at approximately 6:30 a.m. that came into the Sheriff’s station from a homeowner who lived a good walking distance away in the Malibu Canyon area, the homeowner called to report a woman resting in the backyard. When deputies arrived, she was gone. Whitmore said the department is almost certain it was Richardson.

According to Steve Whitmore, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman, Mitrice passed a field sobriety test administered to her at the restaurant and “she was lucid, she didn’t exhibit any mental problems.”

I do have a problem. As the attorney for the family has stated, had Mitrice been a Spears or a Lohan she never would have been released, a woman, by herself, into the night as she was without a means to get home. I have been in the Hidden Hills area and it is truly Hidden Hills.

Unfortunately, there is no guidance, officially, of what law enforcement should do when releasing a person on their own recognizance. This is unfortunate. By their standards, if a person is capable, appears lucid, and appears visibly able, they will release them whether they have someone to pick them up or not, particularly if the person indicates they have or will have a ride. Lastly, you will receive an ROR only after agreeing you – and you have to be cognizant to do this — will appear in court for your hearing.

Here’s where I have problems with this case. Supposedly, Mitrice “chatted” with a custody assistant prior to leaving the station. This custody assistant suggested she stay overnight in the station lobby and Mitrice declined. The assistant then asked if she had a ride, to which Richardson replied she did not but she had come to Malibu to meet up with friends. Something does not sound right there.

Something is obviously wrong and she should not have been let out into the streets because she did not know where she was. Her brain was not fully operating. Her response to the custody assistant sounds like a woman who is not quite right with reality. Someone offers you to sleep overnight, you say no, you don’t have a ride, your car was impounded, you don’t have a cell phone or ID, but you came to Malibu to meet friends? Something is definitely wrong. That’s not lucid.

Lucid, as defined means having full use of one’s faculties. The above, in my humble opinion, is proof positive she did not have full use of her faculties. Lucid is not just about the call and response of asking a question and having it answered. If the person is not quite in tune with reality, further questions need asking. If the responses continue to be out of tune with reality, they fail the lucid test. They can walk, they can talk, but they ain’t lucid.

Second, a supplemental report was released — days after the original police report — that said Mitrice was given a sobriety test. The original police report said no such test was given. Afterward, conflicting stories appeared that said she was offered an empty cell to sleep in, was offered to sleep in the lobby, was let go because she is an adult and was let go because they had no space. Which is it? This is too confusing.

Next, I have read other stories that state Mitrice’s mother may have made a statement that her daughter “needs to be taught a lesson” and thought she should go to jail for hanging out with the wrong types. That may or may not be true but I certainly have heard it from many parents when their sons or daughters find themselves in trouble. If it is true, Mitrice’s mother is probably feeling a good deal of guilt now for her daughter’s disappearance. It is not her fault this unseemly thing has happened.

I do, however, have a problem with waiting until 4:00 or 4:30 a.m. before calling the station to find out if she had been released or was ready for release. Not to Monday morning quarterback but, from much of what I have heard and experienced in the past, don’t call, go to the police station yourself. Sometimes we can place too much trust in the police when you really should not. If your child is arrested, particularly in Malibu, and if they are African-American, go immediately to the jail. Don’t expect much from them.  Because officers see a lot of mess, they will often make snap decisions and judgments about people based on what they think they see.  You may not like it, it ain’t right, but they do it.

Unfortunately, over the years I have learned to do for you. Don’t expect others to care about you or yours like you will. People make snap judgments all of the time and I will bet you they did not think highly of her. She could have been diabetic, which will cause a person to act as if they are drunk when they are not. Some folks display schizophrenic behavior at about her age and that too could have been a possibility. She might have experienced someone slipping something in a drink she had — which is unfortunately too common — and as a result, became confused and disoriented. The person who did it may have been watching and waiting for an opportunity to get her alone.  Unfortunately, most won’t think about those things, they will only consider their assumptions, snap judgments and will proceed accordingly.  Trust nothing to others.

It was noted she has mental health issues. She was found with marijuana in her car. The police might have made a snap judgment in her case thinking her either a drug addict or a prostitute and as such, they didn’t care. After seeing photos of her and knowing her history, I, like her mother, know there’s something wrong with the woman in the above photo.  Unfortunately, the cops just saw her “as is” and probably made more than a few assumptions and yes, didn’t care.

With that, parents, please go to the police station. If you want to make your child wait a few hours, make ‘em wait. Then, get them out of jail, put them safely in your car, lecture them until they turn blue in the face and then, take them home. That is the only way you can assure their safety. Don’t leave it up to the police, expect nothing from them, mitigate.

I hope Mitrice is found safe. Walking any of those hills can be treacherous. There are four-legged and two-legged animals up there.  Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens all of the time.

Finally, the Prairie Chicken has some interesting questions, a few I had not thought of. Read and consider.