There was a Monday night press conference at which the family of Mitrice Richardson formally asked the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community of Los Angeles–and elsewhere –to help them find the young woman who has been missing for nearly two months.
Tessa Moon, who has been in a two-year romantic relationship with Mitrice Richardson, reached out to the gay and lesbian community to see if they have seen the missing woman, Michael Richardson said.
Michael Richardson said Moon has been helping search for his daughter since she disappeared.
“We do the searches that no one wants to do,” Michael Richardson said. “We’ve been out here talking to pimps, gang members and ladies of the night on Manchester, Florence, Western and Figueroa.”
Alleged sightings of Mitrice Richardson have been reported in Los Angeles and Orange counties and as far away as San Jose. Her father tries to check out as many leads as possible.
“I don’t care if they don’t turn out to be Mitrice, but I have to go look,” her father said.
He said the searches have been fruitless, although some of the women bear a strong resemblance to his daughter. But despite the disappointment, he said he remains optimistic about the possibility of finding his daughter alive.
“You can do no wrong in my eyes,” Michael Richardson said he would like to tell his daughter. “I’m trying to get you and we are going to work this out.”
The Advocate added:
Tessa Moon [made] an appeal tonight [...] at Jewel’s Catch One community room in Los Angeles. Moon and Richardson have been in a relationship for two years.
“If I could tell her anything right now, it would be ‘Don’t be afraid. We’re coming,’” she told the Los Angeles Times on Monday.
Moon was in the same motorcycle club, The Chosen Few, as Richardson’s father Michael, who is urging police to release security footage from the night his daughter was arrested to prove that she was not in the right mental state to be released from police custody. She was discharged from the station at approximately 1:25 a.m., according to a family website, with no cell phone or purse. None of her bank accounts or credit cards have been used since she went missing, KTLA News reports.
Michael Richardson seems to be at the breaking point:
“You could obviously see that something was wrong with her mental state, and still you don’t call for the 5150, the psychological analysis on her. You see that something is wrong with her, but you let her go,” said Moon.
“Sheriffs need to be questioned about the young, black, African American lady who was walking down there by herself, not in her right state of mind,” [Michael Richardson] said. “Based on the way she was conducting herself, she was supposed to be held.”
At an emotional news conference Monday night, Mitrice’s father pleaded for information about his 24-year-old daughter, while also leveling serious allegations against the L.A. County Sheriff’s department.
“The case is upside down. Everything they’re doing do my daughter is upside down,” said Mitrice’s father.
Two weekend searches of the area have turned up nothing, but Moon remains optimistic.
“I know she’s alive. I feel her, and there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s alive,” said Moon.
I hope so, but every day that she’s missing, it doesn’t look good.
On the high note, this is something that is usually unprecedented about black families that (1) appears to accept their child’s sexuality, and (2) allows the consort or companion to speak on their behalf as family. They just want her back; they just want justice served.
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