Los Angeles County has increased a reward to $25,000 for information that helps solve the mysterious case of Mitrice Richardson, 24, who disappeared in 2009 after being released from sheriff’s custody and was found dead 11 months later in Malibu Canyon.

In August, the county Board of Supervisors reinstated a $20,000 reward in the Richardson case.

The Cal State Fullerton graduate disappeared without a trace after leaving the Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station around midnight on September 17, 2009. That same night, Richardson was dining at Geoffrey’s in Malibu, where she displayed behavior strange and did not pay a bill of 89 dollars. , according to guests and staff.

Richardson’s behavior at the restaurant was never included in police reports. But it was later discovered that he had bipolar disorder and may have been experiencing a mental breakdown and trouble sleeping, according to detectives.

He was given the option to voluntarily remain at the station until dawn or when transportation arrived, according to a sheriff’s report. Choosing to leave, Richardson was released without any personal belongings: her wallet and phone were inside her seized Honda Civic, where she appeared to have been living.

His release ignited anguish among family members, who believed a mental evaluation or psychiatric hospitalization should have been required. But a report from the Los Angeles County Independent Review Office concluded that officers acted appropriately that night.

Despite Richardson’s erratic behavior, sheriff’s deputies at the station had “no legal justification to deprive her of her liberty,” according to the report.

Months of searching and waiting culminated in a grim discovery in August 2010 when his skeletal remains were discovered in Malibu Canyon. Dental records later confirmed the remains belonged to Richardson. While his death has not been ruled a homicide, his family has insisted in the past that he was the victim of a crime.

“One thing I know about my daughter is that she is not a natural young woman,” said her mother, Lattice Sutton. said tThe Times in 2010. “She doesn’t like bugs in the bushes. On her own, that’s not a place she would go near. “I have said before that my daughter was murdered.”

The family reached a $900,000 settlement with the county in 2011 after both parents filed lawsuits against the department in connection with Richardson’s death. But questions about what happened to Richardson remain unanswered.

In 2009, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors offered a $10,000 reward for information on Richardson’s whereabouts. The reward money was reinstated after his body was discovered in 2010. The amount also increased in 2021 and 2022.

Police ask anyone with information about the case to call the Los Angeles Police Department at (213) 486-6900 or the sheriff’s department at (323) 890-5500.