On the evening of September 16, 2009, a 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate named Mitrice Richardson walked into an upscale Malibu restaurant and immediately alarmed everyone she encountered. She told the valet she was there to avenge Michael Jackson's death. She told strangers she was from Mars. She couldn't pay her bill.

The staff didn't just call the police — they called because they were worried about her safety. One employee refused to cover her tab, saying: "She's not safe to go out on her own."

Deputies arrested Mitrice on minor charges and drove her to the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station in Calabasas. Her mother called, begging them not to release her. They promised they wouldn't.

At 12:28 AM, they let her walk out the door — no phone, no money, no car, no way home — into the pitch-black canyons of Malibu. She vanished.

What followed was eleven months of botched searches, hidden surveillance footage, contradicted testimony, and a department that insisted, at every turn, that everything was fine.

This one stays with you.

If you have any information, contact the LASD at (323) 890-5500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477. There is a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

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