Young Lesbian Murdered?

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

December 15 2009 2:40 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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What is currently a missing persons case could become a murder investigation, as the Los Angeles County sheriff Monday ordered his homicide team to look into the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson, a 24-year-old lesbian.

L.A. County sheriff Lee Baca stressed to the Los Angeles Times that his team has no evidence that Richardson, missing since September 24, is dead.

"By opening up a homicide investigation, it does allow the sheriff's department to put some of our top investigators on the case," Steve Whitmore, a department spokesman, told the Times.

The Cal State Fullerton graduate was last seen leaving a Malibu sheriff's station after being arrested at a posh restaurant for not being able to pay her dinner bill, acting strangely, and possessing a small amount of marijuana in her car. After obtaining her diaries, investigators believe Richardson "had a major mental breakdown."

Read more about Richardson's disappearance here.