tonight a firestorm of controversy. erupting in malibu. new questions about how cops handled the disappearance of an executive assistant. this young woman was arrested because she couldn't pay a $90 tab at a swanky restaurant overlooking the pacific ocean. her car was impounded and she was released at 1:30 in the morning in a remote area. why didn't cops give her a ride home? she has not been seen since. tonight's big issue, would a celebrity had been treated the same way? we'll ask the family attorney. and jon goessselin dumped b

tlc. "kate plus 8" basically telling jorng don't let the door hit you in the you know what. don't think that you've seen the last of jon in his new outfit and earrings. "in-touch week" is reporting that jon wants to spin the divorce. and also explosive new developments in the kailel cayl anthony. meanwhile, it was crucial evidence mishandled by the fbi. new claims that the infamous heart-shaped sticker outline found on the duct tape on caylee's mouth was accidentally destroyed as the prosecution sabotaged their own case? plus, outrage over a mind-boggling delay. it took seven hours to perform a sobriety test on an nypd officer accused of killing a pedestrian while drunk driving behind the wheel. was law enforcement trying to give this cop time to sober up before the test? we'll have all of the

blood-boiling details. "issues" starts now. tonight, missing in malibu. the disappearance of mitrice richardson escalates into a firestorm of controversy. at issue, how is this south l.a. woman treated when she daryned to dine in one of the most exclusive communities in the whole world? tonight, "issues" tackleless the question, did cops treat her like she didn't count? how could police let a 24-year-old woman who several people described as acting strangely, leave a sheriff's office alone in a remote area near malibu in the middle of the night? they let her leave without a car since they impounded her car. she left without a purse. she left without a phone, all because she couldn't pay a $90 restaurant tab even though her great-grandma offered to pay it for her over the phone. that was 12 days ago. mitrice hasn't been heard from

since. her frantic family is furious at police. >> i'm upset. but i'm going to keep a level head because i've been asked to you but i don't expect these people to move because they haven't. >> we want our daughter found. we feel that there's not been enough efforts to locate her. all we want is our daughter home. >> police arrested mitrice after she couldn't pay for her dinner at a fancy malibu restaurant overlooking the pacific ocean. they also found a small amount of pot in her car. cops say she turned down their offer to sleep at the sheriff's office, deciding instead to walk out into the dark night all by herself. and that's where she vanished. that's why they call it lost hills. tonight, the big issue, if mitrice were a celebrity, would it have gone down differently? hm, let's see, you think? last i heard lindsay lohan isn't missing.

if mitrice had been a star do you think that cops would have given her a ride home or put her in a cab or called a limo or called her family or done something to make sure this young woman got home safely? was the failure to do anything of that just a case of mean in malibu? a place where status is everything. did cops figure a woman who couldn't pay her dinner tab would simply not worth the trouble? i want to hear from you at home. first, straight out to my outstanding expert panel, former prosecutor robin balm. there she is lou poleome bow. elite intelligence and protective agency. forensic psychologist brian russel. and there is curtis sliwa and attorney for the richardson family at wabc talk show host. leo, you're the attorney for this frantic family. now, we're hearing a report from nbc in los angeles that the dad is saying he's being held --

she's being held against her will by a shady friend who's feeding her pot and he's now conducting his own investigation. this is a report just released moments ago. what is your thought on this new report? >> well, i tell you right now the lapd and the sheriff department have been mum on the police report and a lot of information and this has driven the dad to a frenzy so he's upset. he doesn't believe he's getting cooperation with the law enforcement. we were at the lapd station last night. jane, we asked to see the police report. after 15 days they will not release it. we asked to get the phone messages from the calls she made. they refused to release it. there is a cover-up going to right now and i do have the communication tapes of the conversation that mitrice made to the sheriff's department. i'm going to release those tomorrow. but it reveals that someone saw mitrice the night -- in the morning and the sheriff's department didn't go over there till hours later. i will release that tape tomorrow. >> well, we want to hear first, because we're staying on top of

this story. we're not letting it go because i spent 18 years in southern california covering hollywood. and i know how celebrities are treated. and it is my humble upinion that had she been a celebrity or had she been rich or from malibu they would have found a way to get a car and take her home. cops in southern california -- >> i agree. >> are used to dealing with celebrities. let's recap lindsay lohan's wild-fueled car chase in 2007. in malibu the actress allegedly took a car and took the two men inside. they say, against their will. she sped after her ash siftant and then her assistant's mom. here's one of the guys describing how lindsay lohan was acting that night. >> she looked really intoxicated like she was -- >> what? >> -- she was really messed up. i don't know what she was on. but i know she was on liquor and multidrugs. i don't know what drugs it was but she was raging.

>> suffice it to say that the woman, lindsay was chasing, drove right into the police station in santa monica. now, let me tell you something, had this been anybody else, a very good possibility that there could had been a charge of kidnapping, carjacking, and god only knows what. and nothing really happened to la lohan, have the phone, very delighted to have the phone, andly right now. the father of this poor missing woman, michael richardson. mr. richardson, thank you for joining us. >> caller: thank you for having me. >> what are your concerns, and what are your theories tonight as to what happened to your precious daughter? >> caller: my concern is she needs to be back home with her mother and father. my theory is i just really feel like the system in which we trust so much and put our trust in with the sheriff's department has let us down and failed

miserably. >> well, i understand that there was some communication, that the family was aware that she'd been arrested and they were under the impressionu were under the impression, the family -- that she was going to spend the night at sheriff's station and you would pick her hunt in morning. how did this communication gap come about? >> caller: well, basically, when this first initially happened, she passed a field sobriety test. so that means that she was not drunk. she later was sti had been in a manner in which they felt was concerned. so they took her to jail based on that. but what should have happened based on that is they should have done a behavioral health assessment or had someone from case management come out and evaluate this situation for a possible 5150. >> let me -- mr. richardson, i don't want to interrupt you but i want to make sure our viewers

who this might jog their memory, they might number malibu or might had been in malibu that night, they might see your beautiful daughter, and say i remember. i want to ask you, something i don't understand here. i don't understand what mitrice's state of mind was the night she vanished. people at the restaurant shooifs acting strangely. she seemed intoxicated. if you look at her mug shot and we're going to show you right now, her mug shot and compare it to other shots the earrings are the normal shots, the mug shot, her hair's wild. she doesn't look like the same person. so my question to you is, did she have any kind of a psychological or emotional problem that you know of? why would she suddenly behave erratically like this? >> caller: and that's why i came down to something was either in her drink or she had a meltdown. i don't know what led to that. i don't know, but i know when i'd seen her booking picture i had goose bumps. i did not recognize person, of my daughter. it brought tears to my eyes and it scared me profusively.

>> you know it's happened in the past that mickey's, as they used to call them in the old day, ug