( CNN ) -- The mother of a missing California woman is suing the county of Los Angeles and several sheriff 's officials for wrongful death and negligence in her daughter 's 2009 disappearance , court documents say . Mitrice Richardson , a 24-year-old former beauty pageant contestant , was last seen leaving a Malibu , California , sheriff 's station in the early morning hours of September 17 . Richardson had been arrested hours earlier after employees at Geoffrey 's , an upscale Malibu restaurant , told police she refused to pay her $ 89 bill . At the restaurant , witnesses said Richardson was exhibiting strange behavior including `` sitting down with strangers and speaking in gibberish , '' according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court by Richardson 's mother , Latice Sutton . A court has declared Richardson dead , although no body has been found . Jeff Peterson , the owner of the restaurant , told CNN in September that he called police because he feared for her safety . `` It was not just the money , '' Peterson said . `` Something was wrong with her . And it was n't the alcohol , and we did n't know what to do and we did n't want to put her in a vehicle . '' Her family has said the college honors graduate suffered from mental health issues . `` It was clearly evident that from the time [ Richardson ] arrived at Geoffrey 's to the time of her arrest , she was not in her correct mental state , '' the lawsuit says . According to the documents , video footage from inside the sheriff 's station shows Richardson `` clutching the screen of the holding pen and rocking from side to side '' and `` pulling at her hair and trying to get into the fetal position face down on a concrete bench . '' Sutton alleges that she made numerous calls to the sheriff 's station that night to find out when her daughter would be released so Sutton could pick her up . However , she never received notice of the release , the lawsuit says . Sutton argues in the lawsuit that the sheriff 's department failure to administer psychiatric or medical evaluations and the fact that Richardson was released `` alone in an unfamiliar area without money , a cellular phone or means of transportation amounts to negligence . '' The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages . Sutton told HLN 's `` Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell '' Wednesday night that her purpose for filing the suit `` is to be able to obtain more information about what really happened to Mitrice on that night , '' saying authorities have not been forthcoming with information because of the possibility of a lawsuit . `` I feel I have no other alternative , '' Sutton said . `` The sheriff 's department has forced me to take this action . '' A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff 's Department told `` Issues '' that `` all indications that night were that Mitrice was doing OK. She took sobriety tests , signed documents , talked to the jailer . She was not in mental distress when we were with her . '' CNN 's Sarah Aarthun and Gabriel Falcon contributed to this report .
Mitrice Richardson disappeared September 11 after release from sheriff 's office . She was arrested hours earlier for failing to pay restaurant tab . Daughter says she suffered from mental health issues . Mother says sheriff 's was negligent for her daughter in her mental state .