CA CA - Wallace Richards, 23, San Francisco, 10 Nov 2005

ShowerSinger said:
Strange that Mercedes won't activate the LoJack system immediately.
www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_3222182


That is really bizarre that they won't activate that LoJack system right now. It doesn't make any sense. Can't LE move them along!!! They need to find that car. They need to know if someone else has the car or what. That's crazy. It would seem to me that LE could pull some strings there. This is a missing person investigation for pity sake.
 
Missing man's car is found

Updated: 11/17/2005

BERKELEY — A Mercedes Benz driven by a Berkeley man who vanished a week ago was discovered late Tuesday night after police activated a security tracking device attached to the luxury car.
Wallace Arthur Manasseh Richards, 23, was last seen at 11 a.m. last Thursday after he dropped off a friend at her job at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club in San Francisco.

Richards was driving the woman's Mercedes Benz C240 because he was going to have the oil changed for her. He was supposed to pick her up at the strip club after her shift at 7:30 p.m., but he never arrived.

The four-door car was found on Hesperian Boulevard at Embers Way in San Lorenzo on Tuesday night. Alameda County sheriff's deputies tracked the car to the unincorporated Alameda County street after the LoJack, a security tracking device, was activated.

The car was not damaged.

Police had not activated the device before Tuesday because the owner of the car — a 20-year-old Pinole woman — gave Richards the keys, and it was not considered stolen.

Berkeley police continue to investigate

Continued at link:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/localnews/ci_3226304
 
The car that Wallace Richards of Berkeley was driving was found in San Lorenzo after he disappeared

Updated: 11/20/2005

The motorists who passed Wallace Richards' vigil site in San Lorenzo Saturday night saw about 75 people who obviously care for their missing loved one. What Richards' mother saw was a group of "angels."
"I believe all these people here tonight were sent from God to help us find my son," said Belinda Richards, after telling warm stories about her son's many good deeds. "If nothing else comes from all this, I've gotten to know the most wonderful people.

"I know he (Wallace) is 23, but he's a baby," she added with tears. "He's my baby and he always will be."

The vigil participants were trying to raise awareness about the disappearance of 23-year-old Wallace Richards of Berkeley, who was last seen on Nov. 10. The car he was driving that day — a friend's 2003 Mercedes Benz C240 that Richards had agreed to take in for an oil change — was found near Interstate 880 and Hesperian Boulevard. Richards' family held the vigil where the car was recovered.

When Belinda, who was trying as hard as she could to keep it together, started weeping, her gentle husband immediately hugged her, and explained, "It's real important for us to keep this out front if we're going to find him," said Wallace Richards II. She nodded in agreement.

Many participants wore T-shirts decorated with Richards' photo and vital information. Some carried candles and others held up pictures of Richards as passers-by exited an underpass.

Those at the vigil and others have distributed thousands of fliers since Richards' disappearance. Taking such action is healthier than sitting around worrying, said Kirk Smith, 38, of Vallejo, who was a friend of Richards.

"I just want to show my support and wish him home," Smith said somberly. "He's a really nice guy. He's one of the friendliest people I've ever met. Everywhere I go I try to let people know about him."

Richards is African American with a medium-brown complexion. He is 6 feet 3 inches and 235 pounds. He has brown eyes and closely cut black hair.

For more information, visit http://www.wallacerichards.com.

Anyone with knowledge of Wallace Richards' disappearance is asked to call the Berkeley Police at 981-5900.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/localnews/ci_3236698
 
He's a big guy. 6'3; 235lbs. If foul play has a hand in this it seems it would have had to have been at least two or more people involved. Did he have any kind of secretive stuff going on in his life, or did the girl he dropped off have anyone that was obsesed with her? Thinking Wallace could be her b/friend. Being a stripper there are all kinds of odd balls out there that think those girls really like them, who knows-
 
CrimeHater said:
He's a big guy. 6'3; 235lbs. If foul play has a hand in this it seems it would have had to have been at least two or more people involved. Did he have any kind of secretive stuff going on in his life, or did the girl he dropped off have anyone that was obsesed with her? Thinking Wallace could be her b/friend. Being a stripper there are all kinds of odd balls out there that think those girls really like them, who knows-




I was thinking the same thing. He isn't a little guy. Maybe one man with a weapon of some kind could have handled him but it doesn't seem that one guy without a weapon could have taken him.

Someone got him to leave that girl's car there... that doesn't sound like something this guy would have done on his own. He sounds like a responsibile man from what I've read. I just feel so sad for his mom and dad...family. They are going through pure hell and someone out there can end that for them. That not knowing has to be torture. I read about all of the people just on this site who are left in limbo...not knowing what has happened to their loved ones and it is just heart breaking. I think God must provide them with His incredable strengh just to survive day after day.
 
I can't get over the fact that his stripper friend owned a fairly new Mercedes. I wonder if they looked into her and whether she had an regular customers or a boyfriend who may have been jealous.
 
Masterj said:
I can't get over the fact that his stripper friend owned a fairly new Mercedes. I wonder if they looked into her and whether she had an regular customers or a boyfriend who may have been jealous.
I agree Masterj....a Mercedes seems like an odd car for a stripper to own....she must make mega bucks or perhaps it was a gift from someone...these two are not boyfriend and girlfriend are they....seems they are more friends than anything....hopefully he hasn't got himself into something to do with drugs or dealing in drugs.....time will tell I guess.....:confused:
 
The same week Attari vanishes, a 23-year-old African-American man named Wallace Richards of Berkeley disappears after dropping off a female friend at her job in San Francisco and taking the car for the day. Her car turns up a few days later, but he never does.

But few have heard of Richards.

Run his name through an Internet search engine and only a handful of hits pop up. This newspaper has covered the case and a few local TV stations ran short reports during the first week he was gone. But there has been little attention to the case in recent weeks.

There is no reward money or Nancy Grace knocking.

Why do some people get more public exposure than most other missing persons? Why do the media keep covering some cases while not giving others any public exposure?

A person's place in the community, their family's aggressiveness and resources, timing and even race all play a part, criminal justice experts and missing persons advocates say.

"If people don't have contacts, or the wherewithal to know whom to call, connections or a family friend who is an attorney, they won't have the same advantages as someone else who does," said Polly Franks, a board member with the National Coalition of Victims in Action in Richmond, Va.

"The Adam Walsh case in the early'80s made it because John Walsh (now host of "America's Most Wanted") knew how to make noise and was not intimidated by the police and the press. He was savvy, he was educated, he was an American citizen."

That's why some missing people — Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy and Natalee Holloway, to name a few — become household names, while others never make the evening news.

According to the FBI National Crime Information Center, there are nearly 48,000 active missing-adult cases in the nation. More than 30,000 of those people have been missing one year or more, according to data from July 2004.

Locally, the number of "missing people" often includes Alzheimer's disease patients who walk away from facilities, elderly people who get lost or disoriented, or people who are on a weekend tryst and don't want to be found by a partner or spouse.

Between the first part of 2004 and late last month, Oakland police investigated 984 missing person cases. During that same time period, police investigated 2,159 juvenile runaway cases. Investigators say the average time a juvenile is missing is about three days, while some missing-adult cases have been on the books for decades.

There are plenty of bogus cases that hurt the legitimate ones. Experts say that because of people such as Jennifer Wilbanks, the so-called "Runaway Bride," police and the media can be wary of covering every supposed missing person.

Then there are the cases of the people who — for one reason or another — don't want to be found.

"There is no law against someone checking out of their life and not coming home," said Kim Petersen, executive director of the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation. "An adult can take off and take care of themselves, so there isn't that sense of urgency."

The family of Wallace Richards, or "Little Wallace" as he is called, say he would never leave without telling someone. He kept in daily contact with girlfriend Sabrina Ford, a 23-year-old recent journalism graduate from San Francisco State University, and lived with his mother and family, who run Richards Family Day Care in Berkeley. He also owned a home in American Canyon near Vallejo with a friend.

"Wallace would never leave voluntarily," said Ford, of Hayward.

Sister Shaniece Richards-Hughes, 26, of San Leandro said her younger brother is extremely close to her 2-year-old son, James. "He's a very proud uncle," she said. "We need a second home just to fit all of the gifts that he gives to him."

Richards is a 2000 graduate of Berkeley High School who was set to re-enroll in January at SFSU to become a television cameraman. His family said he does not use drugs and rarely drinks alcohol.

Police records show he was arrested once in 2001 for grand theft, which his mother said resulted when he unknowingly bought a stolen motorcycle on the Internet. The case was never prosecuted.
His relatives say he never left overnight without alerting someone. "He's never done anything like this," his sister said.

Still, Ford and the Richards family have had little luck getting news stories out about his disappearance.

"It's extremely frustrating," said Ford. "We were talking about the doctor and the amount of coverage she's been getting. We were praying for that family when all this happened to us."

Ford said she wishes the Richards case was getting the same attention as the Attari story.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_3279935
 
I just saw this case covered on CourtTV. It sounds like this is an upstanding young man. Investigators came up with nothing sahdy on him and no leads to his whearabouts. I hope they find him soon. I would imagine that a gold mercedes is a noticeable car. Somebody may have assumed that Wallace had a lot of money.
 
Cypros said:
I just saw this case covered on CourtTV. It sounds like this is an upstanding young man. Investigators came up with nothing sahdy on him and no leads to his whearabouts. I hope they find him soon. I would imagine that a gold mercedes is a noticeable car. Somebody may have assumed that Wallace had a lot of money.

They also pointed out the fact that he didn't have much money on him. No credit card activity nor bank card activity. No fingerprints in this car or his car. The motive is totally strange. He was in good shape financially with real estate holdings...not like something you can dump for quick cash. His folks always heard from him every 2 days or so. He loved his nephew and took him on excursions frequently.None of this shows another side. Plus, he was a big guy...not a likely random attack victim. This is an odd case. Doesn't fit parameters of expected abusers nor expected victims.
 
bumping for Wallace. Hope he is found safe and soon.

Sounds like a very kind young man.
 
When a friend goes missing

Thursday, December 22, 2005
Joan Ryan

Joshua Gray walked across a stage at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in May, accepted his bachelor of arts diploma from the dean of the School of Communications and looked into the audience. There, seated next to his adoptive parents, was Wallace Richards, his best friend. Wallace leapt to his feet and hollered and hooted, and when he made a toast at lunch afterward, he cried.

They grew up together in Berkeley, two kids who took divergent paths but remained like brothers. It was always Wallace who picked up Joshua at the Oakland airport when he came home from college. It was Wallace who bragged to his friends about Joshua attending Howard, Wallace who mailed Joshua $100 for homecoming weekend or for no reason at all.

Joshua slowly separated himself from most of his childhood friends once he went to college, determined to keep himself out of trouble. But Wallace is family, helping Joshua's father in the garage or backyard, helping himself to whatever is in the fridge. He always has some scheme or other to make easy money, mostly producing fake IDs. But he is, as Joshua's mother said, "a big teddy bear with a sweet smile who doesn't have a mean bone in his body.''

Continued at link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...BAGAKGBLUL1.DTL
 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_3346837

Police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of a Berkeley man who disappeared more than six weeks ago.

The Police Department offered the reward after urging from Richards' parents, Belinda and Wallace Richards, also of Berkeley. "The reward was good news," said his mother. "It's a start. Maybe it will bring some new information."
 
I sure hope this reward will generate some good tips. Somebody out there knows what happened to Wally.

Prayers that his family gets some answers soon.
 
BRING WALLACE HOME BENEFIT CONCERT THIS SUNDAY

Please join us this Sunday, February 19th at Phillips Temple CME church for a concert benefiting the family of Wallace Richards III.

The concert begins at 4pm. The KMEL Street Team will be in front of the church from 3-4pm playing music so come early!!!

It has been more than three months since Wallace was last seen. Come together with us to let the local community, law enforcement, and media know that we are still here and we are still looking.

** This is a free event, however there will be $10 door prize tickets available at the door as well as the opportunity to make a donation by purchasing backed goods and t-shirts.

Phillips Temple is located at 3332 Adeline Street, Berkeley, 94703

MAP:
http://maps.yahoo.com/beta/index.php#maxp=...379067415&mag=3

Thank you and we hope to see you there.

http://www.wallacerichards.com
 
Wallace Richards has been missing since Nov. 10, 2005. Leads are few and far between but his mother holds vigil for her son.

"My son's anniversary (Nov. 10) came up, and there was nothing in the news," Belinda Richards said. "He doesn't own a business, he's not any famous person, but he is my son."

Link: Inside Bay Area - Leads stall on missing man.
 

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