Ten years ago, D.C. police sent the first Amber Alert in a case that will never be forgotten in Washington. Eight-year-old Relisha Rudd disappeared and has never been found. In our latest News4 Rewind, we spoke to reporters and advocates about Rudd’s case and the mystery that remains unsolved today.
As D.C. observes Relisha Rudd Remembrance Day on Thursday, July 11, News4 looks back at a case and a little girl who will never be forgotten.
Rudd was last seen on surveillance footage in D.C. in March 2014 and has never been found. She was just 8 years old.
News4 looked at the case and its legacy in an NBC Washington Rewind special. You can watch it on YouTube or Peacock. We combed through a decade worth of archival footage and did new interviews with Rudd’s stepfather, a nonprofit leader who knew her, reporters who deeply covered the case and a leading advocate for Black missing people.
Rudd’s disappearance has haunted many Washingtonians, News4’s Jackie Bensen said in a recent interview.
“The minute people saw that beautiful little girl’s face, there were people in D.C. who could think of nothing else except to find out where she was … People who were living here 10 years ago, you say her name, they immediately know what you’re talking about,” she said.
A little girl, gone
“R-E-L-I-S-H-A.” Rudd spells out her first name, smiles and waves on video shot by the Playtime Project, which served her and other children who lived at the huge homeless shelter at D.C. General. She lived there with her mother and three younger brothers for 18 months.
The day she was last seen, on March 1, 2014, she was caught on surveillance footage at a motel in Northeast D.C. with Kahlil Tatum. He worked as a custodian at the shelter and was able to take Rudd to his home and then to the motel.
No one — not Rudd’s family, not shelter staff, not school staff — reported Rudd missing until March 19. She hadn’t attended school for weeks.
Searchers repeatedly, desperately combed parks in Northeast close to where she was last seen.
Tatum was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His wife, Andrea Tatum, was found dead in a motel in Prince George’s County shortly after Rudd was reported missing. Police believe Andrea Tatum was killed by her husband. The woman’s family said in 2014 that they believe Tatum killed his wife because she had tried to protect Rudd.
Police said they could not ignore the possibility that Tatum killed Rudd. They found video of him buying a shovel and large trash bags at a Home Depot store. Crews repeatedly searched Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens and the Anacostia River for her body.
‘The most devastating news’
Rudd’s disappearance sparked horror among people who knew her.
In a recent interview, Rudd’s stepfather, Antonio Wheeler, recounted his “disbelief” at learning the little girl he called a “sweetheart” was gone. His work installing carpeting at the time had him traveling across several states.
“Around the time this stuff was happening back in D.C., I was out of town, so I really didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
Jamila Larson coordinated arts programming for children at D.C. General with the Playtime Project, which she co-founded. She knew Rudd and was heartbroken by her disappearance.
“When we learned that she was gone, it was the most devastating news that I think any of us had ever heard. It was a very, very scary time,” she said.
Larson and other Playtime Project team members helped comb through the woods to search for Rudd’s body or any evidence.
Rudd’s mother, 28-year-old Shamika Young, was interviewed in 2014 about her missing child.
“If my daughter is watching this right now, I would say, I love you and come back home to your mother safely and unharmed. If you do return back unharmed, you will never, ever go with anybody else. You would be next to my side at all times,” she said.
The Black and Missing Foundation assisted the effort to find Rudd. They work to put a spotlight on often-neglected missing persons cases.
“We knew that someone would know something, and we needed to find and bring her home,” cofounder and CEO Natalie Wilson said in a recent interview.
‘He didn’t look like that type of person’
As the search for Rudd stretched on, disturbing details emerged.
A neighbor of Tatum’s said he had seen Rudd at their apartment building and that in conversation Tatum had implied she was his niece. He said Tatum told him that he and his wife had gone to some type of resort with the child.
In early March 2014, Tatum posed as a doctor to Rudd’s school and said she would be absent as he treated her for a disorder, police said.
Sources told News4 that Rudd’s mother had allowed Tatum to take Rudd, not suspecting that he would hurt her. Young said in an interview in 2014 that she had trusted Tatum.
“He didn’t look like that type of person. He looked like a good person – the way we played with everybody kids, the way he did his job,” she said.
People who knew Rudd’s mother said she always had a reason to explain why Rudd wasn’t around.
“I want to know why Shamika telling us so many different stories about the case and not being honest,” a cousin told News4 in 2014.
Social workers were aware of problems with Rudd’s family. DC Child and Family Services had an active case when Rudd went missing and three prior cases dating back to 2007, with findings including those related to insufficient food, medical neglect and inadequate supervision.
Wilson, of The Black and Missing Foundation, said she believes Rudd may have been a sex trafficking victim. Predators often target children who are unhoused or in foster care.
Who failed Relisha Rudd
Rudd’s stepfather said he believes several D.C. authorities failed her.
“The school system failed her. The city failed her because they didn’t look hard enough. They didn’t investigate hard enough. They didn’t press the issue hard enough,” Wheeler said.
When News4 asked Wheeler what he would say to people who ask why D.C. never charged any member of Rudd’s family, he said officials should have.
“Why didn’t they? I’m her stepdad. I’m not her family. I’ve got kids with her mom, but I’m not her family. Why didn’t they charge the family?” he asked.
Government agencies that were charged with protecting Rudd and other at-risk families were found to have failed to communicate with each other. Mandatory reporters who should have flagged problems with Rudd failed to report them, believing those problems already were known, current D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said in 2014.
Reporter and podcast host Jonquilyn Hill covered Rudd’s case deeply on her podcast “Through the Cracks.” She learned that Rudd’s family had experienced generations of trauma, including homelessness, mental health struggles and contact with the foster care system.
Hill cautioned against only pointing the finger at Rudd’s family.
“When you hear Relisha’s story, a lot of people place blame on her family, and you know, that's understandable. At the same time, you have to take into account so many different things,” she said. “Everybody in this family has experienced trauma – the trauma of eviction, the trauma of facing so many barriers, can really cloud your judgment and have an impact on your decision-making.”
Many institutions and people failed Rudd and also her family, Hill said her reporting found.
“Family may be the first stopgap but there are safety nets in place to catch people. For each crack that they may fall through, why did so many of them fail in this one particular way that led to this little girl’s disappearance?” she asked.
The closure of DC General
Rudd’s disappearance was the beginning of a long process that led to the closure of the family shelter at D.C. General, near the D.C. Armory and RFK Stadium. The shelter finally closed in 2018.
D.C. General “would have been a perfect setting for a scary movie,” Larson, of the Playtime Project, said. Her organization tried to create safe, fun spaces there for children.
As the District struggled to help a wave of homeless families and individuals, some were housed in hotels along New York Avenue. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced plans to create a shelter in each of D.C.’s eight wards, which was controversial among some residents.
Today, the shelters run fairly seamlessly. The Playtime Project now works to serve homeless families across D.C. and Prince George’s County, beyond shelter doors.
'What other Relishas are out there?'
People who knew Rudd or were touched by her story say they fear what happened to her could happen to another child.
“Whether there was any real reform afterward is hard to say,” News4’s Mark Segraves said in a recent interview.
“I just worry it could happen again. I see so much going on in this city,” Bensen, another News4 reporter, said.
Wilson, of the Black and Missing Foundation, said she wants to see institutions “do a better job and put resources in place to protect those that are most vulnerable.”
At the Playtime Project, a photo of Rudd hangs over its executive director’s desk, alongside a painting by the missing child.
“I remember and think about her every day. It’s like she’s right here with me to make sure that I’m fighting as hard as I can for children like her,” Larson said.
Hill, of the “Through the Cracks” podcast,” also said that fighting for other children is often on her mind.
“I think as we look at Relisha’s story, we can ask ourselves, ‘OK, what other Relishas are out there and what am I doing to prevent this from happening?’” she said.
'We cannot give up hope'
Wilson, of the Black and Missing Foundation, said she still has faith that Rudd may be found alive someday.
“She is a valuable member of our community, and we cannot give up hope. We have seen miracles where individuals were missing for many years, even decades, and they were found. We are hoping the same thing for Relisha Rudd,” she said.
The FBI still lists Rudd as missing, Bensen pointed out.
“I think it is good that people still walk around with the assumption that that she could be alive … If that's out there, it’s good. Hope is good,” she said.
Rudd’s stepfather said that a decade after Rudd vanished, he’s building stability for himself and Rudd’s siblings.
“Ten years later, I’m still standing strong,” Wheeler said.
He thanked everyone who has helped try to find Rudd over the years and said Rudd’s siblings need to know what happened to her.
“For the ones who actually care, I appreciate their support and their support for keeping Relisha’s story out there until we get some closure, not only for me but for her siblings. They need closure,” he said.
Video shot, produced and edited by Teneille Gibson, News4 senior digital multimedia journalist. Article by Andrea Swalec, News4 digital editor
