Relisha Rudd

Relisha Rudd, 8, disappeared from Washington, D.C.'s D.C. General Family Shelter, where she lived with her mother and siblings, in early 2014. She was last seen on security footage on March 1, 2014, at a Northeast D.C. hotel with Kahlil Tatum, a 51-year-old shelter janitor with a prior felony record whom her mother had allowed to take her overnight. Her absence from school went unreported for roughly 18 days until a school counselor raised the alarm. Tatum was later found to have shot and killed his wife before being found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 1, 2014. Investigators believe Tatum killed Relisha before taking his own life, though her body has never been found and no charges have ever been filed in connection with her disappearance. Her case remains open more than a decade later.

Washington, DC

• 2014: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Relisha's identity, age, and the March 1, 2014 sighting with Kahlil Tatum at a Northeast D.C. hotel, per the Metropolitan Police Department's official case listing and FBI surveillance footage.
• Tatum, the shelter's janitor, had a prior felony record for burglary, larceny, and breaking-and-entering, and had befriended Relisha's mother, buying gifts and taking the family on outings before being allowed to take Relisha overnight.
• Tatum's wife, Andrea Tatum, was found shot to death on March 20, 2014, in a Prince George's County, Maryland motel; Kahlil Tatum was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 1, 2014, at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Northeast D.C.
• The FBI and Metropolitan Police Department continue to offer a reward, now reported at up to $50,000, for information leading to Relisha's location or recovery.
• D.C. police have stated the case remains open, with periodic public renewals of the search on anniversaries of her disappearance, including the case's 12th anniversary in March 2026.

• Relisha's exact fate and the location of her remains, if she is in fact deceased as investigators believe, have never been established; no body has ever been found.
• The precise circumstances and timeline of what happened to Relisha after the March 1 hotel sighting, and specifically whether Tatum acted alone, have not been publicly confirmed.
• Why Relisha's prolonged absence from school went unreported by shelter staff and family for roughly 18 days has not been fully explained in any public accounting.

• Federal Bureau of Investigation — Relisha Tenau Rudd case listing
• Metropolitan Police Department (DC), via Solve the Case — official case narrative
• WTOP News — “Search continues for DC girl who went missing 10 years ago”
• NamUs — Missing Person Case #MP23937
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs