WASHINGTON (WUSA9) - A grand jury is considering charging Relisha Rudd's mother with obstruction of justice. Shameka Young insisted her daughter was safe, three weeks after she went missing.
"She should absolutely be charged. She should have never gave her child to a man she just met at the shelter in the beginning that was crazy," said one mother who wanted to remain anonymous.
Parents at the DC General shelter weigh in on the heartbreaking Relisha Rudd case and the possibility that her mother, Shameka Young, could face charges for hindering the investigation as police searched for her daughter.
"I think she knows more than what she's telling folks," she continued. The 8 year old little girl lived at DC General's Shelter with her mother and siblings until her mom gave Khalil Tatum, a shelter janitor, permission to take her in late February. The mother even helped Tatum pose as a doctor in order to take her out of school. Relisha was last seen March 1st.
"We were scared when we thought Tatum was out there because he knows how to get into this shelter," she said, "but now that he's deceased we feel a little more comfortable."
A dad carrying his 2 year old daughter said, "It made me want to bond with my children, because when the Amber Alert came out my kids were with their mom and now I want to be with them and know where they are."
Relisha's alleged abductor turned up dead in Kenilworth Park. Police say Tatum committed suicide. After a seven day search investigators say there is no sign of the little girl.
Officials with the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, the nonprofit agency contracted by the city to run the shelter, says they were unaware of any relationship between Tatum and Relisha, a violation of shelter policy. Managers are now conducting room checks to account for every resident instead of simply knocking on doors for a response.
There is a reward of $25,000 for information leading to Relisha.
