WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- Relisha Rudd's mother, Shamika Young, did not get the news she wanted to hear Monday.
A judge ruled that Young would not be regaining custody of her three young sons, ages 8, 6 and 5. Young has been separated from her boys for about a year.
Young desperately wants custody of her sons back. The three were taken away not long after their sister vanished.
The 28-year-old said people have asked her so many questions.
"Why am I walking around my head so high? Why am I acting like I don't care? I do care. I do care that my daughter is gone but at the same time and at the end of the day, I still have three other children that I have to provide for and I have to stay strong for," Young explained.
Young told WUSA9 she has done everything the court has asked of her: "Urine analysis reports always reports back to me as negative. I go to a group every Wednesday...I do medication management every two weeks...so I've been working extremely hard."
A source tells WUSA9 that it is not uncommon for a case like Young's to take this amount of time. However, they can't comment further because of confidentiality concerns.
Brenda Brown is Young's de facto surrogate mother, and she has a strong opinion on the case.
"I don't know why they're not giving the kids back. To me there is no reason for them not to give the kids back, I don't want to hear that bull crap about 'she has something to do with her daughter's disappearance.' Prove that she has something to do with her daughter's disappearance and charge her!" Brown exclaimed.
WUSA9 asked Young if she thinks Relisha is still alive. "As her mom, I always think like that. Until I actually see some evidence that she's gone, deceased or whatever. I'm always going to think that my daughter is alive," Young replied.
RELATED NEWS:
