WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- On October 29, 2005, Relisha Rudd was born into a world of struggle. She and her family would later become homeless and live in a shelter in Washington, D.C.
All the pictures and videos we have of Relisha show her smile, her personality and her love of life. Even though she was in a shelter, she enjoyed dancing and playing at arts and crafts time.
Her smile is what captivated the D.C. area when it was announced that she was missing and an AMBER Alert was dispatched back in March of 2014.
D.C. police are joining members of the community Wednesday to hand out missing fliers.
It has been months since her disappearance and months since her alleged abductor's body was found in a D.C. park. Young Relisha is still missing.
Kahlil Tatum was found dead at a D.C. park in April and his wife Andrea was found murdered in a D.C. area hotel room back in March, according to police.
Rudd was staying at D.C. General Homeless Shelter in Washington where Tatum was a custodian.
Tatum somehow befriended Rudd's mother, and then somehow convinced the family it would be a good idea for the little girl to be under his supervision. He removed her from school in early March. She was last seen on a surveillance video with Tatum in a D.C. area hotel hallway.
In honor of Rudd's 9th birthday, we're making an effort to ramp up awareness about Relisha and try to keep her case fresh in people's minds.
Here is a timeline from the day she was reported missing, until now.
March 20, 2014
The Metropolitan Police Department sends out a news release about Relisha Rudd's disappearance. The release stated that the eight-year-old was missing and she was possibly with Tatum. However, the AMBER Alert was not activated immediately.
Later that day, Tatum's wife's body was discovered in a motel room in Prince George's County.
The AMBER Alert was finally sent out to cell phones and news outlets later that evening, hours after Relisha was announced missing. The news release also stated that Relisha had been missing since March 1, according to police.
MARCH 24, 2014
Four days after the first news release was sent out, there was still no sign of finding Relisha and the search efforts were front and center on every newscast and newspaper in our area. Police released another news release with more photos of Relisha smiling and playing in arts and crafts class. Police released those photos and reiterated that the search was still very much alive and they weren't going to rest until they found Relisha and her accused abductor, Kahlil Tatum.
Another photo of Tatum was released to the media with a distinctive tattoo on his arm. The news release also stated that there was a $25,000 reward for any information leading to Tatum's arrested or to Relisha's whereabouts.
MARCH 25, 2014
When Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier, was asked about why the AMBER Alert wasn't properly dispatched, she said: "There is an AMBER Alert as far north as Pennsylvania and as far south as Florida."
WUSA9's Russ Ptacek investigated and found out that simply wasn't true. He filed his report days after the botched AMBER Alert attempt and almost a month after little Relisha's disappearance.
Chief Lanier then released a statement to the media about the Amber Alert concerns.
APRIL 1, 2014
Kahlil Tatum, 54, was found dead at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens, according to D.C. police. Tatum's death was a result of a single gunshot wound, police said.
It was a huge break in the case to find Tatum. However, it led to a slew of dead-ends in the search for Relisha. Police continued to scour the park for for the little girl. They never found anything to lead them to her at the park after Tatum's remains were found.
APRIL 4, 2014
Police released a YouTube video of a man they wanted to question about Relisha's disappearance. They froze parts of the video on the man's face and released it to the public. The man was identified and brought in for questioning. It was another dead end in the search for Relisha. Still, more than a month after she was last seen by her family and friends, police didn't have any case to build against anyone.
OCTOBER 29, 2014
It's Relisha Rudd's birthday Tuesday. Instead of celebrating, people in the D.C. area are hopeful this will be one day closer to finding little Relisha. She has been missing for almost eight months and we haven't had an update or news release from police since April.
D.C. police and members of the community are handing out missing fliers from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Relisha's birthday.
Relisha is a girl who loves to sing, loves to dance and loves to smile. The photos, videos and stories in this timeline are to remind us how the investigation began and where the investigation stands today, on her ninth birthday. WUSA9 will not give up the search for Relisha. We won't stop publishing any information we can to assist the public and authorities in the search.
Police put this at the bottom of all of their news releases, so we'll share it again with you:
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call police at (202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the Department's TEXT TIP LINE to 50411.The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the location and return of Relisha Rudd. If you see Relisha Rudd, call 911 immediately. You can also contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
