WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- An October 2014 lead into the Relisha Rudd case led a volunteer New Jersey dive team to the Anacostia River on Saturday.
During the October 2014 search, a cadaver dog tracked a scent right up to the water's edge for the 8-year-old, who disappeared more than a year ago.
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At that time, the city did not have the resources they needed in order to search the river. That is when Brenda Brown, a good samaritan who befriended Rudd's family, took matters into her own hands.
Brown turned to the volunteer dive team, begging for their help.
On Saturday a member of the team found a suspicious bag near the river before his diver even made it into the water.
"I was shocked that it was right there," said Jerry Boylan, Captain of the Garden State Underwater Recovery Unit.
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The bag was exactly the kind of potential evidence they were looking for, Boylan said. The team searched underneath the water for several hours but found nothing else.
The Metropolitan Police Department's Forensics Unit is now investigating the suspicious bag.
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