D.C. Police Ask For Help Identifying 'Person Of Interest' In Missing Girl Case
WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- In the desperate search for 8-year-old Relisha Rudd, police remain interested in getting clear answers from her mother, especially after photos posted on Facebook show her with wads of cash.
Mary Bubala reports police release new video of a person of interest in the case.
Police say they want to talk with this man, saying he may have information relevant to the case. The man gets off an escalator, but police won't say where the video was taken because the location could jeopardize the investigation.
Police are also talking with Relisha Rudd's mother, who insisted for weeks that her daughter was fine. Shamika Young posted photos on Facebook of wads of money and new Air Jordans she bought for Relisha's three brothers, even as she lived in a homeless shelter and stalled social workers who wanted police to issue an Amber Alert for the little girl.
"If we find evidence of a crime committed by anybody else in the course of this investigation, they will be charged. We're talking about an 8-year-old girl," said Chief Cathy Lanier, D.C. Police.
Police did not even know to start searching until three weeks after Rudd was last seen alive. If someone dumped her body in a dumpster, she may never be found.
"You're looking at landfills that would require searches that are not only extremely hazardous because of explosive hazards from methane, but acres and acres of area going as deep as 15 feet," Lanier said.
Relisha was last seen on March 1 with Kahlil Tatum--a janitor at the homeless shelter. He took her to a swim party at the Holiday Inn. The next day, he bought a shovel and garbage bags and spent hours in Kenilworth Park, where weeks later, police found him dead of an apparent suicide.
"The one person I think that could have given us the best answer, Mr. Tatum, can't give us that answer anymore," said Lanier.
WJZ has also learned that Amtrak Police are checking surveillance video at Union Station to see if someone put Rudd on a train to someplace else.
Police are still offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to Rudd.
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