In the hotel hallway, Relisha Rudd wore pink boots and a purple jacket. The surveillance camera recorded the eight-year-old walking with Kahlil Tatum on February 26, 2014. When the FBI released the footage almost a month later, investigators were asking the public to help find them.
By then, a school’s attempt to obtain a medical explanation for Relisha’s absences had uncovered a different problem: the man described as her doctor worked at the shelter where she lived.
The man called “Dr. Tatum”
Relisha lived with her mother and brothers at the D.C. General family shelter. Tatum was a janitor there. According to the Charley Project’s case account, he befriended the family, offered Relisha gifts and spent time alone with her. Her mother, Shamika Young, placed her in his care in late February.
As Relisha missed school, Young said she was being treated by “Dr. Tatum.” The Charley Project reports that school officials requested medical documentation on March 10. Tatum told them he was treating Relisha for neurological problems and expected to discharge her the following week. That explanation was a claim by Tatum, not a diagnosis confirmed by a doctor.
The city’s subsequent review found that school staff delayed a required referral while allowing more time for medical paperwork. A school social worker eventually discovered that Tatum was not a physician and reported the matter. Police received the missing-person report on March 19.
By that date, eighteen days had passed since the last sighting MPD now identifies as confirmed.
Timeline of Events
- February 26, 2014: Hotel surveillance records Relisha with Tatum at the Holiday Inn Express on Bladensburg Road NE.
- March 1: MPD’s last confirmed sighting places Relisha in the 1600 block of Maryland Avenue NE.
- March 19: Relisha is reported missing.
- March 20: Andrea Tatum is found dead in an Oxon Hill, Maryland, motel. A murder warrant is issued for her husband, Kahlil Tatum.
- March 25: The FBI releases the February hotel footage.
- March 31–April 1: Tatum’s body is discovered in Kenilworth Park; authorities confirm his identification the next day. Relisha remains missing.
- September 2: The District publishes its review of agency interactions with Relisha and her family.
A video, two deaths and an unfinished search
The known timeline requires a distinction. The FBI’s released surveillance footage shows Relisha with Tatum at the Holiday Inn Express on Bladensburg Road on February 26, 2014. Separately, the Metropolitan Police Department identifies her last confirmed sighting as March 1 in the 1600 block of Maryland Avenue, Northeast. The released clip should not be described as footage of that last confirmed sighting.
The February hotel video gives the investigation a visible fragment of Relisha’s movements. It does not document what happened after her last confirmed sighting. That gap remains central to the case.
While investigators were searching, they found Andrea Tatum shot to death in a Maryland motel on March 20. The warrant against her husband concerned Andrea’s murder; it did not establish what had happened to Relisha.
Tatum was found dead in Kenilworth Park on March 31. The city review described an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The FBI’s April 1 announcement confirmed his identification and continued to ask for information about Relisha. Investigators had found the adult they believed she had been with, but not the child.
What Doesn’t Add Up
Where did Relisha go after March 1? The official last sighting and the later missing-person report leave a critical interval. Neither the earlier hotel footage nor Tatum’s death fills it. Publicly identifying him as the person she was believed to be with does not establish her eventual destination or fate.
Why did existing safeguards fail to account for her? The city review found uncoordinated information sharing and inaccurate shelter checks that counted children without naming them. It also found Tatum violated a staff-resident relationship policy that lacked a requirement for colleagues to report violations. Those were specific weaknesses in systems intended to protect children.
What can the review actually establish? Its team found no evidence that the disappearance was preventable even with its proposed reforms. It had not accessed the criminal file or interviewed Relisha’s mother. Its institutional findings cannot supply the missing account of what happened to her.
The appeal is still for Relisha
Efforts to reach new witnesses have continued. In July 2026, the Black and Missing Foundation’s production arm announced a six-part TikTok adaptation of its Relisha documentary, using interviews with relatives, journalists, advocates and a former police official. The campaign was an appeal for information, not an announced resolution.
As checked on October 22, 2026, the FBI and MPD still list Relisha as missing. The FBI asks anyone with information to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI. Its appeal is for her location and return.
Tatum’s death ended the possibility of questioning him. It did not end the need to hear from someone who saw Relisha, remembers a journey, or knows where she went after that last confirmed sighting. The child in the hotel hallway is still the person investigators are trying to find.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Relisha Rudd been found?
The FBI and MPD continued to list her as missing when their case pages were checked on October 22, 2026.
Does the hotel video show her last confirmed sighting?
No. It was recorded February 26, 2014. MPD identifies March 1 on Maryland Avenue NE as the last confirmed sighting.
Was Kahlil Tatum a doctor?
No. He worked at the family shelter. The city review confirms that the medical explanation given for Relisha’s absence did not withstand the school social worker’s inquiry.
Did finding Tatum establish what happened to Relisha?
No. Authorities confirmed his death on April 1, 2014, while continuing their search for her.
Where can someone provide information?
Contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, using the current official appeal linked below.
Sources & References
Official records and supporting reporting reviewed October 22, 2026.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation — Relisha Tenau Rudd
The current official missing-person appeal confirms that the search continues and identifies Kahlil Tatum’s death. - Metropolitan Police Department — Relisha T. Rudd
The official case page distinguishes the March 1 last confirmed sighting on Maryland Avenue from the March 19 missing-person report. - FBI Washington — Authorities Release Video Surveillance of Kahlil Malik Tatum and Relisha Tenau Rudd
The March 25, 2014 release dates the publicly released Holiday Inn Express footage to February 26 and records the warrant in Andrea Tatum’s death. - District of Columbia Deputy Mayors for Education and Health and Human Services — Review of Interactions with RR and Her Immediate Family and District Government Agencies
The September 2, 2014 review records agency and shelter shortcomings and its own conclusion on preventability. - The Charley Project — Relisha Tenau Rudd — Details of Disappearance
The case summary provides background on Tatum’s relationship with the family and the reported school-absence chronology; details remain attributed to the public case record. - FBI Washington — Kahlil Tatum Found Dead
The April 1, 2014 official announcement confirms identification of Tatum’s body and continued investigation into Relisha’s disappearance. - NPR, published by WBUR — Two true crime hosts are highlighting missing persons cases that people often ignore
An archived October 19, 2021 audio-program page about attention to missing-person cases; retained as further listening, not evidence for this article’s chronology. - Black and Missing Foundation — July 7, 2026 documentary-series announcement: the foundation’s renewed public-awareness campaign.
