Update: police believe missing 8-year-old may be dead
Washington D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said that the search for 8-year-old Relisha Rudd has turned into a “recovery mission,” signaling that authorities do not believe that she is alive.
“We have not given up on hope that we may find Relisha alive,” Lanier said as officers and federal agents with cadaver dogs combed through the 700-acre park along the Anacostia River during a 10-hour search.
“But we cannot ignore the possibility that he may have killed her,” Lanier added, as city police officers and cadets in neon-green vests combed the woods section by section, walking slowly and scanning the ground. The search will resume Friday, authorities said.
The chief said in Thursday’s conference that Relisha was last seen with the man who police say abducted her on March 1.
The following day, Kahlil Malik Tatum bought a box of black 42-gallon contractor trash bags and was seen in Northeast Washington.
Anyone with information on Relisha Tenau Rudd’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Department at 202-727-9099, Youth Investigations Division at 202-576-6768, or 911.