July 11 designated as Relisha Rudd Awareness Day in DC

It has been seven years since the then 8-year-old Relisha Rudd went missing from a D.C. homeless shelter.

WASHINGTON — July 11 is designated as Relisha Rudd Awareness Day.

The then 8-year-old girl went missing seven years ago on March 1, 2014, but wasn’t reported missing until 18 days later on March 19, 2014.

Relisha disappeared from a homeless shelter her family was staying at in Northeast D.C.

The young girl was last seen on surveillance video at a hotel with Kahlil Tatum, a 51-year-old janitor at D.C. General Family Shelter, the shelter her family was staying at.

Tatum’s wife was murdered in an Oxon Hill motel shortly after Relisha was reported missing.

On April 1, 2014, Tatum was found dead at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, according to D.C. Police. It was later discovered that Tatum killed himself before he could be questioned by police. There was no sign of Relisha.

“We kind of failed Relisha Rudd on so many different levels, so many different people, from the community, from family, from government, law enforcement,” Henderson Long, a missing person’s advocate and CEO of D.C.’s Missing Voice said.

“Always keep hope, never give up, never stop searching,” Long said. “My main message today (July 11) is that so anybody who knows anything, even if it’s the least little thing about the disappearance or the whereabouts of Relsiha Rudd to dial into MPD.”

If you know anything about Relisha’s disappearance or whereabouts, call 202-727-9099.

There is a $50,000 reward for information.