Police in Washington D.C. have uncovered the body of a 51-year-old man, who was the last person to be seen with the missing 8-year-old girl Relisha Rudd.
The body of the man, tentatively identified by police as Kahlil Tatum by his distinctive tattoos, was found during an extensive search for the missing child at the 700-acre Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. Tatum was a janitor at the homeless shelter where the missing girl lived with her family.
Tatum was seen with the Relisha on 1 March, after the girl’s mother, Shamika Young, had given her permission to go back to his house. Tatum was trusted by various members of the girl’s family, and had taken her on a number of previous outings before her disappearance.
Young never reported Relisha as missing, and police did not become involved in the case until 19 March when a social worker from the girl’s school went to meet “Dr Tatum” to get an explanation for her absence from school for the previous three weeks.