It has been nearly six days since 8-year-old Relisha Rudd was reported missing and now her mother is begging for her daughter to be returned home safely after new findings suggest the child might be in danger.
Shamika Young, Relisha’s mother, is making a public plea with whomever has her little girl.
Young said that she simply wants her daughter returned back home safely and as soon as possible.
While nothing has been confirmed, police believe the kidnapper is a janitor at the D.C. homeless shelter where Relisha’s family resides.
New details have emerged, however, that place the same janitor as a suspect in the murder of his wife.
Relisha’s family grew close to the janitor, 51-year-old Khalil Tatum, during the 18 months they had been at the shelter.
According to police, the family even allowed the janitor to care for Relisha back in February while they remained at the homeless shelter.
Concerns for Relisha’s safety have skyrocketed after police obtained a warrant against the janitor on murder charges.
Khalil’s wife, Andrea Tatum, was found dead on Thursday in a Red Roof Inn in Maryland – just one day after Relisha went missing.
Police found the white truck that was connected to the case parked outside of the Red Roof Inn where they then discovered Andrea’s body.
No details of Andrea’s cause of death have been released, but the body reportedly showed signs of trauma.
Other guests at the Red Roof Inn said they hadn’t seen a little girl at all that day.
Young told police that she had recently spoken to her daughter on the phone on Wednesday and didn’t even consider her to be missing at first.
The last time she met with Khalil she asked for her daughter to be returned to her care, but he never followed through.
Relisha was described by the executive director of the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project as being a “sweet, quiet girl.”
She is 4 feet tall and weighs approximately 70 to 80 pounds.
Police are unsure what she might have been wearing, because Relisha was already out of her parents care for several weeks before she was reported missing.
