Teams Search Park for Relisha Rudd

Volunteers gathered for a massive search for an 8-year-old D.C. girl who has been missing for seven months. 

Four teams searched three areas near Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Northeast D.C. Saturday for Relisha Rudd.  A search and rescue team from Maine arrived in the area Thursday to also help with the search. 

Rudd was last seen on March 1 at a motel on New York Avenue with 51-year-old Kahlil Tatum, a janitor at the homeless shelter where her family lived.

Police say Tatum purchased a shovel, lime and contractor-sized trashbags at a Home Depot, and spent a significant amount of time at Kenilworth Park around the time Relisha was last seen.

He was found dead in the park later that month, as police and volunteers searched for signs of Relisha. Police believe he committed suicide. Authorities were looking into the possibility that Tatum had killed Relisha and buried her body in the park.

Tatum had also been wanted in the death of his wife, Andrea. Her body was found at a Red Roof Inn in Oxon Hill March 20 during the search for Relisha.

CORRECTION (Oct. 29, 2019, 2:42 p.m.): This story previously had transposed two letters in Kahlil Tatum's name. It has been updated with the correct spelling.

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