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Relisha Rudd Still Missing as 10th Birthday Arrives

To mark the sad occasion, a Facebook group named "Help Find Relisha Rudd" is hosting a 4-day prayer event.

Nineteen months and two birthdays later, Relisha Rudd is still nowhere to be found. 

Thursday would have been Relisha's 10th birthday.

To mark the sad occasion, a Facebook group named "Help Find Relisha Rudd" is hosting a four-day prayer event. The group is asking people to light a candle in their home and pray for Relisha's safe return. 

Relisha was last seen on March 1, 2014 at a Northeast Washington motel in the company of Kahlil Tatum. Tatum was a janitor at D.C. General, the homeless shelter where Relisha lived with her mother and siblings. The girl's family had allowed her to spend time with Tatum. 

Police say Tatum purchased a shovel, lime and contractor-sized trashbags, and spent a significant amount of time at Kenilworth Park around the time Relisha was last seen. Authorities were looking into the possibility that Tatum killed her and buried her body in the park.

After Relisha was reported missing, the body of Tatum's wife was found in a motel, and Tatum was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Kenilworth Park.

The little girl appeared to have been missing for weeks before officials realized she was gone. Relisha hadn't been seen at Payne Elementary School since the month before her disappearance.

Investigators say Tatum posed as a doctor March 10, telling city officials who were concerned for her safety that Relisha was sick with a neurological disorder, and undergoing treatment. When they asked for documents, "Dr. Tatum" said he would leave them at the shelter where Relisha and her family lived.

When officials went to the shelter March 19 to pick up the paperwork, they couldn't find "Dr. Tatum" or Relisha. Shortly after, a missing persons report was filed with D.C. Police.

No one has been charged in Relisha's disappearance.

In the months following her disappearance, D.C. officials took a second look at how they handled her case. The report found the District couldn't have prevented the little girl's disappearance, citing, in part, the misleading information provided by Relisha's family. However, the report did suggest more than two dozen recommended policy changes on matters including how schools deal with unexcused absences, background checks for homeless shelter employees, and fraternization between families and shelter staff.

Recently, Washington officials announced plans to close D.C. General within the next two years. The outdated, dilapidated shelter had been earmarked to be closed for years, but Relisha's disappearance put it back in the spotlight. 

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