be ready to race next week in los angeles. >> thank you for joining us. i'm richelle carey in new york. i'll be back with another hour of news at 11:00 p.m. eastern. keep it here. just -- all i could do was just keep praying and keep praying that's all. >> a year since little relisha rudd vanished. what's been done to find her? >> we have exhausted a lot of resource he. we will continue to do so. >> what has been done to protect other at risk children?

>> i have every confidence that we are exercising more oversight. >> but are they safer? >> i've answered your questions. >> "america tonight" investigates. the search for relisha. thanks for joining us for this special report. i'm joie chen. it is horrifying to know that in a typical year over 100 children in this country are kidnapped. what's even more shocking to us is that this city, the seat of the nation's power, has proven itself powerless to protect the most vulnerable of its children, the homeless. the disappearance of eight-year-old relisha rudd last winter shows how broken america's safety net is. even now a full year later no her. "america tonight"'s lori jane gliha has been following relisha's story since the child vanished and investigation into her final steps.

>> it's painful, it's hurtful, it's too quiet in my house, i don't have anybody to talk to like i normally do. my daughter will be that person. and she's not here right now. >> right now, no one seems to know where relisha rudd is. and for last year, if detectives had any clues about the nine-year-old's whereabouts -- >> help us find relisha. >> they haven't shared them with the little girl's mother shamica young. >> all i can do is keep praying, keep praying, get some answers that's it that's all. >> reporter: young has been praying on its for 12 long months. she and her long term boyfriend, antonio wheeler, were living at a shelter when her

only daughter relisha went missing. she loved art projects and going to school. >> what i knew about her is her good smart brain. i've never seen a nine-year-old speak so many big words. >> reporter: but in early 2014 the girl who loved school started showing up. her multiple absences from class more than 30 days tipped off a social worker that something was wrong. but it was already too late. a police report showed it was three weeks since she saw relisha. it wasn't unusual for her mother to leave her with family members. shamica hasn't had an easy life. she feels abandoned. she remembers the day when she learned relisha wasn't coming home. >> did you think she would be found right away? >> honestly yes i did. yes did i. all i could say about

that is: hmm they ain't do a good enough job for me. >> police discovered the last known person to see relisha alive was the man in this surveillance video the janitor at the shelter khalil taiil tatum. he bought relisha a kindle. he might have been posing as a doctor. he often offered to take relisha away from the shelter, a place the child despised. she claims she didn't know tatum well but. >> i could obviously take up a danger sign but when i was around him i didn't pick up any of that. >> but police called tatum a killer. during the days after relisha

disappeared authorities say he shot and killed his wife in a hotel room outside of town. detectives rushed there looking for relisha. instead they found tatum's wife there with a bullet in her head. they found khalil tate up a victim ever suicide. no sign of the little girl. >> we cannot ignore the possibility that he may have killed her. >> that suspicion that he may have killed her cannot leave shamica young. >> do you think he did something to relisha? >> no, i don't think. >> you don't? >> i don't think he did nothing in my eyes. as a plotting would i have felt it. i can't accept it as an answer i don't. >> a detective from d.c.'s

computer crimes unit which investigates sexual exploits of children confiscated an ipad and papers from tatum's locker and a photo of relisha rudd at his washington, d.c. home. but officials refuse to explain how those items impact the case if at all. on relisha's 9th birthday there was a press conference but did not indicate the being investigators were any closer to finding her. >> we got a late start on us. >> do you think she's alive? >> my hope is that she's alive. >> community leaders meanwhile have wondered whether relisha was the victim of sex trafficking and raised questions about her grandmother and mother's involvement. the grandmother denies it.

>> me nor my daughter did not sell her baby. >> for months relisha's family has come under fire for fail ifing to keep an eye on the child they loved. >> remember, parents have a responsibilities too and the parents, the mother and grandmother serge play a role. >> and for being less than forth coming of the chain of events surrounding relisha's disappearance. >> did you call the police? >> didn't i say, when i found out she was missing i couldn't think. >> why didn't you call the police? >> if my mind went blank and i like go into shock i'm not thinking straight. >> who called the police? we don't even know that. we didn't have a phone at the time. >> many in the communities think the family knows more than it's saying. >> if there's a chance right now to find your daughter do you think you have information that could help find her? >> no, i do not. >> so what do you say when

people ask you did you have anything to do with relisha's relisha's disappearance? >> me personally i don't answer nobody and i don't have to explain smieferl to anybody but smieferl to smieferl myself to anybody but the lord. >> she feels attacked by the media and victimized 50 detectives handling the by thedetectives handling the case. >> we are homeless poor and colored people. if we were first class rich with a lot of money, they would have did more. >> what do you wants the police to know? >> i'm the mother of a missing child and i feel like y'all should treat me like any other parents that have a child missing outs here. >> in e-mail after e-mail, the

washington, d.c. police repeatedly refused our requests for sit down interviewers with the lead investigators and police chief kathy lanier saying the case is open and under investigation. we caught up with lanier at an unrelated news conference. >> her mother says she has been treated unfairly 50 police and if -- unfairly bit police and if she were white and wealthy acknowledge , shewould have been treated differently. what do you say about that? >> we have been continuing to investigate the disappearance of relisha rudd. i'm not going to react to a comment like that other than to say every missing child matters to us. >> they are still investigating but they seem to have hit a wall.

shami shamica young is living in an apartment now where she is hoping that home. >> if you could talk to relisha right now what would you say? >> if i could talk to my daughter, i would tell her i lover you, whoever got you, let you go because they're holding you against your will. >> meanwhile, the finger-pointing continues over who failed relisha rudd. >> next in our report, remembering relisha. >> what would she be telling you? >> let's do our chairs. >> the friends keeping her spirit alive and the suspicion of who might have protected her. >> sunny knows somebody knows more. >> on "america tonight": the search for relisha.

>> tomorrow, the parents of captured american reporter austin tice. >> austin went missing in syria. >> campaigning for his release and maintaining hope. >> austin tice is alive. >> find him and get him home. >> a special "talk to al jazeera". tomorrow, 5:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> gone but not forgotten. don but not for knows. "america tonight"'s lori jane gliha continues her investigation with the people that refuse to give us up hope. >> 5'6" seven five, six, seven, eight. >> we need you to come out, we need you to come home.

>> at the end of an empty school hallway, shannon smith tries to fill some of the emptiness in her heart. >> i miss her hug her smile wrapping her arms around me and saying thank you. >> relisha rudd was one ever her students, she would have loved these routines. >> what would she tell you now do you think? >> come, on, let's do our chairs. she'd get a big smile on her face and keep going. >> when relisha rudd disappeared a year ago, communities members like smith took it upon themselves to keep her memory alive. every few months, smith distributes new shirts with relisha's face printed on the front and does everything she can to turn the sad reminders into positive energy and

hope . >> instead of me having them walking around feeling so sad about her being gone i pretty much put them to work, let them cheer, shout it out. >> we love you relisha. >> some of them hold it in. they are scared. they don't know who to trust and who not to trust. we are keeping this alive. the i have to do this every day every month i believe she's coming back. >> police say they haven't done enough to find her former student. these she's not only one to lose faith in the investigation. a handful of concerned citizens are doing their own detective work independent of police. >> all right guys, we are live for the search for relisha radio show. >> keith is one of the citizen detectives. >> there is a piece of the puzzle that's missing. >> warren is the creator and the host of the search for relisha radio show.

>> the main goal is to find relisha. >> he didn't know her but when he found out she was missing it struck close to home. his cousin disappeared in 2010. this time he said he wanted to do something that would make a difference. >> this child has to be found, you know. we believe the police and everyone have given up but community hasn't given up finding her. >> on wednesday nights he takes calls from concerned community members. >> she didn't have a voice. >> what is the key to solving this case? >> the family is the desolving this case. somebody knows more because we've heard so many different stories and so many you know stories that flipped. >> relisha's family is aware ever the accusations and some of them have even called in. >> you're on the air. >> this is antonio. this is relisha's daddy.

you are bashing my family. bashing my kid's mother. i ask to you stop. if the focus on relisha, lest focus on relisha. >> it's got to a point i don't know who to believe. >> a year ago brenda brown felt the same way. at the time, she was also suspicious that relisha's mother had something to do with her own daughter's disappearance. >> i was as angry and upset and judgmental as anybody else. >> brown was a stranger, who didn't know rel sla's relisha's family. >> but then one day she volunteered to help search for relisha and met shamica young. >> she had nobody and i was drawn to that. now she runs a we love relisha page.

bought a search dog. >> i'm not going to stop until i'm satisfied that everything has been done. and i am way from satisfied. >> brown helped young found her new apartment after the city forced her out of the homeless shelter. young who grew up bouncing between foster homes and shelters, now sees brown as a mother-figure. >> i was never really had this much support before. it made me feel like a newborn baby to have a fresh mother that can help me start from the beginning of my life and bring it up. >> you never said that. you felt like a newborn baby? >> i feel like a newborn baby with a mother. >> while rel relisha's mother inclination to hope she is alive, brown isn't as opts miscellaneous.

hasn't stopped clues. brenda brown keith warren and shannon smith people who say they won't give up until the case of the missing girl is finally solved. >> we love you relisha. >> next in our special report, "america tonight" investigates the pledges and broken promises in the search for relisha. >> are you confident that kids there today are safer than they were a year ago, when relisha rudd weren't missing? >> "america tonight"'s lori jane gliha and her tough questions to d.c. leaders. >> but are they safer? >> i have to answer to your question. >> discipline... >> that's what i wanna hear... >> strength... >> give me all you got... >> respect.... >> now... >> bootcamp >> stop your'e whining... >> for bad kids... >> they get a little dirty... so what... >> dangerous...

>> we have shackles with spit bag... >> they're still having nightmares >> if you can't straighten out your kids... >> they're mine >> al jazeera america presents camp last resort on al jazeera america >> this is the true definition of tough love

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>> it's an unsolved mystery and a sharp indictment of how a city that prides itself on its power, children for years have been warehoused in a building never meant to be a shelter. a facility politicians keep promising to shut down. you might think aafter eight-year-old relisha rudd fell through gaping contraction in the safety net, city leaders would be ready to make good on its promise he but you're i don't think. lori jane gliha continues with the story. >> this hospital building was home for eight-year-old relisha rudd and her family. >> it's amess, to be honest with you, it's no place for children, to be honest with you. >> how many people were in a room? >> it was six of us.

>> in 2013 the family was among 600 others living@d.c. living at d.c.apparently there's not really a don but not for don but not for general, a stone's throw from a drug rehab center.apparently there's not really a don but not for don but not for >> they go through security every day to just to get into the shelter. they eat in the cafeteria. it's very institutional and it might be loud, or you know chaotic. very different from their -- from the privacy of their own home. it's a very stressful place for children and families to be. >> jim graham is the former head of d.c.'s human services committee charged with shelter oversight. >> there were people who let the rudd family down. and you know it takes two hands to clap. i'm sure there are family members who were in there clapping you know and bearing their part of the responsibility but there was definitely a responsibility by the d.c. government that wasn't met.

>> after relisha went missing he held hearings holding massive concerns about the children in the shelter. >> there are a lot of things involved here but the bottom line is that we failed. >> he fount incident reports with weapons and drugs at d.c. general, staffer with inappropriate relationships with residents. >> when are we going to close thank you for joining us. don but not for this thing?> don but not for we had the former director of of this say d.c. general dead. >> i made it very clear that at the end of september the mayor would have from my office a plan as to how we would go about closing d.c. general. >> the hearings culminated in a promise to shut down the shelter. one year after relisha disappeared the shelter is still families. >> there are rats, roaches, central things like toilet tissue and soap they ran out a lot. and just the overall feel. you feel like you're being more

like a halfway house. >> tamica smalls says she lived at d.c. general for a while with her kids when the house she lived in closed. >> the younger children is harder. you have a bunch of children they feel like they're in a pigpen, running around hollering and screaming. if you didn't do it, i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. >> more than 30% of children live below the poverty line. >> i think we've had an explosion of homelessness and the major issue had is the economy. and the fact that homeless families, poor poor families are no longer able to make tonight this city. >> much of that is due to a lack of affordable housing. new construction of luxury units with higher rents is pushing thousands of people many of them young families into the city's

shelters and overflow hotels. smalls and her children are among them. she now lives in a city paid for hotel with her family. >> you have new buyers coming in fixing up your great grandmother's home but it's too expensive for to you move in. the economy the price of everything has gone up so where i was able to get a five broom for $2800 that same five bedroom that same success now $4 know. >> multiple d.c. marries having being promised to end homelessness. former d.c. mayor vincent holmes promised to find homes for 5,000 but they moved fewer than 200 families. >> mayor can you tell me why 9/11 in the community should have faith that this plan will

work when is a many previous administration he have tried ofix problem of homelessness in d.c. and been unsuccessful? >> we know we're dealing with a very important issue. incumbent upon all of us, me who is not quite 40 days in office to look at the programs that have worked and make them better. >> and are you confident that kids there today are safer than they were a year ago when relisha rudd went missing? >> i don't think that any of us can be happy when we have such a large facility where families are living. d.c. general was built as a hospital and as such it is not the optimal environment to raise families. >> but are they safer? >> i've answered your question. >> it's not much safer this year than last year because we have not -- what it would take to really make d.c. general function is a wrap around services of the type that would cost more than the city is willing to pay for right now.

>> just a quick question about relisha rudd because -- >> thank you she has to go. >> we wanted to see firsthand what kind of place it was for achild and we had been asking to get in for more than ayear but city officials walked away from pickups. >> we wanted to fee we could get into the d.c. general. i wanted to see how many place. are you sure you'd follow up? >> the city has yet to answer our questions or let us into the shelter. though the process is slow d.c. general has seen some disappeared. there are two more security guards. a new attendants protocol and a protocol making the being being playground a little mowr friendly. >> it really compelled d.c. to finally realize that there's a small town or small city of children living here without

access to safe place to play like so many children in our city have. so thanks relisha the children now at d.c. general have that playground. >> how sad is it that you are saying thanks to relisha we now have a playground? >> it's heartbreaking. this isn't just a problem unique to d.c. one in 30 children in the u.s. now experience homelessness in any given year. >> rel sla relisha rudd's disappearance is one very sad example of what it takes to galvanize public opinion. when relisha rudd disappeared the whole outlook changed. >> but homeless advocates say the recent changes at d.c. services. >> i don't know that anyone says that d.c. general needs to stay oshelters. let's integrate family shelters into our community in smaller apartment based shelters.

>> not enough has been done to make another child like relisha rudd from slipping through cracks. >> correspond lori jane gliha revealed, the system failed her but we will continue to follow up . next on our program the being mysterious disappearance of misty upham. being talk to us on twitter or ought our facebook page and come back when we'll have more of "america tonight." a show about innovations that can change lives.