evidence. on march 1st, that's the last time that relisha was seen alive and was seen with tatum, on march 2nd, the next day, police say tatum bought contractor-size trash bags. he also bought a shovel and lime which can speed up the decomposition of bodies. police also have evidence that tatum spent time at the kenilworth park in northeast on march 2nd. police say that they are going to be searching this entire area. that is no small task. we're talking about an area of 700 acres. much of it is wooded. other sections run across the anacostia river. we have been told that this could take days or possibly even weeks. aaron, back to you in the studio. >> megan mcgrath live for us, thank you. >> troublesome details. meanwhile, rudd's family is still holding out hope had she is alive after that grim report from d.c. police. relisha's mother says she still

doesn't believe that khalil tatum could hurt the little girl. shamika young said that she trusted relisha with tatum who was a janitor at the shelter where she and her kids lived and defended her decision not to call police for three weeks after her daughter went missing. news4 talk to chamiquea and her sister last night. >> he would never, ever go -- she would never, ever go with anybody else. she would be next to my side. relisha, if you hear me, i love you, and i'm praying for you to return home. >> relisha's mother says the little girl was in the care of her sister and mother the day she disappeared. but both deny that. a public roundtable will be held today about safety at the shelter where relisha went missing. the d.c. council committee on human services will host the event at 10:00 a.m. at the wilson building. a lot of people are wondering whether the shelter did a thorough background check on khalil tatum. the department of human services says the contracted operator of

the shelter conducted a criminal background check on tatum. that check revealed no convictions that would prevent him from working as a janitor at the shelter. we will be on top of the search for relisha rudd on air and on line all day long. you can find more pictures of relisha and khalil tatum and a complete overview of the case on nbcwashington.com. almost a mild start to the morning. that's something nice to wake up to. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein tracking rain in your forecast. tom? good morning. yeah, it is mild. temperature now 47 here in northwest. 40s around most of the region. storm team 4 radar showing a few scattered sprinkles, pavement wet in montgomery county, northern fairfax county. then in northern frederick and farther west across washington county, panhandle of west virginia, getting some of that light rain that's heading north and east. there's another batch of rain here in southwestern virginia, still about four hours away of getting into the metro area. that puts it in here between 8:30 and 9:00. wider view showing broad area of rain that stretches into west

virginia. scattered, light showers into kentucky and tennessee. that's heading north and east. this was a line of strong storms that's in the ohio valley. that's going to be weakening. that's along a cool front that's going to be getting here later today. temperatures now in the 40s. we'll stay in the 40s through 8:00 this morning. then by noontime, should be well interest the 50s much of the region. a look at your hour-by-hour forecast for this friday next at 4:41. maynard edwards, good morning. >> starting in charles county, here's 301 at route 5. a couple customers, but moving at speed. no problems. 210 approaching the beltway, quiet stretch of road this morning. not going to have any problems there. and the beltway at 50, moving along without incident this morning. we'll continue to monitor your traffic all morning long. aaron and ericka, back to you in the studio. we're following breaking news this morning. we go to news4's richard jordan at the live desk. ericka, developing this morning, oscar pistorius was expected to take the stand in

his own defense today, but the judge in the murder trial delayed those proceedings for another week. this would have been the first day of defense arguments. the reason for the delay is because an assessor, lawyer who's part of the judge's team, is not feeling well. pistorius is charged with the death of his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. the double amputee runner schottenstein camp. he says he thought -- steenkamp. he says he thought she was an intruder. prosecutors say he shot her after an argument. the trial will pick up april 7th. president obama is getting ready to leave italy for saudi arabia. he met with the italian president in rome. today he will meet with saudi king abdullah. some of the king's closest confidantes have been upset with how the u.s. has handled the nuclear program and syria's civil war. the search area for malaysian airlines flight 370 is changing. australian officials say they've gotten credible leads that the plane may have gone down about 600 miles north of the current search area. that is based on radar data that

appears to show that the plane was flying faster than originally thought. that means it would have run out of fuel quicker than previously thought. ten planes, five ships are out today searching for more than 300 pieces of debris spotted by a thai satellite earlier this week. today is the three-week anniversary of flight 370's disappearance. plies gathered in kuala lumpur where the plane took off it light candles and pray for the victims last night. 4:34. happening today, a prince george's county man will learn how long he will spend in prison. brian mayhew set to be sentenced after being convicted of first-degree murder. mayhew along with another man shot and killed anthony mckelvin and sean ellis in may of 2011. mayhew is also facing charges that he ordered a hit on his uncle who had planned to testify against him. today montgomery county -- montgomery county officials will turn damascus high school into a training site for bioterrorism. local and state agencies will

conduct an emergency drill there. the purpose is to test how well montgomery county officials might deal with a bioterrorism disaster. the cdc will be on site to help with that training. a busy morning. back to the live desk. >> grim news this morning. the death toll is up in the washington state mudslides. 17 are now confirmed dead, and a 4-month-old is among the new victims. rescuers spotted nine bodies still buried in that thick mud. they have not been able to reach them, and that would bring the number of fatalities up to 26. rescuers are still wading through the mud looking for the bodies. 90 people, 90 people still unaccounted for. emergency worker have stopped conducting door-to-door searches and calling relatives to locate those who have not checked in yet. at the live desk, richard jordan. also coming in to the live desk, new video from the coast guard. the rescue caught on camera involving a man who fell off a cruise ship. plus, the daughter of a man who died outside a d.c.

firehouse has some questions for candidates running for mayor. what she told news4 after the death of her father. warmer weather, but get ready for rain. tom is tracking the start of a very wet weekend. his forecast coming up.

today if your teenager is looking for a summer job, the montgomery county recreation is hiring. the department is looking for summer camp workers and

year-round temporary staff. every year the rec department hires around 300 people for summer positions. the job fare begins at 11:00 a.m. and lasts until 3:00 this afternoon. it's at the bower drive community rec center on bower drive in rockville. for the first time, we're getting a look at a new way to honor the three sites of the september 11 attacks. this is the map for the pentagon memorial trail circuit map. the 1,000-mile bike trail will connect the pentagon in arlington, the site of the world trade center in manhattan, and a field in sharchgville, virginia. organizers will -- shanksville, virginia. organizers will redevelop existing trails. the international space station has three new crew members. a russian spacecraft docked last night. it was supposed to arrive two days earlier, but the craft couldn't fire one of the engines that helps it maneuver. no one was ever in danger. the space station now has a full six-member crew. gilchrest, you need a haircut? today may be an appropriate day especially if you're willing to

take it all off. everything. >> nobody want to see that. >> georgetown school of medicine is hosting st. baldrick's day. some georgetown students and faculty will shave their heads to show support for cancer patients. they're going to be raising money for cancer research, too. they raised more than $20,000 last year. good luck with that. >> a great cause. you'll see a lot of people showing up, trying to help the cause. >> i'm sure of it. >> my ears stick out way too much. coming up on 4:41 on this friday morning. here's a live look over the district. a much warmer start than where we were this time yesterday. some rain's on the way. >> bait of a dreary weekend. but we'll take this over freezing temperatures, tom. >> i think we're done with the freezing temperatures. a mild start in the 40s. storm team 4 radar scanning the sky. sprinkles in howard county, north and west, light rain. northern frederick county, washington county, panhandle of west virginia, into western maryland. here is your hour-by-hour friday forecast. a lot of clouds around this

morning. maybe a few sprinkles. temperatures by 8:00, mid 40s to near 50. by noontime, mid to upper 50s. ought to hit the low and mid 60s mid-afternoon. chance of sprinkles and maybe a light shower all the way into the afternoon. then tonight, just some clouds rolling through. looks like a wet weekend. a look at that and a milder pattern for next week, next weather & traffic on the 1s at 4:51. maynard edwards, good morning. so how traffic now? >> thanks. good morning. looks like we've got i-95 northbound, left lane closed near powder mill road due to construction. this may have lifted. we checked cameras, and we can't see it. we do have reports of it. be mindful of that as you head out. here's a look at 395. earlier construction has cleared southbound at king street, moving wows incident. southeast/-- without incident. southeast/southwest free continuing without problems, as well. back to you in the studio. this morning, the trail of damage left behind after a fast-moving storm moved through the midwest. plus, the request lawyers

for chris brown are making in connection with his assault case here in d.c. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman,

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i'm richard jordan at the live desk. check this out. video is just coming in. the coast guard rescued a 42-year-old man from a cruise ship off the north carolina coast. that crew member was in medical distress on the ship carnival "splendor." this happened 25 miles east of cape lookout. the victim was hoisted into the helicopter, as you see, and taken to a hospital in moorehead city. he's in stable condition. the search for a predator is intensifying in riverdale. prince george's police released a new sketch of a suspect. this man broke interest a 95-year-old woman's home and sexually assaulted her. this happened on february 21st along 63rd avenue, just off 410.

there say $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. baltimore ravens' running back ray rice has been indicted on third-degree assault charges. those charges stem from a fight between rice and his fiancee in atlantic city. in this video obtained by tmz, rice can be seen lifting palmer by her arms out of an elevator and lying her on the floor. rice and palmer have denied that any assault took place. charges against palmer were dropped. rice would face up to five years in prison if convicted. family and friends of an elderly man who had a heart attack and died near a d.c. fire station turned out for the latest mayoral debate demanding answers. [ chanting ] >> we want wells! >> gray -- >> people who knew medrick cecil mills hope to ask the city to report on the fire department. they blame the fire department for allowing him to die. tussle didn't come up at the historic synagogue. this was the last debate before

the democratic primary on tuesday. look for congress to address the nsa's data collection program in the next months. the white house will reauthorize the program today for 90 days. during that time it wants congress to pass legislation that would end the spy agency's collection of americans' phone records. this will be the final day at work for the head of the nsa. general keith alexander is retiring. he's led the spy agency for eight years now. defense secretary chuck hagel will speak at a retirement ceremony this afternoon. you may want to spend this weekend shopping for health insurance if you already are not covered. monday is the deadline to enroll or face a penalty. many people can take advantage of an extension. president obama says that more than six million americans have signed up for insurance through new insurance exchanges. that's short of the administration's original goal of seven million. 4:47. the navy says a civilian who killed a sailor at naval station norfolk on monday was a convicted felon. navy officials say 35-year-old

jeffrey savage shot and killed master at arms second class mark mayo while trying to board a ship monday night. other security personnel returned fire and killed savage. north carolina records show savage was convicted of vary manslaughter in 2008 -- voluntary manslaughter in 2008. he used a security clearance to get on base. there are a lot of questions about how he made it past security. the navy says the clearance was valid, but civilians also need to have paperwork explaining what they'll be doing on the base. officials are currently looking into whether proper procedures were followed. a fourth person has died from that deadly crash at the sxsw festival. 18-year-old deondre tatum died yesterday from his injuries. earlier this month an accused drunk driver plowed into a crowd of people waiting to head into a concert in austin, texas. the driver has been charged with capital murder. chris brown trying to dodge assault charges in the district. the singer's lawyer filed a motion this week saying

prosecutors misused the grand jury process. back in october, brown and his bodyguard were arrested for punching a man. the trial is set to begin next month. right now, chris brown is serving time in an l.a. jail for violating parole. there may have been help available for virginia state senator cree deeds' son the day he stabbed his father and killed himself. a community service board evaluator said he contacted ten facilities, but none had room to admit gus deeds. state investigators say he contacted seven facilities. two of the three that weren't contacted had open beds. gus was released from an emergency custody order because the community services board couldn't find a place to keep him. he attacked his father hours later. this morning, we are getting our first look at the real devastation that was caused by a tornado in the midwest. homes and barns were absolutely destroyed when the early spring tornado ripped through northern missouri yesterday. powerful winds, downed tree limbs and power lines. fortunately, though, no injuries were reported. today students in maryland

will find out whether their summer vacations will be shorter because of this long winter. state education officials will announce whether certain districts will receive snow day waivers. the waiver would shrink the school year from 180 days to 178 days. the good thing is that you heard tom kierein say a few minutes ago, we're going to hold him to it -- he said we're done with the frigid temperatures, right? >> it t does look like it. -- it does look like. spring has been a battle between winter and summer, and winter's been winning out. but summer will knock on the door. the transition period, milder weather moving in. look at the temperatures now. what a change from yesterday. in fact, it's about 3 degrees warmer than it -- 30 degrees warmer than it was this time yesterday. it's in the 40s to near 50 degrees. subfreezing yesterday morning. what a change. we've got a lot of cloudiness around. the storm team 4 door showing from clouds getting showers in

west virginia, western maryland, southwestern virginia. we've had a few scattered sprinkles in our northern suburbs and western suburbs. still getting those here in prince william county, fairfax county, a few scattered sprinkles in montgomery, northern prince george's, northern anne arundel. and up toward howard county. another area getting light rain, the panhandle of west virginia, west of i-81. into the mountains, light rain hancock through cumberland and down toward hagerstown there. getting the scattered sprinkles heading off to the north and east now and staying away from the metro area. here's timing on some other rain beginning to move in. as of 10:00, light rain, moving into the shenandoah valley, northern virginia, northern and western suburbs. through the lunch hour and early afternoon, the metro area. scattered sprinkles. then by 3:00 or 4:00, most of it's going to be over. maybe a few clouds around. this evening, mostly cloudy, we might have a sprinkle coming through late evening. saturday is the wettest day of the weekend. we'll see the rain beginning to

sweep in during the morning. rain off and on during the afternoon all the way into saturday night. that looks like it's going to linger into sunday. here's your friday hour-by-hour forecast. temperatures steady, in the 40s, clouds around through 8:00. then 50s by noon. and a likelihood of sprinkles noontime, maybe a sprinkle during the afternoon with highs reaching the low 1996. then tomorrow, cooler weather -- low 60s. then tomorrow, cooler weather moves in. rain off and on, fog and drizzle saturday night. more showers likely sunday. but ending looks like by mid to late afternoon. blustery winds kicking in sunday. highs only the low 50s. then much milder weather moves in as we get into next week. on monday, mid 60s. then as we get into midweek next week, yeah, a little touch of summer in the air. it will be climbing into the low 70s on tuesday. a mild pattern continues wednesday and thursday. highs near 70 degrees.

absolutely wonderful. that will get those cherry blossoms coaxed, as well. morning lows will stay above freezing throughout the period all the way for the next seven days. average high this time of year is around 60. the average low is around 40. you see we're going to be still below average for the weekend. way above average as we get interest next week. let's check on our traffic now for this friday morning. maynard edwards in for danella. good morning. >> thank you, good morning. here's a look at your route 50 commute at davidsonville road. not a problem at this point. moving fine. continuing on 50 to new york avenue, in d.c., just a quick ride from the beltway to d.c. 295. only six minutes on route 50. look over in silver spring, 16th street at east/west highway, no problems around the grid. everything moving along just fine. aaron and ericka, back to you in the studio. >> thank you. think a simple speeding ticket is not a big deal? you may just think again after hearing about a new study.

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toyota is recalling 119,0002003 and 2004 -- 119,000 2003 and 2004 cars due to damaged air bags.

the defect can also cause the seat belt to tighten without warning. no accidents have been reported. if you own one of these models, take your car to the dealer. they'll make the repairs for free. a new report says that traffic violations could cost you more than you think. according to insuran insurancequotes.com, a minor violation, that's 15 miles over the limit or less, can increase your car insurance by an average of 21%. that means if the average annual car insurance is $912 a year, one speeding ticket brings it up to nearly $200. a dui will raise your insurance rate by 93%. reckless driving will cost you 82% more a year in insurance. 4:57 now. and walmart is suing visa over credit and debit card fees. walmart says visa conspired with banks to illegally fix and inflate fees that retailers pay on car transactions. the -- on card transactions.

they say the fees cost retailers and shoppers more than $350,000 between 2004 and november of 2012. visa has not responded to the lawsuit. today more than 2,000 documents from the bill clinton white house will be made public. the records shed more light on hillary clinton's role within her husband's administration, as well as her aides' efforts to shape her public image as first lady. the national archives also releasing -- releasing papers. the clinton presidential library is also planning to release records, as well. bad news, slurpee fans. coke and 7-eleven are pulling the diet coke slurpee from the shelves just after a month of rolling it out. the problem -- it didn't freeze right. oh! beverage digest says it's not easy to freeze diet sodas because the sweeteners don't handle the process as well as sugar and corn syrup. there you go, first world problems. stay with us, everybody. "news4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m.

a d.c. park the search of a focus for a missing girl. what the child's family is saying about the month-long disappearance. plus, the weather system moving in that will bring a big change for the weekend. good morning, everyone. i'm aaron gilchrest. >> i'm ericka gonzalez in for eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" today. the big weather headline this morning -- rain. >> that's right. you might notice sprinkles when you step outside. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein's tracking how long this will last. it will be a long, wet weekend, tom? >> it looks like it will be quite wet. grab an umbrella, you'll be happy you have one. we have scattered sprinkles in fairfax county, here in northwest, and in howard county. farther north and west, getting some just very light rain, hagerstown west, over toward cumberland and southwest of there from near martinsburg and into the panhandle of west

virginia into winchester. a bigger area of rain just in to the southern shenandoah valley that's tracking north and east until about 3.5 hours away of getting into the metro area. so by mid morning, we'll get a few scattered sprinkles. some other sprinkles in west virginia, kentucky, down to tennessee. this is the line of strong storms that produced severe weather in missouri and the tornadoes there. that's weakened as it moved into western kentucky. a cool front, that's going to begin to sweep in here. not until tonight. and ahead of that, we'll have mild temperatures. right now off to a milder start, big change from yesterday morning. we were subfreezing. no it is in the mid to upper 40s prince george's, montgomery, and fairfax county and points west, hovering near 50 degrees now. and around the bay, eastern shore, in the 40s. look at your hour-by-hour friday forecast coming up in about ten minutes. maynard edwards, good morning. how's traffic? good morning, tom. that rain that you mentioned isn't causing any road problem at this point. mostly traffic is r