who bee friended 8- year-old relisha rudd -- befriended 8-year-old relisha rudd at the d.c.omeless shelter where she was staying with her mother and three siblings. police believe tatum abducted relisha, then bought garbage bags, a shovel and lime and then spent hours at the park which sparked the grueling inch by inch search. >> this is both physically and mentally tedious work. this is very draining on those people who have been here doing these searches day after day after day. >> reporter: on monday in between police news conferences officers went door to door to tell neighbors what was going on. the search for a little girl only half over one month after she was last seen alive. >> our primary focus was to find relisha. the search is underway and there's still a lot of work to do. we are not finished here. >> the chief would not say precisely where they found tatum's body, but sources tell wusa9 it was found in the storage building of the park. tonight police closed down that park preserving what is a crime scene for when the search resumes in the morning. >>> meantime

an educational play area where relisha participated. for more than a year, she says, the 8-year-old thrived on art projects and dreamed of being a model or cheerleader. this is a place relisha felt safe. >> she was trusting, loving. she was the first kid - she was outside for playtime, runs up to you "it's play time", and throws her arms around her. people here need to be kept safe. it's unspeakable that there's someone who families trusted with their safety and family's safety. >> shelter managers and leaders at the washington d.c. department of human services which overseas the homeless shelter are not saying much about why an employee was permitted to interact with the little girl outside the shelter. more than 400 families stayed in d.c. shelters last year. this year it's 700. with the growing homeless population, homeless advocates say it's understandable why families may be vulnerable to situations like relisha. >> when parents come from a background of trauma, they may not be sensitive to boundaries and red flags. it's - there ar

they walked for relisha. >> bring her home! >> right now my mind is wandering. >> reporter: melissa young is falling apart. she has been holding out hope long enough. when will see her granddaughter again? ♪ ♪ dream with me, we're all a part of god's body ♪ . >> reporter: if there is comfort in community, relisha's family has lots. but what they're praying for is a miracle discovery. >> in the name see these candles lit. we pray your light will shine in the darkness. you all are confident she is out there? >> i will keep that confident that she is alive. and i will continue on praying that she's alive. >> reporter: we encourage you to go to nbcwashington.com and to check our twitter accounts for updates as this investigation continues. again, the search for relisha rudd continues tomorrow here at kenilworth park. live in northeast, erika gonzalez, news4. >> and you can find that information on nbcwashington.com. also news4 today starting at 4:26 tomorrow morning will pick up again as the search for the little girl picks up tomo

relisha lived at a d.c.meless shelter, and tatum was the janitor there, and police believe that he may have killed relisha, and then disposed of herody in the kenilworth park. police say that the last confirmed sighting of her was march 1wst. on march 2nd, police say they have evidence th tatum was in the park for an extended period of time. the last time that tum was seen alive was march 20th, after his wife was shot and lled at the red roof inn on oxon hill road. tatum was wanted in that murd. made to get away on the metro. some time after that, tatum made his way back to this kenilworth park, into that storage building and shot himself to death. now, policeay that they believe that tatum's body was here for at least 36 hours, and maybe even and even though that the search may end tomorrow, the chief says that the investigation, that will continue on. live at kenilworth gardens, pat collins, news4. >>> a man murdered near a d.c. high school can has now been identified. police say that 22-year-old charles

the big question, just where is relisha rudd? by nightfall, they wrapped u thr search in the anacostia river. a cooyf police investigators pulled out of kenilworth pk ending day five the search for relisha rudd. ere is still no si of her, but e part of the mystery is solved. searchers found the body believed to be tha o 51-year-old khalil tatum, the man specteof being on the dead by lisha rudd, his own hand. >> it appears th the person we found re today w mr. tatum. itoes appear that this was a suide. >> police e saying littlelse about how tatum was discovered. sources tell abcy was inside thibuilding wh a gunshot wound to the hea >> it is jt shock for us. we were focused finding lisha dd. had been an inten dse of searching from their, on the river,nd on the ground using canines and vonteers on foot. all,ing watch over it strangers ose hear were heavy. >> she is a and taking her -- re in thwoods alone >> i am hoping at she is still alive. i am hoping he had a heart fore taking himself out. >> the chief would not say how tatum had

police thought macloser to finding relisha.hief of nothing on khalil tatum's body that what he done little relisha rutoday cadets, divers, cadaver dogs through they went back over ground that in some xw cases, they have been over repeatedly. police think or thought that tatum killed re relisha a h ago and dumped her neighbors are getting frustrated that they have yet to find her. >> i'm do they miss what they missed the first time with for little girl. f! how do they miss the guy the first time? >> bdshe's you have any where else ght be? >> again, there's been so many different piece of information and tips that have in that we have followed. want folks from calling in. if they think ey have seen hethink they know where she may be or other know about it. so, i would just say we ]ware ntinuing to follow those tips as we get them. we solely seen alive with tatum on march 1. on march 2, they shovel, garbage bags, and lime and spent hours here at the park. that's them convinhe dumped the litt girl's body here some place. now, the m

. >>> police are out in kennel worth park looki for any sign of relisha rudd. the body police found yesterday wathat of 51-year-old khalil m. they are scouring over evidence from that crime scene hoping to find something tt leadshem to rudd. angie goff is live at kennelworth park with the la latest. angie? >> reporter: we want to show you what's happening right now. take a look toy left. police have blocked off the entrance to kennelworth park once again. right above that hill we have the kadetcadets, searching, a s that's intensified, looking for relisha one day after pice found the body of the one m who they thought could lead to r resha. searches all morning long and we've watched fbi agents mark some o this area. this, one day after the shocking discovery of khalil tatum's body in a shed in the park. he apparently killed himself. so far, no sign othe little girl. relisha was last seen alive wit h ago. tatum bought contractor size garbage bags. this point, he can't red out that tam possibly killed the girl a disposed of the dy in the woods or water of this p

. >> we start tonight in detroit, and the fatal shooting of relisha mcbride. was intoxicated and crashed a car into a parked vehicle around 1:00 a.m. she walked to theodore wafer's house. her family says to seek help. but the 55-year-old shot mcbride in the face after she went on his porch. he is charged with second-degree murder, but he claims self-defense, saying mcbride was trying to break into his house. today, the associated press reports his defense lawyers are planning to question mcbride's past, asking a judge to let jurors see photos of mcbride's phone that show her with wads of money, alcohol, and marijuana. one is a blurry photo of mcbride holding what appears to be a gun. the lawyer says it's relevant to whether ms. mcbride had a character trait for aggression. a hearing on some pretrial motions is set for tomorrow. faith, should these records be admissible? >> no. and i don't think they will be. and if you can recall in the george zimmerman case, there were photos from trayvon martin's phone that the defense also wanted to introduce. they said tha

no problems on break in the search for 8-year-old relisha rudd. search crews found the man they believe abducted her. tatum -- kahlil tatum's body was recovered. mark albert has more. >> reizpporter: the search inside the 700-acre kenilworth park has been exhausted. camewater cameras -- underwater cameras, hundreds of volunteers and cadets. after five days they found what they did not expect. >> this discovery was a shock for us. we were very focused on finding relisha and that's what we came here for. >> reporter: i the body of janitor kahlil tatum who befriended 8-year-old relisha rudd at the d.c. homeless shelter where she was staying with her mother