Black and Missing: New Documentary Shed Lights on the Disappearance of Relisha Rudd

EBONY
Delaina Dixon
October 29, 2025

Relisha Rudd was just 8 years old when she was last seen, chillingly walking into a hotel room with Kahlil Tatum on March 1, 2014. The young, bright-faced girl had been living in a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C., where Tatum, a janitor at the shelter, had befriended her family. An official report of her disappearance wasn’t filed until March 20, weeks after her disappearance, because officials didn’t realize she was missing. To this day, Relisha has never been found.

It’s a sad reminder of how our children can still disappear into the night, without question, and few respond. JET, EBONY’s sister publication, addressed this issue in an investigative report in April 2013, shining much-needed light on a national crisis: the thousands of missing Black children who vanish each year but rarely make headlines, get law enforcement resources or community engagement. The report posed a simple, but haunting question: “Overwhelming family grief multiplied by the lack of mainstream media coverage begs the question, how do we find our missing children?”

The Black and Missing Foundation (BAMF), a non-profit organization that brings awareness to missing persons of color, has released a new documentary, The Vanishing of Relisha Rudd: A Cold Case Reexamined, to keep the search for Relisha and answers to her still-pending case alive. EBONY spoke with Natalie Wilson, Derrica Wilson and Jonquilyn Hill, the founders of BAMF, about the new program, which premieres on the Black and Missing Foundation’s YouTube channel on October 29, on what would be Relisha Rudd’s 20th birthday.

EBONY: How did this project come about?

BAMF: For 17 years, we have been bringing awareness about those missing from our communities and elevating the voices of families desperately searching for their missing loved ones. Over the years, Relisha’s case, which happened in D.C., where we reside, has stayed with us: its gaps, its silences, its unanswered questions.

As we’ve continued our work through BAMF Enterprises and the Black and Missing Foundation, we’ve listened to hundreds of families share their pain and their hopes. They all ask for the same thing: awareness and visibility for their missing child, mother, brother or loved one. With this docuseries, we’re doing just that, keeping Relisha’s case in the forefront so we can bring answers, accountability, and justice.

For us, this project was a natural next step in bringing light to Relisha’s disappearance. We can’t wait for someone else to greenlight this story, as time is of the essence. More than 11 years have passed since Relisha disappeared; her family and the D.C. community still deserve answers. This is why we acted now. It’s the first of many stories we plan to tell, because every missing person deserves visibility, and every family deserves closure.

What does the docuseries cover?

The docuseries retraces Relisha’s disappearance from the D.C. General Family Shelter in 2014, highlighting her final confirmed interactions, including surveillance footage showing her with shelter janitor Kahlil Tatum. It features never-before-seen interviews with Relisha’s family, including her stepfather, Antonio Wheeler, as well as local reporters and law enforcement officials such as Detective Mike Fulton. It also examines how the community has carried this story for more than a decade, demanding attention even as the case remains unsolved.

At its core, the series explores not only what happened to Relisha, but why and how systemic inequities, media bias and gaps in child welfare protocols continue to shape which cases get attention and which are ignored. We want viewers to feel the humanity behind the headlines. Relisha was more than a missing person; she was a daughter, a student, a little girl with dreams. Her story represents far too many others whose disappearances have not been treated with urgency or empathy.

In producing Through the Cracks, what were the most surprising or overlooked findings about what really contributed to gaps in Relisha’s case — and how did those reshape your reporting approach?

The reporting in Through the Cracks really opened our eyes to how vulnerable homelessness makes a family. We believe there would have been a different outcome if Relisha’s family had been able to live in stable, family-friendly housing.

What other systemic failures stand out the most in Relisha’s disappearance, and what does that tell us about how we should reframe missing-person cases going forward?

The biggest gap, looking back, was a lack of resources and investment. Relisha and her family were in touch with so many safety nets, and they all fell through. I think the inflection point was the eviction that led to them living in DC General. That place really was never meant to be a family shelter in the first place.

What do you remember about the 2013 JET report that has helped drive your work?

That issue was pivotal. It sparked national awareness of the silence that too many families were living through and introduced readers to the Black and Missing Foundation, which we founded to change that narrative. The article validated what so many parents already knew: when our children go missing, they don’t get the same level of urgency, coverage, or compassion. In many ways, JET helped open the door for a broader conversation, one that positioned visibility as an act of justice. It made the issue impossible to ignore. That story helped inspire journalists, policymakers, and everyday people to pay closer attention and demand accountability.

Media like JET and EBONY have always been more than storytellers: they are truth tellers. Their willingness to amplify our mission has led to real change. Coverage brings attention. Attention sparks leads, and leads bring hope. That’s why continuing to tell these stories — including Relisha’s — is so critical.

How do we protect young Black children and fight stereotypes that make their disappearance and lack of response all too common?

Protecting our children requires more than awareness; it demands accountability. Systems that are supposed to safeguard vulnerable children must work together with urgency and cultural understanding. Far too often, when Black children go missing, their cases are misclassified as “runaways” or “family disputes,” which delays vital search efforts. We have to fight those stereotypes head-on by educating the public and pushing law enforcement to respond equitably and immediately.

We also need media to continue telling these stories responsibly. When coverage humanizes missing persons — shows their photos, their names, their stories — it sparks public engagement, tips and leads. That visibility is often what drives breakthroughs in cases that might otherwise go cold.

What should we remember most about this case and Relisha?

One of the things we remember most about Relisha is her photo. At the time of her disappearance, it was everywhere: this little girl, smiling at the camera, hair in braids. It was such a familiar-looking photo – just about every Black girl has a picture like that. It’s just such a reminder of how vulnerable Black girls are.

Guests: Derrica Wilson, Co-founder Black and Missing Foundation

Photo credit: Playtime Project