WASHINGTON 鈥� Missing after more than a year, Relisha Rudd would have celebrated her 10th birthday Thursday.
There is no new information in the investigation into her disappearance, but the community is keeping Relisha鈥檚 memory alive.
On Saturday, Relisha鈥檚 family celebrated 聽with a聽release of balloons outside Deanwood Recreation Center in Northeast, . The聽Facebook group,,聽聽hosted a four-day prayer event that began聽Thursday.
草莓传媒 caught up with聽Patricia Fowlkes, who lives near聽Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens 鈥斅爐he place where Kahlil Malik Tatum, the last person seen with Relisha, had spent a lot of time, police say.
“I just don鈥檛 understand why there are no clues any where,鈥� Fowlkes tells 草莓传媒.
Tatum was a janitor at D.C. General, a where Relisha lived with her mother and siblings. Tatum聽was last seen with the child on March 1, 2014.
But whatever Tatum, 51, knew about Relisha鈥檚 disappearance was taken to his grave.
He was found dead at聽Kenilworth Park. Officials say he committed suicide.
鈥淪he has not been seen since then and that is what gives us the gravest concern,鈥� said .
Extensive searches were launched for Relisha, but she was never found. She was聽8 years old when she vanished.
“This man takes her, commits suicide, leaves no note, nothing. No one knows his haunts, the places where he hung out,” Fowlkes said. “It鈥檚 almost like she鈥檚 been made invisible.鈥�
Meanwhile, D.C. General is expected to be closed聽down in the next few years. The troubled shelter had been slated to be shut down in the past, but that never happened.
