1 00:00:13,918 --> 00:00:16,376 (classical music playing) 2 00:00:26,168 --> 00:00:28,543 ♪ ♪ 3 00:00:38,251 --> 00:00:40,459 ♪ ♪ 4 00:01:01,918 --> 00:01:03,209 (line ringing) 5 00:01:04,918 --> 00:01:05,918 (Caller speaking) 6 00:01:06,001 --> 00:01:07,751 Hey, how are you? 7 00:01:09,709 --> 00:01:12,126 I'm good, I'm good. I've wanted to check in 8 00:01:12,209 --> 00:01:14,334 to see how things are going. 9 00:01:20,834 --> 00:01:21,834 Okay. 10 00:01:30,918 --> 00:01:35,126 Right, do, do you think they were sex trafficking kids out of that house? 11 00:01:52,543 --> 00:01:54,793 Natalie Wilson: When we first started the organization, 12 00:01:54,876 --> 00:01:56,584 I think I cried every day. 13 00:01:56,668 --> 00:01:59,751 I am very emotional, and very sensitive. 14 00:02:01,293 --> 00:02:03,084 I still have a hard time 15 00:02:03,168 --> 00:02:06,209 dealin' with a lot of these stories. 16 00:02:06,293 --> 00:02:09,251 And the cases that disturb me the most 17 00:02:09,334 --> 00:02:12,418 are cases of missing children. 18 00:02:14,751 --> 00:02:17,418 (somber music playing) 19 00:02:27,418 --> 00:02:31,251 ♪ ♪ 20 00:02:31,334 --> 00:02:33,709 Thank you. Relisha Rudd is still missing. 21 00:02:35,334 --> 00:02:37,418 Derrica Wilson: Can I share this with you? 22 00:02:37,501 --> 00:02:39,668 Relisha disappeared from this hotel right here. 23 00:02:39,751 --> 00:02:41,168 Person in car: Oh. 24 00:02:41,251 --> 00:02:42,334 Derrica Wilson: Thank you. 25 00:02:44,001 --> 00:02:48,751 Natalie Wilson: Relisha is a child missing from our community. 26 00:02:48,834 --> 00:02:51,834 And there are so many unanswered questions 27 00:02:51,918 --> 00:02:53,793 about her disappearance. 28 00:02:55,126 --> 00:02:59,626 Relisha is D.C.'s heartbeat, D.C.'s baby. 29 00:02:59,709 --> 00:03:01,418 Producer: Can I ask you a question or two? 30 00:03:02,876 --> 00:03:05,459 -How old are you-- -How did this get in front of me? 31 00:03:05,543 --> 00:03:07,418 Producer: Oh, that's recording your sound. 32 00:03:08,543 --> 00:03:10,376 It's gonna put it up on there? 33 00:03:11,418 --> 00:03:14,293 R-E-L-I-S-H-A. 34 00:03:14,376 --> 00:03:16,834 Producer: That's a nice name. 35 00:03:16,918 --> 00:03:18,876 Derrica Wilson: Relisha was a homeless kid 36 00:03:18,959 --> 00:03:20,668 livin' in a homeless shelter, 37 00:03:20,751 --> 00:03:22,959 you know, with her mom and her stepfather. 38 00:03:23,043 --> 00:03:24,334 Cut. 39 00:03:26,001 --> 00:03:29,043 Antonio Wheeler: Okay, well, my name is Antonio Wheeler. 40 00:03:29,126 --> 00:03:30,668 I'm 33 years old. 41 00:03:30,751 --> 00:03:34,001 I'm from and born in Washington D.C., 42 00:03:34,084 --> 00:03:36,626 and Relisha is my stepdaughter. 43 00:03:38,709 --> 00:03:40,043 ♪ ♪ 44 00:03:40,126 --> 00:03:41,376 It's your dance! 45 00:03:42,751 --> 00:03:44,251 Shamika Young: Do your dance, Relisha, keep on. 46 00:03:44,334 --> 00:03:46,418 Go ahead and do your dance, uh-huh. 47 00:03:46,501 --> 00:03:47,793 Go ahead and do your dance. 48 00:03:47,876 --> 00:03:49,418 (indistinct) 49 00:03:50,751 --> 00:03:53,293 Wheeler: Relisha was very smart, energetic, 50 00:03:53,376 --> 00:03:54,793 full of life. 51 00:03:54,876 --> 00:03:57,584 Her smile can brighten your day up. 52 00:03:57,668 --> 00:04:01,626 And she don't like when people mispronounce her name. 53 00:04:01,709 --> 00:04:03,001 My little joke with her, 54 00:04:03,084 --> 00:04:05,209 it was always be "Ralisha." 55 00:04:05,293 --> 00:04:07,459 And, you know, she be like, "No, Daddy. It's Relisha." 56 00:04:07,543 --> 00:04:09,501 I said, "Ralisha." 57 00:04:10,793 --> 00:04:14,293 I met Shamika on Facebook. 58 00:04:14,376 --> 00:04:16,834 I got close with her. 59 00:04:16,918 --> 00:04:18,043 She was a good mom, 60 00:04:18,126 --> 00:04:20,376 and she was lovin', she was carin'. 61 00:04:20,459 --> 00:04:24,209 She did for her kids the best she could. 62 00:04:24,293 --> 00:04:25,709 We eventually got together, 63 00:04:25,793 --> 00:04:28,251 and I met Relisha when she was two. 64 00:04:29,459 --> 00:04:31,126 The first time she called me Dad, 65 00:04:31,209 --> 00:04:32,793 I fixed her a bowl of Oodles of Noodles, 66 00:04:32,876 --> 00:04:37,584 and she acted like that was the best bowl of noodles she ever had. 67 00:04:37,668 --> 00:04:39,459 I'll never forget that. 68 00:04:40,918 --> 00:04:44,168 I had a bit of a rough childhood myself, um, 69 00:04:44,251 --> 00:04:46,709 I was in the foster care system. 70 00:04:46,793 --> 00:04:49,501 I guess Relisha seen somethin' in me 71 00:04:49,584 --> 00:04:51,834 that I didn't know that was there. 72 00:04:51,918 --> 00:04:54,501 You know, I can be a father. 73 00:04:56,751 --> 00:04:59,418 I took pride at that, at that moment. 74 00:05:01,501 --> 00:05:04,626 Shamika, she was in a program. 75 00:05:04,709 --> 00:05:06,584 They provided her housing, 76 00:05:06,668 --> 00:05:08,459 but she was losin' her voucher, 77 00:05:08,543 --> 00:05:10,751 not obeyin' by the program rules, 78 00:05:10,834 --> 00:05:13,001 so they kicked her out the program, 79 00:05:13,084 --> 00:05:18,001 so we had to move to the shelter, D.C. General. 80 00:05:18,084 --> 00:05:20,376 Producer: If I say a couple sentences to you, 81 00:05:20,459 --> 00:05:21,834 can you say them back? 82 00:05:21,918 --> 00:05:25,501 -Huh? -Producer: So, you say, "We live with our families." 83 00:05:25,584 --> 00:05:26,918 We live with our families. 84 00:05:27,001 --> 00:05:28,626 Producer: Okay, then look right over here and say, 85 00:05:28,709 --> 00:05:30,376 "The D.C. General Family Shelter." 86 00:05:30,459 --> 00:05:35,793 The D.C. Family Gen-- Uh, D.C. General Family Shelter. 87 00:05:35,876 --> 00:05:38,876 Wheeler: You know, that was my first time, actually, in a shelter. 88 00:05:38,959 --> 00:05:41,751 It was scary for me and my kids. 89 00:05:43,709 --> 00:05:46,876 We had mold, we had lice, 90 00:05:46,959 --> 00:05:48,334 you know, we had some, you know, 91 00:05:48,418 --> 00:05:50,584 staff monitors not abidin' by the rules, 92 00:05:50,668 --> 00:05:52,834 had staff monitors havin' sex with the residents, 93 00:05:52,918 --> 00:05:56,626 havin' babies, so we're just like, it was just, it was awful. 94 00:05:58,334 --> 00:06:00,751 Derrica Wilson: Relisha and her family were caught in a cycle 95 00:06:00,834 --> 00:06:03,584 of poverty and homelessness. 96 00:06:03,668 --> 00:06:07,834 There is a lot of people out here one paycheck from being homeless. 97 00:06:07,918 --> 00:06:12,084 But Black folks are far more vulnerable. 98 00:06:12,168 --> 00:06:14,334 Forty percent of homeless people are Black, 99 00:06:14,418 --> 00:06:19,418 yet Black people make up only 13% of the population. 100 00:06:20,376 --> 00:06:23,709 That number is alarming. 101 00:06:25,084 --> 00:06:26,876 Wheeler: I was tryin' to save up money 102 00:06:26,959 --> 00:06:29,084 so we could move out on our own, 103 00:06:29,168 --> 00:06:31,668 so I was always out of town working, 104 00:06:31,751 --> 00:06:34,084 you know, at weeks and months at a time. 105 00:06:36,584 --> 00:06:42,959 One day, I get back in town, and Relisha wasn't around. 106 00:06:43,043 --> 00:06:45,959 I asked Shamika, "Where's Relisha?" 107 00:06:46,043 --> 00:06:48,418 And, you know, she say, "Oh, she's at Ashley's house," 108 00:06:48,501 --> 00:06:50,376 which is Shamika's sister. 109 00:06:51,459 --> 00:06:52,959 But, as time went on, 110 00:06:53,043 --> 00:06:55,834 I went to go get my kids and Relisha from school, 111 00:06:55,918 --> 00:06:59,209 and the school councilman, Mr. Workman, 112 00:06:59,293 --> 00:07:02,209 he told me Relisha's absent. 113 00:07:04,334 --> 00:07:06,251 Laboné Workman: Here's the thing, I would see 114 00:07:06,334 --> 00:07:07,793 the family constantly, 115 00:07:07,876 --> 00:07:08,918 I saw 'em every day, 116 00:07:09,001 --> 00:07:10,459 and I saw the siblings every day. 117 00:07:10,543 --> 00:07:13,376 I just didn't see Relisha. 118 00:07:13,459 --> 00:07:15,001 I had a conversation with the mom, 119 00:07:15,084 --> 00:07:16,834 and if I'm not mistaken, the grandmother, too, 120 00:07:16,918 --> 00:07:18,209 and they told me that she was 121 00:07:18,293 --> 00:07:20,626 having these migraines. 122 00:07:20,709 --> 00:07:23,168 Wheeler: I didn't know nothin' about her gettin' headaches, 123 00:07:23,251 --> 00:07:26,626 so I didn't know she was out of school. 124 00:07:26,709 --> 00:07:28,459 Workman: When they gave me the handwritten note 125 00:07:28,543 --> 00:07:31,043 that she was getting looked at by a doctor... 126 00:07:31,126 --> 00:07:33,543 I knew there were doctors at the shelter, 127 00:07:33,626 --> 00:07:36,584 but I needed official documentation, 128 00:07:36,668 --> 00:07:37,751 so I told the family, 129 00:07:37,834 --> 00:07:39,543 "Let me get the doctor's information." 130 00:07:39,626 --> 00:07:41,418 And then maybe a couple days later, 131 00:07:41,501 --> 00:07:46,418 they provided me with the scrap of piece of paper that said 132 00:07:46,501 --> 00:07:47,626 that this is Dr. Tatum 133 00:07:47,709 --> 00:07:50,376 along with Dr. Tatum's phone number. 134 00:07:50,459 --> 00:07:52,918 I called this Dr. Tatum, I introduced myself, 135 00:07:53,001 --> 00:07:54,084 and told him 136 00:07:54,168 --> 00:07:57,459 that I was trying to get documentation to excuse 137 00:07:57,543 --> 00:08:02,126 Relisha's absences from school as they were amassing. 138 00:08:02,209 --> 00:08:04,001 So, it was a back and forth with him 139 00:08:04,084 --> 00:08:06,959 on the phone trying to get him to fax it. 140 00:08:07,043 --> 00:08:09,168 The Principal at the time, Visom, said, she goes, 141 00:08:09,251 --> 00:08:11,293 "Just go down there and get the letters." 142 00:08:12,709 --> 00:08:15,168 So, I hop in my truck, and I go down. 143 00:08:15,251 --> 00:08:17,709 And this is where it got... 144 00:08:17,793 --> 00:08:18,709 (sighs) 145 00:08:20,126 --> 00:08:22,251 it just got crazy real quick. 146 00:08:24,334 --> 00:08:26,126 I'd called the counselor, 147 00:08:26,209 --> 00:08:28,459 they said that they wouldn't be around, 148 00:08:28,543 --> 00:08:32,626 but I could leave the letter with the dates missed 149 00:08:32,709 --> 00:08:34,918 with the security guard. 150 00:08:35,001 --> 00:08:38,668 I walk into the building, and I ask for a security guard. 151 00:08:38,751 --> 00:08:41,668 I said, "This letter is for Dr. Tatum." 152 00:08:41,751 --> 00:08:46,084 And she took the letter, like it was poison. 153 00:08:46,168 --> 00:08:48,751 Took it like that. And I'm still like, "What's going on?" 154 00:08:48,834 --> 00:08:50,876 And I walked away, but somethin' told me 155 00:08:50,959 --> 00:08:52,793 to turn around and come back. 156 00:08:52,876 --> 00:08:56,043 And lo and behold, the counselor was right there. 157 00:08:56,126 --> 00:08:57,459 So, I said, "Listen, 158 00:08:57,543 --> 00:09:00,918 "I'm here to pick up some excuse letters from Dr. Tatum 159 00:09:01,001 --> 00:09:02,626 for this girl, Relisha Rudd." 160 00:09:02,709 --> 00:09:05,501 And she, again, looked at me, like I had two heads. 161 00:09:05,584 --> 00:09:08,668 And then, next thing I know, she picked up the phone, 162 00:09:08,751 --> 00:09:11,918 and she says, "Hello, Tatum, 163 00:09:12,001 --> 00:09:15,084 "uh, Mr. Workman's here to pick up some letters from you. 164 00:09:15,168 --> 00:09:17,251 Are you a doctor?" 165 00:09:17,334 --> 00:09:19,001 You ever heard that thing where they say, 166 00:09:19,084 --> 00:09:20,084 all the blood rushes to you-- 167 00:09:20,168 --> 00:09:21,626 I never had that experience before, 168 00:09:21,709 --> 00:09:23,876 but when I tell you I couldn't hear anything, 169 00:09:23,959 --> 00:09:25,209 I couldn't hear anything. 170 00:09:25,293 --> 00:09:26,834 (imitates static) 171 00:09:26,918 --> 00:09:29,626 All I could see was that lady on the phone, 172 00:09:29,709 --> 00:09:31,584 and I sw-- It was like a tunnel. 173 00:09:33,043 --> 00:09:34,459 Jennifer Donelan: Dr. Tatum. 174 00:09:34,543 --> 00:09:37,084 He was, actually, Kahlil Tatum, 175 00:09:37,168 --> 00:09:39,168 the janitor at the shelter. 176 00:09:39,251 --> 00:09:41,084 (tense music playing) 177 00:09:41,168 --> 00:09:43,126 It's the school social worker that noticed that 178 00:09:43,209 --> 00:09:44,376 there was no Dr. Tatum, 179 00:09:44,459 --> 00:09:46,668 that Tatum was actually a janitor. 180 00:09:46,751 --> 00:09:48,918 That's when it all breaks loose. 181 00:09:49,001 --> 00:09:50,626 Throughout that time, 182 00:09:50,709 --> 00:09:53,876 Shamika... and her family, 183 00:09:53,959 --> 00:09:56,251 and I have to say Shamika, mainly, 'cause she's the mother, 184 00:09:56,334 --> 00:09:58,876 allowed Tatum to take Relisha 185 00:09:58,959 --> 00:10:01,043 off of the premises. 186 00:10:01,126 --> 00:10:03,709 He did that for a long time. 187 00:10:03,793 --> 00:10:06,918 He was buying her gifts, and giving her things, 188 00:10:07,001 --> 00:10:10,043 and allowing her to come and spend the night 189 00:10:10,126 --> 00:10:13,168 at his house and with his wife. 190 00:10:13,251 --> 00:10:16,001 Relisha's mother was vulnerable to grooming 191 00:10:16,084 --> 00:10:18,334 living in a homeless shelter. 192 00:10:18,418 --> 00:10:20,418 He built trust with her, 193 00:10:20,501 --> 00:10:24,668 and she basically turned her daughter over to him. 194 00:10:24,751 --> 00:10:27,751 Wheeler: I didn't get a bad vibe from Kahlil, you know, 195 00:10:27,834 --> 00:10:31,334 but I didn't never approve of him spending time with Shamika 196 00:10:31,418 --> 00:10:33,251 or my kids. 197 00:10:33,334 --> 00:10:35,376 She said, "Oh, he givin' us money, 198 00:10:35,459 --> 00:10:37,751 "and he helpin', helpin' us 199 00:10:37,834 --> 00:10:39,959 look out for the kids." I said, "We don't need no help. 200 00:10:40,043 --> 00:10:41,751 "So, why's you, you know, 201 00:10:41,834 --> 00:10:44,126 spendin' so much time with this guy?" 202 00:10:44,959 --> 00:10:46,418 Then come to find out 203 00:10:46,501 --> 00:10:49,209 Kahlil got a long criminal record: 204 00:10:49,293 --> 00:10:52,918 home invasions, all types of criminal charges. 205 00:10:53,001 --> 00:10:55,501 He wasn't supposed to be around kids or nothin'. 206 00:10:55,584 --> 00:10:57,918 So, how did he get a job there? 207 00:11:01,001 --> 00:11:03,459 Chanel Dickers: The faculty at the school contacted 208 00:11:03,543 --> 00:11:06,126 our Child and Family Services Agency, 209 00:11:06,209 --> 00:11:08,834 and that's when we were first alerted that, um, 210 00:11:08,918 --> 00:11:10,876 Relisha had been missing 211 00:11:10,959 --> 00:11:12,209 for like a month. 212 00:11:12,293 --> 00:11:14,876 (sirens wailing) 213 00:11:14,959 --> 00:11:17,126 Wheeler: So, the same day that 214 00:11:17,209 --> 00:11:19,668 Relisha's reported missin', 215 00:11:19,751 --> 00:11:22,209 I see a bunch of police officer cars 216 00:11:22,293 --> 00:11:24,501 at the shelter. 217 00:11:24,584 --> 00:11:25,918 So, I'm askin' Shamika, you know, 218 00:11:26,001 --> 00:11:27,126 "What happened? What's goin' on? 219 00:11:27,209 --> 00:11:29,043 Why these people sayin' Relisha missin'?" 220 00:11:29,126 --> 00:11:32,918 She's still nonchalant about it, not showin' no emotion. 221 00:11:33,834 --> 00:11:35,293 And come to find out, 222 00:11:35,376 --> 00:11:39,334 they found Kahlil's wife dead at the Red Roof Inn Hotel. 223 00:11:39,834 --> 00:11:42,751 ♪ ♪ 224 00:11:42,834 --> 00:11:45,668 Donelan: Relisha, she's announced as missing, 225 00:11:45,751 --> 00:11:47,626 and then, that same day, 226 00:11:47,709 --> 00:11:52,543 the janitor that she was allowed to leave the shelter with, 227 00:11:52,626 --> 00:11:54,751 his wife is murdered in a hotel. 228 00:11:56,126 --> 00:11:58,001 And Mr. Kahlil Tatum... 229 00:11:58,876 --> 00:12:01,001 is the suspect. 230 00:12:01,084 --> 00:12:02,668 That's when the coverage begins. 231 00:12:02,751 --> 00:12:04,834 News Announcer 1: Tonight, an AMBER alert has been issued 232 00:12:04,918 --> 00:12:06,709 for 8-year-old Relisha Rudd 233 00:12:06,793 --> 00:12:08,209 and her possibly armed captor. 234 00:12:08,293 --> 00:12:10,001 News Announcer 2: Police are now intensely searching 235 00:12:10,084 --> 00:12:12,584 for a 1976 white GMC truck, 236 00:12:12,668 --> 00:12:16,043 the little girl, and Kahlil Tatum. 237 00:12:16,126 --> 00:12:18,459 Donelan: Then we find out that she hasn't been to school in weeks. 238 00:12:18,543 --> 00:12:21,043 We find out the length of time that she was last seen. 239 00:12:21,126 --> 00:12:23,751 How was a janitor able to walk out of a shelter 240 00:12:23,834 --> 00:12:25,251 with an 8-year-old girl? 241 00:12:25,334 --> 00:12:27,001 Reporter: Why did you trust him? 242 00:12:27,084 --> 00:12:29,626 He didn't look like that type of person. 243 00:12:29,709 --> 00:12:31,709 He looked like a good person. 244 00:12:31,793 --> 00:12:34,043 The way he played with everybody kids, 245 00:12:34,126 --> 00:12:35,709 the way he did his job, 246 00:12:35,793 --> 00:12:38,376 when he needed to do his job buffin' them floors. 247 00:12:38,459 --> 00:12:41,168 He didn't look like an intimidizin' person. He really didn't. 248 00:12:41,251 --> 00:12:42,543 Reporter: Some people would say, 249 00:12:42,626 --> 00:12:43,876 "Why didn't you call police 250 00:12:43,959 --> 00:12:45,543 if your daughter was missing?" 251 00:12:47,626 --> 00:12:49,709 I ain't wanna lose my other three kids. 252 00:12:49,793 --> 00:12:52,459 That's why I didn't call the police. 253 00:12:52,543 --> 00:12:55,376 There is no lack in coverage, locally. 254 00:12:55,459 --> 00:12:57,334 Nationally, she, she didn't get enough. 255 00:12:57,418 --> 00:12:59,834 News Announcer: Police issued the AMBER alert for Relisha... 256 00:12:59,918 --> 00:13:01,376 When this information came out, 257 00:13:01,459 --> 00:13:04,084 there was so many people that was reaching out, 258 00:13:04,168 --> 00:13:06,793 you know, to let us know about her disappearance. 259 00:13:06,876 --> 00:13:09,834 And I couldn't understand why 260 00:13:09,918 --> 00:13:13,584 it wasn't a national AMBER alert. 261 00:13:13,668 --> 00:13:16,584 It was really targeted, specifically, 262 00:13:16,668 --> 00:13:20,418 to the Washington area... 263 00:13:21,626 --> 00:13:22,918 but she can be anywhere. 264 00:13:23,001 --> 00:13:25,918 She can be in Atlanta, she can be in Florida, 265 00:13:26,001 --> 00:13:29,918 she can be in California, Texas, she can absolutely be anywhere, 266 00:13:30,001 --> 00:13:33,543 and if we're not putting that information out there, 267 00:13:33,626 --> 00:13:37,876 people outside of this area wouldn't know that she's missing. 268 00:13:37,959 --> 00:13:39,876 Chief Cathy Lanier: I actually looked into that when I got that allegation. 269 00:13:39,959 --> 00:13:42,876 The AMBER alert was issued, uh, as far north as 270 00:13:42,959 --> 00:13:45,834 Pennsylvania and Delaware, and as far south as Florida. 271 00:13:45,918 --> 00:13:47,918 News Announcer: We asked state police in Pennsylvania, 272 00:13:48,001 --> 00:13:49,668 Delaware and Florida, 273 00:13:49,751 --> 00:13:51,334 North Carolina, South Carolina, 274 00:13:51,418 --> 00:13:54,043 New York, Maryland, and Virginia, too. 275 00:13:54,126 --> 00:13:58,418 No AMBER alerts issued there for Relisha Rudd. 276 00:14:00,001 --> 00:14:02,584 Natalie Wilson: On March the 25th, 277 00:14:02,668 --> 00:14:05,459 the FBI issued a press release, 278 00:14:05,543 --> 00:14:09,584 and they showed surveillance of 8-year-old Relisha... 279 00:14:09,668 --> 00:14:10,751 with Tatum 280 00:14:10,834 --> 00:14:12,334 walking down the hallway 281 00:14:12,418 --> 00:14:15,376 at the Holiday Inn Express on New York Avenue, 282 00:14:15,459 --> 00:14:17,584 and this footage is from 283 00:14:17,668 --> 00:14:20,959 February 26th, a month earlier. 284 00:14:24,084 --> 00:14:26,751 Workman: One of the worst images... 285 00:14:26,834 --> 00:14:30,334 is seeing her walk down that nasty motel hallway. 286 00:14:30,418 --> 00:14:32,543 You know, it just-- It looks like one of those 287 00:14:32,626 --> 00:14:35,418 "No Tell" Motels, you know, on the side of the road 288 00:14:35,501 --> 00:14:38,459 where people just go for little trysts, or... whatever. 289 00:14:38,543 --> 00:14:42,334 It just looked so nasty and dank and dark. 290 00:14:42,418 --> 00:14:45,334 She's in that space as a, as a little girl 291 00:14:45,418 --> 00:14:47,834 with a grown man that has nothin' to do with her. 292 00:14:49,084 --> 00:14:52,418 There's, there's nothin' good that can happen. 293 00:14:58,459 --> 00:15:00,126 Wheeler: So the next few days, 294 00:15:00,209 --> 00:15:02,126 they go on searches, 295 00:15:02,209 --> 00:15:03,126 lookin' in woods. 296 00:15:03,209 --> 00:15:05,668 They looked in Kenilworth Park. 297 00:15:05,751 --> 00:15:07,668 News Announcer: Police initially began searching that park 298 00:15:07,751 --> 00:15:10,168 after they found out Tatum had spent time there 299 00:15:10,251 --> 00:15:12,376 in early March after buying large 300 00:15:12,459 --> 00:15:15,459 industrial-sized trash bags. 301 00:15:15,543 --> 00:15:17,834 Kenilworth Park Aquatic Gardens, 302 00:15:18,584 --> 00:15:20,543 it's 700 acres. 303 00:15:21,626 --> 00:15:23,376 It's huge. 304 00:15:23,459 --> 00:15:25,834 Derrick Butler: The Metropolitan Police Department, 305 00:15:25,918 --> 00:15:27,543 they called the community out 306 00:15:27,626 --> 00:15:31,126 to help them find this little girl. 307 00:15:31,209 --> 00:15:33,168 News Announcer: Black and Missing Foundation 308 00:15:33,251 --> 00:15:34,876 was one of the few local organizations 309 00:15:34,959 --> 00:15:37,209 selected to help D.C. police in their massive search effort 310 00:15:37,293 --> 00:15:38,709 at Kenilworth Park. 311 00:15:38,793 --> 00:15:40,584 Derrica Wilson: So many people have failed her, 312 00:15:40,668 --> 00:15:41,876 this system failed her, 313 00:15:41,959 --> 00:15:45,834 and we need people looking for her. 314 00:15:45,918 --> 00:15:48,251 Natalie Wilson: We show up at Kenilworth Park, 315 00:15:48,334 --> 00:15:49,626 MPD is leading, 316 00:15:49,709 --> 00:15:53,668 they've broken us off into groups. 317 00:15:53,751 --> 00:15:57,501 There were 50 people that were a part of the search, 318 00:15:57,584 --> 00:16:00,793 and it was just a surreal moment. 319 00:16:00,876 --> 00:16:03,543 We weren't sure what we would find. 320 00:16:03,626 --> 00:16:09,251 Derrica Wilson: The goal was to try to canvass as much ground as possible. 321 00:16:09,334 --> 00:16:12,293 Derrick Butler: We're lookin' for any children's articles, 322 00:16:12,376 --> 00:16:14,876 shovel, bags, 323 00:16:14,959 --> 00:16:17,918 just about anything that, you know, that we thought 324 00:16:18,001 --> 00:16:20,584 might've been connected to the, uh, case. 325 00:16:20,668 --> 00:16:22,418 Derrica Wilson: And then all of a sudden... 326 00:16:22,501 --> 00:16:23,626 (radio chatter) 327 00:16:23,709 --> 00:16:24,876 on the radio, 328 00:16:24,959 --> 00:16:27,043 there was a call that came out. 329 00:16:27,126 --> 00:16:29,126 Natalie Wilson: We all needed to step away. 330 00:16:29,209 --> 00:16:32,126 (sirens wailing) 331 00:16:35,751 --> 00:16:38,001 Derrica Wilson: A body was found in a park. 332 00:16:39,543 --> 00:16:41,168 Donelan: I'm thinking... 333 00:16:41,251 --> 00:16:44,709 "I don't want it to be her. Please don't let it be her." 334 00:16:44,793 --> 00:16:46,959 Chief Lanier: In the course of our search today, 335 00:16:47,043 --> 00:16:50,834 we did discover the body of an adult male, 336 00:16:50,918 --> 00:16:52,376 uh, that is deceased. 337 00:16:52,459 --> 00:16:55,668 It's Kahlil Tatum. 338 00:16:55,751 --> 00:16:58,084 Butler: The area that we were searching, 339 00:16:58,168 --> 00:17:00,459 they found Kahlil's body 340 00:17:00,543 --> 00:17:02,793 where he had actually killed himself. 341 00:17:05,293 --> 00:17:08,126 Donelan: And the anger that I felt 342 00:17:08,209 --> 00:17:09,543 because he was the one, 343 00:17:09,626 --> 00:17:11,626 he's the one who knew. 344 00:17:11,709 --> 00:17:16,834 Natalie Wilson: He is the missing piece to Relisha. 345 00:17:16,918 --> 00:17:20,334 Donelan: And now, he's taken that away from everyone. 346 00:17:21,376 --> 00:17:24,168 It's selfish and a coward. 347 00:17:24,251 --> 00:17:25,834 That's what I think, and I'm not supposed to have 348 00:17:25,918 --> 00:17:27,793 personal feelings because I'm a reporter, 349 00:17:27,876 --> 00:17:29,668 but I can say that now. 350 00:17:31,126 --> 00:17:36,084 Wheeler: There's no sign or trace of Relisha. 351 00:17:36,168 --> 00:17:38,751 And this is a child that calls me Daddy, 352 00:17:38,834 --> 00:17:40,584 and the thing that I could think about the most, 353 00:17:40,668 --> 00:17:43,293 even to this day, she was scared, she would-- 354 00:17:43,376 --> 00:17:47,168 Every time Relisha gets scared, she would call out for me. 355 00:17:47,251 --> 00:17:51,543 So, that replays in my head, too. 356 00:17:51,626 --> 00:17:55,126 News Announcer: The search for 8-year-old Relisha Rudd will wrap up 357 00:17:55,209 --> 00:17:58,334 here today at Kenilworth Park in Northeast Washington. 358 00:17:58,418 --> 00:18:00,793 We're all a bit relieved that we did not find Relisha here 359 00:18:00,876 --> 00:18:03,334 the way we anticipated we would find her. 360 00:18:03,418 --> 00:18:06,584 Um, it's heart-wrenchingly frustrating that we don't have 361 00:18:06,668 --> 00:18:09,668 answers as to where she is right now. 362 00:18:09,751 --> 00:18:11,709 Brenda Brown: There are politics on the police force, 363 00:18:11,793 --> 00:18:16,001 in the mayor's office, there are politics everywhere. 364 00:18:16,084 --> 00:18:19,418 They were horrified that it happened under their watch. 365 00:18:19,501 --> 00:18:21,709 They were horrified that they hadn't found her. 366 00:18:21,793 --> 00:18:24,918 They were horrified that the school didn't know, 367 00:18:25,001 --> 00:18:26,209 or didn't report 368 00:18:26,293 --> 00:18:28,876 that she'd been out of school for almost 30 days. 369 00:18:28,959 --> 00:18:30,251 So, what did they do? 370 00:18:30,334 --> 00:18:32,668 They shut down to the community. 371 00:18:32,751 --> 00:18:34,584 That's what fired the community up. 372 00:18:34,668 --> 00:18:36,251 Crowd (chanting): Rally for respect! 373 00:18:36,334 --> 00:18:39,459 Rally for respect! Rally for respect! 374 00:18:39,543 --> 00:18:42,168 News Announcer: Dozens rallied outside the D.C. General Shelter, 375 00:18:42,251 --> 00:18:44,668 activists from community and faith-based groups, 376 00:18:44,751 --> 00:18:46,501 along with families who live there, 377 00:18:46,584 --> 00:18:49,918 many of whom told us conditions are less than ideal. 378 00:18:50,001 --> 00:18:52,168 Some rooms don't have no electric. 379 00:18:52,251 --> 00:18:53,626 Um, we had a flood. 380 00:18:53,709 --> 00:18:58,168 You only have six counselors helpin' a whole big buildin'. 381 00:18:58,251 --> 00:18:59,959 News Announcer: The city has announced a plan to move 382 00:19:00,043 --> 00:19:02,918 500 families out of the deteriorating shelter. 383 00:19:03,001 --> 00:19:04,668 Jim Graham: This place just doesn't work, 384 00:19:04,751 --> 00:19:07,584 and we could spend tens of millions of dollars 385 00:19:07,668 --> 00:19:10,543 trying to make it work, and it still wouldn't work. 386 00:19:12,293 --> 00:19:14,209 Vince Warren: If we were to strip away 387 00:19:14,293 --> 00:19:16,418 all of the... 388 00:19:16,501 --> 00:19:18,334 other things that contribute 389 00:19:18,418 --> 00:19:22,626 to the challenges that we're facing with missing children, 390 00:19:22,709 --> 00:19:25,209 it comes down to poverty. 391 00:19:25,293 --> 00:19:27,876 We have generations and generations 392 00:19:27,959 --> 00:19:30,126 in this country of Black families 393 00:19:30,209 --> 00:19:33,084 that are deeply poor, 394 00:19:33,168 --> 00:19:35,501 and they're making decisions 395 00:19:35,584 --> 00:19:37,418 about survival. 396 00:19:37,501 --> 00:19:40,834 They're not making decisions about strategic ways 397 00:19:40,918 --> 00:19:43,709 to get their kid from elementary school 398 00:19:43,793 --> 00:19:45,626 into the college of their choice, 399 00:19:45,709 --> 00:19:47,918 but getting today to tomorrow, 400 00:19:48,001 --> 00:19:50,751 keeping the family going until the next paycheck. 401 00:19:50,834 --> 00:19:54,459 And those are the families that are the most vulnerable. 402 00:19:55,959 --> 00:19:58,209 Natalie Wilson: There's just a vicious cycle 403 00:19:58,293 --> 00:20:02,001 surrounding Relisha and her family. 404 00:20:02,084 --> 00:20:05,376 Starting with her mother being in foster care. 405 00:20:06,626 --> 00:20:10,459 As well as her stepfather, Antonio. 406 00:20:10,543 --> 00:20:12,543 Callahan Walsh: It makes it much more difficult 407 00:20:12,626 --> 00:20:15,668 for those children of these families to succeed. 408 00:20:15,751 --> 00:20:19,376 When a child is removed from the home, and goin' to foster care, 409 00:20:19,459 --> 00:20:22,001 63% of the time, it's because of neglect, 410 00:20:22,084 --> 00:20:24,001 and that neglect oftentimes stems 411 00:20:24,084 --> 00:20:25,834 from those lack of resources, 412 00:20:25,918 --> 00:20:28,501 uh, that those communities can't provide to the children, 413 00:20:28,584 --> 00:20:30,876 and then, they're taken away from these families, 414 00:20:30,959 --> 00:20:32,834 and it's punishment for being poor. 415 00:20:34,959 --> 00:20:36,709 My life been... 416 00:20:38,209 --> 00:20:42,126 it been hard... and different. 417 00:20:42,209 --> 00:20:45,751 When they couldn't decide on what happened with Relisha, 418 00:20:45,834 --> 00:20:48,334 they took all the kids to foster care. 419 00:20:50,251 --> 00:20:52,459 They destroyed my family. 420 00:20:53,376 --> 00:20:55,418 They destroyed my life. 421 00:20:56,709 --> 00:20:59,584 Blaq Rose: Relisha was 8 years old. 422 00:20:59,668 --> 00:21:02,334 Everybody was supposed to have been protectin' her. 423 00:21:02,418 --> 00:21:07,209 She was in a place where people are getting paid, 424 00:21:07,293 --> 00:21:12,459 okay, salaries to watch out for the well-beings of families. 425 00:21:12,543 --> 00:21:15,334 They failed her. 426 00:21:15,418 --> 00:21:20,168 Natalie Wilson: The city ultimately conducted an investigation 427 00:21:20,251 --> 00:21:22,376 on what happened to Relisha. 428 00:21:25,834 --> 00:21:30,001 Their report indicated that there were some policies and processes 429 00:21:30,084 --> 00:21:32,334 that should have been followed. 430 00:21:37,043 --> 00:21:39,168 Tatum, he was a felon, 431 00:21:39,251 --> 00:21:42,418 and he was allowed to work at the shelter. 432 00:21:45,168 --> 00:21:47,418 But despite all of that, 433 00:21:47,501 --> 00:21:51,418 the review found that her disappearance was nobody's fault. 434 00:21:53,584 --> 00:21:54,793 All of these 435 00:21:54,876 --> 00:21:58,334 agencies and processes that have been put in place 436 00:21:58,418 --> 00:22:02,793 to protect these children, and to protect Relisha... 437 00:22:02,876 --> 00:22:04,376 and it, it meant nothing. 438 00:22:06,626 --> 00:22:10,334 So that family is victimized once again. 439 00:22:10,418 --> 00:22:12,709 And Relisha remains missing, 440 00:22:12,793 --> 00:22:16,418 and her brothers are now in the foster care system. 441 00:22:18,876 --> 00:22:21,168 Relisha's mother, Shamika, 442 00:22:21,251 --> 00:22:24,126 she believes that her daughter is still alive, 443 00:22:24,209 --> 00:22:27,418 and she says, she'd never allowed Tatum 444 00:22:27,501 --> 00:22:30,626 to take Relisha from the shelter. 445 00:22:30,709 --> 00:22:34,501 Relisha deserved a life without poverty, 446 00:22:34,584 --> 00:22:36,293 and inequality, 447 00:22:36,376 --> 00:22:40,209 and she deserved to be protected from Kahlil Tatum. 448 00:22:41,501 --> 00:22:43,084 Derrica Wilson: I have a picture, 449 00:22:43,168 --> 00:22:44,584 and every time I look at this picture, 450 00:22:44,668 --> 00:22:46,876 it makes me emotional. 451 00:22:46,959 --> 00:22:48,543 Of this little girl, 452 00:22:48,626 --> 00:22:51,543 who had just gotten off the Metro with her mom, 453 00:22:51,626 --> 00:22:54,584 and, you know, we were passin' out flyers, 454 00:22:54,668 --> 00:22:56,626 and she just stopped. 455 00:22:56,709 --> 00:22:59,793 She was staring at the flyer. 456 00:23:01,418 --> 00:23:03,918 I ask her, I said, "Do you know her?" 457 00:23:05,584 --> 00:23:07,001 She looks up at me, and she says, 458 00:23:07,084 --> 00:23:09,418 "She looks just like me." 459 00:23:10,293 --> 00:23:13,334 (somber music playing) 460 00:23:13,418 --> 00:23:16,501 Donelan: I'm so overwhelmingly jaded at this point... 461 00:23:16,584 --> 00:23:20,376 that if you were to ask me, "Could that happen again?" 462 00:23:21,376 --> 00:23:22,793 Hands down, yes. 463 00:23:22,876 --> 00:23:26,793 Even after having gone through all that, hands down, yes. 464 00:23:26,876 --> 00:23:29,334 It can and, unfortunately, it will happen again. 465 00:23:31,001 --> 00:23:33,334 ♪ ♪ 466 00:23:35,126 --> 00:23:36,751 Chantice Cotten: We're prayin' right now 467 00:23:36,834 --> 00:23:40,251 as children are disappearin'... 468 00:23:40,334 --> 00:23:43,709 we're prayin' right now to an end to the violence, 469 00:23:43,793 --> 00:23:47,043 we're prayin' right now for the deception to be uncovered. 470 00:23:47,126 --> 00:23:50,293 We're prayin' right now for those that are taken, 471 00:23:50,376 --> 00:23:53,084 we're prayin' for everyone to be found. 472 00:23:53,168 --> 00:23:55,334 We're praying that people will no longer be comfortable 473 00:23:55,418 --> 00:23:56,543 with looking the other way. 474 00:23:56,626 --> 00:23:58,584 We're praying right now for witnesses to come forth. 475 00:23:58,668 --> 00:24:01,668 We're praying right now that people will not just be 476 00:24:01,751 --> 00:24:04,376 complacent or, or just content. 477 00:24:05,668 --> 00:24:08,959 Hi there. Can I give you a flyer? 478 00:24:09,043 --> 00:24:11,501 This young girl has been missing for six years. 479 00:24:11,584 --> 00:24:12,959 Would this be a picture that-- 480 00:24:13,043 --> 00:24:14,834 -This is a age progression picture... -Oh, okay, okay. 481 00:24:14,918 --> 00:24:17,168 ...so she would look like this. 482 00:24:17,251 --> 00:24:18,959 -And you're Relisha's grandmother? -Melissa Young: Yes, ma'am. 483 00:24:19,043 --> 00:24:22,251 Hi, I'm Natalie with the Black and Missing Foundation. 484 00:24:22,334 --> 00:24:24,084 Nice to meet you. How have you been? 485 00:24:24,168 --> 00:24:26,084 -Good. -Good. 486 00:24:26,168 --> 00:24:27,626 Derrica Wilson: Not givin' up on your baby. 487 00:24:27,709 --> 00:24:30,251 -Oh no. -Derrica Wilson: At all. 488 00:24:30,334 --> 00:24:32,751 No ache, no pain ain't goin' to keep me out here. 489 00:24:32,834 --> 00:24:34,751 That's right, that's right. 490 00:24:37,001 --> 00:24:40,168 You know, we continue to hold on to hope that 491 00:24:40,251 --> 00:24:43,209 missing persons can be found after many years. 492 00:24:43,293 --> 00:24:45,168 We have seen stories. 493 00:24:46,126 --> 00:24:48,334 Stories like Monique Smith. 494 00:24:49,793 --> 00:24:53,126 When I first met Monique, she said, 495 00:24:53,209 --> 00:24:55,543 "I, too, am missing. 496 00:24:55,626 --> 00:24:58,543 "I don't know my family, and I've been searching for them 497 00:24:58,626 --> 00:25:00,334 for many, many years." 498 00:25:02,834 --> 00:25:04,751 Monique Smith: There's a population of missing children 499 00:25:04,834 --> 00:25:06,418 that no one's thinkin' of, 500 00:25:06,501 --> 00:25:08,793 stories like Relisha's, stories like mine 501 00:25:08,876 --> 00:25:10,126 with the long-term missin'. 502 00:25:10,209 --> 00:25:11,876 She's been missin' for five years, 503 00:25:11,959 --> 00:25:13,626 I've, probably, been missin' for... 504 00:25:13,709 --> 00:25:16,876 55 years, or 45 years. 505 00:25:16,959 --> 00:25:18,751 I really-- I honestly don't know. 506 00:25:18,834 --> 00:25:22,001 I'm standing here live today to tell people 507 00:25:22,084 --> 00:25:23,501 to have hope... 508 00:25:24,668 --> 00:25:25,709 don't stop looking... 509 00:25:25,793 --> 00:25:27,709 to never give up looking for us 510 00:25:27,793 --> 00:25:29,376 because we're here. 511 00:25:32,709 --> 00:25:35,459 I grew up in Baltimore City. 512 00:25:35,543 --> 00:25:38,751 There was, um, an elderly lady who 513 00:25:38,834 --> 00:25:41,084 I considered my grandmother, 514 00:25:41,168 --> 00:25:45,334 um, that I kinda bonded with, you know, over the years, 515 00:25:45,418 --> 00:25:48,126 and, um, the woman who raised me, 516 00:25:48,209 --> 00:25:49,584 we never had a connection. 517 00:25:49,668 --> 00:25:51,334 Little did I know 518 00:25:51,418 --> 00:25:55,334 why there was never, um, a bond or a connection. 519 00:25:58,001 --> 00:26:02,334 I was at the assumed age of 28 or 29. 520 00:26:02,418 --> 00:26:05,084 I wanted to be a daycare provider. 521 00:26:05,168 --> 00:26:06,084 But here was the problem, 522 00:26:06,168 --> 00:26:08,668 you have to be licensed and bonded 523 00:26:08,751 --> 00:26:10,459 to be a daycare director. 524 00:26:10,543 --> 00:26:13,918 You cannot do it without havin' a birth certificate, 525 00:26:14,001 --> 00:26:16,793 and I've never seen my birth certificate. 526 00:26:16,876 --> 00:26:20,751 The woman who raised me never present it to me. 527 00:26:20,834 --> 00:26:22,293 So, I checked all the municipals, 528 00:26:22,376 --> 00:26:24,376 I had a social security number, 529 00:26:24,459 --> 00:26:26,043 um, I went to school, so I said, 530 00:26:26,126 --> 00:26:27,751 "Well, the Board of Education." 531 00:26:29,334 --> 00:26:30,376 The mail all came in, 532 00:26:30,459 --> 00:26:32,084 and opened up the first document, 533 00:26:32,168 --> 00:26:34,751 and I'm readin' it, I'm like, "Hmm... 534 00:26:34,834 --> 00:26:36,709 that's not my birth date." 535 00:26:36,793 --> 00:26:38,334 You know, so I'm like lookin' at it, lookin' at it, 536 00:26:38,418 --> 00:26:40,418 and I go open up the next document. 537 00:26:41,751 --> 00:26:43,459 Well, that's not my name, 538 00:26:43,543 --> 00:26:45,668 well, that's not my, my birth date. 539 00:26:46,668 --> 00:26:49,501 That's not her name. 540 00:26:49,584 --> 00:26:52,459 Doesn't match on that, neither one of these names are her name. 541 00:26:54,126 --> 00:26:56,293 And I open up the third document... 542 00:26:56,376 --> 00:27:00,918 all three documents are inconsistent with each other. 543 00:27:02,959 --> 00:27:05,751 The first thing I did was I picked up the phone, 544 00:27:05,834 --> 00:27:07,501 and I called the grandmother. 545 00:27:07,584 --> 00:27:11,168 I said, um, "I'm lookin' at this paperwork, and it's all inconsistent. 546 00:27:11,251 --> 00:27:13,876 There's no consistency with it whatsoever." 547 00:27:13,959 --> 00:27:15,543 And I said, "What happened?" 548 00:27:15,626 --> 00:27:17,251 And she goes, "Oh, she didn't tell you?" 549 00:27:17,334 --> 00:27:19,543 I said, "What? Tell me what?" 550 00:27:19,626 --> 00:27:21,084 "Well, she just showed up with you one day, 551 00:27:21,168 --> 00:27:24,626 and I'm pretty sure it's somethin', I, I don't know." 552 00:27:26,584 --> 00:27:28,626 The woman who raised me, 553 00:27:28,709 --> 00:27:31,376 stole me from my mother. 554 00:27:33,168 --> 00:27:34,626 The year that I found that out 555 00:27:34,709 --> 00:27:37,751 is the year that I confronted her about it. 556 00:27:37,834 --> 00:27:40,293 And she said she would go to her grave 557 00:27:40,376 --> 00:27:42,334 before she says anything to me. 558 00:27:45,126 --> 00:27:49,209 I was spiralin' out of control because, at that very minute, 559 00:27:49,293 --> 00:27:54,418 all of the abuse populated in my head again. 560 00:27:54,501 --> 00:27:56,459 She would just pick up a can of hairspray, 561 00:27:56,543 --> 00:27:58,834 and lung it across the room. 562 00:27:58,918 --> 00:28:02,959 You basically sit there, and embrace it 563 00:28:03,043 --> 00:28:05,334 because, if not, it could lead to somethin' 564 00:28:05,418 --> 00:28:07,709 more dramatic. 565 00:28:07,793 --> 00:28:11,376 It was so tormenting that I was determined 566 00:28:11,459 --> 00:28:14,751 to figure out who I was, like, "Who am I?" 567 00:28:14,834 --> 00:28:20,084 So, I tried every avenue. I, I left no stone unturned. 568 00:28:20,168 --> 00:28:24,543 I made my very first missin' person flyer in 1984. 569 00:28:26,543 --> 00:28:27,793 Over the years, 570 00:28:27,876 --> 00:28:29,751 I took every financial penny I had, 571 00:28:29,834 --> 00:28:33,293 and I looked at those documents, and I tried to trace back. 572 00:28:33,376 --> 00:28:35,543 I went to the National Educational Centers, 573 00:28:35,626 --> 00:28:38,668 I went to the National Crime and Information Center. 574 00:28:38,751 --> 00:28:41,376 I contacted the National Center of Missing/Exploited Children, 575 00:28:41,459 --> 00:28:43,751 "Unsolved Mysteries," nothin'. 576 00:28:45,293 --> 00:28:48,834 The Salvation Army sent me a letter saying, basically, 577 00:28:48,918 --> 00:28:50,293 "You're a Jane Doe. 578 00:28:50,376 --> 00:28:52,709 ♪ ♪ 579 00:28:52,793 --> 00:28:55,376 No one will ever be able to help you." 580 00:28:56,543 --> 00:28:59,334 I can just imagine her emotions 581 00:28:59,418 --> 00:29:01,751 not knowing who she is. 582 00:29:01,834 --> 00:29:03,793 I mean, you're walking down the street, 583 00:29:03,876 --> 00:29:05,834 and you may see someone that looks like you. 584 00:29:05,918 --> 00:29:08,959 You don't know if you're related to that person, 585 00:29:09,043 --> 00:29:14,834 and the unknown has to be... heartbreaking. 586 00:29:16,668 --> 00:29:19,834 Smith: As time went on, I'm thinkin' to myself, 587 00:29:19,918 --> 00:29:23,793 I need to get a, an active police report, period. 588 00:29:23,876 --> 00:29:26,334 One of the organizations that I contacted, 589 00:29:26,418 --> 00:29:29,668 they notified the state police. 590 00:29:29,751 --> 00:29:31,626 Deborah Flory: The director came across the hall and she said, 591 00:29:31,709 --> 00:29:33,543 (sighs) "I have this lady on the line, 592 00:29:33,626 --> 00:29:37,959 "and... she's saying she doesn't know who she is... 593 00:29:38,043 --> 00:29:39,626 and that she was abducted." 594 00:29:39,709 --> 00:29:41,918 And I was like, "Oh, boy, okay." 595 00:29:42,001 --> 00:29:46,668 We don't get too many adults that don't know who they are. 596 00:29:46,751 --> 00:29:49,751 This is the original FedEx envelope she sent me. 597 00:29:49,834 --> 00:29:54,584 This is every little article, highlighted, that she sent. 598 00:29:55,918 --> 00:29:57,126 I knew she wasn't playin' around, 599 00:29:57,209 --> 00:29:59,876 and I'm-- I said, "Oh, I gotta help her." 600 00:29:59,959 --> 00:30:04,334 But it was a very slow process to get anything done 601 00:30:04,418 --> 00:30:08,251 because there wasn't a crime involved that we could show. 602 00:30:08,334 --> 00:30:10,584 So, we had to go other routes. 603 00:30:10,668 --> 00:30:15,751 Smith: Ancestry.com and 23andMe was an avenue. 604 00:30:15,834 --> 00:30:18,501 Got the kits, did the saliva, nothin' happened, 605 00:30:18,584 --> 00:30:21,209 so, in frustration, the detective said, 606 00:30:21,293 --> 00:30:23,543 "I'm gonna reach out to Cece Moore." 607 00:30:24,626 --> 00:30:26,584 It was back in September 2019, 608 00:30:26,668 --> 00:30:28,418 so I was digging through my messages 609 00:30:28,501 --> 00:30:31,959 trying to figure out how she contacted me. 610 00:30:32,043 --> 00:30:33,709 Flory: Actually, went through my Facebook, 611 00:30:33,793 --> 00:30:35,793 and, and just messaged her. 612 00:30:37,126 --> 00:30:39,793 She was, like, completely willing to help. 613 00:30:39,876 --> 00:30:44,501 This was kind of a mixture of my two different careers. 614 00:30:44,584 --> 00:30:46,793 My first career, which was helping 615 00:30:46,876 --> 00:30:49,251 people find their biological families, 616 00:30:49,334 --> 00:30:51,168 and then my work with law enforcement 617 00:30:51,251 --> 00:30:56,376 where I started focusing on identifying deceased people or violent criminals. 618 00:30:56,459 --> 00:30:58,793 She had a fair amount of information. 619 00:30:58,876 --> 00:31:02,709 She thought she might know her birth parents' names. 620 00:31:02,793 --> 00:31:07,376 She knew that one of her sisters had a scar on her face. 621 00:31:07,459 --> 00:31:09,793 And there's about 35 million people 622 00:31:09,876 --> 00:31:12,084 that have taken consumer DNA tests now, 623 00:31:12,168 --> 00:31:15,501 and so, we were able to compare Monique's DNA 624 00:31:15,584 --> 00:31:18,418 against all of those millions of people. 625 00:31:18,501 --> 00:31:23,084 She had a number of people that were sharing DNA with her 626 00:31:23,168 --> 00:31:27,376 who descended from a couple in the 1850s. 627 00:31:27,459 --> 00:31:30,168 And we built forward from that couple, saying, 628 00:31:30,251 --> 00:31:33,418 "Okay, well, who are their other descendants?" 629 00:31:33,501 --> 00:31:36,501 And we found a daughter named Margaret, 630 00:31:36,584 --> 00:31:38,918 and then, as we researched Margaret, 631 00:31:39,001 --> 00:31:42,709 we found she had a daughter with a scar on her face. 632 00:31:42,793 --> 00:31:46,209 I cannot tell you how excited we were. 633 00:31:46,293 --> 00:31:48,584 She called me, and she said, "I got it." 634 00:31:48,668 --> 00:31:50,626 And I was like, "What?" She's like, "Yeah." 635 00:31:50,709 --> 00:31:52,334 I said, "It's only been like two days," you know? 636 00:31:52,418 --> 00:31:54,293 She's like, "I got it." She goes I-- 637 00:31:54,376 --> 00:31:55,918 She said there was ties to New York, 638 00:31:56,001 --> 00:31:58,209 there was, uh, six, seven siblings, 639 00:31:58,293 --> 00:31:59,543 or somethin' to that effect. 640 00:31:59,626 --> 00:32:04,209 We, actually, have a policy where we don't interfere in 641 00:32:04,293 --> 00:32:06,334 biological families' reunions, 642 00:32:06,418 --> 00:32:09,376 so we tend to give the information 643 00:32:09,459 --> 00:32:11,418 to Monique, in this case, 644 00:32:11,501 --> 00:32:12,751 to do the outreach. 645 00:32:13,751 --> 00:32:16,084 So, I pick up the phone, 646 00:32:16,168 --> 00:32:20,918 and I call the number, and I said, "Hi, um... 647 00:32:21,001 --> 00:32:24,751 I'm lookin' for Veronica Conyers." 648 00:32:24,834 --> 00:32:27,918 And she goes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, what, what?" 649 00:32:30,084 --> 00:32:32,001 (mutters indistinctly) 650 00:32:32,084 --> 00:32:34,168 Veronica Conyers: She called my cellphone, 651 00:32:34,251 --> 00:32:36,626 and, um, she was hesitatin', 652 00:32:36,709 --> 00:32:38,168 but she got it out fast. 653 00:32:38,251 --> 00:32:40,501 She, she, she was scared. She was-- She babbled it. 654 00:32:40,584 --> 00:32:44,543 I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, um, I'm workin' with a detective, 655 00:32:44,626 --> 00:32:46,251 and, um, they gave me your information." 656 00:32:46,334 --> 00:32:49,043 "What do you mean? Detective? What is this? This better not be a game." 657 00:32:49,126 --> 00:32:50,501 I said, "No, it's not a game. It's not a game." 658 00:32:50,584 --> 00:32:51,834 "No, I'm serious. This better not be a game. 659 00:32:51,918 --> 00:32:53,376 I'm from New York. I don't play games like this." 660 00:32:53,459 --> 00:32:54,709 I said, "No ma'am, no ma'am, no ma'am." 661 00:32:54,793 --> 00:32:57,293 She called it out the way I would call her. 662 00:32:57,376 --> 00:32:58,668 If it was me callin' her, I would say, 663 00:32:58,751 --> 00:33:00,251 "I think you're my sister," 664 00:33:00,334 --> 00:33:02,959 you know, "I have some information here." It was that simple. 665 00:33:03,043 --> 00:33:04,751 And I said, "I'm workin' with the police department, 666 00:33:04,834 --> 00:33:06,001 "I'm workin' with a DNA detective, 667 00:33:06,084 --> 00:33:08,043 "my ancestry information came through, 668 00:33:08,126 --> 00:33:10,293 I was-- They said that we are a match." 669 00:33:10,376 --> 00:33:11,709 And she goes, "Well, what do you look like?" 670 00:33:11,793 --> 00:33:13,709 I said, "I don't know who I look like." 671 00:33:13,793 --> 00:33:15,084 But I say, 672 00:33:15,168 --> 00:33:17,209 I said, "Send me somethin'." 673 00:33:17,293 --> 00:33:18,751 I said, "Send me somethin'." 674 00:33:18,834 --> 00:33:20,043 I said, "Don't even tell me your name, 675 00:33:20,126 --> 00:33:22,918 just send me a picture, just send me somethin'." 676 00:33:23,043 --> 00:33:24,418 And I said, "Let's get off this phone." 677 00:33:24,501 --> 00:33:26,501 I said, "'Cause, obviously, you must be some kin to me," 678 00:33:26,584 --> 00:33:28,876 I said, "Because you're super excited and so am I." 679 00:33:28,959 --> 00:33:31,626 So, and next thing you know, she hung up on me. 680 00:33:33,209 --> 00:33:36,126 I just started uploadin' my missin' person flyer 681 00:33:36,209 --> 00:33:38,918 that had all the pictures of me as a child 682 00:33:39,001 --> 00:33:42,459 in hopes that someone would recognize me. 683 00:33:42,543 --> 00:33:45,709 Conyers: We just had that face of when she was still a baby. 684 00:33:45,793 --> 00:33:47,834 We didn't even know who she looked like. 685 00:33:47,918 --> 00:33:50,293 Which one of us that she was gonna take after 686 00:33:50,376 --> 00:33:53,084 until we seen her, and it's like, "Oh, it's me." 687 00:33:53,168 --> 00:33:55,209 So, she took the shot of her... 688 00:33:56,793 --> 00:33:59,876 and the shot of me side-by-side... 689 00:33:59,959 --> 00:34:02,334 and we look like identical twins. 690 00:34:04,209 --> 00:34:05,584 And next thing you know... 691 00:34:05,668 --> 00:34:07,501 my phone rings... 692 00:34:09,084 --> 00:34:10,418 and she said... 693 00:34:14,501 --> 00:34:17,543 "I've been lookin' for my sister... 694 00:34:17,626 --> 00:34:19,418 ever since I was a little girl." 695 00:34:21,751 --> 00:34:24,459 And she said what she thought my name was, 696 00:34:24,543 --> 00:34:27,376 which it was Symbolie Conyers. 697 00:34:29,126 --> 00:34:32,959 And, of course, you know, a moment of... 698 00:34:33,043 --> 00:34:37,501 I couldn't believe it, you know, I was still in awe. 699 00:34:37,584 --> 00:34:39,501 My children took me there. 700 00:34:39,584 --> 00:34:41,376 So, they said, "Mom, go to the Washington area, 701 00:34:41,459 --> 00:34:44,251 go do it, you know, you've been lookin' for this all your life." 702 00:34:44,334 --> 00:34:46,376 (indistinct chatter) 703 00:34:48,543 --> 00:34:49,918 Mom, Mom. 704 00:34:55,668 --> 00:34:57,418 (cries) 705 00:34:58,501 --> 00:35:01,001 Oh my god! 706 00:35:08,543 --> 00:35:11,334 (sobbing) 707 00:35:13,168 --> 00:35:16,751 She look like me! She look like me! 708 00:35:16,834 --> 00:35:18,084 No, you look like me. 709 00:35:18,168 --> 00:35:20,876 -(laughing) -(indistinct chatter) 710 00:35:20,959 --> 00:35:22,251 You look like me. 711 00:35:22,334 --> 00:35:24,543 We got the same skirt on! 712 00:35:25,876 --> 00:35:28,043 Look! 713 00:35:28,126 --> 00:35:31,418 Smith (on phone): I'm amazed that I get to act like this. 714 00:35:31,501 --> 00:35:33,709 Conyers (on phone): You wanna see how I act. 715 00:35:33,793 --> 00:35:35,626 -It was really incredible. -Yeah. 716 00:35:35,709 --> 00:35:37,918 (laughs) 717 00:35:38,001 --> 00:35:42,001 Smith: Looking at... each other side-by-side 718 00:35:42,084 --> 00:35:45,418 is just really wild, and just to hear, um... 719 00:35:47,751 --> 00:35:49,168 that I look like my mother. 720 00:35:49,251 --> 00:35:50,709 -Like, that is-- -Yeah. 721 00:35:50,793 --> 00:35:55,084 Smith: Because I was not around when our mother passed, 722 00:35:55,168 --> 00:35:57,793 I had been missin' for so long, 723 00:35:57,876 --> 00:36:00,709 and, you know, Veronica validated, 724 00:36:00,793 --> 00:36:03,501 in a lot of ways, my story. 725 00:36:03,584 --> 00:36:05,001 I know people thought you was crazy, 726 00:36:05,084 --> 00:36:06,543 -they didn't believe you. -(Smith laughs) 727 00:36:06,626 --> 00:36:08,168 That's the first thing I said to you when I met you, 728 00:36:08,251 --> 00:36:10,251 they probably thought you was crazy, you know, 729 00:36:10,334 --> 00:36:13,834 and, um, you were somewhere where you wasn't supposed to be. 730 00:36:13,918 --> 00:36:16,293 You had to identify yourself as who you are, 731 00:36:16,376 --> 00:36:18,293 a person, a human being on this Earth. 732 00:36:18,376 --> 00:36:20,834 -And I'm proud of you. -You got me. I got you. 733 00:36:20,918 --> 00:36:23,334 -Okay, mm-hm. -We got us. (laughs) 734 00:36:25,043 --> 00:36:29,001 Smith: Since that time... I still campaign, 735 00:36:29,084 --> 00:36:33,834 I lobby, I press forward with the advocacy work. 736 00:36:33,918 --> 00:36:37,209 She's a great resource. She's a big advocate for missing kids. 737 00:36:37,293 --> 00:36:39,751 Somebody goes missin' in the city or somethin', 738 00:36:39,834 --> 00:36:41,918 she would call me, "Do I know about this?" 739 00:36:42,001 --> 00:36:44,126 News Announcer 1: Monique Smith is a local missing children's advocate 740 00:36:44,209 --> 00:36:47,793 who helped lobby for the passing of the state's missing children's act. 741 00:36:47,876 --> 00:36:49,668 News Announcer 2: She wrote a book, and donated all proceeds 742 00:36:49,751 --> 00:36:52,459 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 743 00:36:52,543 --> 00:36:57,209 and holds workshops in schools to teach kids how to protect themselves. 744 00:36:57,293 --> 00:36:59,834 Natalie Wilson: I'm sure within our communities 745 00:36:59,918 --> 00:37:03,043 there are hundreds of Monique Smiths. 746 00:37:04,084 --> 00:37:05,668 And it doesn't matter if it's 747 00:37:05,751 --> 00:37:11,959 one year, five, 10, 20, we have seen miracles happen. 748 00:37:12,043 --> 00:37:15,793 Derrica Wilson: We don't want families to ever give up on hope. 749 00:37:15,876 --> 00:37:18,959 We want people to know that they're not in this by themselves. 750 00:37:19,043 --> 00:37:20,959 Here it is. I was missin' for 50 years. 751 00:37:21,043 --> 00:37:23,543 Don't give up hope. Hope lives. 752 00:37:25,709 --> 00:37:29,876 ♪ ♪ 753 00:37:35,293 --> 00:37:39,418 Butler: There's thousands of people of color that's missing. 754 00:37:41,418 --> 00:37:43,501 Hope keeps people goin'. 755 00:37:47,001 --> 00:37:50,376 My mother, actually, held on to the hope that 756 00:37:50,459 --> 00:37:53,209 Pam was alive... 757 00:37:53,293 --> 00:37:55,376 almost up until the very end. 758 00:37:56,876 --> 00:37:59,209 I miss all the gatherings that we would have together, 759 00:37:59,293 --> 00:38:01,668 the things that she would put together for the family 760 00:38:01,751 --> 00:38:03,668 to try to make sure that we stayed together, 761 00:38:03,751 --> 00:38:07,001 and... had good times together. 762 00:38:07,084 --> 00:38:09,334 Someday we'll meet again... 763 00:38:09,918 --> 00:38:11,418 in heaven. 764 00:38:11,501 --> 00:38:13,668 I look at your picture... 765 00:38:13,751 --> 00:38:16,376 every day. 766 00:38:17,959 --> 00:38:20,626 Mike Fulton: When Jose was locked up... 767 00:38:20,709 --> 00:38:23,584 Derrick and I had this very brutally honest conversation, 768 00:38:23,668 --> 00:38:24,918 and I said to him, 769 00:38:25,001 --> 00:38:26,293 "What is the most important 770 00:38:26,376 --> 00:38:28,459 thing about this case?" 771 00:38:28,543 --> 00:38:30,668 He said, "Bring Pam home." 772 00:38:30,751 --> 00:38:32,834 Butler: It was very important to my mother... 773 00:38:32,918 --> 00:38:35,168 that we recover Pam's body, 774 00:38:35,251 --> 00:38:37,209 and give her a proper resting place. 775 00:38:37,293 --> 00:38:39,126 And we knew that we were not gonna get a body, 776 00:38:39,209 --> 00:38:41,251 or find out where she was 777 00:38:41,334 --> 00:38:45,709 without Jose givin' us some kind of assistance. 778 00:38:45,793 --> 00:38:49,543 Glenn Kirschner: Ultimately, we agreed to give him a sentence 779 00:38:49,626 --> 00:38:51,043 of 12 years in prison, 780 00:38:51,126 --> 00:38:53,501 if and only if... 781 00:38:53,584 --> 00:38:56,126 he took us to Pam's body. 782 00:38:56,209 --> 00:38:57,543 And that was an agreement 783 00:38:57,626 --> 00:39:01,334 that Pam's family was very supportive of. 784 00:39:01,418 --> 00:39:04,376 If she's layin' out somewhere, she's still missing to us. 785 00:39:04,459 --> 00:39:07,334 We wanna bring her home, and know exactly where she is. 786 00:39:08,876 --> 00:39:10,209 (Detective speaking) 787 00:39:11,209 --> 00:39:12,793 Jose Rodriguez-Cruz: Um... 788 00:39:13,709 --> 00:39:18,168 (Jose speaking) 789 00:39:23,834 --> 00:39:25,918 (Detective speaking) 790 00:39:26,001 --> 00:39:27,751 (Jose speaking) 791 00:39:29,668 --> 00:39:31,751 (Detective speaking) 792 00:39:32,918 --> 00:39:36,293 (Jose speaking) 793 00:39:37,751 --> 00:39:41,376 (Detective speaking) 794 00:39:41,459 --> 00:39:42,876 (Jose speaking) 795 00:39:43,918 --> 00:39:46,168 (Detective speaking) 796 00:39:47,084 --> 00:39:49,751 (Jose speaking) 797 00:39:51,751 --> 00:39:53,584 News Announcer 1: Prosecutors say the process 798 00:39:53,668 --> 00:39:58,001 to recover Pam's body is now already underway. 799 00:39:58,084 --> 00:39:59,959 News Announcer 2: The victim's brother, Derrick Butler, 800 00:40:00,043 --> 00:40:03,334 was among those watching the cadaver dogs search. 801 00:40:03,418 --> 00:40:05,668 He buried her in a shallow grave. 802 00:40:05,751 --> 00:40:08,709 This is supposed to be the spot here. 803 00:40:08,793 --> 00:40:12,251 Kirschner: Even though Jose could take us to the spot... 804 00:40:12,334 --> 00:40:14,001 everything had changed 805 00:40:14,084 --> 00:40:17,043 because the ground had been dug up, 806 00:40:17,126 --> 00:40:19,418 and high-occupancy vehicle lanes 807 00:40:19,501 --> 00:40:21,876 had been put in and paved. 808 00:40:21,959 --> 00:40:24,376 News Announcer: We have disappointing news tonight. 809 00:40:24,459 --> 00:40:26,043 I just spoke with Derrick Butler. 810 00:40:26,126 --> 00:40:28,584 He just met with the homicide division office 811 00:40:28,668 --> 00:40:29,834 here in Southwest D.C., 812 00:40:29,918 --> 00:40:32,168 and he was told that, uh, 813 00:40:32,251 --> 00:40:35,626 Pam's body is unrecoverable. 814 00:40:37,793 --> 00:40:39,543 Butler: We know that a body was there, 815 00:40:39,626 --> 00:40:42,793 the cadaver dogs are tellin' us that. 816 00:40:42,876 --> 00:40:47,584 But where she's at in some parts of that strip of highway, 817 00:40:47,668 --> 00:40:50,543 they put up to 30 feet of dirt. 818 00:40:52,334 --> 00:40:56,168 Kirschner: The remains weren't found, but we decided Jose made 819 00:40:56,251 --> 00:41:01,626 all reasonable efforts to try to take us to the remains. 820 00:41:01,709 --> 00:41:04,918 Butler: So, in the end, we didn't get a body, 821 00:41:05,001 --> 00:41:06,918 and he got 12 years for 822 00:41:07,001 --> 00:41:09,334 the murder of my sister. 823 00:41:09,418 --> 00:41:10,751 And I told him, I said, 824 00:41:10,834 --> 00:41:13,543 "Well, I'm mad as hell about this." 825 00:41:13,626 --> 00:41:16,543 But Michael Fulton, he assured me, 826 00:41:16,626 --> 00:41:18,001 this guy's not gonna come home. 827 00:41:18,084 --> 00:41:20,334 He's gonna do life... 828 00:41:20,418 --> 00:41:23,001 um, 'cause Virginia's gonna get him... 829 00:41:23,084 --> 00:41:25,793 for the murder of his first wife. 830 00:41:25,876 --> 00:41:28,543 Back up the story just a little bit. 831 00:41:28,626 --> 00:41:30,126 We're out there, and we're searching, 832 00:41:30,209 --> 00:41:32,043 and, at some point durin' that thing, 833 00:41:32,126 --> 00:41:34,668 somebody out there says, "You know... 834 00:41:34,751 --> 00:41:36,376 "there was a body recovered, 835 00:41:36,459 --> 00:41:38,168 "you know, about a mile up this road, 836 00:41:38,251 --> 00:41:39,793 you know, way back when." 837 00:41:39,876 --> 00:41:42,959 (tense music playing) 838 00:41:43,084 --> 00:41:45,251 Kirschner: In the early '90s... 839 00:41:45,334 --> 00:41:48,626 the Virginia law enforcement authorities 840 00:41:48,709 --> 00:41:50,376 had found human remains 841 00:41:50,459 --> 00:41:53,043 in between the southbound lanes, 842 00:41:53,126 --> 00:41:57,459 and the northbound lanes of 95. 843 00:41:57,543 --> 00:42:00,834 But those human remains were never identified. 844 00:42:02,168 --> 00:42:04,918 When Hansel, who's Jose's son, 845 00:42:05,001 --> 00:42:07,501 decided that he would cooperate with the police 846 00:42:07,584 --> 00:42:10,168 in the murder of my sister, 847 00:42:10,251 --> 00:42:13,209 they got Hansel's DNA. 848 00:42:13,293 --> 00:42:16,751 The DNA from Hansel comes back to a match 849 00:42:16,834 --> 00:42:19,584 for the bones that were found 850 00:42:19,668 --> 00:42:22,626 about a mile up the road from where Pam was found. 851 00:42:22,709 --> 00:42:26,209 And sure enough, that was Marta... 852 00:42:26,293 --> 00:42:28,293 Jose's first wife. 853 00:42:28,376 --> 00:42:30,418 ♪ ♪ 854 00:42:30,501 --> 00:42:32,126 Hansel Rodriguez: It's a mixed bag. 855 00:42:32,209 --> 00:42:34,168 You know, on one hand, 856 00:42:34,251 --> 00:42:35,626 you think, "Finally," you know, 857 00:42:35,709 --> 00:42:37,168 "Another piece of the puzzle," you know? 858 00:42:37,251 --> 00:42:41,459 At least she can be, you know, laid to rest. 859 00:42:41,543 --> 00:42:44,418 But on the other hand, it confirmed something horrible. 860 00:42:47,668 --> 00:42:49,501 About six months go by, 861 00:42:49,584 --> 00:42:52,834 and I'm not hearin' anything from Virginia. 862 00:42:52,918 --> 00:42:54,959 Fulton: Virginia gets all the information we have, 863 00:42:55,043 --> 00:42:59,126 and then, everything kinda grinded to a halt. 864 00:42:59,209 --> 00:43:01,126 Why it grinded to a halt? I don't know. 865 00:43:01,209 --> 00:43:03,293 Were we frustrated? Absolutely. 866 00:43:03,376 --> 00:43:04,751 Butler: I was startin' to think, 867 00:43:04,834 --> 00:43:07,251 "Here we go again, it's a person of color. 868 00:43:07,334 --> 00:43:09,876 They're just marginalizing us." 869 00:43:09,959 --> 00:43:13,209 Derrick started fighting in Virginia for Jose's 870 00:43:13,293 --> 00:43:15,084 first wife, Marta's case. 871 00:43:16,751 --> 00:43:19,209 Rodriguez: He reached out to me. 872 00:43:19,293 --> 00:43:21,918 I think part of me was just, uh, kinda just beaten down, 873 00:43:22,001 --> 00:43:26,709 and, and cynical like, "Oh, you know, it's been 30 years, what's the point?" 874 00:43:26,793 --> 00:43:29,043 I, um, started makin' inquiries 875 00:43:29,126 --> 00:43:31,168 about, you know, what's happening with this case, 876 00:43:31,251 --> 00:43:33,834 and nobody would talk to me. 877 00:43:33,918 --> 00:43:36,126 So, I told all the major news stations 878 00:43:36,209 --> 00:43:37,959 that I wanted to go down there and confront 879 00:43:38,043 --> 00:43:40,084 this Commonwealth's attorney about it. 880 00:43:40,168 --> 00:43:43,084 News Announcer: We followed Derrick Butler on his journey for justice, 881 00:43:43,168 --> 00:43:45,168 hoping to meet with the Commonwealth's attorney, 882 00:43:45,251 --> 00:43:46,293 Eric Olsen. 883 00:43:46,376 --> 00:43:47,668 Butler: One of the things that I really 884 00:43:47,751 --> 00:43:49,376 wanted him to know that, you know, 885 00:43:49,459 --> 00:43:51,543 this is a person of color that went missing, 886 00:43:51,626 --> 00:43:54,418 and, too often, we don't do anything about it. 887 00:43:56,251 --> 00:43:59,543 I was able to get Virginia to proceed with Marta's case 888 00:43:59,626 --> 00:44:03,793 because of what I learned from workin' with Black and Missing. 889 00:44:03,876 --> 00:44:07,126 Eric Olsen: Today, Jose Rodriguez pleaded guilty to second degree murder. 890 00:44:07,209 --> 00:44:11,043 The range of punishment for that is five years to 40 years. 891 00:44:11,126 --> 00:44:12,876 There's no agreement as to his punishment. 892 00:44:12,959 --> 00:44:15,168 It'll be up to the judge to decide 893 00:44:15,251 --> 00:44:17,584 when he returns for sentencing. 894 00:44:19,084 --> 00:44:22,959 Butler: I am sure without me pushing Marta's case 895 00:44:23,043 --> 00:44:25,168 it would've never went forward. 896 00:44:27,293 --> 00:44:30,459 I really believe had Virginia police done 897 00:44:30,543 --> 00:44:33,793 their due diligence at the very beginning... 898 00:44:33,876 --> 00:44:35,668 my sister would be alive today. 899 00:44:39,043 --> 00:44:41,418 That's what really affects me. 900 00:44:42,751 --> 00:44:49,626 I will not get excited until we hear the sentencing. 901 00:44:49,709 --> 00:44:54,626 We're hoping he will spend the rest of his life in jail. 902 00:44:58,834 --> 00:45:00,501 Natalie Wilson (on phone): Hey, Derrick. Mornin'. 903 00:45:00,584 --> 00:45:02,418 Butler: Good morning, how are you? 904 00:45:02,501 --> 00:45:03,959 Natalie Wilson: Good, how are you? 905 00:45:04,043 --> 00:45:06,126 Butler: Fantastic, thanks for asking. 906 00:45:06,209 --> 00:45:07,626 Natalie Wilson: I wanted to go over 907 00:45:07,709 --> 00:45:09,751 the statement that I sent with you. 908 00:45:09,834 --> 00:45:12,084 Do you wanna go over it one time, 909 00:45:12,168 --> 00:45:14,043 or do you wanna go through it one time? 910 00:45:14,126 --> 00:45:15,459 Butler (on phone): Yes, I do. 911 00:45:15,543 --> 00:45:17,209 Okay. 912 00:45:17,293 --> 00:45:18,584 It's hard to believe 913 00:45:18,668 --> 00:45:19,918 that my family lived 914 00:45:20,001 --> 00:45:23,459 the nightmare of my sister's disappearance for 12 years. 915 00:45:24,584 --> 00:45:26,126 It's even harder to believe 916 00:45:26,209 --> 00:45:28,793 the pain that Hansel has been living with 917 00:45:28,876 --> 00:45:31,709 about his mother's disappearance. 918 00:45:34,376 --> 00:45:37,793 Gamini Felder: Father, as we join hands today with Hansel, 919 00:45:37,876 --> 00:45:39,293 we offer this prayer to you 920 00:45:39,376 --> 00:45:42,626 asking that Jose receive the maximum time 921 00:45:42,709 --> 00:45:44,376 that the law will allow. 922 00:45:45,959 --> 00:45:49,918 Rodriguez: I wasn't too happy about the lowest number that I heard. 923 00:45:50,001 --> 00:45:51,168 But if it's in the upper range, 924 00:45:51,251 --> 00:45:54,376 that would, essentially, be a life sentence. 925 00:45:55,626 --> 00:45:57,001 I don't want my mother's death, 926 00:45:57,084 --> 00:45:59,168 all of this time and pain and suffering 927 00:45:59,251 --> 00:46:00,668 to be in vain. 928 00:46:09,959 --> 00:46:12,209 News Announcer: Her death was a mystery. 929 00:46:12,293 --> 00:46:16,334 Thirty-two years later, the killer brought to justice. 930 00:46:16,418 --> 00:46:19,209 Rodriguez-Cruz is 56 years old, 931 00:46:19,293 --> 00:46:23,501 and is now sentenced to serve 40 years in prison. 932 00:46:23,584 --> 00:46:26,918 Um, I'm definitely satisfied with the sentencing, 933 00:46:27,001 --> 00:46:28,418 um... 934 00:46:28,501 --> 00:46:31,501 now nobody else will have to worry about, 935 00:46:31,584 --> 00:46:34,168 uh, meeting the same fate. 936 00:46:34,251 --> 00:46:36,209 I couldn't have done it without Derrick, 937 00:46:36,293 --> 00:46:38,084 right here, Mr. Derrick Butler. 938 00:46:38,168 --> 00:46:40,418 He was very much my voice. 939 00:46:41,834 --> 00:46:44,459 Butler: Forty years was what I expected, 940 00:46:44,543 --> 00:46:47,501 however, nobody should have to go through 941 00:46:47,584 --> 00:46:49,709 what I went through, what Hansel went through. 942 00:46:49,793 --> 00:46:53,668 We cannot continue to be marginalized, 943 00:46:53,751 --> 00:46:56,959 and looked at, like we're just trash 944 00:46:57,043 --> 00:46:58,918 when these things happen. 945 00:46:59,001 --> 00:47:02,959 People of authority, people that have power 946 00:47:03,043 --> 00:47:04,501 need to listen. 947 00:47:04,584 --> 00:47:06,168 I tried and I tried 948 00:47:06,251 --> 00:47:08,043 to do it the nice way with them, 949 00:47:08,126 --> 00:47:10,084 nobody wanted to hear it. 950 00:47:11,668 --> 00:47:13,334 Rodriguez: We did it, man. We did it. 951 00:47:15,459 --> 00:47:17,293 (line ringing) 952 00:47:19,126 --> 00:47:20,668 Hello. How are you all? 953 00:47:21,709 --> 00:47:23,918 (Natalie Wilson speaking) 954 00:47:24,001 --> 00:47:28,584 I'm better, I'm better than I have been in a long time. 955 00:47:28,668 --> 00:47:30,751 We got his ass. We got it... 956 00:47:30,834 --> 00:47:34,209 -Yes. -I feel good. 957 00:47:34,293 --> 00:47:37,293 One of the things that I'm lookin' forward to is that 958 00:47:37,376 --> 00:47:39,251 I'm gonna get married. 959 00:47:39,334 --> 00:47:42,584 You know, I'm able to, actually, enjoy life, 960 00:47:42,668 --> 00:47:44,751 and not have to 961 00:47:44,834 --> 00:47:46,543 worry about wrestling with this 962 00:47:46,626 --> 00:47:51,334 horrific situation that I've been dealin' with for the last 12 years. 963 00:47:51,418 --> 00:47:53,543 (Derrica Wilson speaking) 964 00:47:58,834 --> 00:48:01,418 Well, thank you. Thank you. 965 00:48:01,501 --> 00:48:04,459 (Natalie Wilson speaking) 966 00:48:06,584 --> 00:48:08,209 Yeah, well, that's what it's all about. 967 00:48:09,543 --> 00:48:12,418 No. I'm, I'm in this for life now. 968 00:48:15,209 --> 00:48:18,293 I know that Derrica and Natalie 969 00:48:18,376 --> 00:48:20,876 have the same commitment that I have. 970 00:48:23,043 --> 00:48:24,459 Both of them are still working 971 00:48:24,543 --> 00:48:27,251 eight-hour jobs, five days a week. 972 00:48:28,584 --> 00:48:30,959 I know that they're lookin' forward to retiring, 973 00:48:31,043 --> 00:48:32,793 and comin' home and, 974 00:48:32,876 --> 00:48:36,001 actually, workin' full-time for Black and Missing. 975 00:48:36,084 --> 00:48:37,334 (doorbell rings) 976 00:48:40,293 --> 00:48:42,876 -Hey! -Natalie Wilson: Hey, good mornin'! 977 00:48:42,959 --> 00:48:46,751 Hi! Hi, man. 978 00:48:48,043 --> 00:48:49,876 (laughs) 979 00:48:49,959 --> 00:48:52,959 (overlapping greetings) 980 00:48:54,918 --> 00:48:56,751 Somebody's swingin' golf clubs, huh? 981 00:48:56,834 --> 00:48:58,418 Look at you. 982 00:48:58,501 --> 00:49:00,001 Come here, EJ! 983 00:49:03,418 --> 00:49:06,209 Black and Missing Foundation, it's a full-time job, 984 00:49:06,293 --> 00:49:09,626 and so many people depend on us, 985 00:49:09,709 --> 00:49:14,168 and, and, sometimes, it's hard, you know, to balance, you know, with 986 00:49:14,251 --> 00:49:17,126 our personal lives, and working full-time, 987 00:49:17,209 --> 00:49:18,251 and doin' the organization. 988 00:49:18,334 --> 00:49:20,209 I mean, this is our mission, our passion 989 00:49:20,293 --> 00:49:21,918 to be able to help these people, 990 00:49:22,043 --> 00:49:25,251 -and to be able to do this full-time... -Mm-hm. 991 00:49:25,334 --> 00:49:27,751 you know, without the other distractions 992 00:49:27,834 --> 00:49:31,043 -will, will benefit so many other people. -Natalie Wilson: Right. 993 00:49:31,126 --> 00:49:33,251 We're working on these cases in the morning, 994 00:49:33,334 --> 00:49:35,418 and then, you have to put that face on, 995 00:49:35,501 --> 00:49:39,293 and go into the office, and be cordial and happy, 996 00:49:39,376 --> 00:49:41,084 and then, you come home, and you're... 997 00:49:41,168 --> 00:49:42,876 going through it again. It becomes a lot. 998 00:49:42,959 --> 00:49:47,376 Derrica Wilson: Some cases rock me to the core where I can't even sleep. 999 00:49:47,459 --> 00:49:49,084 Natalie Wilson: You see these young girls 1000 00:49:49,168 --> 00:49:51,293 as young as 5 years old 1001 00:49:51,376 --> 00:49:53,376 -being kidnapped and raped. -Derrica Wilson: Yeah. 1002 00:49:53,459 --> 00:49:55,668 I mean, it, it does a lot to you. 1003 00:49:55,751 --> 00:49:58,418 Sometimes, Natalie get phone calls, 1004 00:49:58,501 --> 00:49:59,834 and you can hear these people cryin' 1005 00:49:59,918 --> 00:50:01,918 on the other end of the phone. 1006 00:50:02,001 --> 00:50:04,376 I don't even know how they sleep at night. 1007 00:50:07,834 --> 00:50:11,293 You know, sometimes, helping families, 1008 00:50:11,376 --> 00:50:13,376 because we're so passionate about it, 1009 00:50:13,459 --> 00:50:15,584 it does take a toll on you. 1010 00:50:15,668 --> 00:50:17,209 Um, we have our own families, 1011 00:50:17,293 --> 00:50:19,501 and our own lives that we are dealing with, 1012 00:50:19,584 --> 00:50:22,251 and we're not immune to, 1013 00:50:22,334 --> 00:50:24,459 you know, a trauma and tragedy, 1014 00:50:24,543 --> 00:50:27,376 and just life itself. 1015 00:50:29,501 --> 00:50:30,668 Mom: Call who? 1016 00:50:31,751 --> 00:50:33,168 Mom: You call him "Daddy." 1017 00:50:33,251 --> 00:50:36,001 EJ: Daddy! Daddy! 1018 00:50:37,001 --> 00:50:40,459 Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! 1019 00:50:40,543 --> 00:50:43,918 Our son, Elon, has been incarcerated, 1020 00:50:44,001 --> 00:50:47,126 so our family is going through it. 1021 00:50:47,209 --> 00:50:49,501 News Announcer: Elon Wilson served nearly two years 1022 00:50:49,584 --> 00:50:51,376 in jail after a traffic stop, 1023 00:50:51,459 --> 00:50:52,709 and now, a Fairfax County judge 1024 00:50:52,793 --> 00:50:54,501 says the officer who arrested him 1025 00:50:54,584 --> 00:50:56,668 lied on the police report. 1026 00:50:56,751 --> 00:50:58,959 Walter Royster: We found out that the prosecutor's begun 1027 00:50:59,043 --> 00:51:01,876 reviewing 400 cases linked to Freitag. 1028 00:51:01,959 --> 00:51:04,709 News Announcer: Prosecutors say former Officer Freitag 1029 00:51:04,793 --> 00:51:07,418 pilfered evidence from the property room, 1030 00:51:07,501 --> 00:51:09,334 and stopped dozens of people 1031 00:51:09,418 --> 00:51:12,084 because of the color of their skin. 1032 00:51:12,168 --> 00:51:15,626 Natalie Wilson: Freitag was never charged with any crime, 1033 00:51:15,709 --> 00:51:18,459 and he maintains he has done nothing wrong, 1034 00:51:18,543 --> 00:51:20,459 but according to the Fairfax County 1035 00:51:20,543 --> 00:51:22,959 Commonwealth Attorney's office, 1036 00:51:23,043 --> 00:51:26,751 this investigation is currently ongoing. 1037 00:51:26,834 --> 00:51:28,709 With Elon's case, 1038 00:51:28,793 --> 00:51:32,626 Elon never crossed the double lines. 1039 00:51:32,709 --> 00:51:33,793 (sirens wailing) 1040 00:51:33,876 --> 00:51:38,543 And that was his reason for stopping him. 1041 00:51:38,626 --> 00:51:41,001 News Announcer: Freitag says while on patrol, 1042 00:51:41,084 --> 00:51:43,126 he would camp out across the street 1043 00:51:43,209 --> 00:51:44,751 from a music recording studio, 1044 00:51:44,834 --> 00:51:48,001 and stop anyone who behaved out of the ordinary. 1045 00:51:48,084 --> 00:51:49,209 (Officer Freitag speaking) 1046 00:51:49,293 --> 00:51:51,668 (Officer Freitag and person speaking) 1047 00:51:51,751 --> 00:51:55,293 News Announcer: This can be considered a pre-textual traffic stop, 1048 00:51:55,376 --> 00:51:57,251 stopping someone for one reason 1049 00:51:57,334 --> 00:52:00,501 in order to conduct an unrelated search. 1050 00:52:10,876 --> 00:52:13,084 He profiled him, and he stopped him, 1051 00:52:13,168 --> 00:52:15,834 and he routinely did this. 1052 00:52:15,918 --> 00:52:17,251 Official: This was a bad stop, 1053 00:52:17,334 --> 00:52:19,376 a bad prosecution that never should've happened, 1054 00:52:19,459 --> 00:52:20,834 and that's why we're movin' heaven and Earth 1055 00:52:20,918 --> 00:52:22,584 to get Elon Wilson out of prison. 1056 00:52:22,668 --> 00:52:26,084 I think it was three days later, 1057 00:52:26,168 --> 00:52:29,543 I get a call from the correctional facility, 1058 00:52:29,626 --> 00:52:33,334 and the correctional officer said, "Hold on... 1059 00:52:33,418 --> 00:52:36,418 um, your son needs to speak with you." 1060 00:52:36,501 --> 00:52:39,501 And I heard Elon say, "Mom, come get me now." 1061 00:52:39,584 --> 00:52:44,043 And I'm-- I am just crying and panicking, 1062 00:52:44,126 --> 00:52:45,709 and I call Walter and I'm like, 1063 00:52:45,793 --> 00:52:46,876 "I don't know where you are, 1064 00:52:46,959 --> 00:52:50,376 you need to go and get Elon now." 1065 00:52:51,751 --> 00:52:53,251 The press was still at our house, 1066 00:52:53,334 --> 00:52:56,001 and we wanted to make sure that Elon didn't run into that 1067 00:52:56,084 --> 00:52:58,459 because he wasn't ready for that. 1068 00:52:58,543 --> 00:52:59,959 He wasn't prepped for it. 1069 00:53:00,043 --> 00:53:01,959 He does not like speaking to the media, 1070 00:53:02,043 --> 00:53:05,584 so he did go immediately to 1071 00:53:05,668 --> 00:53:07,209 see EJ. 1072 00:53:07,293 --> 00:53:09,293 -Mom: Hi. -Elon: EJ! 1073 00:53:09,376 --> 00:53:13,959 -Mom: Look, who's that? Who's that? -Elon: Hey! 1074 00:53:17,251 --> 00:53:19,334 -Mom: Who's that, Boo? -What's up, baby? 1075 00:53:20,501 --> 00:53:22,543 What you up to? 1076 00:53:22,626 --> 00:53:25,876 You got so big, little boy. 1077 00:53:25,959 --> 00:53:28,334 Mom: Who is that? Say, "Daddy, look." 1078 00:53:28,418 --> 00:53:29,959 -What's up? -Mom: Is that your Daddy? 1079 00:53:30,043 --> 00:53:31,918 EJ: Hi. 1080 00:53:32,043 --> 00:53:34,334 Natalie Wilson: We felt a sense of relief, 1081 00:53:34,418 --> 00:53:38,251 like, "Oh my god, he's really, really home." 1082 00:53:40,918 --> 00:53:45,584 It was like all of our hard work and efforts had paid off. 1083 00:53:45,668 --> 00:53:46,793 I know you gave a lot, 1084 00:53:46,876 --> 00:53:50,626 we spent a lot of money that we didn't have... 1085 00:53:50,709 --> 00:53:56,084 and we have suffered PTSD. I'm still trying to... 1086 00:53:56,168 --> 00:53:57,834 you know, get myself together. 1087 00:53:57,918 --> 00:53:58,959 It, it's been a tough-- 1088 00:53:59,043 --> 00:54:01,626 It was a tough, and has been a tough 1089 00:54:01,709 --> 00:54:05,126 not only 20 months, when he was incarcerated, 1090 00:54:05,209 --> 00:54:09,001 but everything leading up to it. 1091 00:54:09,084 --> 00:54:12,001 We know what these families are going through, it's-- 1092 00:54:12,084 --> 00:54:13,418 and it's-- it's a lot. 1093 00:54:20,209 --> 00:54:21,793 (line ringing) 1094 00:54:23,126 --> 00:54:24,918 Hey, lady. How are you? 1095 00:54:25,001 --> 00:54:28,626 (Person on phone speaking) 1096 00:54:28,709 --> 00:54:31,459 You still don't know where your daughter is, right? 1097 00:54:31,543 --> 00:54:32,709 Person (on phone): No. 1098 00:54:32,793 --> 00:54:34,834 So, what is law enforcement saying? 1099 00:54:48,918 --> 00:54:51,001 Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. 1100 00:54:53,584 --> 00:54:56,751 Thank you, and that's the power of the media. 1101 00:54:56,834 --> 00:54:58,126 So, I'm getting emotional now, 1102 00:54:58,209 --> 00:55:00,709 but that's what we've been tryin' to do. 1103 00:55:02,918 --> 00:55:03,918 (sighs) 1104 00:55:05,126 --> 00:55:08,709 See? This is what we do, how we do it. 1105 00:55:11,334 --> 00:55:12,418 Okay. 1106 00:55:13,834 --> 00:55:15,209 We've done some great things, 1107 00:55:15,293 --> 00:55:16,584 made great strides, 1108 00:55:16,668 --> 00:55:21,251 but we still have a lot of work to do. 1109 00:55:21,334 --> 00:55:23,834 Derrica Wilson: When Natalie and I started the organization, 1110 00:55:23,918 --> 00:55:25,959 30% of missing persons in the United States 1111 00:55:26,043 --> 00:55:27,043 were persons of color. 1112 00:55:27,126 --> 00:55:28,834 That number has since increased 1113 00:55:28,918 --> 00:55:31,084 to nearly 40%. 1114 00:55:31,168 --> 00:55:35,209 Natalie Wilson: There are a lot of issues in the African-American 1115 00:55:35,293 --> 00:55:37,584 community that we need to tackle 1116 00:55:37,668 --> 00:55:41,668 because they result in people going missing. 1117 00:55:41,751 --> 00:55:43,334 Mental health, 1118 00:55:43,418 --> 00:55:45,126 domestic violence, 1119 00:55:45,209 --> 00:55:49,126 poverty, police misconduct. 1120 00:55:49,209 --> 00:55:51,084 Vince Warren: If we were to ask Black people 1121 00:55:51,168 --> 00:55:53,126 what's the solution to the problem 1122 00:55:53,209 --> 00:55:54,918 for keeping their kids safe, 1123 00:55:55,001 --> 00:55:57,876 we would have the answers to the questions. 1124 00:55:57,959 --> 00:56:01,793 The problem is, is that because Black people are saying them, 1125 00:56:01,876 --> 00:56:03,168 we're not listening. 1126 00:56:03,251 --> 00:56:05,918 We have developed entire structures 1127 00:56:06,001 --> 00:56:09,959 around the concept of missing white people. 1128 00:56:10,043 --> 00:56:15,251 And we have virtually nothing except for the spit and grit 1129 00:56:15,334 --> 00:56:18,334 of Black folks who are determined 1130 00:56:18,418 --> 00:56:20,209 that our people matter, too, 1131 00:56:20,293 --> 00:56:22,168 that our bodies are not disposable, 1132 00:56:22,251 --> 00:56:24,751 that our families deserve to be together. 1133 00:56:26,876 --> 00:56:29,001 Butler: My hope for Black and Missing, 1134 00:56:29,084 --> 00:56:32,168 is that we die a natural death. 1135 00:56:32,251 --> 00:56:37,001 That there will be a time that we don't need Black and Missing. 1136 00:56:37,084 --> 00:56:39,501 So, you and I, we've talked about 1137 00:56:39,584 --> 00:56:41,626 you know, doin' this full-time. 1138 00:56:41,709 --> 00:56:44,959 -Mm-hm. -And I just want us to be able to do more. 1139 00:56:45,043 --> 00:56:49,709 I want what we do to be meaningful and impactful, 1140 00:56:49,793 --> 00:56:55,293 and I want God to continue to use us to be able to do this. 1141 00:56:55,376 --> 00:57:00,168 There are times when it feels like we are against the world, 1142 00:57:00,251 --> 00:57:05,834 that there is no one coming to our aid to help us fight this. 1143 00:57:05,918 --> 00:57:08,918 But then, you look at those small moments 1144 00:57:09,001 --> 00:57:10,709 where you can rejoice 1145 00:57:10,793 --> 00:57:16,209 in knowing that you helped bring closure to this family. 1146 00:57:16,293 --> 00:57:20,418 And that, right there, fuels us to keep going. 1147 00:57:20,501 --> 00:57:23,001 Natalie Wilson: There is a case that came in yesterday, 1148 00:57:23,084 --> 00:57:25,584 and when I reached out to law enforcement, 1149 00:57:25,668 --> 00:57:27,251 and they, they were givin' me the run-around, 1150 00:57:27,334 --> 00:57:29,334 and I called back, and I said, well, you know... 1151 00:57:33,543 --> 00:57:36,334 (classical music playing) 1152 00:57:48,334 --> 00:57:50,418 ♪ ♪