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Police search a park for the 8-year-old, fearing the worst Washington A search of a D.C. park for a missing 8-year-old girl is a “recovery operation,” although police haven’t given up hope of finding the child alive, Chief Cathy Lanier said Thursday. Relisha Tenau Rudd was last seen in the city on March 1 with Kahlil Malik Tatum, a janitor at the city homeless shelter where Relisha lived. A day later, Tatum bought a carton of 42-gallon contractor trash bags at a store and was seen in the area of the Kenilworth Aquatic Gar-
dens, Lanier said. Tatum, 51, continued to go to work after that and was seen throughout the city, but Relisha was not seen with him, Lanier said. While police haven’t given up hope that Relisha is alive, “we cannot ignore the possibility that he may have killed her,” Lanier said at a news conference at the park, where officials had cordoned off entrances. Digital billboards along the East Coast are displaying photos of Relisha and Tatum. FBI spokeswoman Lindsay Godwin said the agency is “casting a wide net” for Tatum. Relisha’s repeated absences from school led authorities last week to look for her, although her family had not reported her missing.
NIKKI KAHN (THE WASHINGTON POST)
D.C. Police: Missing Girl May Be Dead
Police searched an area in Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens on Thursday for Relisha Rudd.
The morning after the search began, police found Tatum’s wife, 51-year-old Andrea Tatum, dead in a motel room in nearby Oxon Hill, Md. Tatum is charged with fatally
shooting her in the head. A charging document says Andrea Tatum’s daughter told authorities her mother was having domestic problems with her husband and was con-
templating leaving him. Lanier said there had not been any confirmed sightings of Tatum since shortly after his wife’s homicide. Lanier said the girl’s family identified Tatum as Relisha’s “godfather” and that she had her mother’s permission to be with him. It was Relisha’s 10 unexcused absences from school that prompted social workers to go on March 19 to the homeless shelter, said Pedro Ribeiro, a spokesman for D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray. Before that, however, her mother told school officials that Relisha was sick, and her grandmother gave officials Tatum’s telephone number, saying he was her doctor. JESSICA GRESKO (AP)
Front-Runners Focus on Turnout Metro Rail, Washington
THEY CAN HURT
Hard Lessons A law class at George Mason University got a little too real Wednesday when a man attacked the professor with pepper spray before trying to “citizen arrest” him. Police later really arrested Jonathan Pendleton, 31, who is not a student at GMU. The professor was treated for minor injuries. (E XPRESS/ T WP)
Fifth The D.C. region’s ranking among metropolitan areas for population growth from July 2012 to July 2013, according to new data from the U.S. Census. The area grew by 87,265 people, beat only by Houston, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles. (T WP)
Mayoral candidate Muriel Bowser is surging in polls, but her support is squishy: Those turning to her are less likely to vote, and they still might change their minds. Incumbent Vincent Gray enjoys a rock-solid base of die-hard supporters, but there are far fewer of them than there used to be. Both circumstances point to the urgency of turnout for both front-runners in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Bowser is working feverishly to identify the supporters who, according to a Washington Post poll, are flocking to her. She must persuade them to stick with their choice — and make sure they actually vote. Since January, Bowser’s support has more than doubled, and she is now in a statistical dead heat with Gray and far ahead of six other contenders, according to the poll. She has drawn in previously undecided voters and peeled away support from the competition. She has gained heavily among white voters and is second only to Gray among
Early Voting in D.C. There are 13 polling places open for early voting around D.C. Note that any D.C. voter, regardless of where they live, can vote in any early voting center. Residents who didn’t register before the March 14 deadline can complete a same-day registration at the polls both at early voting centers and on April 1 to cast a vote by special ballot. (T WP/E XPRESS)
black voters. But with the cavalcade of challengers differing little on ideological or policy grounds, Bowser’s emergence may be grounded chiefly in her emerging role as the alternative to Gray. That may help explain why only 44 percent of those who support her say their choice is definite. For Gray, that amount is clos-
er to two-thirds. Gray’s ability to attract additional supporters has stalled, according to the poll. His bedrock from 2010 — African-Americans east of the Anacostia River — is dramatically thinner. As a result, he has assembled an army of professional campaigners who are using timetested techniques to turn out every last person still rooting for him. Citywide, turnout for the city’s earliest-ever mayoral election is expected to be low. Just 54 percent of registered voters say they are “absolutely certain” to vote, down from 65 percent three weeks before the 2010 contest. And that number may be optimistic: 40 percent actually turned out in 2010. To overcome their soft spots with voters and the uncertainty surrounding voter interest, Gray and Bowser are following divergent game plans. Both are scrambling to finish a monthslong process to identify likely voters — and transition to contacting each one to urge him or her to vote.
Bus Fare to Increase Washington
A ARON C. DAVIS AND PEY TON M. CR AIGHILL
The Metro board voted Thursday to raise fares for trains and buses. The new fares, which will take effect around July 1, increase the cost of riding Metrorail by an average of 3 percent, though some riders will pay more depending on the time and distance they travel. People who park at Metro lots and garages will pay 10 cents more per day. All bus riders will now pay $1.75. This is a 15-cent increase for those using SmarTrip cards now and a 5-cent break for riders who have been paying the 20-cent surcharge on cash payments. The maximum fare for riders of the MetroAccess paratransit service will drop from $7 to $6.50. MetroAccess riders dominated the fare hearings, and their efforts were rewarded. By contrast, relatively few of Metro’s hundreds of thousands of rail and bus riders spoke at the hearings.
(THE WASHINGTON POST )
ROBERT THOMSON (THE WASHINGTON POST)