Motive Presents “Through the Cracks”

June 2, 2022·34 min·3 clips

How did eight-year-old Relisha Rudd vanish from a D.C. homeless shelter without anyone noticing for 18 days?

Relisha Rudd disappeared from a shelter. The episode starts at DC General in Washington, D.C., where her family was living before anyone formally said she was missing. Eighteen days had already gone by. That delay hangs over the story, less like a clean accusation than a question nobody can stop circling. People thought they knew where Relisha was. Much of the family believed she was with Khalil Tatum, a shelter janitor they saw as familiar. He was not some random stranger to them. Family members describe him and his wife as part of the loose village around Relisha and the other children at the shelter. One account sounds calm, almost routine. Relisha, they say, came back and told people where she had been, who she was with, and what happened. Then the unease creeps in. The host notes that some people later found the arrangement strange, especially because shelter staff were not supposed to have social relationships with clients. The episode does not rush to scold everyone from the future. From the family's side, Tatum seemed reliable, Relisha seemed happy, and Shamika was understood to be responsible for her care. That makes blame messy. The reporting also gives Shamika room, even though she has declined interview requests after years of scrutiny and threats. Ashley's memory adds one more piece. She remembers Tatum picking Relisha up before, though she cannot place the date. The episode ends unresolved, with credits, a timeline, and another installment still ahead.

As heard by us

A careful disappearance story about how institutions miss what should have been seen.

This first-season episode centers on Relisha Rudd's disappearance and on the blind spots that let it go unnoticed by the people and systems around her.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want a careful disappearance story with institutional teeth and no easy answers, press play on this one.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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