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Relisha Rudd's Grandmother Speaks About Her Disappearance

WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- The grandmother of 8-year-old Relisha Rudd spoke out about the girl's disappearance. Melissa Young says she was fine with Kahlil Tatum spending time with her granddaughter, but now she knows that was a mistake.

Mary Bubala has more.

"Physically the last time I saw her was when that video was put on Instagram," Young said.

That was March 1. Young says she called Tatum on March 12 to see if he could fix Relisha's tablet he bought for her.

"I said, 'Mr. Tatum, have you talked to Relisha or do you have Relisha?' His answer to me was no. He don't have her. Then he said, 'Do you know where I am?' and I'm like, 'You should be home getting ready to go out of town on your trip,' when he was going to Atlanta, Ga. `Yeah, you're right but I'm already in Atlanta, Georgia.' He said, 'We're already in Atlanta, Georgia' and I said, `Who? You, your wife, your daughter and your granddaughter?' That when he says to me, `No, me, my wife, Relisha, my granddaughter and my daughter,'" Young said. "He went on some type of retreat but he told Mika it was at some medical retreat or family retreat or something."

Relisha's grandmother says before she hung up, she told Tatum to bring Relisha home by Sunday the 16th for a birthday party and then immediately called her daughter Shamika.

"I said, `Shamika, did you know your daughter was out of town with Mr. Tatum and his family?' She said, `When he asked me could she go, I said no, don't take her. How do you know?' I said, `Because I just called him,'" Young said.

Tatum never showed up that Sunday with Relisha but Young claims Tatum called her the very next morning.

"Before he fled, he was like, I took Relisha to school' and I'm looking at my calendar and I know what day it is and I know school is closed," she said.

On March 20, Tatum's wife was found dead in a hotel room in Oxon Hill. His body was found 11 days later in Kenilworth Park, an apparent suicide. Rudd is still missing.

Police continue to talk to family members about Rudd's disappearance.

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