The decade-long search for Relisha Rudd continues

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — Relisha Rudd has been missing for a decade but one family member said she still believes there is hope.

Melissa Young said she is convinced that her granddaughter Rudd, who was 8-years-old when she vanished in 2014 in D.C., is not dead despite all the time that has passed.

“I feel in my heart that she’s still very well alive,” Young said.

On March 1, 2014, Rudd went missing from a homeless shelter in the District. A remembrance ceremony was held for her Thursday evening in Northeast D.C.

“She was my best friend. We talked about everything,” Young said. “We loved all the same TV shows. She went everywhere I went. She’s an awesome kid.”

Police said she was with a janitor whom authorities admitted that they suspect kidnapped her. The two were last seen on a video camera at a D.C. motel before she vanished for good. Police said a month later the janitor shot and killed himself.

Young said she’s still hopeful yet haunted by Rudd’s disappearance.

“I mean, it affects me a lot,” she said. “I think about her every day.”

Last year, a photo was released and promoted on posters on what an older Rudd could possible look like.

There are still groups searching for clues on her disappearance and keeping her memory alive.

“It makes me feel good because I know there is some people who really care,” Young said. “They just got their mind set on finding her.”

Young said she won’t ever stop holding out hope that her granddaughter will be found alive.

“I’m going to have to eventually prepare myself for the worst,” she said. “She may be dead, but I don’t want to believe that right now.”

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