WEBVTT - The Epidemic [10] 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:03.600 You're listening to the Freeway Fanom, a production of iHeartRadio, 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:07.880 Tenderfoot TV, and Black Bar METSPHAH. The views and opinions 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:11.440 expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:15.000 author or individuals participating in the podcast, and do not 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:19.720 represent those of Ourheartmedia, Tenderfoot TV, Black Bar, MITZVAH, or 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:24.000 their employees. This podcast also contains subject matter that may 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:27.560 not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised. 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.440 In nineteen eighty four, when I decided to reopen the cases, 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:39.480 I was really concerned because in talking to some other 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:43.560 detectives that other people around they were under the impression 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:45.160 that the cases were closed. 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:46.520 And I knew better. 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.280 I knew that, you know, there had been a massive 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:54.840 investigation of the being Vega guys, but the evidence eventually 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.600 showed that that was a farce, that they didn't have 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.280 anything to do with it. So I decided I was 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.880 going to take up the banner of these cases because 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.680 they should have been close. There wasn't a real emotional 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:10.520 toll on me when I went to homicide. My primary 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:13.720 reason for going to homicide was to handle all the 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:18.240 instant deaths, the child's deaths in the city, the abortion cases, 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:22.720 and so seeing young people dead, you don't ever get 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:25.920 used to it, but you know that's part of your job, 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.639 and once you break down and cry and so forth, 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:35.160 then you're not serving the public because your personal feelings 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:36.840 get in the way of what you're. 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:38.119 Trying to accomplish. 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.920 You know, after you work so hard on the case 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:44.840 and you talk to so many people, you kind of 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:49.120 get a feeling of what types of young ladies they were, 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:51.960 and the fact that the youngest woman was ten years 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:55.880 of age. You know, you can imagine how they felt 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.760 that somebody had abducted them off the street and there was. 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:01.560 Nobody to stop it. 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:06.800 And then the abduction site were heavily populated places, but. 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.280 Nobody saw anything, and it's just so hard to believe. 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.720 And so, you know, I felt that, hey, if I 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.200 can bring resolution to these cases, I will do it. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.880 I'm going to try my best to do it. But 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.640 I'm also going to try to make sure should I 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.720 not be able to get a resolution in these cases, 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.560 then I'm going to see that everything that was humanly 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.200 possible is done to solve these cases. I felt I 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.560 owe that to the family and owe that to the girl. 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.960 The homicide detectives termed the cases the little girl cases. 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:48.880 This child was laying on the side of the road. 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.519 I wouldn't go no way, I wouldn't talk about house. 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.560 Those first five murderers should have been a huge warning 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:57.560 belt for the police. 0:02:57.880 --> 0:02:59.600 We just want to know what happened. 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:01.560 Person must have saw that. 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:03.880 They were thinking that maybe it's just one person, and 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:05.320 he says, oh, they need to know. 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:06.680 This is me. 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:09.160 I thought that they would catch him. 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:11.720 I thought it was just a matter of time. 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:21.120 I'm Celeste Headley, and this is freeway Phantom. The murders 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.960 of eight young black girls, six of whom were confirmed 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:28.679 Freeway Phantom victims, were undeniably tragic, but their cases were 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.840 just the beginning. In the decades since their murder, the 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.720 plight of missing and murdered black girls in DC has 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:39.480 only intensified. Today, it just looks a little different, but 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.400 the issue of these cases not getting the proper media 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:46.840 coverage or police attention they deserve is still too prominent. 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:53.240 Each year, they are over six hundred thousand people reported 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:57.840 missing in the United States, and close to forty percent 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:01.360 of persons of color, and that numbers about two hundred 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:06.920 and seventy thousand a year that's reported missing. There's so 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:11.920 many more individuals that are not reported missing to law enforcement, 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:16.480 where they're not added to the national crime database. These 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:19.200 families are not speaking up, so we believe that the 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:20.719 numbers are much larger. 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.480 This is Natalie Wilson, one of the co founders of 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:26.120 the Black and Missing Foundation. 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:31.520 The inspiration behind the Black and Missing Foundation is that 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:36.279 in two thousand and four, Tamka Houston vanished from Spartanburg, 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:40.960 South Carolina, and that's the hometown of my sister in law, Derko, 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:45.280 and we learn how her family struggled to get media coverage, 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:51.080 particularly national media coverage around her disappearance. So Derek and 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.880 I decided to do some research. We weren't sure if 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:59.479 this was an issue affecting the minority community, particularly the 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:04.359 Africa American community, and most aren't young, attractive white women. 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:11.040 In fact, most were persons of color, particularly black African Americans, 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:14.440 and they made up thirty percent of all persons missing 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:19.880 and attracted almost no media coverage at all, especially nationally. 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.000 So you know, it weighed really heavy on our hearts, 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.960 and Dereka and I decided why not us, why don't 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:29.479 we do something about it because I'm in public relations 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:33.200 or media relations and Dereka's in law enforcement, and those 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.520 are the two critical professions needed to bring awareness to 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.880 our missing and that's how the organization, the Black and 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.440 Missing Foundation was created. We said, you know, if we 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:48.719 can just bring one person home or provide closure for 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.880 one family, we have done our job. And now we're 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:57.480 motivated to keep going because forty percent of all persons 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.839 missing are of color, and these families rely on us. 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.200 We are their last resort. By the time they get 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:07.720 to us, they're desperate, they don't know what to do, 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:13.400 and many times they're not getting the assistance from law 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:18.680 enforcement or the media to help find their missing loved one. 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.920 Natalie says one of their core objectives is getting the 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:25.440 media involved. Whenever there's a new missing person's case. 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:32.360 Media coverage is very important, especially intense early media coverage. 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.200 It ensures that the community is looking for that missing 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:39.840 individual and it increases the chance of a recovery. And 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:44.480 for us throughout the years, because we started this organization 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.880 in two thousand and eight, I've been able to build 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:53.200 media partnerships with black Press so that again they're using 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:58.640 their platforms with millions or hundreds of thousands of followers 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.720 to help us get the word out about a missing individual. 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:07.799 So it's vital and we believe that media coverage should 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:09.840 be equal across the board. 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.880 We asked Natalie why historically the media is so hesitant 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:16.280 to report on these cases. 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.960 Well, there are a number of reasons for the lack 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:25.160 of media coverage. One is we're realizing that when a 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:32.120 child is reported missing oftentime, law enforcement they classify the 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.760 child as a runaway, so they do not receive any 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:41.360 type of media coverage or especially the Amber alert at all, 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.560 and that is not necessarily the case. We have so 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:51.400 many cases of missing children where law enforcement classified them 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:55.600 as a runaway and they did not leave voluntarily. So 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:59.000 we need to stay away from that phrase as runaway 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:04.760 because ultimately, even if the child left home voluntarily, what 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:08.960 are they leaving from and ultimately what are they running too. 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:13.400 We know that children who leave home voluntarily, they're on 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.120 the streets within twenty four to forty eight hours. Their 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:21.040 proposition for sex because they have to find a way 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.000 to survive, and they have to find a way for 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:29.920 you know, housing, food security, and these predators, you know, 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.120 they get them into a lifestyle that they cannot get 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:36.480 out of us. We also need to change the narrative 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:41.640 that missing black and brown individuals are most likely involved 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.960 with some type of criminal activity and they're represented as 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.520 such in the news cycle. You know, we have to 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:52.680 realize that these missing individuals, they have names, and they 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:58.160 are an important part of our society, our community. Their mothers, 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:03.720 their fathers, their sisters. There's brothers, aunts, uncles, their grandparents, 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:08.280 and we need to make sure that we represent them 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:09.680 in the best light. 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:14.760 Natalie says the issue has become much more complex than 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.360 it was during the time of the Freeway Phantom, but 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:19.960 she says there are things we can do now. 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:25.000 You know, many of our cases, it highlights the significant 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:29.720 racial injustices, you know, not just in policing but media. 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:31.480 So we need. 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:35.439 To make sure that we vote and that there are 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.760 laws to protect our children. You know, Marylyn has a 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:46.440 safe harbor law where if an underage child has been 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:51.840 arrested for prostitution, that they are not thrown into jail. 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:57.440 They are then taken to a safe house where they're 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:02.440 given the resources to be rehabilitated. So we need to 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:07.079 see laws like this that protects our community. And there 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:11.440 also needs to be laws where there's a sense of 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:17.040 urgency and a sense of fairness when a person is 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:22.240 reported missing. So again there's a loophole with the Amber Alert. 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:25.280 So if you're classified as a runaway, you do not 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.359 receive the Amber Alert or any type of media coverage. 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.320 How do we close that gap? We need to really 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:35.240 take a look at it to ensure that the individual 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:41.800 who did not voluntarily leave home gets the right classification 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:43.720 when they're reported missing. 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.360 Natalie told us about one case that highlights the problems 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:50.920 evident in the current system. It was a story of 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:54.600 a girl named Relisha Rudd who went missing in twenty fourteen. 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.600 She and her family were evicted from their apartment in 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.920 Das and they moved to the DC General Homeless Shelter 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.559 and Relicia was one of six hundred children living at 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:12.280 the shelter. And we became involved with relicious case as 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:16.199 one of our then board members and she was Assistant 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:21.400 Chief of Police. Diane Grooms shared the news release issued 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:26.920 by MPD on March to twentieth about relicious disappearance. 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:32.200 Flicia was last spotted on a hotel security camera, accompanied 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.720 by a man named Khalil Tatum, a friend of Relicia's mother. 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.320 A few weeks later, Tatum's wife was found shot dead 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:43.000 in a hotel, and after that, Tatum's body was found 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:47.400 in a shed, dead from an apparent suicide. Relicia was 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:48.080 never found. 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.960 We were very alarmed, but we were very determined to 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:59.240 find Relicia. And there are so many unanswered questions about 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:03.000 this case, and the most disheartening is that no one 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:06.840 was really keeping up with Relicious whereabouts, you know, not 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:12.360 her family, not the shelter, not the school. So there 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:18.000 is enough blame to go around for everyone. And we 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:22.520 believe that, you know, African American and Hispanic children, they 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:27.079 deserve the same innocence as other children. So it's definitely 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:31.880 a case that weighs heavy on our hearts. And when 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:34.480 someone finds out that I'm, you know, one of the 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:38.040 co founders of the Black Missing Foundation in the DC area, 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:42.600 the first case they always ask us about is Relicious. 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:48.040 What happened to her? We believe that she was a 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:52.280 victim of sex trafficking and the janitor whom her mother 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:57.160 gave supervision over her was grooming her for sex trafficking. 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:02.640 It's just so heartbreaking, but we will never stop searching 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.679 for Militia. Behold on to hope that she's alive and 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:10.640 that she can be reunited. So much love in the 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:11.880 DC area for her. 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:16.800 One of the people working in the Relasia Rudd case 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:20.679 all these years is Henderson Long, who he met last episode. 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:25.280 Henderson is the CEO of DC's Missing Voice. He essentially 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.640 acts as a go between for d c's Metropolitan Police 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:32.640 and the black community. Henderson says that in many cases 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:37.160 of missing and murdered children, someone in the community knows something, 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.320 So you have to get out there and talk to folks. 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:45.120 Tian Jones, you know, and I know y'all know about 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:46.239 that homicide. 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:51.720 And from Saturday, Henderson invited us to one outreach event 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.480 at a seven to eleven in southeast d C. He 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:58.319 was there handing out flyers with missing persons information about 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.479 Relasia Rudd. 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:05.200 The goal of to day is to create greater awareness about, 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.120 you know, the tragic circumstances of all our children in 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:09.640 the District of Columbia. 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:10.199 Militia Rudd. 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.160 Her day being a platform, I was going to read 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:16.600 the proclamation and show you the proclamations, the Mayas sign 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:21.360 regarding Militia Rudd Day. 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:24.880 Like the Freeway Phantom Victims Relicious case, did not receive 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.840 sufficient media coverage. For the first three weeks that she 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.440 was missing, there was no mainstream media outlet covering the 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.480 story at all. This was also due to the fact 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:38.360 that no one, including police, considered her a missing person. 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.680 But after she was officially reported missing, people like Henderson 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:44.920 Long were able to get the media involved. 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.600 Well, y'all on July eleven. That was the big media pushing. 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:50.480 You know, everybody's not on social media. 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:55.160 So my goal was to take Milicia Rudd's plight and 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:57.720 all the plight of all our children and missing persons 0:14:57.720 --> 0:14:59.840 to the street because you never know what you're gonna 0:14:59.880 --> 0:15:03.920 run into. We may run into some information that's usual 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:07.120 to help us close the case and bring some closures 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.320 to some families and make the district a little safer, 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:11.440 you know, it's our cart. 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:13.600 I approach this work with the. 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.480 Understanding that the police can't do it alone, that we 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.480 both need each other and in the community is a 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:24.160 tremendous asset to the police department when they can get 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.440 these tips in. I heard Chief Conti yesterday begging people 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:30.120 to call me. I'm send the rest in pieces up, 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:31.800 but I need phone calls. 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:33.680 I need people to call in and give me some tips. 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:34.000 Now. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:38.080 I appreciate the flowers, the cars, this that and the other, 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.440 but we need calls. We need people to call in. 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:44.640 We need information in the community. They know who's committing 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:49.200 these crimes. These crimes, anything that involve criminal malice, they 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.920 know who's doing and we need the police to handle 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.400 that type of stuff. When it's not anything a criminal nature, 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:56.080 you need them. 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:56.800 To be involved. 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:01.600 Henderson says, there are certain valuable pieces of info you 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:04.600 need when investigating one of these cases. You need an 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:10.080 up to date photo, a complete physical description, and if possible, fingerprints. 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:15.800 Fingerprints is heavy in terms of identification union positivity. I 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:19.080 d somebody who it is, because sometimes you'll find someone, 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:22.000 you'll locate someone, somebody will come upon them. They may 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:26.080 be incapacitated, they may even be deceased. We can roll 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:28.520 those fingerprints and if they had any pride, run INDs. 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:30.800 You know, y'all know the deal, You pull them right up. 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:32.560 So fingerprints are invaluable. 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.160 Henderson says the biggest goal of these outreach events is 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:41.280 to build relationships between the community and the police. That's 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.640 why there were a handful of officers there unarmed, handing 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:45.280 out flyers. 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.160 We try to educate people on what MPD within their 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:53.640 general orders, what kind of what they expect, because some 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:56.960 people come to the thing with the wrong expectation. So 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.680 we get out into the elementary schools, we get out 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:03.960 into the daycare centers, we fingerprint children, We educate the 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:05.840 parents on what to do. 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:08.240 A lot of parents don't know to. 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:11.679 Call the police, and then you know, you got the 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:14.560 street code out there too, don't deal with the police. 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.280 So we try to deal with some of that by 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:21.360 fostering relationship with the police, showing people that hey, look 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:23.560 the police are not all what you think it is. 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:27.320 Ninety eight percent of them are good people do down here. 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:28.960 They trying to do their job. 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:32.840 So Henderson says, the case of Relasia Rudd is a 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.840 prime example of what can happen when communities like this 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:39.720 remain relatively closed off. Over the last nine years, there's 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.560 been a little movement on the case, but Henderson is 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:48.000 convinced someone knows something. By reminding people about Relitia, he 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:51.159 says he's hoping to prevent cases like hers in the future. 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.960 This is an age regression photo of what Relitia Rudd 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:55.959 would look like today. 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:00.840 That's her age regression photo is what they think she 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:02.960 would look like. I think at age fifteen. 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:05.439 And as I said when I talked to the media, 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:10.040 a murder, suicide, and deception attached to a child, eight 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:16.680 year old child name, that's totally unacceptable. Murder, lies, and suicide. 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.760 That's the worst you can get for child seven. Relasia 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:24.080 Rudd that totally dependent on us, to totally dependent on 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:25.520 people around her. 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:28.240 You know, kids are totally dependent on us. They have 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:33.720 no other choice but to trust the people that they're 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:34.440 under their care. 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.240 One of the people we met at the outreach event 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:03.159 for Relasia Rudd was MPD Commander Pamela Wheeler Taylor. She 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:06.520 was there helping Handerson handout flyers and after the event 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:08.840 we had a number of questions about how her unit 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:12.879 investigates these types of cases. Commander Wheeler Taylor agreed to 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:17.960 sit down with us. Hello everyone, I am Commander Pamela 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:21.119 Wheeler Taylor of the DC Metropolitan Police Department. I'm the 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:24.280 commander of the Youth and Family Services Division. I've been 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:27.480 a member of the Metropolitan Police Department for approximately thirty 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:32.320 one years, and my experience runs the gamut from patrol 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:38.800 to internal affairs to human resources, and now, like I said, 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:42.040 I actually happened to have been appointed to the rank 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:46.240 of commander in January of twenty twenty one. So obviously 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.000 the case that we're focusing on was fifty years ago, 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:52.919 and we were surprised at how sort of blase law 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:55.440 enforcement was when these children went missing. So I wondered, 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.719 if you would first walk us through today what happens 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.800 if I call you and say my child was supposed 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:03.720 to be home at three, she's not home. 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:04.360 What happens? 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:05.639 Typically? 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:09.879 What happens, and in cases such as that, the response 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:14.640 of the very first responding officers of utmost importance. That's 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.840 where you gather the most critical information. Things that are 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:19.960 set and the heat of the moment are things that 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:22.959 have to be memorialized because they could actually, you know, 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:26.280 bring about successful closure at the end. Little things that 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:30.720 you feel might not be important. Something as simple as 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.320 my kids said they were going to visit their friend 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:36.919 and I told them that they couldn't go, Or something 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.840 as simple as maybe you've taken the kid to a 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:43.480 location the kid may say, you know, you know, i'd 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:45.480 awfully I want to visit that again. You may not 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:47.560 think because it's in the back of your mind that 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:49.680 you've never taken the kid to that place, or you're 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:51.840 not going to take the kid again. But it's something 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:54.600 you have to listen to. Things that are spontaneously uttered. 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:59.640 You know they have a valuable evidence. At what point, then, 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.719 do you know, does the case become more serious? At 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:04.879 what point does does an. 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:09.480 Officer feel that there is a need to that it's 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:12.280 no longer to become aware. Could this kid have gone 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:16.280 as opposed to maybe something untoward happened to this kid. 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:19.080 Okay, so generally what happens And let me back up 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:23.119 a bit and maybe just explain to you what a 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:26.719 missing person definition is in the District of Columbia. Missing 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:31.200 person is anyone adult or child that is missing from 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.600 their lawful place of abode within the District of Columbia, 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:40.280 and they they're missing as unusual, highly unusual, or for 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:44.120 their patterns or things that they normally their routine, things 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:46.760 of that nature. Or the missing person could be missing 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:49.960 from another jurisdiction close to the district, but there's reasonably 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.600 there's incredible knowledge that the individual was lasting in the 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:58.320 District of Columbia. So again, the reporting person initial responder 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:02.400 are critical and determining the soircumstances surrounding the missing person's disappearance. 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:05.720 The first step again is to interview the reporting person. 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:08.840 Try to gather as much information as you possibly can, 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:14.600 as far as demographics available, friends, a clothing description. What 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.120 is definitely invaluable to us is a recent photo. If 0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:21.240 you have a recent photo of the individual, it's very 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:23.680 valuable in the issues of a missing person's flyer, which 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.040 we distribute in every case. So, I mean, obviously you 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:28.760 were not around in the nineteen sevent well, you were 0:22:28.760 --> 0:22:32.439 in a police officer and not a police officer, but 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.680 your career spans three decades, yes it does. So this 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:38.440 is another thing that keeps coming up to us is 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:42.480 how differently, even based on our very small knowledge of 0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:46.480 police procedure, how differently cases were handled back then as 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:47.760 to now. And I'm wondering if you could give us 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:51.440 a kind of a concept of how not just technology 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:56.640 but resources have changed even since when you first started, mean, 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:00.960 how much better equipped our office to do this kind 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:04.800 of work. Absolutely, absolutely, And just like in anything in life, 0:23:04.880 --> 0:23:08.440 of course, technology brings about improvements and things we have 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:12.360 the ability to be able to now actually track cell phones. 0:23:12.880 --> 0:23:15.600 These cell phones are invaluable and you'll see that every 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:17.880 juvenile has a cell phone in his or her hand. 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:21.199 Once the missing person's detectives get on the scene, the 0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:22.760 first thing we are able to do is be able 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:25.520 to track that cell phone. And like I said, how 0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:28.720 quickly can that very quickly? Very quickly. It's a matter 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:33.760 of us forwarding an emergency disclosure request social media. Also, 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:37.119 we can develop an IP address for where that phone 0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:40.200 is actually pinging that has proven invaluable or not. That's 0:23:40.240 --> 0:23:42.719 something that we definitely did not have. It gives us 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:45.520 a leg up on a possible location of the individual 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:47.639 if we're lucky enough to have a case where a 0:23:47.680 --> 0:23:51.680 cell phone is involved. So definitely technology, even with fingerprinting, 0:23:52.119 --> 0:23:54.920 even with you know, like I said, just being able 0:23:54.960 --> 0:23:58.400 to transmit a photo, transmit a photo through a cell phone. 0:23:58.640 --> 0:24:01.679 The expediency of the inform that we receive gives us 0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:03.760 a leg up on our search for the individual. And 0:24:03.840 --> 0:24:08.280 there's more cameras around, definitely CCTV cameras. Again, like I said, 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:12.280 just social media in and of itself just invaluable. What 0:24:12.440 --> 0:24:16.560 about the importance of just community members who live in 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:20.000 that neighborhood, who see these kids perhaps every day. How 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:23.560 important are they in the whole investigation of a child's disappearance. 0:24:23.800 --> 0:24:26.280 Very valuable, And that's one of the first things. As 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:29.400 the first responding unit, we go around and we call 0:24:29.440 --> 0:24:32.560 it door knocks, good old fashioned boots on the ground 0:24:32.600 --> 0:24:36.040 door knocks. You're knocking on neighbors doors, and a lot 0:24:36.040 --> 0:24:38.239 of times the neighbors have information, well, yes, I saw 0:24:38.280 --> 0:24:40.919 a little Johnny head that way, or yes, little Johnny 0:24:40.960 --> 0:24:43.560