Washington D.C. police say they have found the body of a man who appears to have committed suicide in a park where officers were searching for a missing 8-year-old girl, according to the Washington City Paper.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier did not immediately identify the man, whose body was found Monday, the City Paper reported. She said police would likely confirm his identity later Monday.
The body was found in Northeast Washington's Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, where authorities began searching for Rudd last Thursday, according to the City Paper. Police have been searching the park in northeast Washington since last week.
Eight-year-old Relisha Rudd was last seen on March 1 in the company of Kahlil Tatum, a janitor at the homeless shelter where she lived with her mother and stepfather for a year and a half, according to the City Paper. Her family knew Tatum, 51, prior to the girl's disappearance.
Lanier says officials are "obviously" looking into the fact the body could be Tatum's, the City Paper reported.
"The search is still underway and there is still a lot of working to be done," Lanier said, according to the City Paper. "Our primary focus is here is to find Relisha."
After she was reported missing, police in neighboring Prince George's County, Maryland, found the body of Tatum's wife in a motel room, the City Paper reported.
"We are not making any assumptions," Lanier said in regards to following other leads in the hopes that Relisha is still alive, according to the City Paper. "We cannot ignore the possibility that he may have killed her."
Kahlil Tatum remains on the FBI's Most Wanted list for the murder of his wife, and Lanier has said that he may still be in the Metro Washington area, according to the City Paper. Federal authorities say Tatum should be considered armed and dangerous.
