The Washington Post‘s Theresa Vargas, Emma Brown, Lynh Bui and Peter Hermann look deeply at the disappearance of eight-year-old Relisha Rudd and the safety net that should have kept her safe.
In the story they ask: Who failed Relisha?
It has been more than a month since Relisha’s family has seen her and more than a week since the police search for her became a “recovery mission.” People who knew her now talk about her in both the present and past tense, revealing in the same breath their hopes and fears.
But whether Relisha is alive or dead, the instability of her life — evictions from apartments where gunfire was common, weeks at motels and then months at the homeless shelter with a troubled mother and three brothers — put her on the radar of school administrators, social workers, shelter employees and volunteers, who make up the safety net for the city’s vulnerable children.
Read the full story here.
