Transcript

Killer taunts the victim's family after burying her in a shallow grave

From True Crime News · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 40 min · 6,540 words · 173 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Killer taunts the victim's family after burying her in a shallow grave", an episode of True Crime News published December 14, 2025 (40 min, about 6,540 words). It mentions 12 people, works and ideas, including Crime Watch Daily, Brandy Stevens Rosine, Ashley Barber, Jade Olmstead, Relishia Rudd.

What this episode is about

The content revolves around the unsettling case of Brandy Stevens Rosine, a young woman whose disappearance leads to the discovery of a chilling taunt left by her killer to her mother, revealing a calculated and brutal crime. The investigation uncovers disturbing clues of a series of disappearances, including that of 8-year-old Relishia Rudd, while highlighting the psychological manipulation and sadistic nature of the perpetrator.

Key takeaways

  • A chilling taunt from a murderer reveals the depths of human depravity—some play games, others lose lives.
  • Victims like Brandy shine brightly, but their struggles with identity become dangerous intersections in toxic relationships.
  • In a twist of irony, the perfect crime declaration is often the worst miscalculation in the age of surveillance.
  • Love can illuminate dark paths—but it often blinds us to lurking dangers, as seen in Brandy's relationship with Jade.
  • Every vanished person leaves behind a story; sometimes, it's the hidden struggles that lead to the most tragic endings.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Michelle Sigona, Crime Watch Daily, Jade Olmstead, Chris Hansen
  2. – 10:00: Ashley Barber, Brandy Stevens Rosine, Carrie Rosine, Michelle Sigona
  3. – 15:00: Ashley Barber, Jade Olmstead, Brandy Stevens Rosine
  4. – 20:00: Ashley Barber, Brandy Stevens Rosine, Crime Watch Daily, Jade Olmstead
  5. – 25:00: Brandy Stevens Rosine, Ashley Barber, Jade Olmstead
  6. – 30:00: Ashley Barber, Jade Olmstead, Relishia Rudd, Crime Watch Daily
  7. – 35:00: Khalil Tatum, Relishia Rudd, Shemica Young, Washington Post
  8. – 39:35: Khalil Tatum, Crime Watch Daily, Relishia Rudd

Notable quotes from "Killer taunts the victim's family after burying her in a shallow grave"

  • I'm Chris Hansen right now on Crime Watch Daily from here in New York City.
    about Crime Watch Daily · at
  • Security video captures the very last glimpse of Relishia Rudd.
    about Relishia Rudd · at
  • Who brutally tortured and killed Brandy Stevens Rosine?
    about Brandy Stevens Rosine · at
  • And one of the people she wanted to help the most was her girlfriend, Jade Olmstead. They had met online and had dated for several months right after high school. What were some of your.
    about Jade Olmstead · at
  • Ashley Barber, she dated Jade before Brandy.
    about Ashley Barber · at
  • What did you say? I told her I hadn't heard from her either.
    about Carrie Rosine · at
  • She lives in a homeless shelter in Washington DC with her mother and three younger brothers. But her mother, Shemica Young, says the little girl can brighten up a room even under the worst circumstances.
    about Shemica Young · at
  • A social worker actually goes to the shelter and asks around and realizes the only Tatum there is Khalil Tatum, a custodian, not a doctor at all.
    about Khalil Tatum · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Brandy Stevens Rosine — Person · Victim / central subject of first case segment · 6 mentions · first at
    Her disappearance and murder drive the first half of the episode, including motive, investigation, and convictions.
  • Ashley Barber — Person · Perpetrator / Jade's girlfriend (first case) · 13 mentions · first at
    Depicted as jealous and violent; confesses details of the killing and is sentenced to life along with Jade.
  • Jade Olmstead — Person · Perpetrator / ex-girlfriend of victim (first case) · 9 mentions · first at
    Presented as Brandy's ex and later identified as one of the two killers who lured Brandy to the woods.
  • Relishia Rudd — Person · Missing child / central subject of second case segment · 6 mentions · first at
    Her disappearance from a DC homeless shelter and last-known hotel surveillance footage anchor the second half of the episode.
  • Khalil Tatum — Person · Primary suspect / abductor figure (second case) · 6 mentions · first at
    Identified as the man posing as 'Dr. Tatum' and last seen with Relishia; later found dead by suicide.
  • Michelle Sigona — Person · Correspondent / lead reporter for both segments · 4 mentions · first at
    Narrates and reports the investigative details, interviews, and conclusions of the cases.
    Michelle Sigona investigates the mystery in the woods.
  • Carrie Rosine — Person · Victim's mother / family spokesperson (first case) · 1 mention · first at
    Provides family perspective, discovery timeline, and reactions to investigation developments.
  • Chris Hansen — Person · Host / anchor · 3 mentions · first at
    Introduces and transitions between the two featured cases on Crime Watch Daily.
    Welcome to Crime Watch Daily, everyone.
  • Shemica Young — Person · Mother of missing child (second case) · 2 mentions · first at
    Provides characterization of Relishia and details about the family’s interactions with Khalil Tatum and the investigation.
  • Elizabeth Smart — Person · Referenced correspondent / on-air personality · 1 mention · first at
    Briefly identified as part of Crime Watch Daily’s on-air team in the intro montage.
    This Elizabeth Smart from Crime Watch Daily.

Companies & orgs

  • Crime Watch Daily — Company · Business focus · 6 mentions · first at
    The podcast is produced by Crime Watch Daily, which is the main platform for the content discussed.
  • Washington Post — Company · Case study · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in the context of covering a missing person case, providing additional media perspective.
    Terresa Vargas of the Washington Post has covered every angle of the story and says there was always a secret world of fear hidden beneath Relishia's life at the shelter.

Full transcript with timestamps

I'm Chris Hansen right now on Crime Watch Daily from here in New York City. Three friends take a walk in the woods. One of them vanishes. Then the other girls go missing, too. And the first clue is a chilling message.

Dear Mrs. Rosine, I murdered your miserable daughter. A killer taunting a heartbroken family. A crime so calculated it stuns detectives.

This was all like a game. Michelle Sigona investigates the mystery in the woods.

Just walking into a trap. Absolutely. Plus, she walks into a hotel room and is never seen again.

Relishia is seen going into the door. Is there video of her coming out? Security video captures the very last glimpse of Relishia Rudd.

How are you? Wait. Who is the mystery man and what happened to the 8-year-old? She's a sweet little girl and just somebody that we need to find and bring home

right now. Go. Let's go. Jason Mata with Crime Watch Daily. I'm Michelle Sagona from Crime Watch Daily.

This Elizabeth Smart from Crime Watch Daily. It's Anna Garcia from Crime Watch Daily. You got anything to say?

Is Crime Watch Daily? What do you don't know? She's 13. You're running away now.

Welcome to Crime Watch Daily, everyone. I'm Chris Hansen. First up today, we committed quote the perfect crime. That's what one of the suspects in our top story wrote in a journal. But as our Michelle Sigona found out, that sentence couldn't be any further from the truth.

A young woman lured into the woods. This was all like a game. A very sick, sad game.

A sick game ending in a barbaric murder. She had five skull fractures, throat marks around her neck,

taunting messages left behind for the cops, the police, good luck, pigs, and the victim's mother.

Dear Mrs. Rosine, I murdered your miserable daughter. Who brutally tortured and killed Brandy Stevens Rosine?

And my anger is like the devil on the inside. The reason why bone chilling from the very beginning, Brandy Rosine shined. Talk to me about Brandy growing up. She was a happy, happy, happy child. She had that contagious, outgoing energy that that people just loved. Brandy was selfless and intelligent, loved others. She's who I want to be when I grow up. You know, she's a wonderful human.

But the bubbly teen also faced some heavier challenges growing up. Were there some struggles with Brandy with her identity and who she was becoming? Yes. What did that do to you? I knew before she did. Were you accepting her? Absolutely. I accepted her any way, shape, or form. She was my daughter and Christy was there to help her along the way and guide her. She was amazing.

She confided in you. Yes. And really looked to you for guidance. Mhm. Did Brandy have a hard time with her identity?

In the beginning, she did. Yes. So, I tried to help her through that and tell her it's okay. Just be yourself.

Brandy took that advice and flourished. As a college student, she was a double major in psychology and sociology with a plan for the future.

She wanted to help people. And one of the people she wanted to help the most was her girlfriend, Jade Olmstead. They had met online and had dated for several months right after high school. What were some of your first impressions of Jade?

When I first met her, I thought that she lacked confidence. You know, I feel like she wasn't comfortable in her own skin.

Very quiet. But I also know Jade had some issues at home and contributed that to why she was so quiet.

Jade really struggled with her parents. She came from a very religious household and then she came out as a lesbian. Her parents were not happy about it. They wanted her to change who she was and just flip the switch and not be gay anymore. But Brandy accepted Jade for who she was and was generous with the one she loved. Some saw Jade as a drain. Were you aware of any red flags in their relationship?

Brandy had told me that Jade didn't want to work. She took care of her a lot. You think that Jade had the same love and compassion for Brandy?

I think that Brandy did a lot of things for Jade and that made Jade feel good. Had to be tough as a mom. It was tough uh because I felt that Brandy could do so much better.

The relationship would eventually end when Jade stole money from Brandy and left town, but the exes stayed in touch.

They still seem to remain friends in some capacity. Did Brandy still talk about Jade? Yes, all the time. And then there would be times where Brandy would say, "Take this phone number. It's Jade's. Put it in your phone. I'm going to delete it from mine. I shouldn't talk to her anymore." And then the next week she's like, "Hey, can you give me Jade's phone number back?" They did go back and forth a lot.

Was it toxic? Yeah, it was unhealthy because Jade knew that Brandy would do anything for her.

Jade was taking advantage of her. Mhm. Taking advantage like asking Brandy to pick her up in Maryland, some 300 miles away, and bring her back to Ohio. Within hours after Brandy dropped her off, Ashley and her parents came and got her.

Ashley Barber, she dated Jade before Brandy. Ashley was very tough. She liked to put out there that no one could mess with her. You know, she was aggressive.

18-year-old Jade and 20-year-old Ashley were now officially back together and even living together at Ashley's parents house in Pennsylvania. Ashley wanted Jade all to herself.

Brandy and Jade. Was there anything more to that friendship? I don't think that Brandy was trying to step into Jade and Ashley's relationship. I think that she just cared about Jade and wanted good things for her, so she just always stuck around.

But being a friend of Jade's would prove to have deadly consequences. It was a warm spring morning at Bry's grandmother's house. 10 a.m. She says, "Grandma, I'm going to visit my friend Rian."

Yes. Who also lives in Ohio who's a a very close friend of Bry's. But instead of driving to Rian's, Brandy drives almost 80 miles to see someone else. And on her way, Brandy text the address and something else for boating.

She told a friend that she had an uneasy feeling about coming here. Coming up, did Brandy ever arrive? I told her, "I don't believe a thing you're saying."

And a vile vow posted online. She had said, "I hope I get to kill her before her diabetes does."

Now, back to our story on an Ohio college student caught in the middle of a love triangle with two other young women. Once again, here's Michelle Sagona.

20-year-old Brandy Stevens Rosine is on the road, headed to a location almost 80 miles away. On her way, she text a haunting message to her friend Rihanna.

The text was, "I have a funny feeling. This is the address of where I'll be." Was she overreacting or was something else horrible about to happen? As the day turns to night, her already nervous grandmother becomes alarmed when she spots something the 20-year-old left behind.

She didn't take her backpack with her that day and she suffered from diabetes and her insulin would have been in that bag. What does her grandmother do?

Her grandmother uh began calling her cell phone and the calls went straight to voicemail.

No answer that evening and no sign of Brandy the next morning. So Bry's grandmother breaks the troubling news to Bry's mother, Carrie Rosine.

What did you say? I told her I hadn't heard from her either. When you learned she left her diabetes medication behind.

Yes, I freaked. We both did. They report Brandy missing to the local Ohio authorities. And as cops begin their investigation, Carrie launches her own, starting with digging into Bry's cell phone records and calling everyone who had talked to her the day before. You knew something was wrong.

Yeah. Her very closest friend, Rian said that Brandy text her that morning and said she had a bad feeling and here's the address. So, a determined Christy takes down that address and launches her own investigation. She goes looking for Brandy alone in the dark, but she gets lost.

I ended up at a church vacant, overgrown with all this grass, and it just solidified the the hopelessness that I felt like there's no there's no hope.

No hope, then a potential break. Not long after Brandy went missing, her family was led right here to Lynen Street in Meville, Pennsylvania. Bry's phone pinged at a house somewhere on this street. So, her mother went door to door passing out flyers.

After an exhaustive search by friends and family, they come up empty. When she didn't show up on Lynen Street, what did you think?

I started to get more afraid. Um, I think that right around that time is when I reached out to her mom with the messages from Ashley.

As in Ashley Barber, the girlfriend of Jade Olmstead. The two are now living together. But remember, Brandy and Jade were once dating and still stay in touch.

Do you think Ashley was jealous of Brandy? Absolutely. I think Ashley was very insecure. She couldn't stand the thought of Jade giving attention to someone else. At the time of Bry's disappearance, Brandy and Jade were just friends. Ashley's hate-filled social media message sent to Sarah two months before was either an idol threat or a disgusting promise.

She said, "And I hope I get to kill her before her diabetes does." What did you do with that message? Did you take that threat seriously?

At the time, no. Because people say a lot of things when they're upset. But with Brandy now missing, Sarah checks Ashley's social media and sees photos she's posted of marks on her arms.

It would just seemed a little bit too coincidental that Brandy was missing. And now Ashley has bruises all over her.

Then five desperate days into Bry's disappearance, Carrie said, "You know what? This is stupid. We know where she said she was going last. Let's go. I'm sure we can find it in the daylight." So we went. This time, the GPS leads them not to a church, but to Ashley Barber's parents' house.

You arrive to the house and you're met outside. Yes. By Ashley and Jade. And her father and her father.

Ashley's father. What do they say to you? Um, Jade came up to me. Ashley stayed back. And I, you know, I'm here. No, I don't. Well, you know Bry's been missing. Yeah, but she's not here. I said, well, she was coming here. We have a text saying that she had a bad feeling, but this is the address that she'll be at. So, this was the n last known place of her location. So, I said she was here. No, she never made it here. She said

she never made it here. She never made it there. Did you see Ashley's injuries?

Yes. Yes. She had a bandage on her arm, elbow area, upper arm area. She said they were at the hospital when um supposedly Brandy was coming, but she decided to turn back and not come back because they weren't going to be there.

What did you say to that? I was very aggressive with Jade. I finally told her I I don't believe in thing you're saying. And that's when Ashley came up from behind Jade and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa." I said, "Don't wo wo wo me." I said, "My daughter's been missing for 5 days. This is the last known place that she was at. Beyond enraged, frustrated, and scared, Carrie and Christy leave and give the information to the state police.

They come and interview Ashley Barber and Jade Olmstead, and they tell the same story. She was supposed to come. She called us and never showed up.

But the next day, an unbelievable discovery in the Barber's family garage would change the course of the case. Ashley Barber's mother who reported to the state police that there was a car there and they didn't know who it was.

The car's exterior matched Bry's Kar Rio. The interior did not. I said, "What was in it?" Well, nothing. I said, "Then something's happened." Cuz my daughter's car was a pigsty. I know my daughter's car. And if there's nothing in that car, something's happened to my daughter. So Bry's car is found. Yes.

And normally it's a rather messy vehicle, right? But everything is cleaned out of it. It's almost as if it's brand new.

Yes. It's been staged. It's been cleaned. Staged and cleaned. And so this was a huge red flag right off the bat.

It was You had a missing person uh who supposedly was coming to this home and Barbara and Olmstead tell the police she was never there, but yet the vehicle was found there. The investigation goes from 0 to 60 only to come to a screeching halt.

When we went back to to the residents the next day to talk to them, Ms. Barber, Miss Olmstead, they in fact went missing in the middle of the night, had packed their belongings and left the residence.

Cops are now looking not for one girl, but three. Coming up, the focus shifts to someone unexpected.

She says her father attacks Brandy Stevens. It all started with a missing 20-year-old college student. But what would develop over the next couple of days would be one of the most disturbing cases in Pennsylvania history. Here's Michelle Sagona.

Chris, as police search for Brandy, her cell phone would point them in the direction of one of her exes. And I don't think anyone was ready for what they saw next. Brandy Stevens Rosine texts a friend saying she had a bad feeling about going to see her ex-girlfriend Jade Olmstead and Jade's current girlfriend Ashley Barber. According to the girls, she never arrived. You know in your heart something is wrong.

Yep. Yep. 5 days into her disappearance, Bry's car was found at Ashley and Jade's. The car was sanitized. It was cleaned inside and out. And it was hidden.

Cops are desperate to talk to the girls. Problem is, now they're missing, too. They're on the run, but not for long.

An offduty state trooper actually sees these two young females getting ready to get into a car and immediately knew these are the two women that our criminal investigators are looking for.

And so at this point, do you think they were trying to leave town? Yes, they were escaping. They were trying to leave. The state police have been to their house two or three times. Brandy Stevens mother had been at the home. I think they knew they were caught.

Jade Almstead and Ashley Barber are picked up and taken to the station. Pennsylvania State Trooper Eric Mallerie would conduct their interviews.

So, you separate them. Correct. The questioning starts. That's correct. What are you figuring out from the jump?

I started out interviewing Miss Barbara and she wasn't being truthful with me. Ashley changes her story from Brandy never making it to the house to telling Mallalerie that Brandy did come to the house but left to see another woman.

That second rendition of the story basically was um that Miss Stevens had showed up at the house and she had planned on um meeting uh another young woman by the name of Jamie. She was being very clandestine about this and she didn't want her parents to know or grandparents to know. Miss Barber had indicated to me that after Miss Stevens arrived at the house, they played video games and she said Miss Stevens actually took a phone call, she went outside onto the front porch and uh had some sort of a conversation with somebody. And when she came in, she had looked like she had just won the lottery. And basically shortly after that, she gathered her personal belongings out of her vehicle and she started walking down Drake Hill Road and she was never seen again. So, she leaves her car behind, takes her personal belongings, and walks away.

Correct. And what was Jade telling you? Basically, they both stuck to the story that uh Miss Stevens had showed up and was running off to meet another young lady who was never seen from again.

Could Brandy actually be with another woman? Anything is possible, but that seems unlikely, especially when Ashley changes her story once again. this time pointing the finger at Ashley's own father.

Ashley Barber uh comes up with this fantastical story and blames her father. Blames her father.

Blames her father. She explains that uh Brandy, Ashley, and Jade are down in the woods by the fort and her father comes down and he's mad that the vehicle's there and he's mad that Randy Stevens is there and he says some disparaging things about lesbians and homosexuality. And Barbara says that her father and Brandy end up getting in a fight. It's Ashley's father who uses the shovel and attacks Brandy Stevens. Did you think, h maybe he could have done this?

No. But while Trooper Mallerie is interviewing the girls, investigators are in the woods 400 yard behind Ashley Barber's house. Stumbling upon an absolute horror. Coming up,

there's some fresh dirt that it looks like there had been a hole dug. They rope off the area, consider it a crime scene, and eventually begin to dig. What will cops find? What will the girls say next?

Now to the conclusion of our story on missing 20-year-old college student Brandy Stevens Rosine. Let's head back to our Michelle Sagona in Pennsylvania. And we want to warn you some of the details you're about to hear are quite graphic.

Chris, I've covered some pretty horrific murder cases here on Crime Watch Daily, but I have to say this case right here in Pennsylvania may be one of the worst. Ashley Barber and Jade Olmstead are being interviewed by Pennsylvania State Police in the disappearance of Brandy Stevens Rosine. As trooper Eric Mallerie is hearing their multiple versions of events, cops are in the woods behind Ashley Barber's home uncovering a nightmare. This is no longer a missing person case. It's a murder. You see an area where it looks like somebody was making a a cabin or a a campsite and there's some fresh dirt that it looks like there had been a hole dug. They rope off the area and consider it a crime scene and eventually begin to dig in that area.

And when they dig a little further beneath the ground, they realize a human being has been buried there. She's identified as being Brandy Stevens. 20-year-old Brandy Stevens Rosine, buried in a shallow grave. It was the news her mother, Carrie, prayed would never come.

2:00 in the morning, my mom came to my house and told me, they'd pound her body. It was awful. It's It was the worst nightmare ever. When word gets back to the station that Bry's body has been found, Ashley Barber suddenly changes her tone.

Miss Barber indicated to me that she had more information to tell me, but she didn't wasn't going to say another word until she was able to look into Jade's eyes and wanted to be able to talk to her.

You let them do that. Absolutely. After that, both girls agree to tell the true story. They are separated and recorded. A warning. The details you are about to hear are quite disturbing.

Ashley, let's clean the slate and just tell me what happened. It was bland. How did you get Brandy to the house?

We just told her that we were going to hang out. Jade Olmstead sent a message to Brandy inviting her to meet Ashley and for them to check out the fort where the campsite that they were building in the woods. The girls tell Mallerie that when Brandy arrived, Jade led her down the secluded path to the fort and said the word babe. Babe was their code word.

I heard her say, "Hey babe." And I ran as fast as I could. And I came down and she would had her arm around her neck. So I came up and I punched her in the face. I don't know how many times, but I know it broke her nose. Brandy was screaming.

Do you know what she was saying, Ashley? Jade, stop it. I won't tell anybody. Just let it go now. I I told people where I was.

Just walking into a trap. Absolutely. As Jade and Ashley continue to beat Brandy, she fights back, punching, kicking, and begging for help.

She thought she was calling out to somebody like, "Help me" or something. Yeah. But it's like she knew somebody else was there. I mean, my neighbor was cutting his grass in the back. I knew if she ran, I was not going to be able to catch her. plus, you know, her car being there and stuff. So, I started beating her head off the tree stump. That's when the blood started coming.

That's when the blood started coming. And that's when Jade grabs a shovel. How many times would you say you hit her with a shovel?

I don't know. Like four times. Okay. And that's why Ashley has bruises on her arms because I accidentally hit her while she was holding Brandy down.

Was anything being said either by you, Ashley, or Brandy? Brandy was screaming for her life.

Ashley then puts a rope around Bry's neck and tries choking her while Jade savagely hits Brandy in the head with the shovel.

And what was Bry's reaction after that? She went limp, but she was gasping for air.

Okay. And she was saying, "Jade, stop. Jade, stop." The girl was laying in a puddle of her own blood. So, I started getting angry.

What do you think made you angry about that? That she wasn't fighting anymore. Then filled with rage,

I picked up the back of the rope and I let her head hit the stump probably 10 times.

As if it couldn't get any more horrific, Ashley and Jade then drag a severely beaten Brandy and push her into the grave. a grave they've already dug. And after that,

I picked up a big boulder because I could tell that she was still breathing. And I walked over to the top of the grave and I smashed her face and

the viciousness continues. We had a full bottle of water and I stood above her and poured it in her mouth and her nose.

It's a sadistic attempt to drown her. It's only then that Ashley and Jade begin to cover Brandy with dirt.

Do you think she was still alive when you buried her? I don't know. I don't know.

But she was in the most coldblooded of acts. And as an autopsy report would later show, Ashley and Jade bury Brandy alive.

It's terrible. Terrible way to die. Trooper Mallerie needs a break. And while sitting alone, one of the ruthless killers can be heard whispering to the other.

It's heartbreaking. I mean, to think of what she went through in those woods and to think of her final moments.

It's very tragic, very brutal, very cold calculated calculated, and confirmed. Our intentions were to bring her over so we could kill her.

Okay, there it is. Cops would go on to find even more evidence of their depravity. Ashley wrote a a note or a letter. It says, quote, I blank murdered your 20-year-old mistake. She deserved it. Jade wrote, "Do I feel guilty? Answer, not an ounce. I am proud."

They wrote terrible things. What they left on the trees in the diary, that's not remorse. That that's that's almost like a a badge of honor. Jade Olmstead and Ashley Barber were charged with first-degree murder. Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to life. No chance of parole. So, what in the world could have been their motive?

They never really came out and explained to the state police what their motive was. I always believed that it was their crazy attempt to show one another how much they cared for each other. Jade Olmstead had explained to the state police that Ashley Barbara was very jealous. And I believe when Ashley found out that Jade was still communicating with Brandy, they decided that she had to go. Brandy Stevens wasn't bothering these two people and they basically lured her here to murder her.

Sarah Van Allen is still haunted by Ashley's social media threat she didn't share until later.

It definitely taught me a lot more to pay attention to the things that people say because I feel like had I said something, this wouldn't have happened. Sorry.

You couldn't have known that something like this was going to happen. And you can't blame yourself.

I'm sorry. And for Bry's mom, through her overwhelming pain and heartbreak, she says there's a lesson in it all.

Listen to your gut. You have a bad feeling, don't just text somebody, I have a bad feeling. This is where I'll be if something happens to me. If you have a bad feeling, don't go. Don't go. For Bry's friends, they're left to try to make sense of their loss and her senseless, barbaric death.

The fact that she was taken in such an ugly way for such a beautiful person, a beautiful soul, it's it's shocking, but I don't want her to be remembered by how she was taken. I want her to be remembered as who she was before.

You're a good friend. Thanks. Brandy would have done it for me. During police interviews and in the letter Ashley Barber wrote to her parents, she hinted this may have not been her only murder, saying, quote, "This won't be my last. It was not my first." However, detectives believe Ashley was lying in an attempt to make herself look tougher and deflect some of the blame from the love of her life, Jade. Up next, an 8-year-old is last seen on the surveillance video walking into a hotel room with an older man.

I felt sick to my stomach. Nothing good can come of a scenario like that. The frantic search for Relishia Rudd. Is she still alive?

Relishia is seen going into the door. Is there video of her coming out? That's next.

Welcome back to Crime Watch Daily. You're watching security video of a man and a little girl walking down a hotel hallway. It is now one of the key pieces of evidence in a high-profile missing person's case out of Washington DC.

R E L I S H A. That's a nice name. She's an adorable child who goes home every night to help.

It's a building that's next to a morg and a methodone clinic. There's not much else around there. It's a terrible place to live. Absolutely.

Until she becomes literally swallowed up by the darkness. I felt sick to my stomach cuz you know nothing good can come of a scenario like that.

It's a question that echoes across the airwaves. He's seen going into a hotel room with the child. I hope she's alive.

Where is Relishia Rod and who took her? Relishia is seen going into the door. Is there video of her coming out?

Relishia is a charming eight-year-old with a life as hard as it comes. She lives in a homeless shelter in Washington DC with her mother and three younger brothers. But her mother, Shemica Young, says the little girl can brighten up a room even under the worst circumstances.

Do your dance. Keep on. Go ahead. Do your dance. Mhm. Get it, mama. lovable, kindhearted, friendly. She's real sweet.

Can you smile and say all kids need a place to play? All kids need a place to play.

That's wonderful. But now this bright little star of her school video is at the center of one of Washington DC's biggest mysteries. She's missing. Last seen in this surveillance video disappearing into a hotel room with a man who had cared for her before. We know that the family described him as her godfather,

but now both Relishia and her so-called godfather have mysteriously vanished. We know that there were some concerns.

Terresa Vargas of the Washington Post has covered every angle of the story and says there was always a secret world of fear hidden beneath Relishia's life at the shelter.

She would tell people at her school, "Can I stay late?" She would make up illnesses to stay at relatives homes. She didn't want to be there. She called it uh the trap house.

And according to Vargas, there was trouble in the family even before they moved into the shelter.

Child Protective Services had looked into I think as early as she was 2 years old. So she was still a toddler when alarms were first raised. Sometimes she would go to school dirty and with her hair unwashed and they would keep spare clothes there for her and clean her up before class. The afterchool children's playtime project is Relishia's life raft, a place where she is safe and happy. Program director Jamila Larson remembers her. Well,

she was just a joy. Our volunteers absolutely loved having her in our program. Can I ask you a question?

How old are you now? Great. Then Relishia suddenly stops showing up for school. There is a 2 to 3 week period when we are not exactly sure where Relishia was, who she was with.

Investigators find that she has been excused for an illness. At least that's what it seems.

We know that there were calls made to the school as far as excusing those absences, saying that she was in the care of a Dr. Tatum.

But the school would like to know more about Relishia's condition. How serious is it? A meeting is arranged to discuss the case with Dr. Tatum at the shelter. Mysteriously, the doctor never shows up. And that leads to an alarming discovery. Next, the chilling true identity of the man calling himself Dr. Tatum.

He spent time in prison. He did um several years. We're back now with more on the search for a little girl in the nation's capital. 8-year-old Relishia Rudd is missing, vanished from the homeless shelter she was living at with her family, and police are about to get a huge clue about where she is and who she's with, thanks to a hotel security camera.

How old are you now? Eight. She's a precious and precocious little girl in mortal danger. Relishia Rudd has been missing for more than a month. It is just shameful that she fell through the cracks of the safety net and completely disappeared.

School officials say they believe that she is sick and under the care of a Dr. Tatum, but they're in for a shock. The man in question is named Tatum. All right. But he's no doctor. Far from it. A social worker actually goes to the shelter and asks around and realizes the only Tatum there is Khalil Tatum, a custodian, not a doctor at all.

The supposed doctor is actually a janitor at the shelter. He doesn't have a medical diploma on the wall, but he does have an alarming wrap sheet.

He'd been arrested multiple times um both in Washington DC and Virginia for burglary charges and other various crimes. He spent time in prison.

He did several years. And reporter Terresa Vargas says 51-year-old Khil Tatum spends a lot of time with children in the building, especially with Relicia.

We know that the family described him as her godfather. He'd buy her gifts. He would um take her to the movies, take her to the mall, take her to sleepovers.

Turns out Relishia's mother, Shemica, knows Khil Tatum pretty well. or at least she thinks she does.

So, you felt comfortable around him? Yes, I did. All the kids liked him. All the adults liked him.

Shemica tells police that the little girl had been staying at her grandmother's house, but now she's missing, and so is Khalil Tatum. Police are searching hard for both of them. But cops do uncover this troubling piece of evidence. A surveillance video from a local Holiday Inn. It was taken back around the time Relishia first stopped showing up for school. Look closely. That's Tatum on the left and little Relishia walking down the hallway and then disappearing into a hotel room.

Relishia is seen going into the door. Is there video of her coming out? So, because it's an open investigation, we can't really release the information as far as what videos we have available to us. Police say this haunting piece of surveillance footage is taken at around the same time that Tina makes a simple purchase that now seems terrifying.

What we know is that Khalil Tatum checks into uh the hotel and that a day later uh buys 42 gallon trash bags.

What do you believe happened to your daughter? My belief is something went wrong. Where it went wrong at, I don't know. Then Shemica makes the stunning claim to multiple sources and to Crime Watch Daily that her mother, Relicia's grandmother, was involved in deceiving school officials. Then another shocker. Shemica says her mother wrote fake doctor notes to the school, saying Relishia was being cared for by the fictitious Dr. Tatum. We cannot reach Relishia's grandmother for comment, but according to a local TV news station in Washington DC, she in turn blamed Shemica for allowing Relishia to spend so much time with Khalil Tatum.

Police have not fully sorted out the accusations among Relishia's family. Fingerpointing, things like that. Well, it's it's something that we keep to the side because it it affects the the investigation. We don't need it to steer us in in a incorrect direction. Fast forward to one day after police begin the search for Relishia and Tatum and another bombshell has investigators reeling. It's the body of Khil Tatum's wife, Andrea Tatum, found in a hotel room in nearby Maryland.

They found her lying in bed again suffering from a gunshot wound. Where was she struck?

In her head. Surveillance tape showed Khalil and Andrea going into the hotel room the night before the shooting. And now he's wanted for possible abduction and for murder, but there is still no sign of religion.

It's multi-jurisdictional, multi- agencies 24/7. We're trying to find him. The story goes national as fear for religious fate escalates by the minute.

I hope she's alive, but his intentions clearly to me are sinister. And Crime Watch Daily tracked down this man, Gerald Wolves, a former friend of the murdered Andrea Tatum, who makes a shocking claim. He says Andrea was silenced because she knew too much about religious fate.

What do you think she found out? You think she was sold into trafficking? Sold. I think she was sold.

But this frightening roller coaster of a story is about to take its biggest plunge yet. 11 days after Andrea Tatum's murder, police finally find their man. but not as they had hoped. Khalil Tatum himself, the man with all the answers, is found dead in a shed inside a Washington DC park.

He suffered a single gunshot wound to his head. It's ruled a suicide. We were able to link that the handgun that was used to kill himself was also the same handgun that was used to kill his wife.

Worst of all, there's still no trace of relish. Police have since conducted exhaustive searches for any trace of her, dead or alive.

And it's possible maybe he took secrets about this case involving this little girl to the grave.

That's what we believe. Certainly. And there is a disturbing coincidence. Could Relicia's case be connected to another young resident of the same building?

Ironically, I actually had a meeting with the police commander the day that the story broke. It was a 14-year-old teen at DC General who went missing and we found out that she was um trafficked to Los Angeles, a suspected victim of sex trafficking.

Many are hoping the innocence of another little girl can be saved as the search for Relishia Rod continues.

She's a sweet little girl with a great big smile and a sweet heart and just somebody that we need to find and bring home.

All kids need a place to play. That's wonderful. One more time, take a good look at this precious little girl. This is what she looked like at the time she went missing. And this is an age progression photo of what she might look like today.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Killer taunts the victim's family after burying her in a shallow grave"?

Chris Hansen (Host), Michelle Sigona (Guest), Elizabeth Smart (Guest), Anna Garcia (Guest), Jason Mata (Guest), Carrie Rosine (Guest), Ashley Barber (Guest), Jade Olmstead (Guest).

What is "Killer taunts the victim's family after burying her in a shallow grave" about?

The content revolves around the unsettling case of Brandy Stevens Rosine, a young woman whose disappearance leads to the discovery of a chilling taunt left by her killer to her mother, revealing a calculated and brutal crime. The investigation uncovers disturbing clues of a series of disappearances, including that of 8-year-old Relishia Rudd, while highlighting the psychological manipulation and…

What is mentioned in this True Crime News episode?

12 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Crime Watch Daily, Brandy Stevens Rosine, Ashley Barber, Jade Olmstead, Relishia Rudd, Khalil Tatum. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Killer taunts the victim's family after burying her in a shallow grave"?

The episode runs 40 min; the transcript is about 6,540 words in 173 timestamped sections.

More from True Crime News

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.