( CNN ) -- The body found in a Washington , D.C. , park is that of a man who was suspected of abducting an 8-year-old girl , police said Tuesday . Relisha Rudd has been missing since March 1 , when she was last seen with Kahlil Tatum , a 51-year-old janitor at the homeless shelter where Relisha lived . `` It appears the body has been dead for about 36 hours , '' D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters Tuesday , adding that the cause of death was suicide . Lanier said Tuesday she was `` hoping to finish the search of the park by the close of the day '' Wednesday . The search for Relisha intensified last week when authorities began combing Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens . The search was prompted by evidence that Tatum had spent time there after Relisha 's disappearance . `` On March 2 , we know that Mr. Tatum purchased , among other items , a carton of black , 42-gallon , self-tie contractor trash bags within the District of Columbia , '' Lanier said Thursday . `` Not long after that purchase , Mr. Tatum was in the area of the aquatic gardens for a period of time . '' Lanier said after Relisha was last seen , Tatum continued to go to work and was seen around the capital several times between March 2 and March 20 . Lanier said Relisha was not with Tatum in any of those sightings . Tatum had not been seen since March 20 . Tatum was a janitor for the homeless shelter where Relisha 's family had been staying , and it appears Tatum had permission to be with the girl . The case took on new urgency when police discovered the body of Tatum 's wife , Andrea Denise Tatum , 51 , at a suburban Maryland motel . That discovery prompted police to issue an Amber Alert for Relisha . The search for the girl has been extensive . Lanier told reporters Monday that `` hundreds of police officers and firefighter cadets '' had been pulled to help with the search , along with divers , underwater cameras , aerial surveillance , search dogs , and cadaver dogs . `` Our primary focus here was to find Relisha , '' Lanier said Monday . `` We 're not finished . That search is continuing . ''
The death of Tatum , 8 , was suicide , D.C. police chief says . His body was found in a park in the capital during a search for Kahlil Tatum , 8 . Kahlil Tatum was suspected of abducting Relisha , who was last seen 8 .