Dateline Missing in America - Ep. 17: The Night Shy Shy Disappeared

Dateline Originals

NBC News

True Crime

4.6 • 773 Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Shy’Kemmia Pate was last seen near her home in Unadilla, Georgia, on September 4, 1998. She was 8 years old. Several people reported seeing her that evening in the neighborhood. Dateline’s Josh Mankiewicz speaks with some of her loved ones, as well as Dooly County Sheriff’s Deputy Randy Lamberth, and Natalie Wilson of the Black and Missing Foundation. Shy’Kemmia would be 34 years old today. When she disappeared, she was wearing a neon green Atlanta Braves jersey with red lettering, Levi’s jeans, and had a leg brace. Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to call the Dooly County Sheriff’s Office at 229-645-0920 or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at 478-987-4545. Get more information and see age-progressed pictures of Shy’Kemmia Pate here: https://www.nbcnews.com/datelinemissing This episode was originally published on July 25, 2024.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	She was shy shy to everyone who knew her. Full name, Shykemia Pate.
0:10.0	The day was September 4, 1998. Shai shy was only eight. She had just started third grade.
0:18.0	The little town she lived in was Unidilla, Georgia. And that Friday, a southern
0:22.9	summer wasn't close to ending. It would be 90 degrees and muggy. That morning, Shai-Shai's
0:32.6	mom, Veronica, walked her to school. Unadilla Elementary was just a couple of blocks away, and when they got there,
0:40.1	Veronica says she told her youngest daughter what she always had.
0:44.7	I love her and have a good day, and I see her when I got home.
0:49.1	For Veronica, that moment remains the dividing line between life before and after. Because when she got home
0:57.9	that night, Shai Shai wasn't there. And that's when the world as Veronica had known it changed.
1:05.6	And it still hasn't changed back. It's a storm that never stop storming in your life.
1:13.6	What Veronica calls the storm has been raging for more than 25 years.
1:19.6	Has there been a day when you didn't wake up and think about where your daughter might be?
1:24.6	I think about that every day and every night.
1:28.3	It's about the worst thing a parent can go through.
1:31.2	It is.
1:32.6	26 birthdays have gone by since Shai Shy Shai vanished.
1:36.7	Today, she would be 34.
1:39.0	And Veronica hasn't given up on finding her.
1:42.0	Do you think she's still alive?
1:44.1	I feel in my heart that she's still alive.
1:46.9	In fact, Veronica believes she may have already found Shy Shy.
1:53.9	I'm Josh Mancowicz, and this is Dateline Missing in America.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NBC News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NBC News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.