Hi, I'm Josh Mankowits with a preview of Dateline, Missing in America. In our podcast's third season, we share six new unsolved mysteries, and we hope somebody listening may have a clue that could help crack one of these cases. Could that someone be you? Here's Dateline, Missing in America. She was shy-shy to everyone who knew her. Full name, Shai Kimia Pate. The day was September fourth, 1998. Shai Shai was only eight. She had just started third grade. The little town she lived in was Unadilla, Georgia. And that Friday, a Southern summer wasn't close to ending. It would be 90 degrees and muggy. That morning, Shai Shai's mom, Veronica, walked her to school. Unadilla Elementary was just a couple of blocks away. And when they got there, Veronica says she told her youngest daughter what she always had.

I love her and have a good day, and I see her when I got home.

For Veronica, that moment remains the dividing line between life before and after. Because when she got home that night, Shai Shai wasn't there. And that's when the world, as Veronica had known it, changed. And it still hasn't changed back.

It's a storm that never stopped storming in your life.

What Veronica calls the storm has been raging for more than 25 years. Has there been a day when you didn't wake up and think about where your daughter might be?

I think about that every day and every night.

It's about the worst thing a parent can go through.

It is.

Twenty-six birthdays have gone by since Shai Shai vanished. Today, she be 34, and Veronica hasn't given up on finding her. Do you think she's still alive?

I feel in my heart that she's still alive.

In fact, Veronica believes she may have already found Shai Shai. I'm Josh Mankowits, and this is Dateline Missing in America. This episode is the Night Shy-Shy Disappeared. We first covered her story in November 2023, when Natalie Wilson co founder of the Black and Missing Foundation, drew our attention to it. Natalie has a lot to say about this case. We just need one person to come forward with information that could help find her. We have seen miracles happen. Veronica has hoped for that miracle every day.

You just pray and ask God to teach you how to put one foot in front of the other, hold your head up and smile. Even when you can't smile, you still smile.

Please listen closely because you or someone you know might have information that could help Shasha's family find the answers they've been searching for. Thanks for listening. Search for Dateline Missing in America to start listening to Season 3, and follow us now. For ad-free listening, subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple or Spotify.

So many twists and turns.

There are more surprises on the way.

Dateland is on fire. I'm Andrea Canning. Welcome to Dateland True Crime Weekly, a new podcast covering breaking crime news around the country with the best reporters on the case, so in Santa Fe. Bbc news analysts and Dateland producers on the ground. It's fine prosecution. I'll dive into stories that are catching Dateline's attention this week. This is baffling and best. And get to the bottom of what you need to know. The question is, did you really think that you were going to get away with it? Dateline True Crime Weekly. Listen now and catch new episodes episodes every Thursday.