Shy’kemmia Pate, known as Shy Shy, was eight when she disappeared from her family’s street on Crumpler Avenue in Unadilla, Georgia, on the evening of September 4, 1998. She was last seen waiting for her older sister, who left briefly for a gas station and returned to find the street empty. Shy’kemmia was medically fragile, requiring at-home breathing treatments, had an underdeveloped kidney, a weak bladder and had been hospitalized for an asthma attack the week before her disappearance. She was last seen wearing a neon green Atlanta Braves jersey, Levi’s jeans, white K-Swiss sneakers and a leg brace for a displaced kneecap.

Initial response was delayed when the family was told to wait 24 hours before filing a missing persons report. Neighbors began uncoordinated searches that may have compromised potential evidence. When law enforcement engaged, ground and aerial searches, tracking and cadaver dogs, and door-to-door searches within five to six blocks produced no trace. Investigators have treated a neighbor as a person of interest at one point; the family does not believe he was involved and the immediate family was cleared. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issued age-progressed photos and a reward has been offered. Her mother believes Shy’kemmia is still alive.

Are there any readers who remember that neighborhood or who have information about Shy’kemmia’s movements on the evening of September 4, 1998?