Family of missing Georgia girl not giving up hope she'll be found 25 years after disappearance
Sky’Kemmia "Shy Shy" Pate (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
UNADILLA, Ga. - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is helping a new photo will help them find a girl who has been missing for decades.
It's been 25 years since Sky’Kemmia "Shy Shy" Pate disappeared from the front porch of her family's home in Unadilla, Georgia.
On the evening of Sept. 4, 1998, Pate was playing outside when her older sister went to fill up on gas before the family's planned trip to go to a high school football game. When she returned, the 8-year-old was gone.
No one has seen or heard from her since.
Despite the years passing, her family has never given up hope that one day they will be reunited.
"She's been missing for 25 years, but I still feel like she's alive out there somewhere," Veronica Pate, the missing girl's mother, told NPR.
According to The Charley Project, investigators believe the girl was familiar with whoever may have abducted her. Everyone in her family has reportedly been cleared of suspicion.
The GBI has released an updated age progression photo and said they are revisiting old leads and searching for new ones.
"Her family has not given up, and neither have we," the GBI said in a statement.
Pate's said the girl suffers from asthma and needs assistance in breathing. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a bright neon green Atlanta Braves Jersey with red lettering, Levi’s jeans and a leg brace.
If you have any information that could be helpful to the investigation, call the GBI at (478) 987-4545 or its anonymous tip line at (800) 597-TIPS (8477).