All im thinking is, is shannon really gone . We interviewed her roommates, boyfriends, everybody is a suspect. Then a phone rings. Right. He says ive kidnapped her, i have her. And we ran his criminal history. Thats when all the bells went off. He pulls in, asked me to get in the car. I feel the cold blade against my neck. He carries me to the basement of his home. It was jawdropping just chilling they started digging and they found womens clothing. It was just escalating escalating there were so many victims, arent there . There were. There still are. Until this guy is no longer in existence. I will carry this fight hello, and welcome to dateline Shannon Melendi dreamed big. At 15, she wanted to become a Supreme Court justice. In college, she scored a prestigious internship at former president jimmy carters foundation. Then, suddenly she vanished detectives had a suspect in their sights. But it would take years, and the revelation of another teenagers horrific tale, to unravel the mystery of sharons disappearance. Heres Dennis Murphy with shannons story the snapshots, the videos. They documented her life. The photographer dad, the camera professional captured every moment of his daughters life. She loved life. She wanted to do everything these parents did not know back then how difficult it would be one day to look at these memories. I want to remember her voice. I put on a video. Its probably the hardest. Its hearing her voice. Im Shannon Melendi welcome, to our special segment. When i look at that video, definitely a sweet memory. I look back at how just innocent we were. Shannon was someone who wanted to live. But then came that phone call, way back in march 1994. Shannon melendis Little Sister monique was just 13 years old. I received a phone call former roommate. Shannon was midway through her sophomore year in atlanta. They received a phone call from their Childhood Home in miami. And on the other line was athena, her Sisters College roommate. Athena was distraught, and was asking me if i heard or spoken to shannon. Shannon had not been seen or heard from in more than a day. Now are you starting to do the calculation even though you were 13 . That there was trouble . There was. I knew immediately that something was terribly wrong. Monique hooks up with the roommate and makes a few calls of her own. I immediately called my godmother who was living in atlanta. After she had heard from shannon, i she did not. I called my aunt that also lived there. She had not heard from shannon. Monique was gripped with fear. She called her grandparents, and her grandfather came to pick her up. Moniques dad was at work. And the mom was with them. And after they were done, they went to the mothers house. I went to the car. And it was my mother, i, think my mothers sister came out. And said shannon is missing. I dropped to the ground. And many said well never see them again. I just saw my father collapse to his knees. And i knew i was right in feeling the fear that i felt. When you heard the word missing, what did you feel . I just keep thinking, no it cant be shannon. Missing. It was beyond all imagination. From the roommates, a Love Timeline emerged. Shannon was supposed to be in her dorm on the saturday night, but when she still wasnt home by sunday morning, a roommate started to worry. She said where is she . So she went looking for her. The first thing she did was went to the softball country club. Shannon worked parttime at a Softball Field five miles from campus. The roommate went to look for shannon with two other friends, but they missed the entrance to the Softball Field parking lot. And when they turn around, they she saw her car parked at a convenience store. Gas station. Shannons black nissan. Unoccupied, and parked at the far end of a gas station. She was as proud as she could be of that car she loved her car what was concerning about the way the car was found. What condition it was in . It was unlocked. Keys in the ignition. And the biggest thing was the plate on the radio. At that time, radios were a commodity. And shannon would always take the plate off and take it with her. But that expensive radio plate was still in the car. Which to the family meant this wasnt some kind of robbery. They called the police. They were patched through to the Dekalb County police department. Where gene moss worked as a captain. You know, we had a lot of Missing Persons in my day. That was something we investigated a lot. One of his officers was sent out to meet the roommate and friends at a gas station. There was no blood, no real signs of anything. No struggle or anything. So it was just, you girls take the car home . Yeah, take the car. Shannons friends drove the nissan back to campus. The melendis were reeling. Youre worried where she is. Right. It did not take long to hear back in miami that she was missing. And Martina Vasquez found out in the worst way possible. I was got up and was ready to go to class, and my father looked worried. He just handed me a copy of the local section of the miami herald. It says miami family is flying up to atlanta to search for their daughter. Shannon melendi. It was surreal by the time anne read those words, the famile was already in atlanta. Feeling dazed and desperate. I was like, whats going on . Whats going on . A question that would consume Law Enforcement and the melendi family for over a decade. What happened to shannon . Police float the idea that she might have skipped town. Coming up i tell them, you do not know her you do not know her she would never run away. She never ran away from anything. And then, some of them shannons acquaintances draw the interest of investigators. They would call me at home, they will call me at work early in the morning. When dateline continues anketed her college campus. Everywhere the melendis looked, there was shannons face. Their daughters missing photos posters blanketed the campus. All that i could think of is, where is shannon . Is she okay . As the investigation started, police told reporters that they were looking at two very different possibilities. Either she left on her own, or someone else grabbed her. If police were looking into whether shannon left on her own. The melendis told them they were wasting their time. I told them, you do not know her you do not know her she would never, ever run away. She never ran away from anything the melendis use the media to spread the message. Hoping the focus on the case would lead to answers. I know im doing whatever have to do to get this thing happening. So you think to get anything going it had your passion. Im gonna do what i have to do and i dont care whos toes i step on. Shannons only thing that made sense was that she had been abducted. Police were investigating every option. The first thing you do on a Missing Persons case of this magnitude is try to interview all of the acquaintances and friends. And we didnt get as much information as out of those as we can. The melendis were eager to share. Because they knew their shannon would never put them through this kind of pain. Theyre shannon put everybody else at ease. She had a smile that warmed the room. She would walk in and people would go, shannon is here from a young age, she commanded her parents attention. She had her father under her thumb. And she would just look at him and say, but daddy please she was very good at convincing me of whatever she was trying to do. People with liking being around her. She was witty, smart, funny. Shannon and anne became fast friends in seventh grade. We have a lot in common. Her father came from cuba. My parents were immigrants from cuba. We were, i guess you could describe, as go getters. For shannon, the getting was good. She was captain of the debate team, and class president for two years in a row. She had the gift to speak in front of the scat class or group of people. She just was not a frayed. We cannot always say its for the better this is a video of shannon, and her pal anne doing a School Subject together. Its the same things to be both unethical and immoral. While others believe it is aokay. You answered 15 whether youre gonna do . And shes gonna tell you what. That she is going to be a Supreme Court justice. But before the Supreme Court was emory university. Over 700 miles from home. I was unhappy with that. You thought she was too far away . That she was too far away. But Shannon Strived for emory university. She loved everything about it. The culture, the nightlife. She loved everything about it. She studied political science, and scored an internship at the carter center. And now, her determined Family Leverage every political collection. From the local congresswoman, to the former president. And the case was on the fbis radar. The feds would join the search for the missing college student. We interviewed her roommates, boyfriends, you would imagine that everybody is a suspect. Special agent joe had investigators look into every aspect of shannons young life. Including a spring break trip she took before her disappearance. Who did she meet with . What hotel did she stay at . With who did she travel with . And one of the questions of the top of the list. Did shannon go all over the grid . With someone who Met On Spring Break . We spoke to a lot of people. All the people that she spoke to. Including chris. They went to high School Together and he was on the group spring trip to panama city beach, florida. So we would be on the beach during the day. We will be out in the night knife at night in the cubs there. And you werent bracing not so much. I think it was a little bit wild. We were not out of hand at all. It was very controlled. Knowing whats gonna happen, is there anything you look back on . And world thats about . No, i did not see anything. We were just young and having a good time. Chris told the fbi just that when they showed up at his apartment for an interview. Investigators have lots of questions. Including asking chris to account for his own whereabouts after shannon disappeared. I did feel under pressure at points. How so . They shared a couple of times, they would call me at work. They would come in home early in the morning. Chris was not the only one being grilled by authorities. He was good friends with one of shannons ex boyfriends. He had gone on a few dates with shannon, but i dont think it was anything long term, or serious. Authorities polygraph the acts. They were still interviewing all of shannons friends, when a mysterious phone call came in. The caller was about to give police a clue that would kick start the engine of this investigation. Coming up right before shannon disappeared, again. And some attention from an empire. Hes checking out shannon . Is what youre saying. Yes. He was more interested in watching shannon than he was in calling the Softball Game. When dateline continues aveling all across america, talking to people about their hearts. Whwho wants to talk about their heart [honking] hows the heart . Hows your heart . Hows your heart . Its good. Is it . Aah, i dont know. Its okay. Its okay yeah. Good. You sure . I think so. How do you know . It doesnt come with a manual, and you like ooh, i got the 20,000day checkup, right . Let me show you something. Put two fingers right on those pads. Look at that thats your heart that is pretty awesome. With kardiamobile, you can take a medicalgrade ekg in just 30 seconds, from anywhere. Kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. And its the only personal ekg thats fdacleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. How much do you think this costs . Probably in the hundreds. 79. Oh wow that could be cheaper than a tank of gas. Checking your heart anytime, anywhere has never been easier. Dont wait. Get kardiamobile today for just 79 at kardia. Com or amazon. Canada passing a polygraph. The Softball Field where shannon was working parttime as a [inaudible] as last place she had been seen alive. Police tracked down everyone who had been around shannon on the saturday she disappeared. Softball field that day is having a tournament with 25 teams. Youre talking about a lot of people. And a single one of the people that was there. That took us to 4500 interviews that were done. Out of those hundreds of interviews, investigators were told a story of one person in particular, an umpire. A lot of the players in the game were concerned that his empowering method wasnt normal. He didnt Pay Attention to a lot of balls are being thrown. His objective affection was shannon, who was behind home plate, where she was Keeping Score of the game. She was Keeping Score that day. Hes checking out shannon . Yes. He was more interested in watching shannon than he was in calling the sophomore game. Police learned his name was bush hinton. Here is seen on camera, getting ready for a game. He was a man or of a church where his dad was a pastor. He was married and had a job is an Airline Maintenance worker when he wasnt umpire at the Softball Field. You dont take the stories at face value, you go describe what should say, lets talk about saturday, whats your story, what we are doing that . We did talk to him on april 4th. He told police he was aware that shannon was missing. He said nothing unusual happened during the game. Still he had a number of inconsistencies. It did not add up. Internal different stories about where he was in the hours after shannon vanished. He did say he went home soon after the game. Sure enough, Phone Records showed he made a phone call from his house. If this man did something to shannon, he wouldve had to tight window to commit is crime. Hinton was the only possible suspect they had. Then a phone call came in. One that could become a gamechanger we had hoped that when the call came in. There was a moment where you thought, oh my gosh, shes alive, shes. Okay this is about a week after shannons gone missing is, that right . Correct. Who gets called and whos on the other land . The phone call came into the emory counseling center, emory university. He asked her first if she was familiar with the case. The woman said no, explain,. He said i have kidnapped her. I have her. A man had shattered. He said she was fine and healthy. Before the color hung, up he told the operator his plans. When im done with her, i will release her. What youll find where im is an article that belongs to her. He hung up and got off the phone. Following that the fbi did immediately trace the call to emorygot the call from reintroduced back to a phone booth. A phone booth outside the city and just as the caller promised, there was something there. Underneath the phone booth, a little cloth back. Inside the cloth back, a ring. A ring. Even recognize the ring right away. It was a gold ring and it had an oval storm with two little diamonds on either side. Whats the story about that particular . Ring. Her godmother had given it to her. Shannons Parents Told Police she got it in high school. They said from the day she got it, that ring was always on chinas finger. She even wore it in this family portrait. Lewis and ivan knew whoever made that phone call had their daughter. A dreadful shock. But mixed with some vindication for the family in their dealings with the authorities. They had to accept that she was definitely kidnapped. You can no longer say flighty because we established that she was, in fact, kidnapped. They waited for the callers next move. Waiting, but not idle. The distraught parents are about to turn up the heat on their daughters abductor, as a search for continues. Coming up, an ingenious idea to ensure that whoever has Shannon Cannot take off. We put 77 billboards around the city. I felt that if people see her face, they cant move her. And then the phone rang and a friend in atlanta said, bush hintons house is on fire. When dateline continues. My Mental Health was much better. But i struggled with uncontrollable movements called td, tardive dyskinesia. Td can be caused by some Mental Health meds. And its unlikely to improve without treatment. I felt like my movements were in the spotlight. 1prescribed ingrezza is the only td treatment for adults thats always one pill, once daily. Ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. People taking ingrezza can stay on most Mental Health meds. 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