it says miami family is flying up to atlanta to search for their daughter. shannon melendi. it was surreal! by the time they read those words, the melendez were already in atlanta. feeling dazed and i was like, what s going on? what s going on? a question that would consume law enforcement and the 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 shannon s acquaintances draw
the melendi s were eager to share. because they knew their shannon would never put them through this kind of pain. they re shannon put everybody else at ease. she had a smile that warm to rome. 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 is trying to do. people with liking being around her. she was witty, smart, funny. shannon and became fast friends in seventh grade. we have a lot in common. her father was coming from cuba. my parents were immigrants from cuba. we were, i guess you could describe, as go getters. for shannon, she
the snapshots, the videos. they documented her life. the photographer dad, the camera professional captured every moment of his daughter s 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. it s probably the hardest. it s hearing her voice. i m 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 melendi little sister monique was just 13 years old. i received a phone call former roommate.
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 fbi s radar. they 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 shannon s young life. including a spring break trip they took before her disappearance. who did she go? 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 colorado. so we would be on the beach
went to the mother s house. i went to the car. and it was my mother, i, think my mother s sister came out. and said shannon is missing. i drop to the ground. and many said we ll 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 can t 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 wasn t 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 cob. cnn worked part-time at a softball field five miles from