A 16-Year-Old Homecoming Princess Went Missing While on a Jog. Nearly 26 Years Later, She Hasn't Been Found.

A 16-year-old homecoming princess went out for a routine jog on an August evening in 1998. However, she never returned, and questions continue to linger about what happened to her.

Tera Smith was last seen leaving her home between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Aug. 22, 1998, in Redding, California.

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Smith may have been spotted with a white man driving a 1976 dark blue Ford full-size fleetside pickup truck with mag wheels and a yellow tailgate.

Smith's father, Terry, told redding.com in 2008 that there are no formal observances for his daughter and he said the family is remembering her in their own quiet way. He long ago came to realization his father is dead, and the pain is easing with time, redding.com reported.

"It's not nearly as sharp as the first couple of years," he told the outlet.

Terry Smith noted there's still frustration over not knowing what happened to her and a lack of closure. However, he was not optimistic that the cold case could ever be solved.

"It becomes less and less likely with time," he told redding.com.

Sierra Smith said she remembers telling her sister, a student at Central Valley High School, not to go on the jog.

"Our parents told us to never leave the house at night on our own. I was like, 'Tera, you're not allowed to go,'" Sierra told KRCR. "She told me that she would be back before our parents ever got back home. I remember watching her as she jogged out of my line of sight."

Sierra Smith said then-29-year-old Troy Zink was dating her sister at the time. He was also her martial arts instructor, according to the outlet. Sierra Smith said the family suspected he had something to do with her sister's disappearance, but he has never been named an official suspect.

The Shasta County Secret Witness offered a $20,000 reward at the time of Tera Smith's disappearance.

"I remember one day I had forgotten what Tera's voice sounded like, and that's just so sad," Sierra told KRCR. "We know someday we will see her again in heaven and that's what we have to hold on to. That's almost what I would want to happen at this point instead of finding something; I wouldn't want to see or know."