Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. Most of these leads have been potential sightings of Mahan or the two vehicles observed in the vicinity of her abduction, although the child has never been found, and neither vehicle was ever located. Mahan alighted her bus with three friends at approximately 4:10 p.m. before her friends entered a car driven by the mother of one of the girls, Debbie Burk, that had followed the school bus. Cherries ears are pierced, and she has a dog bite scar on her left arm. 36 years later, still so sign of local girl abducted getting off school "Not him personally, but the people that he knows, yes," she says. Location: Winfield Township, Pennsylvania McKinney said Cherrie's father still lives in Butler County and was local to where she grew up in Clinton Township. road like madmen. She was last seen wearing a gray coat, blue denim skirt, blue leg warmers, and . Leroy was her step dad, and Cherrie didn't know her biological dad. Cherrie has never been heard from again. but to no avail. A Butler County judge approved a pe*ion from Janice McKinney to do so in November that year. But she does not believe he was involved in her disappearance? Learn how your comment data is processed. Her left arm had previously been broken below her left shoulder, but had healed by the time of her disappearance. Get WPXI Headlines On Your Phone, iPhone, More Over the years, there have been frenzied moments of hope. Subscribe to WTAE . "Not him personally but the people that he knows yes. At the time of her disappearance, Cherrie attended Winfield Elementary School, where she was regarded as a popular, bright and happy child. rural community. Dedicated to covering the stories of the missing, Updated May 14, 2022; Posted May 14, 2022, Name: Cherrie Ann Mahan Mahan was wearing a gray coat, a blue denim skirt, a white leotard, blue leg warmers, beige boots, and Cabbage Patch earmuffs. Home Mysteries The Disappearance of Cherrie Mahan. There are predators everywhere. We almost hit Leroy. Disappearance of Cherrie Mahan - Wikipedia When no leads developed, a national direct mailing company, ADVO, put Cherrie's imageon postcards with the question. ", by Chilling Crimes Psychic Sisters Suzanne and Jean Vincent give detailed psychic Impressions as to what has happen to Cherrie Mahan, Abducted from Butler County February 22 19. Cherrie Mahan, age 8 (Photo provided by PA State Police) . We also went to a property that the letter mentioned.". The longer it goes If the good Lord feels shell be better off with him, 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cherrie's father maintains his innocence in her case. Some witnesses believed the van was painted black shortly after Cherrie went missing. . Some missing information: her mother, Janice, had Cherrie at 16 after being raped. The terrain around her home was extensively searched with the *istance of bloodhounds and helicopters, and investigators conducted house to house inquiries. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); document.getElementById("ak_js_2").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); As a mother of 3 I cant even imagine this. May 26, 2020, "It take two people to make a lie work:the person who tells it, and the one who believes it.". . She would drive Robert to and from school, and even walks him into the building. Janice said: We heard the bus come and after five or tens minutes and Leroy said maybe she fell down, do you want me to go check? "I was gonna jump out, cause that car behind us was going to squish me like a bug and I didn't care," she says. January 2011. "It's very interesting and there are questions that have been posed and we need to find the answers. she kept the door unlocked every night in the hopes that it was a Up until that day, I was there every day to pick her up after school. Mahan was then observed to walk past a bluish-green, 1970s-era Dodge van with a distinctive mural depicting a skier traversing a snowcapped mountain . Using investigative research combined with primary audio, Morbidology takes an in-depth look at true crime cases from all across the world. He lived in a nearby town and while police have ruled him out, Janice believes he's somehow involved. Get The Latest News Sent To Your Email! This is a group to remember a very special little girl who went missing over 33 years ago this year. Mahan's mother has stated that prior to her daughter's disappearance, nobody had believed her claims that her daughter had been conceived through her being raped, adding that on "any other day", she would have been standing at the bottom of her driveway to meet her daughter when the school bus arrived, and that February 22, 1985, was the first day she had not done so. RSS: Pennsylvania Child Still Missing After Getting Off School Bus in 1985 NBC News "There was nobody that was a stranger to her," her mom says, "Like if you said her name she thought you knew her. 1 Comment, "My family and myself are good, decent and very honest people. In 1994,police questioned a Massachusetts man who was accused of abducting and killing a child and of attempting to abduct another child. This is a pivotal missing person case because it was the first to feature a circulated flier with the child's photo. She was wearing Cabbage last we know of her is she got off the bus. According to her mother, Cherrie was conceived through rape when she was 16 years old. At the time of her disappearance, she was 4'2" tall and weighed about 68 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes. Cherries name is pronounced Cherry like the fruit and not as shah-ree like the spelling Cherie. She told John Shumway no one believed her claim of rape, and to this day she feels Cherrie's biological father knows something about who took Cherrie. In November of 1998 Cherrie was declared legally dead, and her family set up a trust fund in Cherrie's name that could be transferred to her younger brother Robert who was born four years after her disappearance. Cherries family legally petitioned to have her declared legally deceased and the action was granted in 1992. Theres nothing to point the finger of suspicion at anybody. Over the ", by Chilling Crimes The van would later be described as a 1970s-era Dodge (possibly a 1976 model) with a distinctive mural depicting a skier traversing a snowcapped mountain painted on the side. Janice McKinney says authorities did not believe her rape allegation and Cherries biological father was never charged. "I think about her all the time, I pray for her every night, I pray for her every morning," Janice says. By this stage, it was around 4.30pm. "Because I wasn't there that day. The tipster said she called a phone number listed on Mahan's missing person flier, but never heard back from anyone. Early on in the investigation, it was theorised that Cherrie had headquarters and a local grocer donated food for those assisting in the search. Nineteen years have gone by since anyone saw a young Irish man named Trevor Deely. Cherrie Mahan: Still Missing After 36 Years - Medium State Police Ask People With Information About Cherrie Mahan's The cards were mailed to thousands of households around the country. Earle said the tipster was vague but then went into more detail after Channel 11 News cameras were shut off. of the road. WINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - On a sunny Feb. 22, 1985, 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan got off her school bus on Cornplanter Road and headed to her driveway and her home. But she does not believe he was involved in her disappearance? The individual named in this letter was a woman who had been adopted as a child and was unsure of her precise origins, although DNA testing later confirmed this woman was not Mahan. Have You Seen Cherrie Mahon? - KILLERS, KREEPS, AND OTHER KRAZY STUFF . never arrived home. She just disappeared, he said.2. third grade. She shared with us that Cherrie was the result of rape when Janice was 16. scene. I want to see it, I want to know what happened. She was declared legally dead in November 1998. She believes people connected to Cherrie's father were involved in her disappearance. "It's amazing after all these years we still get a lot of inquiries a lot of information, a lot of tips, sometimes we'll get a couple a week, other times it may go months and we don't hear anything," he says. Cherrie Ann Mahan - The Resource Center For Cold Case Missing Children Cherrie never made it home, and has never been seen again. Authorities also sent letters to people who were incarcerated to ask whether they had heard anything about the missing girl from other inmates. Long says, "Unfortunately that letter as a whole hasn't been very fruitful at this point. The man, who wasn't identified . bus and heading down the hill towards her driveway. Since KDKA's report aired last night at 11, Trooper Jim Long says, "We've gotten a ton of tips, it's been very effective and as of now, we're still trying to work our way through them, cause even as we are speaking now, I would not be surprised if we got a couple more.". And I didn't care what happened.". In December of 1910, she disappeared without a trace. Efforts to locate Mahan, alive or deceased, are ongoing. Cherrie's family had her declared legally deceased in 1992. She was 4:feet 2:inches (1.27:m) in height and had brown hair and hazel eyes. Its very Trp. Cherrie Ann Mahan - The Charley Project In the early years, she turned to drugs to dull the pain and sold everything she had, "just to get another high because that pain was killing me, it was just killing me.". It wasn't until sometime after that track meet that the woman said she learned about the Mahan case. She believes that incident and the disappearance are related, and that "friends" of her alleged rapist (Cherrie's unnamed biological father) were responsible for Cherrie's disappearance. had seen a blue or green van with a skier and mountain scene painted on the and Leroy McInney heard the school bus coming up the road just as they did February 04, 2022, "The criminal justice system will take a hard look at what happened to Matthew Eappen. That was the last time she was seen. If you have any information on the circumstances surrounding Cherries disappearance, please call the Pennsylvania State Police Missing Persons unit at 724-284-8100. Cherrie Ann Mahan (disappeared February 22, 1985; declared legally dead November 5, 1998) was an eight-year-old American girl who disappeared on February 22, 1985 after disembarking a school bus approximately fifty feet from the base of the driveway to her home in rural Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania. Cherrie never arrived home and has never been seen again. Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts. But s. Missing person fliers were distributed which described Cherrie as 4 feet 2 inches tall and 68 pounds with brown hair and hazel-eyes. Janice and her husband Leroy were in their home at the top of the hill waiting for Cherrie to get home so they could take her to a play date with friends. Her mother believes that people who had connections to Cherries biological father were involved in Cherries presumed abduction. There were some leads in the years that followed. for Missing and Exploited Children.7. Cherrie, circa 1985; Age-progression to age 44 (circa 2020); Sketches of van possibly involved. Local, state and national agencies helped in the investigation. "I never left that house without her, we were always together, we grew up together, she was my life," Janice says. For what motive, we dont know. This is a follow up to the Cherrie Mahan post a few days ago, I mentioned in it there was a new big news story about her I saw in passing on our local TV. I never left that house without her, we were always together, we grew up together, she was my life.". Her case info. The elementary school became a In the decades since Mahan's disappearance, investigators have pursued thousands of leads pertaining to the child's whereabouts and the iden*y of her abductor or abductors. The day Cherrie disappeared, Janice had the day off from work. Major Cherrie Mahan Update: Her Mother Believes She Knows Who Took Her Child, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/02/18/mother-police-still-searching-for-butler-county-girl-cherrie-mahan/, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/video/4452856-cherrie-mahans-mother-still-searching-35-years-after-disappearance/. Word of the potential abduction spread quickly throughout the for Cherries safe return.3 Local businesses pledged another $10,000 for information "That's what gave me peace in my life," she says. The state police in butler are waiting for your call. ", But like all the other leads Trp. He maintains his innocence in . Clothing: If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Cherrie Mahan please contact the Pennsylvania State Police Missing Persons Unity at (412) 284-8100. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. off Cornplanter Road where the family lived. . Other children on the bus and a neighbour told police that they Her birth father had never Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Janice says, "It's just what happened from the time she got off that bus to when she headed towards our driveway.". At this event, stories and memories of Cherrie are shared. Please enter valid email address to continue. The Disappearance of Cherrie Mahan - TPKs Stories Her In January 2011, Pennsylvania police received a new tip they deemed as "potentially crucial to the investigation in the future". Long will say about suspects: "Anybody that was implicated, until we find evidence otherwise, they still would be considered a suspect.". In 1995, the case was taken over by state Trooper Frank Jendesky. 15 Unsolved Disappearances That Shocked the World Another person saw Cherrie walk past the van which was seen parked at the side When no significant leads developed and the child had been missing for three months, a national direct mailing company printed a photograph of Mahan on postcards accompanied by the question, "Have you seen me?" We grew up together. [] Morbidology reports Cherrie Mahans family and law enforcement agencies throughout the nation went to great lengths to make sure every media outlet and newspaper in the United States would distribute information about Mahan and the mysterious van. It is up to the rest of us to take an even harder look at who is minding our children. The fliers also contained a description of the van following the school bus. On February 22, 1985, Cherrie Mahan got off of her school bus only blocks from her home. In 2020, McKinney revealed her conviction that although she does not believe Cherrie's biological father was involved in her abduction, she believes individuals known to him were. After school Cherrie exited the school bus with three friends at approximately 4:10 pm. been abducted. Anonymous letter could shed light on decades-old disappearance Trp. You kiss the face, you put them in the ground, and you say goodbye that's something I never had. They are not hiding in shadows. The woman in question denies that she is Mahan, but investigators said they have a lot of questions and interviews to do before making any determinations. It is unknown if the car has anything to do with her case either. Her stepfather reported her missing when he couldnt locate her. ", Janice's reaction: "There are very mean people out there that try to get into the story I guess.". through the afternoon, evening, and well into the night. She was only eight-years-old when she disappeared. A forensic team excavated a mount there but uncovered nothing related Cherries biological father has never been charged in connection with her disappearance and maintains his innocence. She disappeared after getting off the school bus from her elementary school at approximately 4:05 pm. She has never been seen or heard. February 19, 2020 / 7:48 PM Police said they are now doing DNA testing to rule out any possibility that the woman living in Michigan is not Cherrie Mahan. The van was seen following the school bus that Cherrie got off of that day. Cherrie Ann Mahan (August 14, 1976 - disappeared February 22, 1985; declared legally dead November 5, 1998) was an eight-year-old American girl who disappeared on February 22, 1985, after disembarking a school bus approximately fifty feet from the base of the driveway to her home in rural Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania.She was declared legally dead in November 1998. based on something somebody claimed to have seen around the time of Cherries 4. Unsolved Disappearance of Cherrie Mahan, age 8, Butler County PA - PA - Cherrie Mahan, 8, Cabot, 22 Feb 1985 | Page 35 | Websleuths There were further and multiple sightings of avan. 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Well always look You would think a child would be safe to walk such a short distance I hope the parents dont blame themselves. In 2000, a computer-generated rendition of how Mahan may have looked at age 23 was mailed to thousands of households across America. At around 4.10pm that day, the 22nd of February, Cherrie got off the bus, the stop closest to her house, with three friends. Cherries mother did tell the police but they didnt believe her and her biological father was never charged with any wrongdoing. This was the last time that she was seen. She thought about suicide and even tried to jump out of the passenger door of her truck on Route 8. There were further and multiple sightings of avan. His family have no solid clues and no sightings to pin their hopes on, and no idea if they will ever see. February 18, 2020 / 11:00 PM Cherrie was born on August 14, 1976, and her mother Janice was only sixteen when Cherrie was born. But somebody knows something. On the night of 7th December 2000 he attended his work Christmas party in Dublin and simply vanished. ", Sign up to get the latest true crime stories, new product releases and more, Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more . and to this day she feels Cherrie's biological father knows . Janice McKinney feels like she has nothing to lose in her search to find out what happened to her daughter. Finally found a replay of it and then the link online and it's a potentially MAJOR update. The skier was wearing red and yellow clothing and was skiing down the mountain. Protect yourself and those you love. If nothing else, shell always be in our hearts, said her mother. An unidentified small blue car was also observed near the bus stop that day, but it is unknown if it had anything to do with her case. John Shumway went back to the state police today about Cherrie's biological father. Witnesses said she got into a blue van with a skier mural painted on the side. Local, state and national agencies helped in the investigation. The bright blue or green 1976 Dodge van that was seen at the bus stop at the time Cherrie went missing may be connected to her case, though the van or person driving it has never been identified. Police said they met with Mahan's mother on Monday to inform her of the new developments in the case. Mobile: Cherrie Ann Mahan (August 14, 1976 disappeared February 22, 1985; declared legally dead November 5, 1998) was an eight-year-old American girl who disappeared on February 22, 1985, after disembarking a school bus approximately fifty feet from the base of the driveway to her home in rural Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania. 1 Cherrie Ann Mahan The Charley Project, Cherrie Mahans Mother Still Searching 35 Years After She Disappeared CBS Pittsburgh She was carrying a blue backpack with two straps and a cream colored top. The woman said she believes she saw the van witnesses said Mahan entered the day she disappeared at a high school track meet. Now 35 years later, Pennsylvania State Trooper Jim Long says the phone still rings at the Butler Barracks about Cherrie. "It's heart breaking for anybody. Those tips have prompted them to renew their call for anyone else with even small bits of info who were in the Cabot, Butler County, PA area that February 22, 1985 or who know information about the case to come forward with their information: Contact the State Police Butler barracks at 724-284-8100 with any info. About 10 minutes after the school bus stopped outside their home and she still hadnt returned, her stepfather went out to look for her. Her name is Cherrie Mahan, and she went missing here in Cabot, Pennsylvania in 1985. . Its a kidnapping. The Resource Center For Cold Case Missing Childrens Cases, Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance, Missing From: Cabot, Butler County, Pennsylvania, Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian Female, Brown hair, Hazel eyes, Cherrie previously broke her left arm below her shoulder hit the injury had healed by the time she disappeared, she has a dog bite scar on her left arm, Cherrie has a cowlick on the right side of her hair, and her ears are pierced, Clothing/Jewelry Description: A white leotard, a gray coat, a blue denim skirt, white stockings, blue leg warmers, beige soft ankle boots with no heals, Brown Cabbage Patch earmuffs, Cherrie was carrying a blue backpack with two straps and a cream colored top and was decorated with a blue and red heart. Two of the children were Debbie's children and she gave a lift to another child who lived near her house. WINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - Almost 35 years later, Cherrie Mahan's mother still lives in Butler County, and she wants to know what happened to her daughter. no ransom note, said Lt. Francis Walton of the state police. Major Cherrie Mahan Update: Her Mother Believes She Knows Who - Reddit A man makes video interviews of homeless people. They donated the life insurance policy they received to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and put a car accident settlement she had received into a trust fund for her brother. We'll always look for Cherrie. Long says, "It gave us hope that this really was Cherrie, so we looked at pictures with the family and we also took fingerprints and ultimately it was discovered that it was not Cherrie. Cherrie and her family deserve answers. Somebody would have known who was driving a van with that design on both sides at the time. Four of the attendees of this annual dinner are close friends of Mahan, who have each publicly stated the disappearance of their friend has had a profound impact on their lives, and that becoming mothers themselves has increased their empathy for Janice McKinney's sense of loss. kept saying, My little girls gone. prisoners in the area, hoping that one of them would have some information First published on February 18, 2020 / 11:00 PM. Cherrie Mahan was born on August 14, 1985, to 16-year-old mother Janice Mahan. The Disappearance of Cherrie Mahan Wikipedia Then in 2015, cadaver dogs descended on a Winfield property Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. She was in the third grade. Although investigators declined to release specific details as to this line of inquiry beyond stating the information sourced from an individual known to the child who had provided information with the potential to lead police to "a known specific actor or actors", a spokesman stated the information received had been "more specific" than any information investigators had received in many years. The child's mother has stated that she doesn't believe Cherrie's biological father kidnapped her, but that people "known to him . The couple lived in Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, with their 8-year-old daughter, Cherrie Mahan.