In a surprising development, a woman has come forward claiming to be Cherrie Mahan, an 8‑year-old girl who disappeared from her bus stop in Winfield Township, Pennsylvania nearly four decades ago. Pennsylvania State Police are now investigating the woman’s claims as they work to verify her identity.
Cherrie Mahan was last seen on February 22, 1985, after getting off the school bus at the bottom of her driveway just after 4 p.m. A blue 1976 Dodge van with a mural of a skier on a mountain was spotted in the area and may have been involved in her disappearance, according to investigators.
The woman made her claim in a post to a “Memories of Cherrie Mahan” Facebook group last month, which was brought to the attention of state police. However, Cherrie’s mother, Janice McKinney, does not believe the woman is actually her now 46-year-old daughter.
“I truly believe she thought in her mind that she was Cherrie,” McKinney told the Butler Eagle. “It did not look anything like Cherrie at all.”
This is the fourth woman to claim to be Cherrie Mahan over the years, as the heartbroken mother continues to search for answers about her daughter’s disappearance. A $5,000 reward remains available for anyone with information leading to Cherrie’s location or an arrest.
Despite the latest false claim, McKinney remains hopeful that Cherrie is being cared for, whether alive or deceased. “If she was dead, she is in heaven with my parents and my brothers. If she was alive, someone was taking care of her. I don’t know why I feel that way,” she said.
The investigation into the woman’s claim is ongoing, as state police work with an out-of-state agency to try to verify her identity. This case continues to captivate and haunt the community, with the hope that Cherrie Mahan’s fate will one day be uncovered after nearly four decades of unanswered questions.
Leave a Reply