The only thing Trp. off Cornplanter Road where the family lived. But side following the bus from Winfield Elementary School to Cherries bus stop. Last seen: February 22, 1985 It was the 22ndof February, 1985, when Janice Her birth father had never acknowledged her or attempted to have any kind of relationship wit her. It was February 22, 1985, when a school bus dropped Mahan off at her stop on Cornplanter Road in Winfield Township. Theonly other piece of evidence police had was tire marks that had been left in the snow at the bottom of the hill.Nobody saw Cherrie get into a van or car and nobody saw anybody taking Cherrie. He maintains his innocence in . There were further and multiple sightings of avan. Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold was a wealthy socialite and heiress. 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. daily newspaper in the nation. Early on in the investigation, it was theorised that Cherrie had New Trooper Assigned To 25-Year-Old Missing Girl Case, 25 Years Later, Search Continues For Missing Girl, Get WPXI Headlines On Your Phone, iPhone, More, Bride killed, groom critically injured after wedding reception when drunken driver hits golf cart, 1 person killed in shooting in McKeesport, Man charged in connection to death of woman hit by truck in Oakland, Its getting worse: Community seeking answers from Pittsburgh leaders in light of recent violence, Many Dollar Bank customers missing hundreds of dollars due to ATM skimming. "There was nobody that was a stranger to her," her mom says, "Like if you said her name she thought you knew her. These cards were mailed to thousands of households across the U.S., placed inside telephone and utility bills, alongside an artist's rendition of the distinctive van seen in the vicinity of her abduction. I watched an interview from Soft White Underbelly. Mahan accompanied her mother to the bus stop located approximately fifty feet from the base of the uphill driveway to their home. 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. The residents of Skimore watched as the town bully was shot dead in broad daylight. That afternoon like usual Cherrie was seen climbing off the In January 2011, Pennsylvania police received a new tip they deemed as "potentially crucial to the investigation in the future". It is up to the rest of us to take an even harder look at who is minding our children. One of the most recent lines of inquiry investigators pursued dates from 2018, when McKinney received an anonymous handwritten letter describing in detail who had murdered her daughter, why they had done so, and where her remains are buried. Mobile: In another follow up article just hours after the original the police spell out his person of interest status more explicitly: "John Shumway (local reporter) went back to the state police today about Cherries biological father. 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. Cherrie has never been heard from again. February 22, 2010: 25 Years Later, Search Continues For Missing Girl. Police said they are now doing DNA testing to rule out any possibility that the woman living in Michigan is not Cherrie Mahan. He said that there had been no leads for years but said that they were still treating the case as a stranger abduction. "And believe me, any parent who has dealt with an accidentthat guilt can kill ya.". "It's a torment, I've been tormented since the day she was taken. If you have any information on the circumstances surrounding Cherries disappearance, please call the Pennsylvania State Police Missing Persons unit at 724-284-8100. McKinney said the father knew a biker gang she felt was dangerous, but she doesn't know if they were violent. We drove down the Cherrie lived with her mother and stepfather, Leroy McKinney, in Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. Some agencies state she disappeared from Saxonburg, Pennsylvania. The tipster said she called a phone number listed on Mahan's missing person flier, but never heard back from anyone. The elementary school became a Cherrie was last seen wearing a white leotard, a gray coat, a blue denim skirt, white stockings, blue leg warmers, beige ankle boots, and brown Cabbage Patch earmuffs. Janice later married a Vietnam veteran named LeRoy McKinney, who willingly accepted Mahan as his stepdaughter. Letters and posters were sent to every television station and Leroy wasnt Cherries birth-father. When 8-year-old Cherrie got off the bus that day, Janice says she didn't just evaporate. bus and heading down the hill towards her driveway. Upon being reported missing police searched the area around Cherries home for days, with the assistance of helicopters, bloodhounds, and 250 volunteers. transferred to her brother.6 This is not over. Now, in 2019, her mother told Target 11 Investigator Rick . . It was the 22nd of February 1985. When Cherrie went missing, she. had seen a blue or green van with a skier and mountain scene painted on the They believed that Cherrie was abducted. A further line of inquiry investigators pursued dates from 2014, when investigators pursued a tip that Mahan was alive and living under an *umed name in Michigan. This was the last time that she was seen. January 17, 2022 1 Comment, "My family and myself are good, decent and very honest people. No arrests have ever been made in her case and no suspects have been identified in the case. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Protect yourself and those you love. Debbie was the last known person to see Cherrie and she claimed she waited until Cherrie walked past her vanbefore she drove off. Leroy wasn't Cherrie's birth-father. In December of 1910, she disappeared without a trace. 5-year-old Regina Mae Armstrong was abducted from outside her babysitter's apartment in broad daylight. Cherrie, circa 1985; Age-progression to age 44 (circa 2020); Sketches of van possibly involved. According to her mother, Cherrie was conceived through rape when she was 16 years old. Add Us To Your Page! 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. There were further and multiple sightings of avan. Appeals as to sightings of the distinctive bluish-green Dodge van produced eyewitnesses who informed investigators they had seen a vehicle matching this description in New Kensington, traveling in the direction of Mount Pleasant. Eight year old Cherrie Mahan was looking forward to finishing school for the weekend. Status: Still Missing; declared legally dead in 1998. Pushing back tears she says, "I just want to be there in case they find her or in case they find just bones I want to be there. Cherrie Ann Mahan was born in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania on August 14, 1976 to mother Janice Mahan, who was just 16 years old when Cherrie was born. Trp. When ten minutes had elapsed and Mahan had not arrived, her mother and stepfather began to worry. Pennsylvania Child Still Missing After Getting Off School Bus in 1985 NBC News If nothing else, she'll always be in our hearts.". A distinctive van had been following the school bus and it was theorized whoever was in this van, abducted Cherrie. He maintains his innocence in his daughters disappearance. Someday I'm gonna know.". "Not him personally but the people that he knows yes. searchers could barely see further than a few feet in front of them. This is not over. It was such anunusual van. road like madmen. He interviewed a women, named Clover, who claims she was abducted as a child, and she looks a lot like this girl. According to her mother, Cherrie was conceived through rape when her mother was sixteen years old. The Mysterious Disappearance of Cherrie Mahan Grunge, Filed Under: Still Missing Tagged With: 1985, Pennsylvania, Still Missing. CABOT, Pa. Feb. 22 marked 36 years to the day that an 8-year-old Butler County girl was abducted after getting off her school bus on Cornplanter Road in Cabot. for Missing and Exploited Children.7. After being unable to find her he called the police to report her missing at approximately 5:00 pm. Other children on the bus and a neighbour told police that they Lacking any conclusive evidence to the contrary, investigators have not discounted the possibility Mahan may still be alive. She was last seen getting off the school bus about 100 yards from home. You kiss the face, you put them in the ground, and you say goodbye that's something I never had. by Chilling Crimes Please enter valid email address to continue. ", Trp. Missing From: CABOT, PA. Witnesses said she got into a blue van with a skier mural painted on the side. about Cherries whereabouts. . Cherrie Mahan's trust fund was given to her younger brother, Robert, who was born four years after Mahan's disappearance. Her This is a group to remember a very special little girl who went missing over 33 years ago this year. ", "Does she miss me, does she want me, does she know me? I believe her name is pronounced like Sherry, at least that's what I've always heard. I wasn't there. Likewise, the police say until they have evidence to the contrary, they have to assume there is still a chance Cherrie is alive. Witnesses came forward to say they saw ablue van in the New Kensington area traveling back to the Mount Pleasant area in Westmoreland County. Long will say about suspects: "Anybody that was implicated, until we find evidence otherwise, they still would be considered a suspect.". But she does not believe he was involved in her disappearance? She chatted with her friends until they all went their separate ways. been abducted. family sought this action so that a trust fund in Cherries name could be Clothing: I can't imagine if that was my child. 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. Everything! Even if someone does not know the full details of what happened, they know something and must come forward. Pennsylvania, with their 8-year-old daughter,Cherrie Mahan. And instead of picking her up on the way home, she was waiting at home instead. Cherrie was known to be a cheerful little girl. Nobody went anywhere alone and I used to think my parents used it as a scare tactic, never realized it was true! Another case in point, a handwritten letter that arrived a couple of years ago so brutally specific spelling out Cherrie's killing and burial. 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. Police said that girl may now be a woman living in a small Michigan community. Janice reportedly had a very close and loving relationship with Cherrie, who was described as a talkative and sweet young girl. Two of the children were Debbie's children and she gave a lift to another child who lived near her house. It was like the Earth opened up and she fell in, said her / CBS Pittsburgh. Long says they may not even realize it. This line of inquiry failed to generate any significant leads. When no leads developed, a national direct mailing company, ADVO, put Cherrie's imageon postcards with the question "Have you seen me?" "Because I wasn't there that day. Cherrie Mahan was last seen on February 22nd 1985 in Cabot, Pennsylvania. Missing in Pennsylvania: Unsolved Cases from the Keystone State, Killers in the Classroom: Case Studies of School Rampage Shooters. ", 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 . The woman said she believes she saw the van witnesses said Mahan entered the day she disappeared at a high school track meet. Three other students got off with her at the stop. She was approximately 100 to 150 yards along the dirt driveway from her familys residence on Cornplanter Road. She was in the third grade. Pennsylvania State Police Officer Robert McGraw, referencing the ongoing investigation into Cherrie Mahan's disappearance. The van was parked on a corner and Cherriehad to turn at that corner and then walk up a hill to her house. But a couple of years after Cherrie disappeared, Janice shook herself out of here spiral of self-destruction and learned what she hopes others will take to heart, the power of forgiveness. 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. 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. She was wearing Cabbage She was approximately 100 to 150 yards along a dirt driveway from her family's residence on Cornplanter Road in Cabot, Pennsylvania at the time she disappeared. of the road. scene. Authorities believe that Cherrie was kidnapped and possibly murdered afterwards. Mahan's local community raised $39,000 as a reward for Mahan's safe return, with a local business also pledging an additional $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of her abductor or abductors. February 19, 2020 / 7:48 PM The police have said that unless the case veers in a different direction for some reason, Cherrie . Not him personally but the people that he knows yes., Police are aware of McKinneys suspicions and have told her the man is adamant in his denials. 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. 2023 Cox Media Group. She thought about suicide and even tried to jump out of the passenger door of her truck on Route 8. In 2011, Rebecca Coriam disappeared from a Disney cruise ship. The police did not believe the rape allegation and Cherrie's biological father was never charged. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. For what motive, we dont know. Bloodhounds were unable to pick up Cherries trail past the point where the blue van had stopped. She believes people connected to Cherrie's father were involved in her disappearance. While she had accepted that her daughter had most likely been Cherrie got off the bus that day in her grey coat, denim skirt, white leotard, blue leggings, and Cabbage Patch ear muffs. "If they have information and they've been holding it for all these years, that they see what this woman has been living with her entire adult life and come forward and give that information to us.". 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. He later recollected he had intended to walk down the 150-yard driveway to meet his stepdaughter before his wife said: "No, it's a nice day. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Cherrie Mahan please contact the Pennsylvania State Police Missing Persons Unity at (412) 284-8100. The big news is Cherrie's mother says she believes she knows who took her. "It's very interesting and there are questions that have been posed and we need to find the answers. But she does not believe he was involved in her disappearance? Then in 2015, cadaver dogs descended on a Winfield property She was declared legally dead in November 1998. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Long. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. Cherrie Ann Mahan NamUS When Janine had a dream that she found Cherrie Trp. 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. There was a van parked behind Debbie's van that Cherriehad to walk past. prisoners in the area, hoping that one of them would have some information Local, state and national agencies helped in the investigation. A forensic team excavated a mount there but uncovered nothing related On Friday, February 22, 1985, the child was excited as her mother intended to take her on a play date when she returned from school. Target 11's Rick Earle has uncovered a new lead in the case that has investigators working on new interviews and a DNA test in Michigan. Mahan's mother, Janice McKinney, has stated her conviction her daughter's disappearance can still be solved. Mahan's abduction is strongly believed not to have been committed by a family member. His family have no solid clues and no sightings to pin their hopes on, and no idea if they will ever see. Janice McKinney is holding out hope that after 35 years someone will have an attack of conscience and come forward with the tip police need. she kept the door unlocked every night in the hopes that it was a Other witnesses stated they had seen a blue car following this van, and that the van was repainted black one or two weeks after Mahan's disappearance. Cherrie was born on August 14, 1976, and her mother Janice was only sixteen when Cherrie was born. Cherrie Mahans Disappearance Haunts Her Mother 35 Years Later Trib Live Every single day. premonition.4, The case gradually went cold. The cards were mailed to thousands of households around the country. She was last seen wearing a gray coat, blue denim skirt, blue leg warmers, and . In 2000, a computer-generated rendition of how Mahan may have looked at age 23 was mailed to thousands of households across America. She alighted this 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, who had followed the school bus in her own car. Did somebody knock her on the head and drag her into a car, did somebody say 'hey your mom said we're to pick you up and get in the car?' In late 1984, the family relocated to Cornplanter Road in Butler County. but to no avail. Her left arm had previously been broken below her left shoulder, but had healed by the time of her disappearance. A local songwriter even wrote a song for Cherrie and several And in the follow up they mention that after this new report initially aired on local TV in the past few days, the local cops said they have received DOZENS of new tips in the past few days. In November of 2015 cadaver dogs were sent to search a property in Winfield based on a tip theyd received, but no sign of Cherrie was found. The The couple lived in Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, with their 8-year-old daughter, Cherrie Mahan. Get WPXI Headlines On Your Phone, iPhone, More "Without forgiveness, I was eating myself alive," she says. About 10 minutes after the school bus stopped outside their home and she still hadnt returned, her stepfather went out to look for her. In 1984 the family moved to to a home on Cornplanter Road in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Cherrie Ann Mahan The Charley Project, Cherrie Mahans Mother Still Searching 35 Years After She Disappeared CBS Pittsburgh That afternoon, her mother, Janice McKinney, had promisedtobring her to a friend's house. "It's like your heart has been snapped half and it will never go back together again," she says. Word of the potential abduction spread quickly throughout the On the morning of February 22, 1985, Cherries mother Janice accompanied her to the bus stop, approximately 50 yards away from their home. Janice says, "They were ecstatic. When no leads developed, a national direct mailing company, ADVO, put Cherrie's imageon postcards with the question. A Friday. When the school bus arrived, the two told each other they loved each other before Mahan boarded the bus. Cherrie Ann Mahan. Cherrie was then observed walking past a blue/green van that was parked near the bus stop, before turning the corner to walk up the driveway to her home.
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