Woman claims to be 8-year-old Pennsylvania girl missing since 1985

Lina PortmanJune 5, 2024

0 3 minutes read

The mother of an 8-year-old Pennsylvania girl missing since 1985 contacted police about a woman claiming to be her daughter.

Cherrie Mahan was last seen Feb. 22, 1985, after getting off the school bus about 100 yards from her home in Cabot, 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Last month, nearly 40 years after the disappearance, a woman created posts in a Facebook group dedicated to the little girl called Memories of Cherrie Mahan. In a May 23 post, the woman said she was Cherrie, a claim that made national headlines, but which the girl's mother said she didn't believe for a second.

Janice McKinney, Cherrie's mother, posted in the Facebook group that she had contacted the Pennsylvania State Police and told the Butler Eagle newspaper she believed the post was fraudulent.

“I have spoken to the police, they are investigating,” McKinney wrote in the public group, which has recently included widespread speculation about whether the woman is telling the truth. “It’s very hard for me, so know that I see everything.”

Here's what you need to know about the case.

Woman claiming to be Cherrie Mahan banned from Facebook group, post deleted

The woman claiming to be Cherrie was blocked from the Facebook group and her posts deleted, with group administrator Brock Organ writing that she had “harassed and bullied” other members and that no one in the group – especially McKinney – should not be subject to prosecution. that.

“Some people say, 'But what if it was really her?'” Organ wrote. “The answer is simple: if it was really her, she could show up at any police station and arrange a DNA test without contacting people online and without making aggressive statements. That's what a reasonable person.”

He asked group members to “continue to pray for the family.”

Memories of Cherrie Mahan | Hi Friends, I received a notification that a group member was harassing and bullying | Facebook

Pennsylvania State Police did not respond to USA TODAY's request for information Tuesday.

An agency spokeswoman, Trooper Bertha Cazy, told the Butler Eagle that they were investigating the woman's claim that her name was Cherrie, but that they “have not made contact with her from the contact information she provided.

The department is working with a foreign agency to try to find the woman, she said.

Cherrie Mahan's family remembers her disappearance 39 years later

In February, Cherrie Mahan's family celebrated the 39th anniversary of her disappearance. Every year, McKinney prays at the same place where her daughter went missing.

McKinney told KDKA-TV she vividly remembers the day her daughter went missing and a conversation she had with her husband before Cherrie got off the bus.

“Leroy said, 'Do you want me to come down and get her?' And I said, 'No, it's a beautiful day, she's going to run over the hill because she wants to go (to her friend's house)' But that never happened,” McKinney said. at the station.

There were few leads beyond suspicion that a bright blue 1976 Dodge pickup truck with a mural of a mountain and a skier might be involved in the disappearance, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“It’s like a black hole opened up and she fell into it,” McKinney told the station.

Authorities told the outlet that Mahan's case was not considered cold, but was still “active” as they were still receiving information.

Cherrie's mother responds to complaints from several women over the years

The woman claiming to be Cherrie last month isn't the first. Three other people have claimed to be McKinney's daughter over the years, KDKA-TV reported.

“People are mean, they’re cruel, but it really makes me mad,” McKinney told the Butler Eagle.

When the woman's latest claims surfaced, McKinney told the newspaper she immediately knew it wasn't her daughter, saying, “She looked nothing like Cherrie.”

She still hopes that one day she will know what happened to her daughter and told the newspaper that she hopes all the detectives who have ever worked on the case will sit down together and review everything again.

“There’s something that someone missed somewhere and someone knows it,” she said.

She told KDKA-TV that “not knowing is really what takes your life away.”

She continued: “It takes a toll on you every day and for 39 years it has been the hardest part of my life.”

Anyone with information about Cherri's case can call police at 724-284-8100, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at missingkids.org or Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or p3tips.com.

Lina Portman

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