She Vanished After Getting Off Her School Bus: Years Later, Her Mom Later Received An Upsetting Handwritten Letter
The case of Cherrie Ann Mahan, an 8-year-old from Pennsylvania who vanished in 1985, has gone unsolved for over four decades.
Renewed hope for answers was sparked when a woman claimed to be the long-lost girl last year, but police claimed her fingerprints were not a match.
It was February 22, 1985, when Cherrie went missing after getting off her school bus in Cabot, Pennsylvania. She was dropped off approximately 100 yards away from her home, yet she never made it there. More than 40 years later, authorities still don’t know exactly what happened to her.
Witnesses reported spotting a 1976 Dodge van in the area when Cherrie, along with other kids, exited the bus. The van was bright blue and had a mural of a mountain and a skier on it. The police worked this clue but came up empty.
“There [have] been a lot of vans that we looked at. There’s been a lot of vans we actually processed forensically and unfortunately didn’t lead us anywhere,” detailed Pennsylvania State Trooper Jim Long.
Despite so much time passing, investigators are still treating Cherrie’s case as a missing person investigation rather than a homicide. Over the years, various people have come forward, saying they spotted Cherrie or were the missing girl.
The police have looked into multiple sightings in New Jersey and Michigan, all of which were ruled out. Once, Cherrie’s mother, Janice McKinney, was even contacted at her job by a woman who said she was her daughter. However, photograph and fingerprint comparisons proved that wasn’t the case.
Janice also received an upsetting handwritten letter during the 2010s. The sender explained how Cherrie had supposedly been killed, as well as where her body was buried, ending the letter with, “I pray you find some peace after you find her body.”
“It was very graphic and cruel to me,” Janice said of the letter.
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But again, this was another dead end. She gave the letter to investigators, who looked into people outside of Pennsylvania. Janice even joined the police as they visited a property included in the letter with cadaver dogs, which led nowhere.
Most recently, in May 2024, another woman began posting on the Facebook group “Memories of Cherrie Mahan.” The “aggressive posts,” according to administrator Brock Organ, were taken down.
“Some people say, ‘But what if it was really her?’ This has an easy answer: if it was really her, she could present herself at any police office and arrange for a DNA test without reaching out to people online and making aggressive claims. That is what a reasonable person would do,” Brock detailed in a post about why the woman was removed from the Facebook group.
That same woman made national headlines and reignited the investigation into Cherrie’s case after leaving a voicemail with authorities, according to a Pennsylvania State Police press release from June 6, 2024. Yet, they were unable to contact her again at the phone number or address she provided.
“The female has not contacted the Pennsylvania State Police or any other law enforcement agencies that we are aware of since her original post of voicemail,” the release reads.
The Pennsylvania State Police reportedly obtained fingerprints from their database using the name left by the female caller, which did not match Cherrie’s fingerprints.
“An initial review of these fingerprints indicates that she is not Cherrie Mahan. If the caller decides to make herself available to the Pennsylvania State Police or any other law enforcement agencies, her claim will be investigated.”
The woman has been blocked from the Facebook group, and Janice thinks the post was fraudulent. In her own post in the group, Janice wrote, “I talked to the police, they are investigating. This is very hard on me, so please be aware I see everything.”
Even though there have been multiple false claims from women purporting to be Cherrie, Janice continues holding onto hope that she’ll one day get answers regarding what happened to her daughter, saying, “There’s something somebody missed somewhere, and somebody knows.”
She has her own theory, too. Janice became pregnant after being assaulted by Cherrie’s biological father, who was never charged, and delivered Cherrie when she was just 16 years old.
While she doesn’t suspect Cherrie’s biological father was “personally” responsible for her daughter going missing, she thinks people he knew were involved. Still, she cannot prove her suspicions.
On the fortieth anniversary of Cherrie’s disappearance this year, hundreds of local residents gathered to show their support and continue the search for answers. Janice marked the moment her daughter was seen for the last time with a prayer. She prayed that whoever took Cherrie would come forward and offer closure.
“She deserves to have an answer, she deserves to be laid to rest, she deserves so much more,” Janice stated.
Cherrie was last seen wearing a gray coat, a blue denim skirt, beige boots, and blue leg warmers. The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children has created an age-progressed photo showing what she might’ve looked like at 44 years old. She would be 48 today.
Anyone with information regarding Cherrie’s case is urged to contact the Pennsylvania State Police at (724) 284-8100.
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