Disappearance of Cherrie Mahan

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 officially declared dead in November 1998. Mahan's abduction is strongly believed not to have been committed by a family member.[6]

Cherrie Ann Mahan
Cherrie Mahan, circa 1984
Born
Cherrie Ann Mahan[1]

(1976-08-14)August 14, 1976[2][3]
Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DisappearedFebruary 22, 1985 (aged 8)
Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
StatusDeclared dead in absentia
(1998-11-05)November 5, 1998[3][4]
Known forMissing person
Height4 ft 2 in (1.27 m) (approximate)
Parent(s)
  • LeRoy McKinney (stepfather)
  • Janice McKinney
Distinguishing featuresCaucasian female. 68 pounds. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Dog bite scar on left arm.[5]

Mahan's disappearance is one of the most infamous unsolved missing child cases in the United States.[7] The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children featured Mahan as the first missing child to be depicted upon postcards distributed nationwide alongside a headline reading, "Have You Seen Me?" Efforts to locate Mahan, alive or deceased, are ongoing.[8]

Background
Janice and Cherrie Mahan, circa 1979

Cherrie Ann Mahan[n 1] was born in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, on August 14, 1976. Her mother, Janice Mahan, was just 16 at the time she gave birth to her daughter, which she later confessed had been a result of her being raped at age 15. Nonetheless, Janice doted on her daughter, who grew into a friendly, talkative child,[9] later stating: "We were always together. We grew up together. She was my life".[10] Janice later married a Vietnam veteran named LeRoy McKinney, who willingly accepted Mahan as his stepdaughter.[11] In late 1984, the family relocated to Cornplanter Road in Butler County. Mahan attended Winfield Elementary School, where she was regarded as a bright, popular and happy child.[12][13]

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. Mahan accompanied her mother to the bus stop located approximately fifty feet from the base of the uphill driveway to their home. When the school bus arrived, the two told each other they loved each other before Mahan boarded the bus.[14]

Disappearance

Mahan was last seen exiting her school bus on Cornplanter Road on February 22, 1985.[15] 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. Mahan was then observed to walk past a bluish-green van which had parked near the bus stop[9][n 2][17] and turn a corner to walk the approximately 150-yard uphill driveway to her home.[n 3] The van would later be described as a 1970s-era Dodge (possibly a 1976 model[19]) with a distinctive mural depicting a skier traversing a snowcapped mountain painted on the side.[20] Burk was the last individual to see Mahan.[12]

At the time of her disappearance, Mahan was eight years old. She was 4 feet 2 inches (1.27 m) in height and had brown hair and hazel eyes.[21] Mahan was wearing a gray coat, a blue denim skirt, a white leotard, blue leg warmers, beige boots,[22] and Cabbage Patch earmuffs.[23][24]

Mahan's stepfather, LeRoy McKinney, overheard the school bus slowing to a halt near his home. 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. Let her walk." When ten minutes had elapsed and Mahan had not arrived, her mother and stepfather began to worry. A search of their driveway did not locate the child or any of her footprints upon the snow on the ground leading to her house,[7] although they did discover a set of tire impressions in the driveway soil approximately fifty yards from their home.[25]

Investigation

Police immediately launched an intense search to locate Mahan. The terrain around her home was extensively searched with the assistance of bloodhounds and helicopters, and investigators conducted house to house inquiries. A thorough search of Butler County was bolstered by an estimated 250 local volunteers, although these searches failed to locate the child. Mahan's local community raised $39,000 as a reward for Mahan's safe return,[18] with a local business also pledging an additional $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of her abductor or abductors.[25]

Investigators quickly discounted any possibility Mahan had been kidnapped for a ransom;[26][n 4] concluding the child most likely knew her abductor or abductors, although all family members were quickly eliminated as suspects.[27]

Suspect vehicle

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.[28] 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.[29]

Artist's rendition of the Dodge van emblazoned with a distinctive mural seen close to the location of Mahan's abduction.

When no significant leads developed and the child had been missing for three months,[30] a national direct mailing company printed a photograph of Mahan on postcards accompanied by the question, "Have you seen me?" 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.[18][n 5]

Ongoing investigation

In the decades since Mahan's disappearance, investigators have pursued thousands of leads pertaining to the child's whereabouts and the identity of her abductor or abductors. 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.[31][n 6] Lacking any conclusive evidence to the contrary, investigators have not discounted the possibility Mahan may still be alive.[11]

Pennsylvania State Police continue to receive tips and updates relating to Mahan's disappearance.[32] In 2000, a computer-generated rendition of how Mahan may have looked at age 23 was mailed to thousands of households across America. This line of inquiry failed to generate any significant leads.[11]

In January 2011, Pennsylvania police received a new tip they deemed as "potentially crucial to the investigation in the future". 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.[33] This spokesman declined to further elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.[34] However, investigators did state this "potentially crucial" information indicates Mahan is unlikely to still be alive.[35]

A further line of inquiry investigators pursued dates from 2014, when investigators pursued a tip that Mahan was alive and living under an assumed name in Michigan. The individual named in this letter was a woman who had been adopted as a child who had been unsure of her precise origins, although DNA testing[31] later confirmed this woman not Mahan.[36]

"I believe Cherrie was abducted by someone she knows very well, and I believe this person had the ability to basically lure Cherrie [into] their vehicle without her giving it a second thought prior to her disappearance ... I can't imagine if that was my child. I can't imagine the pain her mother must wake up with every day."

Pennsylvania State Police Officer Robert McGraw, referencing the ongoing investigation into Cherrie Mahan's disappearance. January 2011.[7]

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. The author of this letter concluded this correspondence by stating: "I pray you find some peace after you find her body."[37]

Although existing laws had determined Cherrie Mahan could have been declared legally dead seven years after her disappearance,[n 7] Mahan's mother only petitioned to have her daughter legally declared deceased in 1998. A Butler County judge approved a petition from Janice McKinney to do so in November that year.[31] Three months earlier, she had donated the $50,000 reward sum for information leading to the safe return of her daughter to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Cherrie Mahan's trust fund was given to her younger brother, Robert, who was born four years after Mahan's disappearance.[39][40]

Addressing the media following the conclusion of these legal proceedings, Janice McKinney stated: "When people die, you have a body. You kiss [them upon] the face, you put them in the ground, and you say goodbye ... that's something I never had. This is not over. We'll always look for Cherrie. If nothing else, she'll always be [alive] in our hearts."[41]

Mother's theory

Mahan's mother, Janice McKinney, has stated her conviction her daughter's disappearance can still be solved. 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.[29] Mahan's mother has stated that prior to her daughter's disappearance, nobody had believed her claims that her daughter had been conceived though her being raped,[32] 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.[7][n 8]

Aftermath

In 2019, Mahan's mother discussed her ongoing turmoil as to the lack of knowledge of her daughter's fate. Emphasizing her belief that an anonymous tip from the public could finally give herself and her family the closure they crave, McKinney stated to the media: "I just wish someone would come forth and tell me what happened. That's all I pray for, all the time, is just to know."[36]

Cherrie Mahan's family and friends hold an annual remembrance dinner at a restaurant in East Butler on a date close to each anniversary of her disappearance. At this event, stories and memories of Cherrie are shared. 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.[42]

See also

Notes
  1. Mahan's first name is phonetically pronounced "Cherry".
  2. Some reports describe this van as bright blue or green in color; some specifically describe the van as being bright blue.[16]
  3. Burk was adamant this Dodge van had also followed the school bus, recounting this sighting in April 1985, Burk stated: "I sat in the car and watched the kids get off. They played for a while. I made sure Cherrie had walked past the car, then I drove away. I caught a glimpse of the blue van in the mirror. It was right behind me."[18]
  4. Shortly before her disappearance, Mahan had received a broken arm after being hit by a car. She received $3,500 in compensation for her injuries.[11]
  5. Cherrie Mahan was the first individual to whom this initiative was used in efforts to locate a missing child.[11]
  6. In 1985, approximately sixty-two percent of missing children in America were safely recovered. This figure has since greatly increased.[31]
  7. The law of Pennsylvania states that seven years must elapse between the disappearance of an individual and the legal declaration of his or her death.[38]
  8. Mahan's biological father remains a "person of interest" in the child's abduction.[32]

References
  1. Ryan, Bill (July 14, 1996). "Millions of Cards in Pursuit of Missing Children". nytimes.com. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  2. Belculfine, Lexi (February 22, 2015). "Cherrie Mahan Case Still Open 30 Yyears After She Disappeared". post-gazette.com. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  3. Roddy, Dennis (November 6, 1998). "Cherrie's Death Official, Mother's Memory Eternal". post-gazette.com. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  4. "Girl Missing Since 1985 Declared Dead by Judge". Observer-Reporter. November 7, 1998. p. 5. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  5. "The Doe Network: Case File 255DFPA". doenetwork.org. November 9, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  6. Roddy, Dennis B. (November 6, 1998). "Cherrie's Death Official, Mother's Memory Eternal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  7. Hadad, Chuck (January 20, 2011). "Tip Could be 'Crucial' Lead in Cherrie Mahan Case". CNN. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  8. Balingit, Moriah (January 13, 2011). "Mahan Investigator Says Break Possible". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  9. "New Clue Reported in Disappearance of First 'Have You Seen Me?' Child". The Mercury News. January 14, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  10. "State Police Ask People with Information about Cherrie Mahan's Disappearance to Come Forward". CBS Pittsburgh. February 19, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  11. Balingit, Moriah (January 13, 2011). "Mahan Investigator Says Break Possible". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  12. Weiskind, Ronald (March 18, 1986). "Classmates, Mother Hope Dramatization Will Bring Home Missing Girl". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  13. "Family, Friends Still Seek Answers 30 Years after Winfield Child Vanished". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. January 14, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  14. "Dead Ends: Where is Cherrie Mahan?". wpmg.net. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  15. Balingit, Moriah (January 13, 2011). "Mahan Investigator Says Break Possible". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  16. "Family, Friends Still Seek Answers 30 Years after Winfield Child Vanished". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. January 14, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  17. Hadad, Chuck (January 20, 2011). "Tip Could Be 'Crucial' Lead in Cherrie Mahan Case". tcnn.com. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  18. Dvorchak, Robert (April 21, 1985). "Missing 8-Year-Old on Utility Bills, Spaghetti Boxes". AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  19. Belcufine, Lexi (February 22, 2015). "Cherrie Mahan Case Still Oopen 30 Years After She Disappeared". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  20. Smith, Kevin (February 22, 2020). "Cherrie Mahan's Mysterious Disappearance Haunts Her Mother 35 Years Later". triblive.com. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  21. "Pennsylvania Child Cherrie Mahan Still Missing After Getting off School Bus in 1985". NBC News. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  22. "Cherrie Mahan NamUs MP # 2478". National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. National Institute of Justice. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  23. "Missing 8-Year-Old on Utility Bills, Spaghetti Boxes". Associated Press. apnews.com. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  24. Belcufine, Lexi (February 22, 2015). "Cherrie Mahan Case Still Oopen 30 Years After She Disappeared". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  25. Roddy, Dennis (November 6, 1998). "Cherrie's Death Official, Mother's Memory Eternal". post-gazette.com. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  26. Tsonis, Shannon (February 20, 2020). "Dead Ends: Where is Cherrie Mahan?". WPMG-FM. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  27. "Police: Girl Knew Abductor". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 22, 1990. p. 5. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  28. Callins, James (February 18, 2020). "reaking: New Information Released in Cherrie Mahan Disappearance". Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  29. Callins, James (February 18, 2020). "reaking: New Information Released in Cherrie Mahan Disappearance". Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  30. "25 Years Later, Search Continues For Missing Girl". WPXI. wpxi.com. February 22, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  31. Belcufine, Lexi (February 22, 2015). "Cherrie Mahan Case Still Open 30 Years After She Disappeared". post-gazette.com. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  32. "State Police Ask Anyone with Information About Cherrie Mahan's Disappearance to Come Forward". CBS Pittsburgh. CBS Local. February 19, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  33. "New Clue Reported in Disappearance of First 'Have You Seen Me?' Child". Mercury News. January 14, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  34. "Police Report New Lead on Long-Missing Pa. Girl". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 14, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  35. Miller, Carlin (January 14, 2011). "Cherrie Mahan Missing: Penn. Police May Have Break in 1985 Missing Girl Case". CBS News. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  36. "Anonymous Letter Could Shed Light on Decades-old Disappearance". WPXI. February 22, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  37. "Anonymous Letter Could Shed Light on Decades-old Disappearance". WPXI. February 22, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  38. Roddy, Dennis B. (November 6, 1998). "Cherrie's Death Official, Mother's Memory Eternal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  39. Roddy, Dennis (November 6, 1998). "Cherrie's Death Official, Mother's Memory Eternal". post-gazette.com. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  40. Shaw, David. "Cherrie Mahan: Butler's Most Famous Cold Case". Butler Dispatch. Butler Dispatch. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  41. Roddy, Dennis B. (November 6, 1998). "Cherrie's Death Official, Mother's Memory Eternal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  42. "Friends of Cherrie Mahan Gather to Remember Her 35 Years Later". CBS Local. February 22, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.

Cited works and further reading
  • Collins, James J. (1999). Law Enforcement Policies and Practices Regarding Missing Children and Homeless Youth. United States: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. ISBN 978-0-788-18639-4.
  • Fisher, Bonnie S.; Lab, Steven P. (2010). Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention. Los Angeles: Sage Publishing. ISBN 978-1-412-96047-2.
  • Fridell, Ronald (2008). Forensic Science. London: Lerner Books. ISBN 978-1-580-13422-4.
  • Katz, Hélèna (2010). Cold Cases: Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in America. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-37692-4.
  • Murphy, Paul (2011). Guide for Implementing or Enhancing an Endangered Missing Advisory (EMA). Washington: U. S. Department of Justice. ISBN 978-1-437-98383-8.
  • Pettem, Silvia (2017). The Long Term Missing: Hope and Help for Families. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-442-25680-4.
  • Sprague, Donald F. (2013). Investigating Missing Children Cases: A Guide for First Responders and Investigators. New York: Taylor & LFrancis Group. ISBN 978-1-439-86063-2.
  • 2005 news article detailing the twentieth anniversary of Mahan's abduction
  • 2018 news article detailing the efforts of Mahan's family to locate their relative
  • Cbslocal.com webpage pertaining to the disappearance of Cherrie Mahan
  • National Center for Missing and Exploited Children case file pertaining to Cherrie Mahan
  • charleyproject.org webpage pertaining to Cherrie Mahan
  • doenetwork.org webpage pertaining to Cherrie Mahan
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