A Woman Claims to be Cherrie Mahan, Who has Been Missing for Nearly 40 Years

A woman from America has come forward to say she is the Pennsylvania eight-year-old child who disappeared in 1985 from a bust stop.

Cherrie Mahan was last seen on February 22, over forty years ago, in Winfield Township, Butler County. She had just gotten off a school bus approximately 100 yards from her Cabot home.

The unidentified woman wrote on May 23 on the Facebook group "Memories of Cherrie Mahan" that she was the lost girl, who would be 47 years old at this point. It was unknown what she looked like because she did not release a photo in public.

 

Janice McKinney, Cherrie's mother, was not persuaded that the woman was her long-lost daughter. 

'I truly believe she thought in her mind that she was Cherrie. It did not look anything like Cherrie at all,' The Butler Eagle was told by McKinney.

'We are investigating this woman's claim to be Cherrie Mahan, ' a Pennsylvania State Police official told DailyMail.

McKinney wrote, 'I talked to the police they are investigating this is very hard on me please be aware I see everything.'  

The distraught mother revealed that numerous tips have come in over the years claiming that this isn't the first time someone has identified themselves as her adult daughter. Around Cherrie's birthday month of August and the anniversary of her disappearance, McKinney revealed that a lot of people get in touch with her.

'In February and August, I expect craziness. This just hit me differently, I didn't even see it. Someone called me and told me about it.' McKinney added.

She said that although life without her daughter is difficult every day, she is made to feel even more hurt when false accusations begin to circulate.

'If you wanted your 15 minutes of fame, you've already blown it,' she said.  'People are mean, they are cruel, but this affects me really crazy. It's gonna be 40 years since Cherrie's been missing.' 

She claimed that knowing her daughter is being cared for, whether she is alive or not, is what keeps her calm.

'I've always felt that she was ok. If she was dead, she is in heaven with my parents and my brothers,' the mother said. 'If she is alive, someone was taking care of her. I don't know why I feel that way.' 

She previously shared with KDKA News her recollection of waiting with her husband Leroy for Cherrie to run up the family driveway following that day's school bus drop-off.

McKinney said, 'Leroy's like, "Do you want me to go down and pick her up?" and I said no, it's a beautiful day, she'll come running right up over the hill because she wants to go. But then that never happened.'  

McKinney has seen her cherished kid for almost forty years, but she still hasn't achieved the closure she needs.

'There’s something somebody missed somewhere, and somebody knows,' she said.