PA PA - Cherrie Mahan, 8, Cabot, 22 Feb 1985

[kilahchris]

The school bus driver that had dropped cherri off? was he questioned? and how thoroughly. It just seems odd that the child did not make 150 yard trek to her house. Did she even get off the bus? can people verify she even got on the school bus to go home?

 

[chaddylex]

The school bus driver that had dropped cherri off? was he questioned? and how thoroughly. It just seems odd that the child did not make 150 yard trek to her house. Did she even get off the bus? can people verify she even got on the school bus to go home?

Good question. I would imagine they had interviewed the bus driver, I need look and see what I can find.

 

[passionflower]

Who reported or saw that infamous skier van?
How many children were on the school bus?
A lady that used to work for me said her brother road that bus with Cherri;
but he was ill that day and was not on it.
I have never heard any children, now adults ever speak of that day.

 

[passionflower]

This case has been on my mind and in my heart for the last 19 years:


Cherrie Ann Mahan - Missing from Butler, Pennsylvania

At 4:05 P.M. on February 22, 1985,the above described child exited her school bus, in company with three other Students. She had approximately 100 years to walk to her residence, but did not arrive home. When she failed to arrive home, her father immediately began a search with negative results, and then notified the state police. A blue or green van, with a painting on the passenger side with a mountain scene with a skier coming down the mountain, was following the bus. There was also an unaccounted for blue colored car in the area at the time of the disappearance.

Please see Cherrie's picture then and what she may look like now:

http://doenetwork.bravepages.com/255dfpa.html

found this info.............

 

[margarita25]

:bump:

 

[chaddylex]

Who reported or saw that infamous skier van?
How many children were on the school bus?
A lady that used to work for me said her brother road that bus with Cherri;
but he was ill that day and was not on it.
I have never heard any children, now adults ever speak of that day.

I am wondering too why no one has ever heard from the other kids that rode her bus or the 3 others that exited the bus with her. Just seems very strange.

 

[jbluesky]

Question: Back in the 80's, how easy was it to change someone's identity? Say someone abducts an 8 year old child and then a year later enrolls them in kindergarten, like starting over completely, with a new name and everything. What do you think the likelihood of that being pulled off is?

I'll explain why I'm asking later. I'm at work and just saw her case online and had to ask real quick.

ETA: Are we allowed to post photos on here of other people for opinions on similarity?

 

[jbluesky]

Also, when I did a search on here for this case I found several threads. I tried to find any other pictures of her, but the links I found to any other photos or age-progressions don't seem to work. Does anyone know of any other photos of Cherrie or any other age-progressions that are out there?

 

[chaddylex]

Also, when I did a search on here for this case I found several threads. I tried to find any other pictures of her, but the links I found to any other photos or age-progressions don't seem to work. Does anyone know of any other photos of Cherrie or any other age-progressions that are out there?

Here is the newest age progression I have found of Cherrie.

 

[jbluesky]

Ok, so here's the reason I asked. I saw this picture of Cherrie and immediately thought "I know her!"

I was born and raised in a town 7 miles down-river of Pittsburgh, PA. In my kindergarten class, which was in 1986-1987 there was a girl who was only there for about half the year, possibly less. This was 29 years ago and I was only 5, so time-span is a little skewed. I remembered her name as "Jodi". When she stopped coming to school it was because her house caught on fire and she lost some family members. I never saw her again.

A few years ago I came across my kindergarten class picture. I posted it on facebook and tagged all my friends in it. A few days later, somebody tagged the girl, who's name on facebook is different, but similar to the "Jodi" I remembered. She added me on facebook and sent me a message. In it, she told me that it was really weird for her to see that picture because she has never seen any pictures of herself as a child. She said this was because they were all lost in the fire. I didn't think anything of her saying that until now after seeing Cherrie's photo/story. The odd part was, I had no mutual friends with her on facebook, and I have no idea how she got tagged in my picture. Looking at her current pictures and comparing them to both Cherrie and the age progression, they are eerily similar. And the kindergarten picture I have of her is equally as similar to the photo of Cherrie, only with her hair a little longer and she does look a little older.

I know that Cherrie was 8 when she went missing, and that I am talking about kindergarten a year later. But it's not entirely that far-fetched I don't believe. I have a 7 1/2 year old daughter who could easily pass as 5.

The few times in the past that I thought I had a good lead on a case and called it in to authorities, I ended up being wrong and it has been discouraging. Not to mention, the people on the phone always make me feel like I'm wasting their time. So, I would like others' input and opinion on the likelihood of this being the case. I did contact one person I went to kindergarten with and shared the story of Cherrie and picture and he found it interesting and said he can see the similarity. I am itching to post the picture I have on here, as well as what she looks like now.

 

[Sere-nity]

Ok, so here's the reason I asked. I saw this picture of Cherrie and immediately thought "I know her!"

I was born and raised in a town 7 miles down-river of Pittsburgh, PA. In my kindergarten class, which was in 1986-1987 there was a girl who was only there for about half the year, possibly less. This was 29 years ago and I was only 5, so time-span is a little skewed. I remembered her name as "Jodi". When she stopped coming to school it was because her house caught on fire and she lost some family members. I never saw her again.

A few years ago I came across my kindergarten class picture. I posted it on facebook and tagged all my friends in it. A few days later, somebody tagged the girl, who's name on facebook is different, but similar to the "Jodi" I remembered. She added me on facebook and sent me a message. In it, she told me that it was really weird for her to see that picture because she has never seen any pictures of herself as a child. She said this was because they were all lost in the fire. I didn't think anything of her saying that until now after seeing Cherrie's photo/story. The odd part was, I had no mutual friends with her on facebook, and I have no idea how she got tagged in my picture. Looking at her current pictures and comparing them to both Cherrie and the age progression, they are eerily similar. And the kindergarten picture I have of her is equally as similar to the photo of Cherrie, only with her hair a little longer and she does look a little older.

I know that Cherrie was 8 when she went missing, and that I am talking about kindergarten a year later. But it's not entirely that far-fetched I don't believe. I have a 7 1/2 year old daughter who could easily pass as 5.

The few times in the past that I thought I had a good lead on a case and called it in to authorities, I ended up being wrong and it has been discouraging. Not to mention, the people on the phone always make me feel like I'm wasting their time. So, I would like others' input and opinion on the likelihood of this being the case. I did contact one person I went to kindergarten with and shared the story of Cherrie and picture and he found it interesting and said he can see the similarity. I am itching to post the picture I have on here, as well as what she looks like now.

I went to school with a girl that reminds me of her picture but this was in Minneapolis and the girls name was is Melissa. Same face but curly hair.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scriptgirl]

I don't think this poor is still alive.

 

[chaddylex]

Ok, so here's the reason I asked. I saw this picture of Cherrie and immediately thought "I know her!"

I was born and raised in a town 7 miles down-river of Pittsburgh, PA. In my kindergarten class, which was in 1986-1987 there was a girl who was only there for about half the year, possibly less. This was 29 years ago and I was only 5, so time-span is a little skewed. I remembered her name as "Jodi". When she stopped coming to school it was because her house caught on fire and she lost some family members. I never saw her again.

A few years ago I came across my kindergarten class picture. I posted it on facebook and tagged all my friends in it. A few days later, somebody tagged the girl, who's name on facebook is different, but similar to the "Jodi" I remembered. She added me on facebook and sent me a message. In it, she told me that it was really weird for her to see that picture because she has never seen any pictures of herself as a child. She said this was because they were all lost in the fire. I didn't think anything of her saying that until now after seeing Cherrie's photo/story. The odd part was, I had no mutual friends with her on facebook, and I have no idea how she got tagged in my picture. Looking at her current pictures and comparing them to both Cherrie and the age progression, they are eerily similar. And the kindergarten picture I have of her is equally as similar to the photo of Cherrie, only with her hair a little longer and she does look a little older.

I know that Cherrie was 8 when she went missing, and that I am talking about kindergarten a year later. But it's not entirely that far-fetched I don't believe. I have a 7 1/2 year old daughter who could easily pass as 5.

The few times in the past that I thought I had a good lead on a case and called it in to authorities, I ended up being wrong and it has been discouraging. Not to mention, the people on the phone always make me feel like I'm wasting their time. So, I would like others' input and opinion on the likelihood of this being the case. I did contact one person I went to kindergarten with and shared the story of Cherrie and picture and he found it interesting and said he can see the similarity. I am itching to post the picture I have on here, as well as what she looks like now.

Wow that is interesting. I think you could post the class pic, I can't see why not! I am curious to see it.

I have called in different possible matches on different cases over they years and I know the feeling about feeling like you are wasting their time.

A few years ago I called in a tip to NamUs about a guy that lived a few blocks away from me growing up that had a van with a skier painted on the side of it like the one they described that could have been involved with Cherrie's disappearance. I found out the guy passed away probably about 10 years ago, but I figured to see if they could do a search of previous owned vehicles. I doubt they ever followed up on it.

I still remember seeing her disappearance on the news like it was yesterday. I hope one day we will know what happened to her.

 

[bessie]

Question: Back in the 80's, how easy was it to change someone's identity? Say someone abducts an 8 year old child and then a year later enrolls them in kindergarten, like starting over completely, with a new name and everything. What do you think the likelihood of that being pulled off is?

I'll explain why I'm asking later. I'm at work and just saw her case online and had to ask real quick.

ETA: Are we allowed to post photos on here of other people for opinions on similarity?

Hi, jbluesky. I love your enthusiasm. So much dedication from the members following Cherrie's case! It's awesome. Thank you.

However...I'm afraid we can't post photos of individuals other than known victims and suspects. Sorry.

 

[chaddylex]

It's been 31 years today that Cherrie went missing. I remember sitting on my couch seeing her disappearance on the 6pm news like it was yesterday. I would love for her case to be solved.

 

[bigdog]

What kind of work did the step dad do why was he home that day??? Was the FBI ever involved in this case if so did they have a profile of any suspects??? The psychic sisters investigated this case and gave the mother initials of who they thought was involved what was the initials??

 

[Ozoner]

A few years ago I called in a tip to NamUs about a guy that lived a few blocks away from me growing up that had a van with a skier painted on the side of it like the one they described that could have been involved with Cherrie's disappearance. I found out the guy passed away probably about 10 years ago, but I figured to see if they could do a search of previous owned vehicles. I doubt they ever followed up on it.

What town did you live in? It seems like a van with a skier on it would be easy enough to locate.

Can you share any more information about this neighbor? There is no risk of defamation once a person is dead.

 

[cocomod]

With the solving of several older cases including, but not limited to, Jacob and "Lori Ruff", I still have hopes that Cherrie's case may be solved some day.

raying:

 

[pittsburghgirl]

PA State Police were involved. They have never given up trying to solve this case. The biggest clue was the van with the skier on the side. So far as I know, it has always been seen as a stranger abduction. If you have information about the van, contact the PA State Police barracks in Butler, PA.

 

[Georgesand]

New to this site, I found this online a while back and right away I thought of Cherrie Mahan! There can't be many of these sold . There must be some record of where these were sold. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=612968