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

[Kittybunny]

'It's A Torment': Cherrie Mahan's Mother Still Searching 35 Years After She Disappeared From Butler Co.
To understand the depth of this mother’s despair you need to know this: “I got raped and had Cherrie when I was 16 years old and she was ‘IT’ for me. Everything! I never left that house without her, we were always together, we grew up together, she was my life.”

Janice believes there is a connection between her rape, Cherrie’s birth, and eight years later her disappearance “I do, I believe that but I can’t prove anything,” she says.

Janice McKinney says authorities did not believe her rape allegation and Cherrie’s biological father was never charged.

But she does not believe he was involved in her disappearance? “Not him personally but the people that he knows yes.”

Police are aware of McKinney’s suspicions and have told her the man is adamant in his denials. The only thing Trp. Long will say about suspects: “Anybody that was implicated, until we find evidence otherwise, they still would be considered a suspect.”

Likewise, the police say until they have evidence to the contrary, they have to assume there is still a chance Cherrie is alive.

Wow! That is quite the revelation. However, I do believe? hope? that LE would have thoroughly investigated the possibility of the biological father being responsible. Sooner or later, some evidence and/or people reporting that there was suddenly an unexplained child around would have come out.

I tend to think this was the rarest of rare abductions - a stranger abduction, though I don't rule out a neighbor or acquaintance of a neighbor. It seems a little too coincidental that she was taken right after getting off the bus. Someone knew the schedule, and was waiting.

I think of poor little Faye Marie from SC - killed by a neighbor, no connection to her. I have to go back and read how thorough the investigation was, did they search all neighbors nearby, etc.? I think response to missing children has changed somewhat but I do think that this was treated as an abduction from the start.

 

[SassySquatch]

The video of the recent interview. https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/vid...still-searching-35-years-after-disappearance/

 

[Gameman]

Heartbreaking. I didn’t get to watch and hope there is a full video posted soon.
Of course, without knowing what her mom knows, nobody can fully understand why she thinks the two events are connected. It does seem unrealistic that a person or people would retaliate on behalf of someone else eight to nine years later, risking life in jail to avenge a friend’s rape accusation from a decade earlier. Kidnapping and possibly hurting a child would cross almost anyone’s line.
I feel terribly for her having to go through the trauma of being sexually assaulted and impregnated at 16 years old. Now this.

 

[Gameman]

Thank for posting the link to the video!

 

[SAMS]

Horrible! I feel sick for her mom.

 

[chaddylex]

State Police Ask People With Information About Cherrie Mahan's Disappearance To Come Forward

WINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) – Almost 35 years later, Cherrie Mahan’s mother still lives in Butler County, and she wants to know what happened to her daughter.

After KDKA’s report of a new revelation from Cherrie’s mother, KDKA’s John Shumway reports police received dozens of new tips.

Thirty-five years after her daughter 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan got off her school bus in rural Butler County and disappeared, Janice McKinney can tell you time does not heal the wound.

“I think about her all the time, I pray for her every night, I pray for her every morning,” Janice says.

Janice McKinney feels like she has nothing to lose in her search to find out what happened to her daughter. She shared with us that Cherrie was the result of rape when Janice was 16.

“I never left that house without her, we were always together, we grew up together, she was my life,” Janice says.

She told John Shumway no one believed her claim of rape, and to this day she feels Cherrie’s biological father knows something about who took Cherrie.

“Not him personally, but the people that he knows, yes,” she says.

John Shumway went back to the state police today about Cherrie’s biological father.

They say he’s a person of interest.

Since KDKA’s report aired last night at 11, Trooper Jim Long says, “We’ve gotten a ton of tips, it’s been very effective and as of now, we’re still trying to work our way through them, cause even as we are speaking now, I would not be surprised if we got a couple more.”

And police are hoping in there somewhere, they’ll find the answer to Cherrie’s disappearance.

When 8-year-old Cherrie got off the bus that day, Janice says she didn’t just evaporate

“I truly believe that there is someone out there that knows exactly what happened,” she says.

Trp. Long says they may not even realize it.

“What a person might think may be insignificant, that may be the piece that we’re looking for,” he says.

Now, 35 years later, Janice McKinney just wants to know.

“It’s like your heart has been snapped half and it will never go back together again,” she says.

“It’s heart breaking for anybody. What I hope what people get from this piece is people actually see the pain she’s living through,” says Trp. Long.

“If they have information and they’ve been holding it for all these years, that they see what this woman has been living with
her entire adult life and come forward and give that information to us.”

The state police in butler are waiting for your call.

 

[Luckyzmom]

Praying that someone comes forward, Janice deserves to know the truth. It's been too long. Someone knows something, let's pray they do the right thing.

 

[Emily Richard]

I live in Armstrong county, Ive been reading about Cherrie Mahan’s case for a very long time. I really wish they would release the name of Cherrie Mahans biological dad, It could honestly help solve the case especially if there were people who witnessed something suspicious and brushed it off like it was nothing not knowing the person was linked to Cherrie Mahan.

< modsnip>

Hopefully this case gets solved, I’m only 20 years old, I wasn’t even around when Cherrie went missing but I will keep her memory living on. I tell everyone I know about this case. I hope Janice gets the justice she deserves.

 

[Shannon271]

Someone knows where Cherrie Mahan is...
https://wpmg.net/2020/02/20/where-is-cherrie-mahan/

 

[chaddylex]

Cherrie Mahan’s mysterious disappearance haunts her mother 35 years later | TribLIVE.com

I hope with all this publicity they will get the break they need to solve Cherrie's disappearance.

 

[smile22]

there is a women on the fb pages who said she has connections to this case i finally get her to private message me messenger asking if shes had dreams of the case premonitions or could be some how Cherrie.

she responds back " i was adopted born in 1984 or 1986 i keep seeing a log and woods and the log scares me. i think my mom could be cherrie there is also a sketch out there and my kids said it looks like me when i was little" something didn't seem right and im so mad because was cleaning out my messenger and accidentally erased the conversations with her.

then a few days later someone posts something and this same women goes yeah its not the van and that she knows two people who own a van like the one thats possibly tied to the case and if its the same people shes thinking of cherrie is alive but she wont say much until she knows for sure

then in another post she says someone that is mentioned in another page on fb could be the daughter of cherrie or a sister to her from the same bio father
i feel like this women is playing games with people her storys keep changing.

 

[chaddylex]

there is a women on the fb pages who said she has connections to this case i finally get her to private message me messenger asking if shes had dreams of the case premonitions or could be some how Cherrie.

she responds back " i was adopted born in 1984 or 1986 i keep seeing a log and woods and the log scares me. i think my mom could be cherrie there is also a sketch out there and my kids said it looks like me when i was little" something didn't seem right and im so mad because was cleaning out my messenger and accidentally erased the conversations with her.

then a few days later someone posts something and this same women goes yeah its not the van and that she knows two people who own a van like the one thats possibly tied to the case and if its the same people shes thinking of cherrie is alive but she wont say much until she knows for sure

then in another post she says someone that is mentioned in another page on fb could be the daughter of cherrie or a sister to her from the same bio father
i feel like this women is playing games with people her storys keep changing.

Cherrie was born in 1976. I think I saw someone on FB shared this lady's post and they all felt it was a hoax, or someone said she had some issues.

 

[MacPlus512]

Have they interviewed all of her classmates? I know it's been 35 years, and those classmates may be hard-pressed to recall that far back in their lives now, but did Cherrie have any indication of distress while in school that day?

 

[missadrienne]

State Police Ask People With Information About Cherrie Mahan's Disappearance To Come Forward

<snip>

Janice McKinney feels like she has nothing to lose in her search to find out what happened to her daughter. She shared with us that Cherrie was the result of rape when Janice was 16.

“I never left that house without her, we were always together, we grew up together, she was my life,” Janice says.

She told John Shumway no one believed her claim of rape, and to this day she feels Cherrie’s biological father knows something about who took Cherrie.

“Not him personally, but the people that he knows, yes,” she says.

John Shumway went back to the state police today about Cherrie’s biological father.

They say he’s a person of interest.

That's interesting because bio-dad wasn't a POI. When did that change....and why?

CNN.com - Transcripts

 

[Gameman]

I wonder if they meant it as ‘Nobody on this Earth has been ruled out so neither has the biological father.’
Also, it’s interesting that her mom views someone taking Cherrie the ONE day she wasn’t accompanied as indicative that someone was watching Cherrie every day. I would imagine it is much harder to watch someone regularly in a rural area without being noticed.
Perhaps it was a true stranger abduction and an unplanned crime of opportunity, and that is why it’s been nearly impossible to solve.

 

[chaddylex]

That's interesting because bio-dad wasn't a POI. When did that change....and why?

CNN.com - Transcripts

This is the first time I have heard that he was a POI also. Maybe they are grasping for straws, I have no idea.

 

[missadrienne]

I suppose that's possible, nobody has been ruled out so everyone's a suspect.

I was 6 years old when Cherrie went missing just a few miles from where I grew up & now live. I can't imagine that, 35 years ago, someone watching someone would go unnoticed. I don't think we "look out for each other" nearly as much as people did back then - still, if an unfamiliar car or person shows up in the neighborhood, most of us notice and talk about it because you don't wind up here very often by accident.

If this was a true stranger abduction I would be floored. But until someone comes forward or some sort of evidence surfaces, I fear we'll never know. Still, Cherrie's loved ones deserve answers/closure.

I wonder if they meant it as ‘Nobody on this Earth has been ruled out so neither has the biological father.’
Also, it’s interesting that her mom views someone taking Cherrie the ONE day she wasn’t accompanied as indicative that someone was watching Cherrie every day. I would imagine it is much harder to watch someone regularly in a rural area without being noticed.
Perhaps it was a true stranger abduction and an unplanned crime of opportunity, and that is why it’s been nearly impossible to solve.

 

[chaddylex]

I suppose that's possible, nobody has been ruled out so everyone's a suspect.

I was 6 years old when Cherrie went missing just a few miles from where I grew up & now live. I can't imagine that, 35 years ago, someone watching someone would go unnoticed. I don't think we "look out for each other" nearly as much as people did back then - still, if an unfamiliar car or person shows up in the neighborhood, most of us notice and talk about it because you don't wind up here very often by accident.

If this was a true stranger abduction I would be floored. But until someone comes forward or some sort of evidence surfaces, I fear we'll never know. Still, Cherrie's loved ones deserve answers/closure.

Since you are from the area (I am about an hour away) - do you hear any talk of who her biological father is? I am just curious - and wondering - Does this man have a criminal past?

 

[Yardbunnys]

Since you are from the area (I am about an hour away) - do you hear any talk of who her biological father is? I am just curious - and wondering - Does this man have a criminal past?

Here's some old clipping from newspapers about her father

 

[Yardbunnys]

This is from a newspaper in Bloomington, Illinois on October 5, 1978. Interesting!