Woman claims to be missing 8-year-old girl who disappeared 39 years ago
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
A woman has claimed to be an eight-year-old girl who went missing 39 years ago.
Cherrie Mahan disappeared after being dropped off by her school bus at the stop in front of her Pennsylvania home on February 22, 1985.
Eight-year-old Cherrie has not been seen or heard from since that fateful day.
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An investigation did not manage to locate the young girl, though investigators believe that a 1976 Dodge van with a design featuring a skier on a mountain may have been connected to her disappearance.
Pennsylvania State Police are now investigating a woman after she claimed to be Cherrie in a post on the Memories of Cherrie Mahan Facebook group on May 23.
Sadly, not only does Cherrie's mom Janice McKinney not believe her, but she is also used to people claiming to be her missing daughter.
That's because this is not the first time someone has come forward claiming to be Cherrie, but the fourth.
Speaking to the Butler Eagle, Janice said: “I truly believe she thought in her mind that she was Cherrie.
“It did not look anything like Cherrie at all.”
She went on to condemn the woman, adding: “If you wanted your 15 minutes of fame, you’ve already blown it.
“People are mean, they are cruel, but this affects me really crazy. It’s gonna be 40 years since Cherrie’s been missing.”
The Facebook post has since been removed.
The mom said that she is used to seeing an increase in the number of people claiming to have 'leads' in her missing daughter's case around the anniversary of her disappearance.
Janice explained that around February and August she has become accustomed to 'expect craziness'.
Nonetheless, she said: "This just hit me different. I didn’t even see it. Someone called me and told me about it.”
Despite no leads on her missing daughter, Janice feels certain that she is OK, no matter what.
She admitted: “I’ve always felt that she was OK. If she was dead, she is in heaven with my parents and my brothers. If she was alive, someone was taking care of her. I don’t know why I feel that way.”
But despite this, Janice still feels like there is something out there which could bring some closure to the case.
The mom said: “I wish that we [investigators on Cherrie’s case] could all get together and sit and talk.
“There’s something somebody missed somewhere, and somebody knows.”
UNILAD has reached out to Pennsylvania State Police Department for comment.