http://www.insidebutlercounty.com/index.php?t=news_detail&id=16567
Cherie, we are all still thinking of you.
Cherie, we are all still thinking of you.
PA PA - Cherrie Mahan, 8, Cabot, 22 Feb 1985
- Thread starter mindys
- Start date
Have you seen Cherrie Mahan?
Their stories are eerily similar, but only one, so far, has a happy ending.
When Ben Ownby disappeared in Missouri last week, Janice McKinney, a Pennsylvania woman, shed some tears at the thought of what he and his family must have been going through. Janice, after all, can relate. Her daughter, then 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan, was kidnapped more than two decades ago after getting off her school bus, just like Ben Ownby.
Cherrie, who now would be 30 years old, hasn't been seen since.
Like in Ben's case, there was a witness who saw a vehicle. A student from Cherrie's bus described a blue van with a snowcapped mountain and a skier painted on the side of it. Investigators never found the van. Janice McKinney lives with terrible guilt. It was the first time she hadn't picked up her daughter at the bus stop. She had given her permission to walk the 300 feet from the bus to her driveway.
Next month marks the 22nd anniversary of Cherrie's disappearance. She's happy that William Ben Ownby and another young boy, Shawn Hornbeck, were found. Janice told me it gives her hope that one day she'll have her little girl back too. "Twenty-two years later, I'm still searching for any kind of answer," she said.
As it turns out, Cherrie was the little girl who helped put a real face on missing kids. Hers was the first to appear on those "Have you seen me?" fliers you get in your mailbox.
This was posted today on Anderson Cooper Blog on CNN.com
Their stories are eerily similar, but only one, so far, has a happy ending.
When Ben Ownby disappeared in Missouri last week, Janice McKinney, a Pennsylvania woman, shed some tears at the thought of what he and his family must have been going through. Janice, after all, can relate. Her daughter, then 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan, was kidnapped more than two decades ago after getting off her school bus, just like Ben Ownby.
Cherrie, who now would be 30 years old, hasn't been seen since.
Like in Ben's case, there was a witness who saw a vehicle. A student from Cherrie's bus described a blue van with a snowcapped mountain and a skier painted on the side of it. Investigators never found the van. Janice McKinney lives with terrible guilt. It was the first time she hadn't picked up her daughter at the bus stop. She had given her permission to walk the 300 feet from the bus to her driveway.
Next month marks the 22nd anniversary of Cherrie's disappearance. She's happy that William Ben Ownby and another young boy, Shawn Hornbeck, were found. Janice told me it gives her hope that one day she'll have her little girl back too. "Twenty-two years later, I'm still searching for any kind of answer," she said.
As it turns out, Cherrie was the little girl who helped put a real face on missing kids. Hers was the first to appear on those "Have you seen me?" fliers you get in your mailbox.
This was posted today on Anderson Cooper Blog on CNN.com
A new photo of Cherrie has been posted on the Doenetwork. It can be seen on the link below the current Doenetwork file text.
-----------------------------------------------
Cherrie Ann Mahan
Missing since February 22, 1985 from Cabot, Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: August 14, 1976
Age at Time of Disappearance: 8 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'2; 68 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; hazel eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has pierced ears. She has a dog bite scar on her left arm. The same arm was previously broken below her left shoulder; the injury had healed by the time of her disappearance.
Clothing: She was last seen wearing a gray coat; denim skirt; blue leg warmers; and beige boots.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Mahan was last seen exiting the bus from her elementary school approximately 100 yards from her family's home in Cabot, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1985. She has never been seen again. A bright blue or green Dodge van with a mountain and skier mural on both sides of the vehicle may be involved in Mahan's abduction.
Investigators
If you have any information concerning Mahan's whereabouts, please contact:
Pennsylvania State Police
Missing Persons Unit
412-284-8100
You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency.
NCIC Number: M-147906762
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Charley Project
Doe Network
LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/255dfpa.html
-----------------------------------------------
Cherrie Ann Mahan
Missing since February 22, 1985 from Cabot, Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: August 14, 1976
Age at Time of Disappearance: 8 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'2; 68 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; hazel eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has pierced ears. She has a dog bite scar on her left arm. The same arm was previously broken below her left shoulder; the injury had healed by the time of her disappearance.
Clothing: She was last seen wearing a gray coat; denim skirt; blue leg warmers; and beige boots.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Mahan was last seen exiting the bus from her elementary school approximately 100 yards from her family's home in Cabot, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1985. She has never been seen again. A bright blue or green Dodge van with a mountain and skier mural on both sides of the vehicle may be involved in Mahan's abduction.
Investigators
If you have any information concerning Mahan's whereabouts, please contact:
Pennsylvania State Police
Missing Persons Unit
412-284-8100
You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency.
NCIC Number: M-147906762
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Charley Project
Doe Network
LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/255dfpa.html
This Cold case is just over 22 years old. There is a discussion forum about it in several other forums, but I felt that it would be of interest here as well.
-------------------------------------------
CHERRIE ANN MAHAN
DOB: Aug 14, 1976
Missing: Feb 22, 1985
Age at time: 8
Age Now: 28
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 4'2" (127 cm)
Weight: 68 lbs (31 kg)
She has pierced ears
Missing From: CABOT (near PITTSBURGH), PA, United States
Non-Family Abduction
Cherie was last seen getting off the school bus about 100 yards from home on 22 February 1985. At exactly 4:05 PM she turned and waved good-bye to three school mates who had gotten off the bus with her.
They waved back and she circled around the bus so that she could get to her driveway. She never made it up the driveway to her house.
One mother was parked in front of the bus, waiting to pick up her child. She happened to look up and see Cherrie in the rearview mirror. She watched Cherrie take a second to straighten her clothing as she got off the bus.
She adjusted her brown Cabbage Patch earmuffs decorated woth long hair, rearranged her blue book bag, which had two straps with a cream-colored top and a blue and red heart. When Cherrie walked out of view, she was wearing a gray coat over a blue denim skirt, blue leg warmers, and ankle high beige boots that her mother had helped her put on that morning.
At that moment, the watching mother got a brief glimpse of a dark green or blue van. On the side of the van was a painting of a large snow-capped mountain. In the middle of the picture was the figure of a skier in a red and yellow ski outfit racing down teh mountain. The mother noticed that the driver of the van was also wearing ski clothes.
Police files indicate that a bright blue 1976 Dodge van with a mural of a mountain and a skier may be involved in her disappearance.
Pennsylvania State Police - Missing Persons Unit
link:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingki...archLang=en_US
---------------------------------------------
From the Doenetwork files:
Cherrie Ann Mahan
Missing since February 22, 1985 from Cabot, Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: August 14, 1976
Age at Time of Disappearance: 8 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'2; 68 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; hazel eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has pierced ears. She has a dog bite scar on her left arm. The same arm was previously broken below her left shoulder; the injury had healed by the time of her disappearance.
Clothing: She was last seen wearing a gray coat; denim skirt; blue leg warmers; and beige boots.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Mahan was last seen exiting the bus from her elementary school approximately 100 yards from her family's home in Cabot, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1985. She has never been seen again. A bright blue or green Dodge van with a mountain and skier mural on both sides of the vehicle may be involved in Mahan's abduction.
Investigators
If you have any information concerning Mahan's whereabouts, please contact:
Pennsylvania State Police
Missing Persons Unit
412-284-8100
You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency.
NCIC Number: M-147906762
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Charley Project
Doe Network
LINKS:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/255dfpa.htmlCHERRIE
-------------------------------------------
CHERRIE ANN MAHAN
DOB: Aug 14, 1976
Missing: Feb 22, 1985
Age at time: 8
Age Now: 28
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 4'2" (127 cm)
Weight: 68 lbs (31 kg)
She has pierced ears
Missing From: CABOT (near PITTSBURGH), PA, United States
Non-Family Abduction
Cherie was last seen getting off the school bus about 100 yards from home on 22 February 1985. At exactly 4:05 PM she turned and waved good-bye to three school mates who had gotten off the bus with her.
They waved back and she circled around the bus so that she could get to her driveway. She never made it up the driveway to her house.
One mother was parked in front of the bus, waiting to pick up her child. She happened to look up and see Cherrie in the rearview mirror. She watched Cherrie take a second to straighten her clothing as she got off the bus.
She adjusted her brown Cabbage Patch earmuffs decorated woth long hair, rearranged her blue book bag, which had two straps with a cream-colored top and a blue and red heart. When Cherrie walked out of view, she was wearing a gray coat over a blue denim skirt, blue leg warmers, and ankle high beige boots that her mother had helped her put on that morning.
At that moment, the watching mother got a brief glimpse of a dark green or blue van. On the side of the van was a painting of a large snow-capped mountain. In the middle of the picture was the figure of a skier in a red and yellow ski outfit racing down teh mountain. The mother noticed that the driver of the van was also wearing ski clothes.
Police files indicate that a bright blue 1976 Dodge van with a mural of a mountain and a skier may be involved in her disappearance.
Pennsylvania State Police - Missing Persons Unit
link:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingki...archLang=en_US
---------------------------------------------
From the Doenetwork files:
Cherrie Ann Mahan
Missing since February 22, 1985 from Cabot, Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: August 14, 1976
Age at Time of Disappearance: 8 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'2; 68 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; hazel eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has pierced ears. She has a dog bite scar on her left arm. The same arm was previously broken below her left shoulder; the injury had healed by the time of her disappearance.
Clothing: She was last seen wearing a gray coat; denim skirt; blue leg warmers; and beige boots.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Mahan was last seen exiting the bus from her elementary school approximately 100 yards from her family's home in Cabot, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1985. She has never been seen again. A bright blue or green Dodge van with a mountain and skier mural on both sides of the vehicle may be involved in Mahan's abduction.
Investigators
If you have any information concerning Mahan's whereabouts, please contact:
Pennsylvania State Police
Missing Persons Unit
412-284-8100
You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency.
NCIC Number: M-147906762
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Charley Project
Doe Network
LINKS:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/255dfpa.htmlCHERRIE
Marilynilpa
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This one is interesting to me, as I live in Pittsburgh which is quite close to Butler County.
Isn't it amazing how a child can get off a school bus and just vanish within yards of home? We've seen this time and time again.
It seems like the van would have been a great clue to follow, and I would imagine law enforcement looked long and hard for such a van.
I'll see what I can find out about the police investigation into the van, and perhaps see what other clues they looked into.
Thanks, Richard, for another intriguing case.
Isn't it amazing how a child can get off a school bus and just vanish within yards of home? We've seen this time and time again.
It seems like the van would have been a great clue to follow, and I would imagine law enforcement looked long and hard for such a van.
I'll see what I can find out about the police investigation into the van, and perhaps see what other clues they looked into.
Thanks, Richard, for another intriguing case.
Cherrie Mahan's case is one of the cases profiled on my web site also, and can be seen at http://users.1st.net/mwells/CherrieMahan.htm
http://users.1st.net/mwells/StarlightInnerPrizes.htm
http://users.1st.net/mwells/StarlightInnerPrizes.htm
Bobbisangel
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When this little girl disappeared I wonder if LE checked all of the places in that state that did the customized paintings on vans? I would think the person who owned the van had it done in a shop somewhere.
That poor mom still waiting after all of these years and the grandma too. I can't imagine my little girl going missing and never to be seen again. I hope the mom finds out something about her daughter. She has waited way to long.
That poor mom still waiting after all of these years and the grandma too. I can't imagine my little girl going missing and never to be seen again. I hope the mom finds out something about her daughter. She has waited way to long.
XcomSquaddie
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Bumping this one up.
I remember vividly when this happened. I always though they'd solve it, and it's always a surprise when another 5/10 anniversary comes around and you realize that it's been so long.
My personal belief is that the van was a trick. Why on earth would you abduct a child in a with a vivid and unique paint scheme? Unbelievably stupid. Not only would everyone who saw it near the abduction remember it, but the people around where you lived would remember it.
Take a "normal" van. Paint a mural on the side. Do it yourself (takes skill) because a shop will remember. Two things: either use water washable paint (iffy) or paint over it asap. Or sink it in a river. Lord knows there's enough of them in SW PA.
Everyone who sees the van will concentrate on the mural. Notice, no one described the driver except to say he was wearing "ski clothing". There was also an "unaccounted for blue car in the area".
What kind of blue car? Driver? Passengers? Make/Model/Year? Nothing. Everyone concentrated on the one memory that overrode everything else.
The van was a wash. For years everyone has concentrated on the van and it was probably painted, sunk or burned within hours or even an hour of the abduction.
I also notice that there's not much going on online regarding the case. Search google and the local news sites and you get the poster pages for DOE Network, etc. But no chatter.
Who can say?
I remember vividly when this happened. I always though they'd solve it, and it's always a surprise when another 5/10 anniversary comes around and you realize that it's been so long.
My personal belief is that the van was a trick. Why on earth would you abduct a child in a with a vivid and unique paint scheme? Unbelievably stupid. Not only would everyone who saw it near the abduction remember it, but the people around where you lived would remember it.
Take a "normal" van. Paint a mural on the side. Do it yourself (takes skill) because a shop will remember. Two things: either use water washable paint (iffy) or paint over it asap. Or sink it in a river. Lord knows there's enough of them in SW PA.
Everyone who sees the van will concentrate on the mural. Notice, no one described the driver except to say he was wearing "ski clothing". There was also an "unaccounted for blue car in the area".
What kind of blue car? Driver? Passengers? Make/Model/Year? Nothing. Everyone concentrated on the one memory that overrode everything else.
The van was a wash. For years everyone has concentrated on the van and it was probably painted, sunk or burned within hours or even an hour of the abduction.
I also notice that there's not much going on online regarding the case. Search google and the local news sites and you get the poster pages for DOE Network, etc. But no chatter.
Who can say?
Friday marked 23 years. Cherrie's Mom still lives in the area, about 20 minutes away.
http://www.insidebutlercounty.com/index.php?t=news_detail&id=31342
http://www.insidebutlercounty.com/index.php?t=news_detail&id=31342
meggilyweggily
Well-Known Member
That's actually a really clever theory. I had been wondering what the abductors were thinking, using a van like that (assuming it was the abductors driving that van) and your explanation makes a lot of sense. That kind of cunning is chilling. If the kidnappers really did do this, they are (A) very very smart and (B) thought of this long in advance.
I can only think of one car I've seen in my whole life that had a mural painted on it, and it was a garden scene. I just had to stop and stare at it. It was very detailed, with a duck pond and everything.
This link is from 2005 but there are some interesting thoughts in the comments. One was that it could have been a delivery/work (catering?) van. I too think perhaps the eyewitness account may have been a bit off. I also wondered if a search was ever done at the time at Moraine State Park, which is vast with not much action in February. BIG lake there too and it's not all that far from the abduction scene. There was and still are alot of rural areas in Butler County, PA which is about a half-hour North of Pittsburgh and an hour south of Erie, PA. A half hour to the west is the Ohio border.
http://users.1st.net/mwells/CherrieMahan.htm
I've ALWAYS thought, who could forget that child's eyes? So precious.
http://users.1st.net/mwells/CherrieMahan.htm
I've ALWAYS thought, who could forget that child's eyes? So precious.
meggilyweggily
Well-Known Member
There is another WS thread on Cherie here: http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15311
pittsburghgirl
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I checked the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette online site, as well as the Butler Eagle (the small town paper nearest Cherrie's home). No anniversary articles that I could find.
Here is a link to the most recent article in the P-G:
http://www.post-gazette.com/nation/20020317missingkids3.asp
I still look for the van with the skiier on the side, after all these years.
Here is a link to the most recent article in the P-G:
http://www.post-gazette.com/nation/20020317missingkids3.asp
I still look for the van with the skiier on the side, after all these years.
meggilyweggily
Well-Known Member
pittsburghgirl
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There are not only rivers and lakes in Western Pa, but many old strip mines that are deep and full of water. It would be very easy to sink a vehicle in one of them. But it takes a local to know where they are.
What is weird about the van is that there were NO sightings of it locally. The pictures of the van were on the news and in the papers; people were actively looking for it. How could you hide such a thing? If you owned it, why wouldn't you come forward? The road involved is not a superhighway or a main thoroughfare, where one might expect lots of non-local traffic.
What is weird about the van is that there were NO sightings of it locally. The pictures of the van were on the news and in the papers; people were actively looking for it. How could you hide such a thing? If you owned it, why wouldn't you come forward? The road involved is not a superhighway or a main thoroughfare, where one might expect lots of non-local traffic.
pittsburghgirl
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I got to thinking about that last point and went to Google Maps. I couldn't make a link work to what I found, but you can see it if you go to Google Maps and type Cornplanter and Winfield Road Cabot PA.
There is a short and direct access to the north to Rt 422, which connects directly to I-79 North to Erie or I-79 South to West Virginia. You can also continue and access the Pa and Ohio turnpikes. There is also a direct route south to Rt 28, which has an exit that is 2 miles away from the the Allegheny Valley exit on the PA turnpike (I-76) , from which point a van could go west or east. No EZ Pass or cameras to see the van in those days. You could also go east on 422 and through the mountains up into the Allegheny National Forest and into southern New York, where there are several ski areas. That would take about 3 hours but much of it is very rural and soon enough it would have been getting dark and people would be home and inside. Ski areas to the north, the east (Seven Springs) and the south.
Weirdly, the spot where is almost a perfect spot from which to kidnap a child; if you are pretty sure you can get an hour's jump, you can be in Ohio or the PA mountains or halfway to Erie before anyone starts to look.
You can best see what I mean if you put the little focus thingy halfway down in order to see the intersection in relation to other WPA road. I've lived here all my life and always thought of Cabot as so rural, and such a weird spot for a kidnapping. But I'm sure the state troopers that handled the case thought about this location long ago.
There is a short and direct access to the north to Rt 422, which connects directly to I-79 North to Erie or I-79 South to West Virginia. You can also continue and access the Pa and Ohio turnpikes. There is also a direct route south to Rt 28, which has an exit that is 2 miles away from the the Allegheny Valley exit on the PA turnpike (I-76) , from which point a van could go west or east. No EZ Pass or cameras to see the van in those days. You could also go east on 422 and through the mountains up into the Allegheny National Forest and into southern New York, where there are several ski areas. That would take about 3 hours but much of it is very rural and soon enough it would have been getting dark and people would be home and inside. Ski areas to the north, the east (Seven Springs) and the south.
Weirdly, the spot where is almost a perfect spot from which to kidnap a child; if you are pretty sure you can get an hour's jump, you can be in Ohio or the PA mountains or halfway to Erie before anyone starts to look.
You can best see what I mean if you put the little focus thingy halfway down in order to see the intersection in relation to other WPA road. I've lived here all my life and always thought of Cabot as so rural, and such a weird spot for a kidnapping. But I'm sure the state troopers that handled the case thought about this location long ago.
You're totally right about the area pittsburghgirl. By the time the cops got to the scene it was too late. No internet yet then or Cable News, though it wouldn't be long. Cherrie was the first child pictured in those cards we all get in the mail of Missing Children.
That van probably sat in a garage for many years. By the time it came out, it wasn't recognizable.
It really gets me how this was the only time Cherrie had been allowed to walk up the driveway herself, and she never made it.
I hope we find out what happened someday, soon:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US
That van probably sat in a garage for many years. By the time it came out, it wasn't recognizable.
It really gets me how this was the only time Cherrie had been allowed to walk up the driveway herself, and she never made it.
I hope we find out what happened someday, soon:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US
I'll never forget Cherie. She's a year younger than I am and when she vanished, we were kept under tight wraps around here. I live about 45 minutes away from Pittsburgh and about an hour or so away from Butler, we were terrified when little Cherie vanished. Kids didn't walk to or from the bus stop alone anymore. We were frightened of vans and hid when one drove by. I remember hoping every night that she'd be found and returned home.
Cheri's case was the first time I became interested in missing people. Unfortunately, as things sometimes happen in small towns like mine, Cheri was turned in to a cautionary tale. I still remember my grandmother telling us off for going in to the woods. She said, and I'll remember this forever, "Do you want to end up like Cheri Mahan?" That was the first time during childhood that we realized it could be us. I still think of Cheri all the time. I'll never forget her face from the news. Makes me cry just thinking about it.
Cheri's case was the first time I became interested in missing people. Unfortunately, as things sometimes happen in small towns like mine, Cheri was turned in to a cautionary tale. I still remember my grandmother telling us off for going in to the woods. She said, and I'll remember this forever, "Do you want to end up like Cheri Mahan?" That was the first time during childhood that we realized it could be us. I still think of Cheri all the time. I'll never forget her face from the news. Makes me cry just thinking about it.