A woman is claiming to be Cherry Mahan, the infamous 8-year-old girl who disappeared from a school bus stop nearly 40 years ago.
Cherry disappeared on February 22, 1985 after getting off a school bus about 50 feet from her Pennsylvania home.
After 13 years of limbo, Cherry was declared legally dead in November 1998.
However, an anonymous woman recently caused a stir in a Facebook group dedicated to finding Shelley, claiming to be her. Despite Shelley’s mother’s doubts, police have launched an investigation.
Girl victim of movie slashing incident recalls suspect laughing “like the Joker”
Age progression of Cherry Mahan, who was last seen on February 22, 1985, on Cornplanter Road in Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
Unanswered questions about this infamous cold case have hung like a dark storm over the community for 39 years, and unfortunately, this is not the first time a woman has suddenly come forward claiming to be Cherry.
Cherry’s mother, Janice McKinney, said on Facebook that she did not believe the woman was her daughter, telling a local paper: Butler Eagle“It didn’t look like Cherry at all.”
A U.S. fugitive suspected of at least four murders in Canada is on the run from federal authorities.
Nonetheless, Pennsylvania State Police took the allegations seriously and launched an investigation.
State police told Fox News Digital that investigators were working with “out-of-state agencies” and made multiple attempts to contact a woman who identified herself as Cherry.
State police said as of Wednesday morning, police had not made contact with her using the information she provided.
Members of a Facebook group dedicated to Cherry Mahan, who went missing in 1985, said they had kept the poster since her disappearance. (Gretchen Wiesner/Cherry Mahan Memories/Facebook)
In one particular group, “In Memory of Cherry Mahan,” moderators deleted a woman’s posts and blocked her for “harassing and bullying” other members.
“I’ve heard this personally from trusted friends who claim that this person is a cherry,” a moderator for the group, who goes by the name Block Organ on Facebook, said in a post. “Very few people are in a position to evaluate that claim, and unfortunately, some people online are unstable and divisive…”
“Some people ask: ‘But what if it’s really her?’ The answer is simple: if it was really her, she could have attended the police station and arranged for a DNA test, without contacting people online or making aggressive allegations.”
McKinney responded, “I’ve spoken with the police and they’re investigating. This is very difficult for me so please know that I am looking at all of this.”
Brock Organ, a moderator for the Facebook group Remembering Shelley Mahan, wrote the following about why they removed the woman’s post and blocked her: Below that, Shelley’s mother commented: (Cherry Mahan Memories/Facebook)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the group’s moderators and McKinney but has not received a response.
Another Facebook group moderator, who goes by the name Tiffany Howes on Facebook, defended McKinney in an emotional post on June 1, as did other members of the group.
“I want everyone to know how many people have been in Janice’s inbox claiming to be Sherrie,” Howes wrote. “She has not made all of her claims public.
Prisoner who murdered notorious gangster Whitey Bulger agrees to plea deal: shocking revelations from gangster’s FBI files
“It’s heartbreaking that people have the audacity to continue to do this to this poor woman. Naturally she wants to follow every lead and have a stake, so her heart is torn apart again every time something like this happens. She should not have to keep going through this.”
McKinney responded encouragingly, “It’s hard, but it’s OK. But my job now is to get the word out. Pray for my next steps. Thank you to everyone who supports me. God bless us, and one day He will bless us.”
Sign up to receive our True Crime Newsletter
A missing poster for Cherry Mahan on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
This unsolved case is both perplexing and disturbing.
A little girl went missing after getting off a school bus a short distance from her driveway.
Get real-time updates directly from the TRUE CRIME HUB
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the only clue is a bright blue 1976 Dodge van painted with a mural of mountains and skiers.
“It was like a black hole opened up and she fell into it,” McKinney said. KDKA News The month of February marked 39 years since her daughter was last seen.
Click here to get the FOX News app
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.
