Cherrie was last seen getting off the bus from her elementary school on February 22, 1985, around 4:05 p.m. Three other students joined her at the bus stop. She was about 100 to 150 yards down a dirt driveway from her family’s home on Cornplanter Road in Cabot, Pennsylvania, when she vanished. When she didn’t come home, her stepfather went looking for her and called the police when he couldn’t find her. Cherrie hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
Details of Cherrie Mahan
- Missing Since: 02/22/1985
- Missing From: Cabot, Pennsylvania
- Classification: Non-Family Abduction
- Sex: Female
- Race: White
- Date of Birth: 08/14/1976 (46)
- Age: 8 years old
- Height and Weight: 4’2, 68 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description: A white leotard, a grey coat, a blue denim skirt, white stockings, blue leg warmers, beige soft ankle boots with no heels, and brown Cabbage Patch earmuffs are all worn. Carrying a blue backpack with two straps and a cream-colored top with a blue and red heart on top.
- Associated Vehicle: A vibrant blue or green On both sides of a 1976 Dodge van, there are murals of a snow-capped mountain and a skier dressed in red and yellow clothing.
- Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair with hazel eyes Cherrie’s left arm has a dog bite scar. Her left arm had previously been broken below her left shoulder, but the injury had healed prior to her disappearance in 1985. Cherrie’s hair has a cowlick on the right side. Her hair was a little longer at the time of her disappearance than it is in the photos above. Her ears have been pierced.
Details of Case
Cherrie was last seen around 4:05 p.m. on February 22, 1985, just after getting off her school bus with three other students. She had to walk approximately 150 yards from the bus stop to her family’s home on Cornplanter Road in Cabot’s dirt driveway. Her stepfather heard the bus and waited for Cherrie to emerge from the house, but she never did. He then went in search of her, and when he couldn’t find her, he called the cops. Cherrie hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Although the FBI believes Cherrie is no longer alive, there have been several unconfirmed sightings of her.
Suspects in the Case
Several students in the bus’s back row reported seeing a green or light blue 1976 Dodge van with a skier on a snow-capped mountain peak mural on its side following the bus as it approached the bus stop. A small blue car was also parked in the driveway of a house near the bus stop. It is unknown whether either car’s owner was involved in Cherrie’s disappearance, but the vehicles were never found.
Results of the Case
Unsolved. Cherrie’s family had her declared legally deceased in 1998 so that a car insurance settlement she had won could be placed in a trust fund for her brother. In 2011, police investigated a tip that Cherrie was alive and well in Michigan under a different name. DNA testing, however, confirmed that the woman was not Cherrie. In 2018, her mother received a letter from someone claiming to know who killed Cherrie and where her body was found. She gave the letter to authorities, but it is unknown what happened as a result of it.
Investigating Agency
- Pennsylvania State Police 412-284-8100