Cherrie Ann Mahan 8 yrs old Missing since Feb 22, 1985 From Cabot, PA

[Hope]

I remember this case very well. It has forever haunted me.


http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=601805&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US



Mahan was last seen getting off of the bus from her elementary school at approximately 4:05 p.m. on February 22, 1985. Three other students got off with her at the stop. She was approximately 100 to 150 yards along a dirt driveway from her family's residence on Cornplanter Road in Cabot, Pennsylvania at the time she disappeared. When she failed to arrive home, her father went looking for her and called police when he failed to find her. Mahan has never been heard from again. She was carrying a blue backpack with two straps and a cream-colored top at the time of her disappearance; the backpack is decorated with a blue and red heart.
A bright blue or green 1976 Dodge van was seen in the area at the time of Mahan's disappearance and may be connected to her case. The van was following the school bus Mahan had been riding in. The van had a snow-capped mountain and skier mural painted on both sides of the vehicle. The skier was wearing red and yellow clothing and was skiing down the mountain. The van has never been located or identified and investigators are still not sure if it was connected to Mahan's case. Two sketches of the vehicle are posted below this case summary. A small blue car was also seen near the site of Mahan's disappearance. It is unknown if the car has anything to do with her case either.

Mahan's family had her declared legally deceased in 1992. They donated the life insurance policy they received to the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children, and put a car accident settlement Mahan had received into a trust fund for her brother. Mahan's case has never been solved. Some agencies state she disappeared from Saxonburg, Pennsylvania.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mahan_cherrie.html



http://www.wpxi.com/target11/4217338/detail.html

[Roamer]

I wonder if the van really had something to do with her kidnapping. If the pictures were published, the driver had to know they were looking for him/her, and would have come forward if they were innocent. IMO

[Hope]

That van haunted me for years. I used to be so afraid of any van that had graphics detailed onto the side.

[sarahhod]

Police hope new tech will help Butler County cold case

Feb 22, 2009

Pennsylvania State Police in Butler County are hoping new technology will give new life to the 24-year-old case of Cherrie Mahan, the 8-year-old girl who disappeared in the 50 yards between her bus stop and her home.

Police announced Saturday that they have received new computer equipment and programs that will help them compile and manage the volumes of information related to Cherrie's case. The brown-haired, brown-eyed little girl went missing from the road to her family's mobile home in Winfield on Feb. 22, 1985, and was never seen again. Today marks the anniversary of her disappearance.

Over 24 years, Cherrie's case received national exposure. She was featured on national television, her face was on the first "Have You Seen Me?" cards distributed by direct-mail advertiser Advo, and her picture has appeared on milk cartons, flyers and bumper stickers -- all sure to generate tips to be checked out and logged.

For example, children who rode the bus with Cherrie and a mother who picked up several kids at her bus stop recalled seeing a blue or green van with a large mural that featured a skier and a snowy mountain scene.

Over the years, "hundreds and hundreds" of vans that might fit that description were photographed and checked over the years, according to a statement from state police in Butler county. Trooper Frank Jendesky is now in charge of the investigation.

The computers were donated to the State Police by Kids Count and Family Psychological Associates in Butler, which offer mental health services to children and families, according to the police statement.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the State Police criminal investigation unit at 724-284-8100 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678. Calls will be kept confidential.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/02/22/4004474.htm

[sarahhod]

http://www.missingkids.com/photographs/NCMC601805c1.jpg http://www.missingkids.com/photographs/NCMC601805e1.jpg View Poster (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:MM_openBrWindow%28%27/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=601805&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US%27,%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20 %20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%2 0%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20% 20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%27Poster%27,%20%27al waysRaised=yes,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolba r=no,location=yes,menubar=yes,status=yes%27%29)
Case Handled By: http://www.missingkids.com/orglogos/NCMC_en_US.gif National Center for Missing & Exploited Children CHERRIE ANN MAHAN Age Progression Case Type: Non Family Abduction DOB: Aug 14, 1976 Sex: Female Missing Date: Feb 22, 1985 Race: White Age Now: 32 Height: 4'2" (127 cm) Missing City: PITTSBURGH Weight: 68 lbs (31 kg) Missing State : PA Hair Color: Brown Missing Country: United States Eye Color: Hazel Case Number: NCMC601805
Circumstances: Cherie's photo is shown age-progressed to 27 years. She was last seen getting off the school bus about 100 yards from home. A bright blue 1976 Dodge van with a mural of a mountain and a skier may be involved in her disappearance. She has pierced ears. She was last seen wearing a gray coat, blue denim skirt, blue leg warmers and beige boots. http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/images/spacer.gif

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=601805&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

[packy]

Hopefully someone may at some point recognize that van and come forward. Or maybe the person who painted the mural will read about it.

From the link above. The van had a snow-capped mountain and skier mural painted on both sides of the vehicle. The skier was wearing red and yellow clothing and was skiing down the mountain. The van has never been located or identified and investigators are still not sure if it was connected to Mahan's case

[sarahhod]

Hopefully someone may at some point recognize that van and come forward. Or maybe the person who painted the mural will read about it.

From the link above. The van had a snow-capped mountain and skier mural painted on both sides of the vehicle. The skier was wearing red and yellow clothing and was skiing down the mountain. The van has never been located or identified and investigators are still not sure if it was connected to Mahan's case

Shame we don't have an actual picture of this van. Sometimes visually seeing a picture brings back memories that words and descriptions do not?

[packy]

Shame we don't have an actual picture of this van. Sometimes visually seeing a picture brings back memories that words and descriptions do not?

Yes that might help. I looked for a picture but there is only a sketch as far as I could find. I know there are mural painters who specialize in painting on vehicles, especially semis and vans. They may be able to locate one who is familiar with that scene.

[nanabillie]

I Googled about the van and was reading some comments when one said their's had a mural. My heart skipped a beat. It was a mural of the ocean. I think I will leave it up to FBI with their new equipment. God bless them!

[Amusedtdth]

I remember back in the 70's everyones van has murials painted on them. The most popular being the viking people riding tigers and the like...way to common back then.

[packy]

Yes it was common but maybe someone in that local area painted murals and would remember someone who had that particular scene.

[packy]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/10/grace.coldcase.mahan/index.html

Cherrie, an only child, would soon be celebrating her 33rd birthday, but in the minds of many, she will always remain a missing girl. "People still talk about it,'' said Trooper Frank Jendesky, the lead detective working on the case for the Pennsylvania State Police for the past 15 years.

The driver and children riding the bus remember Cherrie getting off the bus with a few other students who lived nearby.

One lingering detail has baffled investigators for years -- reports that a 1976 model van was following the school bus. The van, according to students, had a distinctive painted mural of a snow-capped mountain and skier wearing red and yellow clothes coming down the mountain.

Despite many efforts, the van was never found and it remains unclear whether it holds a link to the puzzle.

''By now it's probably in a junkyard or somewhere,'' said Jendesky, who considers the case a kidnapping or abduction -- rather than a homicide -- because a body was not found.

"It's the not knowing that kills you,'' McKinney said. ''Every day you wonder and you look at some girl who's 33 and you wonder, 'Is that her?' I look at little kids and wonder, 'Is that my grandchild?' ''

Over the years, police conducted hundreds of interviews and cleared several persons of interest, while the case file grew to more than 4,000 pages.

Among his biggest frustrations, Jendesky said: "The time lapse and a lot of the calls I've gotten over the years really had no relevance to the case.'' (More at link)

[nanabillie]

I remember this case very well. It has forever haunted me.


http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=601805&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US



Mahan was last seen getting off of the bus from her elementary school at approximately 4:05 p.m. on February 22, 1985. Three other students got off with her at the stop. She was approximately 100 to 150 yards along a dirt driveway from her family's residence on Cornplanter Road in Cabot, Pennsylvania at the time she disappeared. When she failed to arrive home, her father went looking for her and called police when he failed to find her. Mahan has never been heard from again. She was carrying a blue backpack with two straps and a cream-colored top at the time of her disappearance; the backpack is decorated with a blue and red heart.
A bright blue or green 1976 Dodge van was seen in the area at the time of Mahan's disappearance and may be connected to her case. The van was following the school bus Mahan had been riding in. The van had a snow-capped mountain and skier mural painted on both sides of the vehicle. The skier was wearing red and yellow clothing and was skiing down the mountain. The van has never been located or identified and investigators are still not sure if it was connected to Mahan's case. Two sketches of the vehicle are posted below this case summary. A small blue car was also seen near the site of Mahan's disappearance. It is unknown if the car has anything to do with her case either.

Mahan's family had her declared legally deceased in 1992. They donated the life insurance policy they received to the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children, and put a car accident settlement Mahan had received into a trust fund for her brother. Mahan's case has never been solved. Some agencies state she disappeared from Saxonburg, Pennsylvania.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mahan_cherrie.html



http://www.wpxi.com/target11/4217338/detail.html


I just wonder if at the time she went missing, if a billboard with a van painted like the description had been put up, if someone would not have come forward.

[texanne]

I cannot imagine a greater pain than that in the heart of parents whose child just disappears into thin air. No closure, never knowing. I have often thought that that is the only thing worse than the loss of a child through death. I lost my son, but at least I knew what happened. As much as it destroyed part of me, I think I would never have recovered the pain of not knowing. My heart goes out to all the families of children who just simply disappeared never to be seen again.

[annalyzer]

Quarter-century-old case of Pa. girl who was 1st on national fliers lends hope to others

http://snsimages.tribune.com/media/photo/2010-02/52366220.jpg
This image provided by The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shows a copy scan of the original mailer flier of then 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan when she vanished 25 years ago Monday, Feb. 22, 1985 from a bus stop near her western Pennsylvania home. She's still missing. But her picture became the first printed on direct mail fliers sent to tens of millions of homes.


February 22, 2010 | 7:15 a.m.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Cherrie Mahan was 8 when she vanished from a bus stop near her home. A picture of the smiling, brown-haired girl would be the first featured on direct-mail fliers like those now sent weekly to tens of millions of U.S. homes with a simple message — Have You Seen Me?

Monday marks 25 years since Cherrie disappeared in western Pennsylvania. And although she's never been found, the fliers are credited with helping to recover 149 other missing children, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

"It emphasizes the point that somebody out there knows," said the center's president, Ernie Allen.

The idea for the fliers came after advertising executive Vincent Giuliano, who worked for marketer Advo Inc. in Windsor, Conn., saw a 1984 television movie about the 1981 murder of 6-year-old Adam Walsh, who had been abducted from a Florida shopping mall.

The next day, Giuliano and employees talked about the show and the idea of putting pictures and a hot line number on their mailers began to form. Giuliano was so moved that he arranged to meet Adam's father, John Walsh, an advocate for victims of violent crime, who put him in touch with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va.

"I felt I had to go out and meet him. That's what pushed me," said Giuliano, now senior president of government relations at marketing company Valassis Inc., which bought Advo.

Cherrie was chosen for the first flier, in May 1985, because there were enough details about her case that the center figured someone had to know something, Giuliano said.

The third-grader got off her school bus the afternoon of Feb. 22, 1985, in Winfield Township, a rural Butler County community 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. A motorist saw Cherrie get off and noticed a bluish-green van with a painting of a mountain and a skier on it behind the bus. But as the bus stopped to allow traffic to pass after driving down the road a bit farther, the van had disappeared.

Cherrie's stepfather told police he had let her walk the short distance home because it was a nice day. When she didn't arrive, he went to the bus stop 10 minutes later and saw tire prints — but no Cherrie.

Giuliano said it's "so bewildering" that someone who knows something about the case hasn't come forward. Telephone calls to Cherrie's mother, Janice McKinney, for this story weren't returned.

While Cherrie's case serves as a sober reminder that not every missing child is found, the flier program has had success — and gives hope. More than half the 2,100 children featured on the fliers have been found through other means, such as police investigations or other groups posting pictures of them.

Abby Potash, a 60-year-old suburban Philadelphia mother, knows the fliers can help.

Her ex-husband, Steven Fastow, disappeared with their 10-year-old son, Sam Fastow, in July 1997 after a weekend visit. At first, she thought perhaps there had been an accident. She called police and Steven Fastow's family: No one had heard from them.

Days later, she found his Hackensack, N.J., apartment bare, except for some trash.

The father and son, meanwhile, traveled under aliases, burning through the boy's college fund. Potash said her son was told she was dead and he was forbidden to talk about his life.

Around the holidays that year, an Advo flier bearing their photos arrived at the Texas home of Steven Fastow's cousin, who recognized him on it and called Potash to offer help.

In March 1998, Fastow called his cousin. He wanted to visit.

The cousin told Fastow to call back the next day, and she contacted the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which contacted the FBI. When Fastow called again, the cousin said her husband would meet him at a restaurant. Instead, the FBI arrested Fastow, nine months after Sam's abduction.

Sam was the 99th child recovered because of the fliers.

"I owe them my life," Potash said. "My son, too."

Potash now works for Team Hope, a program run by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children offering support to missing children's families.

"I don't want that to happen to anyone else," she said.

Fastow pleaded guilty in New Jersey to a charge of contempt for interfering with a custody order and spent more than a year in prison followed by three years of probation.

Allen, the center president, said some of the stories that have come from the flier program are almost so implausible that people would think they're made up.

— In 1999, a law student vacationing in Roatan, Honduras, befriended a father and daughter. When he got home, he saw the girl's image on a flier and called the hot line. The FBI found the girl, who had been taken by her father two years earlier.

— In March 1990, a San Francisco woman befriended and photographed a 6-year-old boy on a beach while vacationing in Mexico. That November, a flier arrived at her home with a picture of the boy, who'd been missing since June 1988. She contacted the center, and the boy was reunited with his mother, Allen said.

"The amazing thing about this program is that its success is predicated on average people doing average things and simply paying attention," he said.

The nonprofit center also distributes pictures at Walmart stores and has a cadre of retired law enforcement experts who help with investigations.

By 1990, the recovery rate for missing children was 62 percent, but now, partly because of the fliers and new technology such as Amber Alerts to spread information quickly, it's 97 percent, Allen said.

"But the ones you don't find, the ones that don't come home, are the ones that haunt you forever," he said. "Cherrie and Janice will always have a special place in our heart. And we don't close these files."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-have-you-seen-me,0,454611.story?page=2