Police share update on woman who claims to be missing 8-year-old girl who disappeared 39 years ago
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Police have issued an update in the claim made by a woman who alleged she was now the grown-up Cherrie Mahan.
Mahan, 8, disappeared back on February 22, 1985 when she was dropped off by her school bus at the stop in front of her Pennsylvania home - however, she has not been seen or heard of since.
An investigation was conducted to find the young girl, however, Mahan has not been located.
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Investigators do believe that a 1976 Dodge van with a design featuring a skier on a mountain may have something to do with her disappearance, however.
The Pennsylvania State Police confirmed that they have been investigating a woman who'd claimed that she was Cherrie on a post on the Memories of Cherrie Mahan Facebook group last month - which has since been removed by the administrator of the group.
The woman also left a voicemail with state police last month claiming to be Cherrie and provided the police with a number and address.
However, police have not been able to contact the woman, who has not been publicly identified, via phone or at the address she provided.
To get around this, the police obtained fingerprints for the name left by the caller and tested them against Cherrie - which indicated that there was no match.
“An initial review of these fingerprints indicate that she is not Cherri Mahan,” police said in the update.
“At this point in the investigation, law enforcement has not had in-person contact with the women [sic] claiming to be Cherrie Mahan.
"If the caller decides to make herself available to the Pennsylvania State Police or any other law enforcement agencies, her claim will be investigated.”
Cherrie's mom, Janice McKinney, has already spoken out following the woman's claim that she was her daughter.
Janice told Butler Eagle that she believes the woman 'thought in her mind that she was Cherrie', however, she said that she 'did not look anything like Cherrie at all'.
She added: “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.”
She also said she has grown used to the ‘craziness’ of people claiming to be her daughter over the years.
Prior to this, three women have claimed to be the missing 8-year-old, with Janice noting there is often a spike around the anniversary of her disappearance.
"This just hit me different. I didn’t even see it. Someone called me and told me about it.” she said.
UNILAD has previously reached out to Pennsylvania State Police Department for comment.