Cherrie's photo is shown age-progressed to 33 years.
The beginning of 1985 found me home on convalescent leave, home being the south side of Pittsburgh, PA. It is located between the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University, a favorite are amongst the college set. Back around the 1080’s was the home of dying steel mills, recently laid off souls, and the dying mom and pop shops which lived off of the generous mill workers. It was former President Reagan’s 2nd term; you could still buy music pressed on vinyl LP (long play) records and even 8 tracks.
Amazingly, the city only recently had cable TV installed and its novelty had not yet worn off. To fill time, the local news stations began to establish bureaus or, more likely, create a couple bureau chiefs for the nearby communities. The metro Pittsburgh area is far larger than most people think. When the US was the world’s leading exporter, steel was the lifeblood of dozens of smaller municipalities with
Pittsburgh as its hub. A short trip north on Route 8 is a fun small town named Butler, the county seat for, oddly enough, Butler County. Not as small as Petticoat Junction, it had about the same population of my neighborhood spread out over a much larger (county-sized) area.
Cherrie Mahan was only eight years old, when she hopped off her school bus along Cornplanter Road on Monday, February 22, 1985. No one in Winfield Township, Butler County, has seen her since. At least no soul has
acknowledged seeing her since that day. Back then I actually followed local news and politics. Little Cherrie’s story floored me. It is true that the vast majority of children’s disappearances are due to custodial issues. That made a child “snatching” all the more chilling to me. I had two more years left in my hitch in the Army. My parents continually kept me updated by clipping articles, from the now defunct Pittsburgh Press. I had some time to kill in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, also a big college area, so I visited the newspaper morgue of the main branch of The Carnegie Library. The original coverage in the Press was where I researched most of the story, with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children filling in any gaps in the information.
Her family contacted the authorities and within 24 hours police, fireman, boy scouts, Reservists, an hundreds of volunteers scoured the area of Butler County and Winfield Township. Unlike one certain Orlando family where another missing child event is said to have occurred; Cherrie’s family did everything a family could do to help find her in cooperating with authorities in every possible way. A nationwide search was begun as the FBI was called in. Had he been available, the Dark Knight would have been invited to help. Cherrie’s mother, Janice, had turned sixteen the day before she gave birth to Cherrie. By all accounts, she was a fit mother who changed her life to become a ‘real’ mom. Had that February day not been unusually warm, either her mom or dad, Leroy, would have been waiting for her at the bus stop. Sadly, it was the little girl’s ‘picture day’. Was this rite of passage the last for her young life?
Jaycee Dugard’s 18 years in captivity has sparked hopes in the hearts of many missing children’s parents’ lives. Cherrie would be 33 now. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was very new at the time and Cherrie’s case became the first national direct mailing of a missing child sent by them. National television networks picked up the story, helping the new center gain a foothold with the American public. At the time of her disappearance, the brown haired little Cherrie was 4’2” and a hazel-eyed 68 lbs. I still remember the reports of a blue 1976 Dodge van with a mural of a skier skiing down a mountain which may have been involved. Police still believe the vehicle was a significant clue in the child’s abduction. The van was never located.
Cherrie disappeared in a quiet, rural community “where people didn’t only leave their doors open — they also left the keys in the ignition of their cars”. Cherrie was born the day before her mother’s birthday and the family STILL feels unwarranted guilt. Janice and her husband Leroy, along with the rest of Cherrie’s family all feel they could have done more. One cannot help but compare how much that family helped in the search with Caylee Anthony’s alleged loved ones. The Mahan family did everything they possibly could have to aid investigators. If anybody deserves closure and prayers, it is the Mahan family. The case is still open with the Pennsylvania State Police and Trooper Frank Jendesky has handled the investigation for the past 13 years. Reports still do come in and are always checked out. If there has been anything positive to come out of this, it is the success of the “Have you seen me?” mailing campaigns originating with Cherrie’s disappearance. Mahan was the first child featured on mass-mailed cards sent on behalf of the group, a nonprofit organized a few months before in 1984. Today, the cards are sent to at least 84 million people, and it works according to the NCMEC. “We recover one of every six as a direct result of these photos,” according to Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center on Missing and Exploited Children.
Twice as many missing children are found today than 25 years ago. The center works with the FBI and U.S. Justice Department. The FBI and the NCMEC issue joint news statements about finding or prosecuting people who exploit children. The FBI has agents and analysts who work at the center. To see a picture of Cherrie then and what she may look like now, please visit the center’s website: www.missingkids.com
ABOUT THE CENTER
The National Center on Missing and Exploited Children has helped police with almost 163,000 cases and helped to find about 148,000 youngsters. It has helped to investigate about 736,000 child sexual-assault cases. The center is the only nonprofit trusted with access to FBI and other law-enforcement records. Access the center’s Web site at: Missing Kids or call the center’s hotline at 800-THE-LOST® (800-843-5678).
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Great article Thom.
I remember seeing that picture….. Great article
It is a great article, very interesting!
You’re a wonderful writer Thom. It’s a very sad case, and even sadder because I’ve never heard of this little girl. I hope the parents realiize how much they really did for her in light of the recent Anthony fiasco
Thom, great post!!! I Had no idea how the ‘Have you seen me’ mailings started, thanks!
With all the children we know are missing, there are so many we know nothing about and many who weren’t even reported in an effort to hide the crime.
ecd, sadly thats the truth!
Yeah, ss, it is. I can’t imagine what parents who REALLY care, must go through during such an event. Horrible.
my oldest son when he was about 5 got missing for aobut an hour, and i freaked out completely
he wasn’t lost, he knew where he was…. LOL
Thom, a heartfelt and sad article for this little, grown up (maybe) girl. You are to be commended for what you have done and are doing with your life. Sadly, I know someone close to me is trying to kick an addition cold turkey. I pray for them constantly to be successful.
Eoar, and I bet it didn’t even bother him? LOL They make us crazy.
Thom, thank you for sharing this with ‘us’…I just so love the way you write…it’s as if your sitting there sharing the story…I sometimes ‘read’ your site…even posted there once about your brother….I wish you the very best Thom…Bless you. JA
Nice job tom!
Thanks Thom, sad tale, as a parent we would always take the blame for what happens to our children, unless we are Anthonys. Then, it is everyone elses fault…Thanks Thom for the great article.
Thanks Thom, such a sad story. My heart breaks everytime a read a story like this. Great post, God Bless you for your strenghth and recovery,
Thanks Thom, great article, a perfect example of how the parents of a missing child should react! Such a sad story & there are many more out there. Thanks for carng & what you are dong!
Thom,
Thank you so much for doing the research and sharing the Cherrie Mahan story. My heart and prayers go out to her family as they hold on to hope that even after 33 years Cherrie may still be found.
It’s interesting to note also how you encapsulated the “trusting small town” environment in which this family lived. It speaks to the fact that sometimes we (society) believe that based on where we live we may somehow be sheltered from some of the tragedies/crimes that occur in more densely populated areas; areas with high crime statistics and other factors used to depict a scenario that would suggest “this type of thing CAN NOT happen to us!”
Unfortunately, we continue to read about stories in which family members, neighbors and communities at large are quoted as saying how shocked they were that this type of thing has occurred in their communities.
But after coming to the harsh realization that the problem of abused and missing children continued to grow unabated throughout our nation and abroad, it gave rise to organizations like the National Center on Missing and Exploited Children that are committed to making a difference. Although there is much work that still needs to be done, it is impressive to see the progress that has been made.
There are many ways to get involved in making a difference in the fight against the war on our children. So, when we feel overwhelmed and helpless in terms of what to do about it, perhaps it would help to remember a guiding principle, “it takes a village to raise a child” and your point Thom about “ helping the world one child at a time.” THANK YOU!
Hi, all!
Thanks for the kind words and for Humble providing this wonderful forum with a built-in audience of folks who truly love kids. I guess not being much of a factor in my children’s lives anymore is what has me so involved when other’s turn up missing. I would bet tat hearing Nadia was OK was the first time I cried in years. Thanks again, one and all.
PS Hi Smoke! Been a while.
Hi Thom
I post this on the other site, but I’ll ask you here. Did you used to post on the original My Fox Orlando Blog when the case first started? I recognize your avatar and that was a big blog for a while.
jnetk
This is me ‘global avatar’, so it probably was me the more I think of it. I smelled fish early, but dinna get involved until $indee fell in love with the spotlight. hmmmm I usually keep track of where/when I posted, will have to check me notebooks.
I am not sure, possibly