On Friday, February 22, 1985, in Winfield Township, Pennsylvania, 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan looked forward to attending her friend Jennifer’s 10th birthday party after school. The final bell rang for her third-grade class, and Cherrie headed to her school bus to get home and get ready for the party. At about 4:10 pm, Cherrie and three of her classmates get off the bus at their regular stop on Cornplanter Road, just around the corner from Cherrie’s home. All her friends make it home, but not Cherrie.
 
Cherrie’s disappearance sparked the creation of the ‘Have you seen me?’ program from The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. But despite this groundbreaking program that has brought thousands of children home, Cherrie remains missing. Investigators are left with a lot of sightings of Cherrie over the years and one very distinct van that they are still trying to track down nearly 40 years later.
 
Cherrie was last wearing Cabbage Patch Kids earmuffs, a gray coat, a white leotard, a blue denim skirt, blue leg warmers, and beige boots. Her ears are pierced, and she has a dog bite scar on her left arm. At the time of her disappearance, she was 4’2” tall and weighed about 68 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. As of the recording of this episode, she would be in her late 40s.
 
If you have any information on the circumstances surrounding Cherrie’s disappearance, please call the Pennsylvania State Police Missing Persons Unit at 717-783-5524 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices