A side-by-side shows the image of Cherrie Mahan at 6 years old, the age she was at the time of her disappearance, and a rendering of what she might look like in 2023, shared by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Submitted photo

An initial review of fingerprints linked to the name of a female caller claiming to be Cherrie Mahan indicate she is not the missing girl, state police announced Thursday, June 6.

The department shared that it is investigating a recent online post and voicemail left with state police in which a female caller claims she is Cherrie Mahan. Since her initial voicemail and post, the caller has not contacted law enforcement, and could not be reached at the phone number and address she provided; nor has law enforcement had in-person contact with her, according to state police.

The woman’s claim will be investigated if she makes herself available to any law enforcement agency, state police shared in a news release.

“I knew in my heart it wasn’t true to begin with,” said Janice McKinney, Cherrie’s mother, about the claim. “I take everything with a grain of salt. Someday, maybe one of these people will be Cherrie.”

McKinney said the woman’s claims, made over social media and by voicemail to state police, “shook” her. McKinney said she expects to hear from people asserting to be her missing daughter around the anniversary of the disappearance in February, and around her birthday, in August. The most recent claim caught her off her guard.

“Every time someone says something, it rips my heart open a little more,” she said.

“I would never wish a missing child on any person,” McKinney said. “But I know the good Lord has given me the strength to weather this storm.”

McKinney said her daughter’s case is a storm she is “still weathering.”

False leads from people claiming to be Cherrie, who disappeared from her bus stop at the bottom of her driveway in Winfield Township just after 4 p.m. Feb. 22, 1985, have “gone on for years,” her mother said.

Cherrie was 8 at the time of her disappearance. She would be in her forties today.

“I will talk about Cherrie forever, if that's what needs to happen,” she said. “One day, somebody’s going to slip up and I am going to know what happened.”

She said she hopes all police officers and agents that have worked on her daughter’s case can collaborate in the future to examine any details that may have been missed or overlooked.

“There’s over 4,000 pieces of paper that are in a filing cabinet somewhere from Day 1 (of the case),” McKinney said. “We have to get together.”

The intersection just before where Cherrie Mahan disappeared 39 years ago in Cabot, Butler County. Eagle file photo

Ed Thompson

Janice McKinney, the mother of Cherrie Mahan, talks with friends and family at the base of her old driveway where her daughter was reportedly abducted from in a 1985. Mahan, 8 at the time, was last seen getting off her school bus 37 years ago. McKinney gathered a group to pray on the anniversary of Mahan's disappearance Tuesday. McKinney said she is praying for answers and for someone to come forward who may know what happened, part of an effort to find closure for McKinney. Butler Eagle file photo