Disappearance of Cherrie Mahan

The van would later be described as a 1970s-era Dodge (possibly a 1976 model ) with a distinctive mural depicting a skier traversing a snowcapped mountain painted on the side.

Burk was the last individual to see Mahan.

At the time of her disappearance, Mahan was eight years old.

She was 4ft 2in in height and had brown hair and hazel eyes.

Mahan was wearing a gray coat, a blue denim skirt, a white leotard, blue leg warmers, beige boots, and Cabbage Patch earmuffs.

Mahan's stepfather, LeRoy McKinney, overheard the school bus slowing to a halt near his home.

He later recollected he had intended to walk down the 150-yard driveway to meet his stepdaughter before his wife said: "No, it's a nice day. Let her walk."

When ten minutes had elapsed and Mahan had not arrived, her mother and stepfather began to worry.

A search of their driveway did not locate the child or any of her footprints upon the snow on the ground leading to her house, although they did discover a set of tire impressions in the driveway soil approximately fifty yards from their home.

Police immediately launched an intense search to locate Mahan.

The terrain around her home was extensively searched with the assistance of bloodhounds and helicopters, and investigators conducted house to house inquiries.

A thorough search of Butler County was bolstered by an estimated 250 local volunteers, although these searches failed to locate the child.

Mahan's local community raised $39,000 as a reward for Mahan's safe return, with a local business also pledging an additional $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of her abductor or abductors.

Investigators quickly discounted any possibility Mahan had been kidnapped for a ransom; concluding the child most likely knew her abductor or abductors, although all family members were quickly eliminated as suspects.

Appeals as to sightings of the distinctive bluish-green Dodge van produced eyewitnesses who informed investigators they had seen a vehicle matching this description in New Kensington, traveling in the direction of Mount Pleasant.

Other witnesses stated they had seen a blue car following this van, and that the van was repainted black one or two weeks after Mahan's disappearance.

When no significant leads developed and the child had been missing for three months, a national direct mailing company printed a photograph of Mahan on postcards accompanied by the question, "Have you seen me?"

These cards were mailed to thousands of households across the U.S., placed inside telephone and utility bills, alongside an artist's rendition of the distinctive van seen in the vicinity of her abduction.

In the decades since Mahan's disappearance, investigators have pursued thousands of leads pertaining to the child's whereabouts and the identity of her abductor or abductors.

Most of these leads have been potential sightings of Mahan or the two vehicles observed in the vicinity of her abduction, although the child has never been found, and neither vehicle was ever located.

Lacking any conclusive evidence to the contrary, investigators have not discounted the possibility Mahan may still be alive.

Pennsylvania State Police continue to receive tips and updates relating to Mahan's disappearance.

Cherrie Ann Mahan (August 14, 1976 – disappeared February 22, 1985; declared legally dead November 5, 1998) was an eight-year-old American girl who disappeared on February 22, 1985, after disembarking a school bus approximately fifty feet from the base of the driveway to her home in rural Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania.

Cherrie Ann Mahan was born in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, on August 14, 1976.

Her mother, Janice Mahan, was just 16 at the time she gave birth to her daughter, which she later said had been a result of her being raped at age 15.

Nonetheless, Janice doted on her daughter, who grew into a friendly, talkative child, later stating: "We were always together. We grew up together. She was my life".

Janice later married a Vietnam veteran named LeRoy McKinney, who willingly accepted Mahan as his stepdaughter.

In late 1984, the family relocated to Cornplanter Road in Butler County.

Mahan attended Winfield Elementary School, where she was regarded as a bright, popular and happy child.

On Friday, February 22, 1985, the child was excited as her mother intended to take her on a play date when she returned from school.

Mahan accompanied her mother to the bus stop located approximately fifty feet from the base of the uphill driveway to their home.

When the school bus arrived, the two told each other they loved each other before Mahan boarded the bus.

Mahan was last seen exiting her school bus on Cornplanter Road on February 22, 1985.

She alighted this bus with three friends at approximately 4:10 p.m. before her friends entered a car driven by the mother of one of the girls, Debbie Burk, who had followed the school bus in her own car.

Mahan was then observed to walk past a bluish-green van which had parked near the bus stop and turn a corner to walk the approximately 150-yard uphill driveway to her home.

She was declared legally dead in November 1998.

Mahan's abduction is strongly believed not to have been committed by a family member.

Mahan's disappearance is one of the most infamous unsolved missing child cases in the United States.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children featured Mahan as the first missing child to be depicted upon postcards distributed nationwide alongside a headline reading, "Have You Seen Me?"

Efforts to locate Mahan, alive or deceased, are ongoing.