"I just wish I had some closure," Shirley Mahan said. "But I don't."

Relatives concede that Cherrie likely is dead but vowed they won't stop looking for her or hoping she's alive

Mahan said she's dealt with the deaths of many family members -- including her father, a son and her husband -- but hasn't been able to come to terms with Cherrie's loss.

"Sometimes I wish I could sit on a couch and pull a blanket over my head and just not wake up," Mahan said.

Janice McKinney, Shirley Mahan's daughter and Cherrie's mother, said she keeps hoping someone will confess or give police the clue that solves the case.

"Somebody out there knows something," McKinney said. "They might not even know they know it."

McKinney said she wishes she'd driven her daughter home from the bus stop that day, rather than let her walk

Cherrie's stepfather, Leroy McKinney, usually drove her the 50 yards from the bus stop at Cornplanter and Winfield roads in Winfield to the family's mobile home at the end of a steep, wooded driveway. The home was not visible from the road. But that day they decided to let Cherrie walk.

"Every day I feel more and more guilty for not picking her up," Janice McKinney said. "That's a lot of guilt to carry around for 20 years."

The McKinneys contacted police within an hour, and hundreds of volunteers combed the woods and searched roadsides for a sign of Cherrie.

Other children from the bus and a mother who picked up several youngsters at her bus stop recalled seeing a blue or green van with a large mural that featured a skier and a snowy mountain scene. The van's description soon was circulated regionally and nationally, although police were never certain it was connected to her disappearance.

The van, like Cherrie, never was found.

"There has been hundreds and hundreds of vans that have been photographed and history checked," said Butler State Police Trooper Frank Jendesky, who is in charge of Cherrie's case.

Jendesky said the case remains open and he periodically checks out reported sightings. He sends out releases on the anniversary of her disappearance to keep the case in the public eye.

"We just pray that we'll get a break," he said. "It's really a bizarre case."

Cherrie's mother and grandmother, along with some family and friends, met at Saxonburg Memorial United Presbyterian Church on Sunday to celebrate Cherrie's life.

"She was such a loving little girl when she lived with us," said Shirley Mahan, recalling when her daughter and granddaughter lived with her in Clinton.

Mahan remembered the Cabbage Patch Kid doll she gave Cherrie.

"She carried it with her everywhere she went," Mahan said.

McKinney had a judge declare Cherrie legally dead in 1998 so money from a car accident settlement could be placed in a trust for McKinney's son Robert, now 15. Generally, a missing person can be declared dead seven years after disappearing; McKinney waited 13 years for the declaration.

"The not knowing is the worst thing," McKinney said. "I just don't know if she's dead or alive."

McKinney, who now lives in Mars, said she planted a tree at her workplace and places an angel statue near it to commemorate her daughter.

Mahan said she erected a cherub statue in a Saxonburg cemetery, but Cherrie doesn't have a grave or a gravestone there.

Until the family knows she's dead, Mahan isn't certain she'll ever have one.

"I just feel that I've prayed and prayed, and so many people tell me they've prayed for her," Mahan said. "If we get so many prayers, why don't we know?"

Cherrie Ann Mahan- born Aug. 14, 1976:

Cherrie Mahan disappeared 20 years ago while walking from her school bus stop to the home of her grandmother, Shirley Mahan, in Winfield, Butler County. Shirley Mahan, now 77, eventually moved to Clinton, Butler County. She says she's dealt with the deaths of her father, a son and her husband, but never has come to terms with the loss of Cherrie. Eric Felack/Tribune-Review News Service

Responses:

Received 4-25-05:

Bonnie M. Wells;

Today, I went into the kitchen and put a frozen dinner in the microwave oven (I'm a bachelor). While I was standing there I looked out the front window and a delivery van pulled out front. That was a bit unusual, but I just figured the driver was lost and had stopped to check his map. So I didn't pay much more attention to it, but I did notice the name of the company and the picture on the side of the truck. After my dinner was done I turned on the TV. Paula Zahn(sp) of FoxNews was doing a segment on missing children, and one of the girls she reported on was Cherrie Mahan. In her report Paula mentioned that there was a van behind the school bus that Cherrie got off. She said it had a picture of a mountain with a skier on the side of it. I thought that was interesting because the van that pulled up in front of my house also had a picture of a mountain on it. I know it wasn't the same van, but it got me thinking... Not many people have pictures of mountains (with or without skiers) on the side of their vans. So, it's probably more likely the van behind the school but was a commercial van (belonging to a company). Maybe the driver of that van was like the driver of the van that pulled up in front of my place. Maybe he was making a delivery and got lost (which could explain his reason for being there), and maybe he worked for a company that had a picture/logo similar to the one that pulled up in front on my house. The picture was of a mountain, and the truck belonged to Cascade Bottled Water.

I know this is not much help, but after hearing Cherrie's mother talk on TV, and looking at your web site, I just had to write no matter how small a chance it has of helping.

Sincerely,

I__

*************************

My Reply:

I__

Thank you so much for writing. I will pass your information on to those who need it, and hopefully it will put them on the right track. Thank you again for sharing your information with me.

God Bless -

Bonnie

Received 7-02-05:

Hello,

I'll get right to the point...I live in Tucson, AZ, I received the missing child postcard in the mail and the age progression photo of Cherrie is very familiar to me. Her photo is also familiar to my husband and friends. Unfortunately no one is able to place where we might know her from. In my minds eye I see her working at the Walgreen's near my house but I haven't seen her since I received the post card. I'll go there today with the postcard and ask them if they know her. I have called the 800 LOST number and given them all the information I had, which wasn't much. I don't know if they contact you and inform you of any leads. But I have been thinking a lot about the pain and anguish you must be going through and for so long too, my heart aches deeply for you and those who love Cherrie. I will do all that I can to help you.

Mxxxx Axxxx

Tucson, Az

letter # 2 / 7-03-05:

Hi,

I did check at the Walgreen's near my house and the Safeway too...no luck. I'll keep looking. So sorry.

Mxxx Axxxx

Received 8-10-05:

Hi,

My friend and I saw the news story about Cherrie last February. We are a couple of spiritual women located in New Castle, Pa, who work to channel missing children in the hope of bringing closure to the families of the missing and exploited. We do this as a labor of love and not for any financial benefit. We have been blessed with many clues as to what happened to Cherrie, and would like to work with her family to act as a tool to help solve and bring closure to the case. May we help you?

Contact: L.M. at 724/***/****

L. S. at 724/***/****

******************************

My Response:

L.{s}

All help is welcome - on any case I have posted. Thanks.

Bonnie M. Wells

** Update ** 9-22-05: There has been nothing more from "L" concerning her "help" in the Mayhan case:

Received: 9-21-05:

Hello,

I was reading your site about cherrie mahan. I live close by where she is missing from.

You probably already know this but if you don't I felt compelled to let you know.

I live maybe 15 min if that from where cherrie disappeared and our school district is the Freeport Yellow Jackets. We call ourselves the Home of the Yellow Jackets.

I found your site to be very interesting.

I have been praying for cherrie for a long time.

Thank you,

[no signature]

*******************

My Reply: 9-21-05:

Hello,

Thank you for writing about Cherrie Mahan. No, I was not aware that the school team are the Yellow Jackets. That's quite interesting considering the other connections on my web site to the "Yellow Jackets," and other missing/murder cases.

Perhaps you can tell me something. How is Cherrie pronounced?

Is it like "Sherry?" or is it like "Sheree" ... or is it with a harder sound such as in the word cherry ...... like Cherrie instead of Sherrie?

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Bonnie M. Wells

*******************

Letter # 2: Received: 9-21-05:

I believe it is pronounce cherry but I could not be sure it has been awhile since i heard her story on the news.

I have been reading your stories and wow from what I have read you have an evil attached to you. I have not finished reading all you have written so I don't know how your story is at present time. But from what I have read I have been praying for you and for your missing girls.

Take care,

Mary

*******************

My Reply: 9-21-05:

Mary,

Thanks for your prayers.

Bonnie

Comments From Me:

Cherrie Mahan lived in Pennsylvania. She is not the only female that remains missing from Pennsylvania. And there are several others who went missing and were eventually found murdered. They too lived in Pennsylvania.

On this web site I have presented circumstantial and coincidental evidence that leads me [and many others] to believe that there is a serial killer operating within a 200 mile radius of Belpre, Ohio.

I believe that this killer began his career around 1975, and it continues to this day. He is now in his early 50's and has a history [as well as a criminal record] of offenses against women and girls. I also believe that he selected me, my daughter and my sister as three of his target victims. And I believe that if I had not taken every precaution that has been taken in the past twenty years, one or perhaps all of us would be dead today.

And I also believe that if that had happened, there would never have been anyone to pull these cases together and show how there is a definite pattern to their occurrence.

Sincerely,

Bonnie M. Wells

Bonnie M. Wells

www.starlightinnerprizes.com

Without A Trace Series

Lookin' For A Killer

Pure Coincidence Book Series

Symbolic Cases

This page is part of a 2005 Starlight Inner-Prize Case Profile special, and has been copied from various news sources available on the internet.

It has been chosen as a profile case because of the closeness between Ohio and Pennsylvania. Both states have several unsolved disappearances and unsolved murder cases:

There has been no "psychic work" done on this case.

A link to it can also be found in my Without A Trace Series:

Page posted/updated: 2-25-05/ BMW

Updated: 7-05-05: 9-22-05: 10-13-05 / 3-07 / 7-1-07/ BMW: