Cherrie Mahan Disappeared in 1985 at Age 8 — Women Have Come Forward Claiming to Be Her

"I never left that house without her, we were always together, we grew up together, she was my life," said Mahan's mother.

Jun. 6 2024, Published 1:34 p.m. ET

According to police reports filed by the Hollywood Police Department in Hollywood, Fla., on July 27, 1980, six-year-old Adam Walsh vanished from a Sears department retailer. He was once there along with his mom Revé Drew, who left Walsh taking part in video games with a group of boys while she inquired about purchasing a lamp. When she went to get her son, Drew was instructed the boys have been kicked out of the retailer upon getting into an argument. A few weeks later, Walsh's severed head could be came upon a hundred thirty miles away.

This tale captivated the country and it ultimately ended in Walsh's father creating a show referred to as America's Most Wanted, which premiered in February 1988. It also gave birth to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children which continues to be operational as of late. Sadly, none of this was available to the Mahan circle of relatives after eight-year-old Cherrie Mahan disappeared in 1985. What came about to her?

Cherrie Mahan's mother has one theory about who took her daughter.

"It's a torment, I've been tormented since the day she was taken," said Mahan's mom to CBS News in February 2020. "Is she alive, is she not alive, is she okay, is she not okay, is she with somebody are they taking care of her, are they not taking care of her?" Janice McKinney hasn't ever stopped looking for her daughter, even though it's one thing as simple as scanning each and every individual she encounters in the global.

McKinney said her daughter was once the more or less one that, when you called to her, she would assume you knew her. This has induced questions that were nonetheless operating in McKinney's thoughts greater than 35 years later. Was Mahan kidnapped via any individual she knew or did a stranger take hold of the unsuspecting child whilst she was once strolling to her space?

Pennsylvania State Trooper Jim Long told the outlet that they nonetheless get tips about Mahan. For years they'd have a look at any van matching the description of one that the other youngsters on the bus declare was parked within reach. McKinney doesn't consider the conversion van described by means of the children had anything to do with Mahan's kidnapping. She has a much more sinister concept about what happened.

McKinney printed that at age 16, she used to be raped which led to a pregnancy. Despite that horrific enjoy, Mahan used to be everything to McKinney. "I never left that house without her, we were always together, we grew up together, she was my life," explained McKinney. To no person's wonder, police by no means believed McKinney but she long suspected Mahan's biological father was involved in her kidnapping. State Trooper Long mentioned he looked into Mahan's father however couldn't in finding any proof supporting McKinney's theory.

Sometimes people reach out to Janice McKinney, claiming to be her daughter.

The alleged Mahan sightings are available in waves, from all over the country. There have been two incidents out of Michigan and New Jersey which gave McKinney some hope, but in the end they have been lifeless ends. McKinney instructed CBS News that she as soon as got a call at the nursing house where she worked from a lady claiming to be Mahan. This scenario felt slightly convincing to Long who regarded into it. He introduced pictures of this girl to McKinney and fingerprinted her, which proved it wasn't Mahan.

In May 2024, a girl claimed to be Mahan in a put up to the Memories of Cherrie Mahan Facebook group, reported USA Today. McKinney is a part of the crew and as such, used to be aware of the post. She didn't believe that the lady was her daughter and posted in the crew that the police had been contacted.

Evidently, the woman have been bullying others in the staff and was quickly blocked by means of the administrator, Brock Organ. He believes that if this person truly thinks they are Mahan, they'd publish a DNA check, otherwise they're simply in quest of attention. Regarding instances like this, McKinney said, "This is very hard on me so please be aware I see everything."

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