A police investigation has revealed that the woman claiming to be an 8-year-old Pennsylvania girl missing since 1985 is likely not the missing child according to DNA.
Forensic fingerprint analysis showed the woman claiming to be Cherrie Mahan, who was last seen in February. Dec. 22, 1985, did not match those of the missing girl, according to a Pennsylvania State Police press release provided by the department’s public information officer, Bertha Cazy, on the media platform social.
Mahan disappeared after getting off the school bus about 100 yards from her home in Cabot, 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Last month, the woman claimed to be the missing girl in a Facebook group called Memories of Cherrie Mahan, a group dedicated to the little girl.
Janice McKinney, Cherrie’s mother, posted in the Facebook group that she had contacted the Pennsylvania State Police and told the Butler Eagle newspaper she believed the post was fraudulent.
“I have spoken to the police, they are investigating,” McKinney wrote. “It’s very hard for me, so know that I see everything.”
Here’s what police said about the investigation.
A mother knows best:Woman claims to be Pennsylvania girl missing since 1985
Pennsylvania State Police investigate woman claiming to be Cherrie Mahan
After receiving a report that a woman was pretending to be Cherrie Mahan in a Facebook group, Pennsylvania State Police began an investigation, the release said.
Additionally, police said a voicemail was left with Pennsylvania State Police by the same woman. On the recording, the woman provided her address and phone number so investigators could contact her. However, when officers contacted the number and went to the address provided, the woman could not be found.
The woman who claimed she was Cherrie Mahan has not contacted authorities since posting that message on Facebook or leaving the voicemail, police said.
Authorities said the caller’s fingerprints were in the database. During the investigators’ initial examination, they found that the fingerprints of the appellant and Cherrie Mahan did not match.
If the woman decides to speak to authorities, she can contact the Pennsylvania State Police or other local agencies who will investigate her complaint, police said.
Woman claiming to be Cherrie Mahan banned from Facebook group, post deleted
The woman claiming to be Cherrie was blocked from the Facebook group and her posts deleted, with group administrator Brock Organ writing that she had “harassed and bullied” other members and that no one in the group in particular – McKinney – should not be subject to prosecution. that.
Memories of Cherrie Mahan | Hi Friends, I received a notification that a group member was harassing and bullying | Facebook
“Some people say, ‘But what if it was really her?'” Organ wrote. “The answer is simple: if it was really her, she could show up at any police station and arrange a DNA test without contacting people online and without making aggressive statements. That’s what a reasonable person.”
He asked group members to “continue to pray for the family.”
Cherrie’s mother responds to complaints from several women over the years
The woman claiming to be Cherrie last month isn’t the first. Three other people have claimed to be McKinney’s daughter over the years, KDKA-TV reported.
“People are mean, they’re cruel, but it really makes me mad,” McKinney told the Butler Eagle.
When the woman’s latest claims surfaced, McKinney told the newspaper she immediately knew it wasn’t her daughter, saying, “She looked nothing like Cherrie.”
She still hopes that one day she will know what happened to her daughter and told the newspaper that she hopes all the detectives who have ever worked on the case will sit down together and review everything again.
“There’s something that someone missed somewhere and someone knows it,” she said.
She told KDKA-TV that “not knowing is really what takes your life away.”
She continued: “It beats you every day and for the last 39 years it has been the hardest part of my life.”
Anyone with information about Cherri’s case can call police at 724-284-8100, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at missingkids.org or Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or p3tips.com.
Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on USA TODAY’s national trends team. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lotteries and public policy. Send him an email to aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter).