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Cherrie Mahan’s mom reacts to woman claiming to be girl who vanished from school bus stop nearly 40 years ago

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Cherrie Mahan’s mom reacts to woman claiming to be girl who vanished from school bus stop nearly 40 years ago

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A woman is claiming to be Cherrie Mahan, who infamously disappeared from a school bus stop as an 8-year-old girl nearly four decades ago.

Cherrie vanished after getting off her school bus about 50 feet from her Pennsylvania home on Feb. 22, 1985.

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After 13 years of dead ends, Cherrie was declared legally dead in November 1998. 

But an unnamed woman caused a recent firestorm by claiming to be Cherrie in Facebook groups dedicated to finding her, which was doubted by her mom but has law enforcement sniffing around.

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Age progression of Cherrie Mahan, who was last seen on Feb. 22, 1985, on Cornplanter Road in Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania.  (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)

Unanswered questions about the infamous cold case have hung over the community like a dark storm cloud for 39 years, and unfortunately this isn’t the first time a woman out of the blue has claimed to be Cherrie.

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Cherrie’s mom, Janice McKinney, said on Facebook that she doesn’t believe the woman is her daughter and told a local newspaper, The Butler Eagle, “It did not look anything like Cherrie at all.”

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Nevertheless, the Pennsylvania State Police took the claim seriously and opened an investigation. 

State police told Fox News Digital that investigators are working with an “out-of-state agency” and attempted to reach the woman claiming to be Cherrie several times. 

As of Wednesday morning, they had not made contact with her using the information that she provided, state police said. 

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A member of a Facebook group dedicated to Cherrie Mahan, who went missing in 1985, said he kept this poster since she disappeared. (Gretchen Wiesner/Memories of Cherrie Mahan/Facebook)

In one particular group – Memories of Cherrie Mahan – the moderators deleted the woman’s posts and blocked her for “harassing and bullying” other members. 

“Friends I trust told me privately that the person was claiming to be Cherrie,” the group’s moderator, who goes by the name Brock Organ on Facebook, said in a post. “Few are in a position to evaluate the claim, and unfortunately, some people online are unstable and divisive…

“Some people say, ‘But what if it was really her?’ This has an easy answer: If it was really her, she could present herself at any police office and arrange for a DNA test without reaching out to people online and making aggressive claims.”

McKinney replied, “I talked to the police (sic) they are investigating (sic) this is very hard on me so please be aware I see everything.”

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Moderator of the Memories of Cherrie Mahan Facebook group, Brock Organ, wrote this about why the moderators deleted the woman’s posts and blocked her. Underneath, in the replies, Cherrie’s mother commented.  (Memories of Cherrie Mahan/Facebook)

Fox News Digital reached out to group moderators and McKinney but hasn’t heard back. 

Another Facebook group moderator, who goes by the name Tiffany Howes on Facebook, came to Mckinney’s defense, as have many members of the group, in an emotional post on June 1. 

“I wish that everybody could see the number of people over the years that have been in Janice’s inbox claiming to be Cherrie,” Howes wrote. “She doesn’t publicize all the claims. 

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“It’s heartbreaking that people have the audacity to keep doing this to this poor woman. It rips her heart wide open again every time it happens because, of course, she wants to follow every lead and gets vested. She does not deserve to keep going through this.”

McKinney responded with an uplifting sentiment: “I’m ok it is hard but my job now is to educate people on this. Please pray for my next steps. Thanks for everyone who stands with me. God bless (sic) knows an (sic) someday we will.”

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Cherrie Mahan’s missing poster on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website.  (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)

The cold case is as troubling as it is puzzling. 

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A young girl within a short distance of her own driveway disappeared while getting off a school bus.

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The only potential lead is a bright blue 1976 Dodge van with a mural of a mountain and a skier, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 

“It’s like a black hole opened up, and she fell in,” McKinney told KDKA-News in February, which marked the 39th year since her daughter was last seen.

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Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.

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New Hampshire

Court hearing for Cher’s son on charges he broke into a New Hampshire home canceled

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Court hearing for Cher’s son on charges he broke into a New Hampshire home canceled


Crime

Elijah Allman’s arrest on March 1 was his second in New Hampshire in a matter of days.

FILE – This Feb. 26, 2016 file photo, shows the entrance to St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File) AP

A court hearing for Cher’s son Wednesday over allegations he broke into a New Hampshire home this month has been canceled.

Elijah Allman’s arrest on March 1 was his second in New Hampshire in a matter of days. Allman, the 49-year-old son of the iconic singer and actress, was also detained Feb. 27, accused of acting belligerently at a prestigious prep school in Concord.

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Cher
This undated photo provided by the Windham N.H. Police Department on Monday, March 2, 2026, shows Elijah Allman. – Windham N.H. Police Department via AP

It is unclear if Allman, of Malibu, California, has any connection to the home in Windham, New Hampshire. He is being held in the Rockingham County Department of Corrections, Superintendent Jonathan Banville said.

The hearing Wednesday was continued until an undetermined date after Allman got an attorney Wednesday morning. The attorney, Sarah Landres, did not respond to a request for comment.

Allman, whose father was the late singer Gregg Allman, is charged with two counts of criminal mischief, one count of burglary and a count of breach of bail for breaking into the home on March 1. Police said in a report that Allman did not have permission to be at the home and forcibly entered it.

Officials at St. Paul’s School said Allman last month identified himself as the parent of a prospective student and slipped into the dining hall as some students were leaving the building. Police responded to reports that he was disturbing people in the building.

He was charged with four misdemeanors in the school incident: two counts of simple assault, criminal trespass and criminal threatening. Allman was also charged with a violation of disorderly conduct, which is illegal in the state but not considered a crime. He was released on bail.

Allman did not respond to an email requesting comment, and a phone number for him was not working.

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In December 2023, Cher filed a petition to become a temporary conservator overseeing her son’s money, saying Allman’s struggles with his mental health and addiction have left him unable to manage his assets and potentially put his life in danger.

The petition says the superstar performer’s son is entitled to regular payments from a trust fund. But “given his ongoing mental health and substance abuse issues,” she is “concerned that any funds distributed to Elijah will be immediately spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting Elijah’s life at risk,” the petition says.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jessica Uzcategui denied the request, saying she was not convinced that a conservatorship was urgently needed. Allman was in the courtroom with his attorneys, who acknowledged his previous struggles but argued that he was in a good place, was attending meetings, getting treatment and reconciling with his estranged wife.

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New Jersey

Scrap metal barge fire is under control, vessel moving to Camden

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Scrap metal barge fire is under control, vessel moving to Camden


Scrap metal burned for more than 24 hours

Firefighting efforts lasted more than 24 hours until Wednesday morning when thermal imagery showed the fire extinguished, according to the Coast Guard’s Petty Officer First Class Matthew West.

The Delaware Emergency Management Agency assisted the Coast Guard in its response.

“Multiple fire companies worked diligently to extinguish the fire, while state agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard coordinated resources to support response operations and minimize impacts to federal waterways, coastal communities, and the surrounding environment,” according to a statement by the Delaware Emergency Management Agency.

It remains unclear what exactly was burning or what was released into the atmosphere from the scrap metal, but it was likely “a very toxic mix,” according to Jane Clougherty, professor of environmental and occupational health at Drexel University.

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“Remember that because this is scrap metal, it’s from an earlier era, potentially, when a lot of lead was used, both in metals and in the paints on those metals,” Clougherty said.



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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro’s neighbor accuses him of stealing land in ‘outrageous abuse of power’

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Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro’s neighbor accuses him of stealing land in ‘outrageous abuse of power’


Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s neighbors are suing the Democrat, accusing him of stealing a slice of their land to erect an eight-foot-high security fence around his private residence in an “outrageous abuse of power.”

The neighbors, Jeremy and Simone Mock, are currently duking it out with the governor in court over a 2,900 square foot parcel of land located between their two homes in Abington, Montgomery County, court papers show.

The Mocks alleged in a lawsuit filed last month that Shapiro and his wife, Lori, unlawfully seized the stretch of land after initial negotiations to buy it from them went up in flames.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s neighbors have accused the Democrat of stealing a slice of their land to erect an eight-foot-high security fence around his private residence. Josh Shapiro / Facebook

Shapiro claimed in a countersuit that he owns the disputed land due, citing an “adverse possession” loophole that makes it his because he has maintained the sliver of property for decades.

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The land-grab tit-for-tat kicked off last year when the Shapiros first sought to erect the huge fence and upgrade security following an arson attack on the governor’s official residence in Harrisburg while they were all sleeping inside on April 13.

Shapiro initially offered to pay the Mocks for the 2,900-square-foot section of land, which he for decades had believed was his, to be able to build the fence, the suit said.

The negotiations, however, fell through when the neighbors couldn’t agree on a price.

The Mocks allege that’s when Shapiro and his wife unlawfully claimed ownership of the property — even planting trees and having State Troopers stationed there.

“What followed was an outrageous abuse of power by the sitting Governor of Pennsylvania,” the Mocks’ lawsuit argues.

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The neighbors claim Shapiro had State Troopers stationed on the property after unlawfully claiming ownership, the lawsuit states. Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Shapiro initially offered to pay the Mocks for the 2,900 square foot section of land, which he had believed for decades was actually part of his own property, but the negotiations fell through, according to the suit. Eastern District of Pennsylvania

“To begin, the Shapiros suddenly claimed, without evidence, they owned the Mock Property through ‘adverse possession’ despite their previous acknowledgments that the Mock Property was owned by no one other than the Mocks and despite having never been awarded the Mock Property through adverse possession by a court,” the court filing states.

The law allows for an occupant to legally acquire the title of someone else’s property if they’ve occupied the area for over 21 years.

The Shapiros purchased their home in 2003 and long believed the disputed 2,900 square foot section of land was part of their property, meaning they had maintained it for more than the required 21 years, their countersuit claims.

As the issue continues to play out in court, Shapiro’s office suggested the entire saga was a political stunt.

“The Governor looks forward to a swift resolution and will not be bullied by anyone trying to score cheap political points, especially at the expense of his family’s safety and wellbeing,” his office told NBC when the dueling suits were filed.

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