Northeast
Cherrie Mahan’s mom reacts to woman claiming to be girl who vanished from school bus stop nearly 40 years ago
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.
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.
YOUNG GIRLS VICTIM IN RANDOM MOVIE SLASHING REMEMBER THE SUSPECT LAUGHED AT THEM ‘LIKE THE JOKER’
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.
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.”
US FUGITIVE TIED TO 4 MURDERS AND COUNTING IN CANADA HUNTED WHILE RUNNING FROM THE FEDS
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.
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.”
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.
INMATES WHO KILLED NOTORIOUS MOBSTER WHITEY BULGER AGREE TO PLEA DEALS: SURPRISING FACTS FROM GANGSTER’S FBI FILES
“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.”
SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER
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.
A young girl within a short distance of her own driveway disappeared while getting off a school bus.
GET REAL TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB
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.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.
Read the full article from Here
A coastal place with a neighborly spirit, Maine is a must-see for anyone drawn to close-knit communities and natural scenery. The state is home to some of the friendliest towns where festivals, parades, and traditions anchor the calendar. In Lewiston and Biddeford summertime Art Walks bring residents and visitors together to celebrate local artists. Scarborough and Brunswick host outdoor music events that fill warm evenings with live performances. Bangor runs a downtown arts scene while Augusta keeps its historic landmarks and family-friendly green spaces. Each of these nine towns offers easy ways to connect with regional culture.
Lewiston
Central to Maine’s Franco-American heritage, Lewiston is a town soaked in history, with plenty of activities to enjoy. The town is home to the Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning, and Labor, a unique museum offering hands-on learning experiences of all kinds. The town hosts several events focused on community building and supporting local talent and businesses. One of them is Art Walk LA, a summer series that transforms downtown into a lively arts district where you can enjoy artwork from local artists. The Great Falls Balloon Festival at Simard-Payne Memorial Park is an annual tradition featuring hot-air balloon launches, live music, and family-friendly activities. This one is a yearly highlight.
Bangor
With its waterfront trails and verdant forests and woodlands, Bangor is a nature lover’s destination. Take a hike along the Orono Bog Boardwalk in Bangor City Forest in the autumn to enjoy the fall foliage, or enjoy views of the water on the Bangor Waterfront Trail. The Bangor Historical Society is dedicated to promoting the town’s history and attracting tourists, with several walking tours available for visitors to enjoy. Stephen King fans can trace several Bangor landmarks associated with the author’s fictional Derry, including the 31-foot Paul Bunyan statue on Main Street near the Cross Insurance Center. Bangor’s community spirit also comes through in First Friday Art Walks, volunteer-produced monthly downtown arts events, and the Downtown Bangor Sidewalk Art Festivals, which bring Maine artists and artisan crafters into the city.
Scarborough
A coastal town on the beaches bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Scarborough, Maine, is a summertime destination. Enjoy a day at Scarborough Beach State Park, with access to the water and trails near the beach. The town hosts several community events in the summer months, including the Summer Concert Series in Memorial Park, where you can listen to live music from local musicians and bands. Scarborough also hosts the annual Summer Fest in August, featuring live music, activities, and food provided by local vendors to celebrate the community.
Biddeford
A small town bordering the point where the Saco River meets the Atlantic Ocean, Biddeford is a beach town with so much to offer. To support local arts and businesses, Biddeford hosts a monthly ArtWalk, featuring works by local artists in restaurants and cafes around town. Each month’s ArtWalk showcases different artists and businesses, and can even include street performances. The Biddeford Mills Museum works tirelessly to keep the region’s history alive, hosting tours of the town’s textile mill buildings for an immersive educational experience. The town hosts several annual events to drive tourism to the region and foster community, including Winterfest, held every February, and River Jam, held in August.
Brunswick
A college town on the Androscoggin River, Brunswick combines community with rich culture. The Maine State Music Theatre hosts Broadway-quality performances, while the Bowdoin College Museum of Art is one of the museums on the Maine Art Museum Trail. The Brunswick Town Mall plays host to the town’s Summer Concert Series, with live performances from local musicians performing all summer long. The annual Bowdoin International Music Festival brings a wide variety of music and music lovers to Brunswick every year to celebrate culture and the arts.
Sanford
With walking trails that take you through downtown, old mill buildings, grand houses, and woodlands, Sanford, Maine, is a town filled with history and adventure. Take a walk along the Mousam River, enjoying the serene sights of nature, and see the local wildlife. Sports lovers can enjoy baseball season by catching games of local college players on the Sanford Mainers team. With a slower pace of life, Sanford provides a blend of easy living with community values.
Saco
Located on the shores of Saco Bay, the town of Saco, Maine, is a community worth exploring. A visit to the Saco Museum to learn about the region’s history is a must for an educational day trip. Navigate the hiking trails in the Horton Woods, or spend a beach day in Ferry Beach State Park, walking along the boardwalk or enjoying the water. Saco’s Main Street is part of the Main Street Maine Community, an organization dedicated to supporting local downtown businesses and hosting many events on the main strip to foster community among townspeople and visitors alike.
Augusta
Located in the Kennebec Valley, Augusta, Maine, feels like stepping back in time. The historic downtown features buildings with ornate Victorian-era architecture. The town has several museums and historical monuments. A visit to Old Fort Western, a National Historic Landmark and living history museum, offers public tours of the fort, store, and house led by costumed interpreters. With over six miles of trails, the Viles Arboretum is a great place to take friends and family to enjoy nature’s beauty.
Gorham
Home of the University of Southern Maine, Gorham, Maine, is a small town promoting community and family values. The Gorham Sports Center is an indoor facility for rentals and indoor community soccer leagues. Gorham Parks & Recreation offers an adult co-ed softball program in the summer at Gorham High School’s softball field, bringing the town together around sporting events. Families especially appreciate the numerous summer camp programs for kids, which offer educational and enriching experiences to keep kids occupied all summer long. The town hosts an annual Memorial Day Parade, where the community gathers to celebrate the long weekend together. The Cross Town Trail is a 1.5-mile easy rail-trail along an old railroad bed, with trailheads at the end of Hutcherson Drive and on New Portland Road at Tink Drive.
The Friendliest Towns in Maine
These nine towns prove that community is at the heart of Maine’s core values. Through their events, these Maine towns promote their artists and musicians to wider audiences through the Summer Concert Series and Art Walks, going above and beyond to cultivate their regional culture.
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Monday is National Wine Day, where wine lovers are pouring a glass of their favorite wine to celebrate.
This alcoholic beverage is made from fermented grapes or other fruits, where yeast consumes the sugars in the grapes making it into alcohol during the fermentation process, according to the National Day Calendar. Different grapes produce different types of wine, and wine that is made from fruit or honey is often named according to the different fruits used.
It’s not the color of the grapes that gives the wine its color. It’s the tannins in the grape skins that color wine red and also the flavor. White wines are typically sweeter than red wines and are best served chilled, but most red wines are served at room temperature. However, a sweet red should also be chilled for the best flavor.
Top wineries in western Massachusetts
Yelp has put together a list of the top wineries in western Massachusetts:
- Silver Bear Distillery– 63 Flansburg Avenue, Dalton
- Mineral Hills Winery– 592 Sylvester Road, Godard’s Red Hen Farm, Florence
- Glendale Ridge Vineyard– 155 Glendale Road, Southampton
- Black Birch Vineyard– 108 Straits Road, Hatfield
- Sunset Meadow of Massachusetts– 296 South Main Street, Sheffield
- Cameron’s Winery– 1046 Millers Falls Road, Northfield
- Brimfield Winery– 35 Main Street, Brimfield
- Raven Hollow Winery – 436 Russellville Road, Westfield
- Hardwick Winery – 3305 Greenwich Road, Ware
- Echo Hill Orchards & Winery– 101 Wilbraham Road, Monson
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire: So, So Awesome, Though I Did Lose My Nerve for a Time – Part I – The Trek
This is a story not about scenic views, wildflowers, animals, people met, towns encountered, but some reality, at least mine, of things we often do not talk about in the hiking community. In retrospect, the first 1,800+ miles headed north on my thru hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) were certainly taxing and replete with various challenges that I had to work through, learn from, and make adjustments. However, realistically not much on the AT at that point, and per my years of previous hiking experiences, prepared me mentally for what I would encounter in New Hampshire.
Welcome to idyllic New Hampshire.
More idyllic New Hampshire. Not so fast, Mr. Hiker guy, can’t do the same moves as before.
New Hampshire Hiking
Frankly, New Hampshire is a beast and I do mean that in a positive and respectful manner. The hiking in New Hampshire is so technically difficult from other areas within the U.S. and abroad that I have hiked. It seemed like I was constantly bouldering, scrambling, using handholds, fording high, swift creeks/rivers, navigating massive descents with no “guardrails,” or in May encountering hour-by-hour changing weather (e.g., snow, hail, sleet, rain, wind).
A granite face. Down we go.
Crazy Descent
When I hike, I do carry with me a healthy dose of fear, which I find to be positive. For me, fear operates as a navigating tool related to risks, focusing my mind, calming my emotional state, or strengthening my thought processes/decision-making.
On a few AT sections early on in New Hampshire, such as the northbound massive descent (Beaver Brook Cascades) down from Mount Moosilauke in a snow and sleet storm, my revolve and fear-cooping mechanisms seemed to become a negative version of “scared” with every step given the large amounts of this winter’s snow and ice, slippery rock faces, micro spikes and/or trial runners not adhering well to granite, and so on. In my mind, and probably quite true given the weather and trail conditions, danger of a fall, injury, or worse appeared to be at every turn and step. A 3+ mile very steep descent turned into a 3 to 4 hour mental stress test that I am pretty sure I “failed.”
Snow and ice up and down the mountain.
I was warned.
Rising Waters
The next day, I hiked about 17 miles from Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch, and it had rained a lot in that section of the AT during the previous two days. During my ascent of Mount Kinsman, it continued to rain and rain. I must of forded 6 to 8 rivers, or maybe just the same river that amount of times, but as the day wore on, the water levels in these river(s) kept rising. I am almost 6’3” tall and by the end of the hiking day, I was fording river water mid- to upper-thigh and in super swift conditions. Again, like the previous Mousilauke experience, my positive fear started to become something more negative and mentally paralyzing thinking about the inherent risk involved in fording a deep, swift river late in the day and with no other option to get to the other side of a flooded out AT.
Various extremely sketchy river fords.
A Reset
After these experiences, and frankly losing my confidence, I took a few days off to level set, so I stayed at the wonderful Notch Hostel. To date, the Notch is my favorite hostel on the trail. The staff were so welcoming, warm, and always available. The hostel was super clean and friendly and had very fair expectations related to how hikers et al. should live there as well as treat the hostel environment. After at reset, I went back out and did a 27-mile hike in a few days of the famed Franconia Ridge over Mounts Lafayette and Lincoln, South Twin Mountain, and others. This was a very challenging hike, but one that I needed to do to gain my nerve back and reestablish mentally my healthy level of fear instead of hiking scared per possible ‘what if’ scenarios of serious injury and beyond.
Moving into Part II
So, in the end, it was fine to lose my nerve for a time and be scared in certain hiking situations. The key for me was in recognizing the latter state, trying to mentally review the circumstances, and learn from these experiences. Then, I needed to physically go back out in challenging conditions and hike. I feel really good about New Hampshire and what is to come on the AT. My part II, if you will, will be informed from my part I. I can’t wait for more of New Hampshire.
A new day rising.
This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek’s ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!
To learn more, please visit the About This Site page.
-
Kentucky5 minutes agoKentucky Horse Park honors Sgt. Reckless, the mare who served in the Korean War
-
Louisiana11 minutes agoA Louisiana state senator helped secure Meta’s largest datacenter. Then he sold the land beside it
-
Maine17 minutes ago9 Maine Small Towns With Unmatched Friendliness
-
Maryland23 minutes agoMore wet weather for Memorial Day in Maryland
-
Michigan29 minutes agoAddiction counselor shortage hits Michigan hard: ‘We’re all struggling’ – Bridge Michigan
-
Massachusetts35 minutes agoCelebrate National Wine Day: Top wineries in western Massachusetts
-
Minnesota41 minutes agoPerspectives: ‘Nuremberg’ movie has Minnesota legal links
-
Missouri53 minutes ago6 storylines to watch in Missouri boys volleyball state tournament
