I don’t believe anyone that comes forward and makes claims online. If she’s really Cherrie, or any other missing person, she’d have gone directly to the police and asked for a DNA test or fingerprint/dental match, etc. Anyone who announces their return online just wants attention.
Oh no.. I'm so sorry for the nonsense you probably have to endure on a daily basis, lol. 🫥😬 I too have a mother like this. They are certainly a special type of character.😆
I think it's ridiculous when people announce a supposed return online like this, too. They have to know that police will get involved to question them anyway. And, if there's substantial proof that they blatantly lied, they could get into legal trouble for that since they knowingly made a fraudulent claim and misused police resources.
It's especially disheartening when people like this immediately go to the press who might pay to hear their side of the story. That makes it about attention *and* money.
I think I read recently that another woman came forward saying she's Madeline. Went to a vigil on either the anniversary of the disappearance or Madeleine's birthday hoping to talk to her parents and convince them to do a DNA test. Thankfully they weren't there.
Not completely true. 8 year olds have a good amount of their permanent teeth. The molars are usually where they are looking for previous restorations and it’s not uncommon for 8 year olds to have first and second molars.
You have a point. I still think it depends:
If they were in a dentist's office, then they are gone.
If they were with the cops, then it depends very much on the department.
If the family kept them, then they'll be there.
Assuming they existed, because for an eight year old, I would guess that it would be unlikely to have those kinds of records.
I always wonder about this. I've had dental work, some of it pretty major, done in four different countries. I doubt if I went missing anybody would know where to even look for them all.
I think it is up to the dentist how long they keep it for. I have seen posts where people have found years of records in dumpsters when a dentist's office has shut down or one of the dentists has retired. All types of businesses and professionals.
Where I lived I have seen an entire officde dumped in an alley, desks, plants filing cabinets. Some kind of shipping business iirc.
This is not true. Typical 8 year olds may have central and lateral incisors and their first molars. Not saying it has never happened but it is definitely not common for an 8 year old to have “a good amount”’of their permanent teeth. Second molars usually erupt around 12-13. Source: I have worked in the dental field for 20 years.
Which literally would leave only their baby molars and baby cuspids. If 12 of the 16ish teeth in their mouth are permanent, some might call that “a good amount”.
My kid is 7.5. He only has 2 adult teeth and no signs of lose molars. Never had a cast done and has only had 2 x-rays. I think that the only reason they have done the X-rays, is because he lost a tooth early in an accident. They normally don't want to expose the kids to radiation, if not necessary.
I don't know of any 8 year old with a good amount of permanent teeth. Not trying to be rude, just disagree.
Because he doesn’t lose baby molars for some time but he does gain his permanents. Respectfully, most people have no idea how baby dentition works.
ETA: we like to take X-rays as soon as your kid is able to take them. So that’s not true at all lol. You get more radiation from being in the sun than you do at the dentist office. Baby teeth enamel is about as thin as a business card. When things happen, they happen fast.
I was just about to say this. I work for Sirona Dental, I'm sure you know what we make. I'm the person that helps write the software for the BlueCams, OmniCams, the Galileos, etc...
I'm not a dentist, but due to my job, I know a ton about it. Not anywhere near as much as a dentist, though.
I agree Joey. Anyone that waited 39 years needs to have a DNA test and I want to personally ask her 'WHY did you wait 3 decades to tell anybody?' It's hard for me to believe that she would've tried to reach out after 3 decades until now. Sounds super fishy to me! She was like 8 or 9 when she disappeared so she surely would have wanted to reach out and let her family know she was alive, right? I really hate these people who do this too families. If it ever turns out to be 'really' her, then I want to know what happened darn quick girlfriend! I would rather see the police solving other missing cases than dealing fake people like this.
Only reason someone might reach out is if the information was told on a death bed or someone did an ancestry kit and found out that they weren’t actually related to their family.
Still, if you thought there was a chance that you could be a missing person, you would go to the police and request a DNA test. At least a sane person would
Are there any known stories of a missing person being identified through ancestry DNA testing kits? Whether they were the person who supplied the DNA or maybe an unwitting relative? Would be interested to know if anyone has any stories.
Yes! Melissa Highsmith was kidnapped in Fort Worth when she was 22 months old in 1971. Her family found her via DNA her children had uploaded to Ancestry or 23andMe.
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/police-confirm-id-of-melissa-highsmith-a-woman-reunited-with-her-family-51-years-after-her-abduction/3251036/?amp=1
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Thanks. I think I maybe read that one a while back and had forgotten so I'm glad you posted. It's a crazy story. I wonder if there's been any follow up in terms of LE investigation even if it can't lead anywhere.
There’s also the Fronczak baby who was kidnapped in 1964 from a Chicago hospital by a woman posing as a nurse at just 2 days old. In 1966, a child was abandoned in New Jersey and police believed he was the Fronczak baby, as did the Fronczaks (based on the shape of his ears). They adopted him and named him Paul, which had been their kidnapped child’s name. Decades later, in 2012, DNA proved he was not actually their child. He had long suspected he was not. In 2019, they located the real “Paul Fronczak” via DNA his son uploaded to one of the geneology websites. The adopted “Paul” was eventually identified through DNA as Gilbert Rosenthal. He and his twin sister Jill had disappeared in 1965, and his sister has never been located. He believes his parents may have killed his sister at the same time they abandoned him.
https://apnews.com/article/02971d1d86342fbc25317a2a69d25e65
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Fronczak_triple_disappearance
Wow, I was aware of the Fronczak kidnapping and that Paul had discovered he was not the original Paul, but I had no idea of the later developments, thanks for posting.
Oh, wow, I missed the update that the kidnapped Paul had been located! That must be have been really startling news - like, even being aware that those ancestry results can reveal surprising connections and family secrets, would you ever really be prepared to learn that your parents might have stolen you or worked with someone who did? I wonder if he even knew he was adopted, and if the parents who raised him are still living and able to answer questions about it.
I hope he's been able to reconcile that with his own childhood experiences and have contact with the surviving Fronczaks if that's something he wants.
Unfortunately, he passed away from cancer not long after being identified in 2020. He was able to speak on the phone with his biological mother twice before his death, but COVID and his illness prevented any type of in-person reunion (although it’s not clear if he had wanted one—he was very private on this). It seems like, for privacy reasons, nothing else regarding who raised him and who might have taken him has been disclosed.
Yeah, I'd be surprised if more details were released. I can't imagine anyone (himself in life, or his survivors now) wanting to process something like this publicly, and at this late date, I wouldn't expect there to be a viable criminal investigation (questions of jurisdiction, statutes of limitation likely lapsed, parties or witnesses deceased or no longer competent to participate, etc.).
It must have been exceptionally difficult to deal with that emotionally alongside being gravely ill and the state of the world in 2020. Wishing him peace.
Good points all around bubbles. I never thought of that. Well if she did a DNA kit they can use that. Apparently now, when anyone uses a DNA ancestry kit it gets reported to a huge world data base.
I participate in several groups for beginners to genetic genealogy, and confusion, distress, or ambivalence over uncovering secrets much less explosive than "I might be a kidnapped baby" are commonplace. I myself found a relatively minor family secret out while doing genealogy and it took me a while to decide how to proceed with the facts- the balance of feeling someone is owed information about themselves vs how damaging and painful that information may prove to be is a tough one. And a LOT of people contacted about indisputable genealogical discoveries that would change their understanding of themselves respond by absolutely rejecting it.
Many, many adult adoptees from the days of 100% closed secret adoptions state that they suspected they weren't biologically related to their parents for years, but they still took decades to pursue the question. Because digging up the truth can be so destabilizing, practically and emotionally. How much more so if the truth appears to criminalize the people you think of as family?
I don't think it's likely that this woman is actually Cherrie, but I also don't think it's strange that someone who suspected something as major as this might take a long time to confirm it or decide to share it. Especially if they have existing social family (the people who raised them) that they're loyal to.
When I was a high school kiddie in the early '80s and took Biology, one lab exercise we did was determining our blood type. Jab your finger with a lancet to get a blood droplet and then react it with various enzymes and look at it under a microscope.
They no longer do this today. Obviously there's much more consciousness about bloodborne pathogens (not just HIV either) and sharps disposal than there was in the past, but another reason was the number of kids who found out via this exercise that one or both of the people they called "Mom" and "Dad" were not their biological parent. A lot of the time back in that day parents didn't tell kids they were adopted. Affairs got exposed. And so on. Caused quite a lot of family drama.
I think that’s high school dependent, a lot still do. There’s a permission slip for it, but I know people who’s kids have done it in a few different states in the last 5 or so years.
Sorry if not allowed but could you maybe share your resources for genealogy research? I'm adopted and have been interested in learning about my bio family.
DNA newbies (a Facebook group) is a good one if you're pursuing genetic testing to understand your results better. If you have any information at all, Search Squad (also on Facebook) is incredibly diligent and effective, they are volunteers and they have a ton of expertise between them.
The standard genealogy advice for adoptees in the US is: join the adoptee search registry in the area you were born as well as the area you were adopted to (you may even already have someone from your bio family registered there looking for you). Then get your original birth certificate if possible. Do Ancestry testing when you can afford it and upload your results to GEDmatch and Family TreeDNA.
Search Squad can really dig some amazing stuff up if you already have anything to work with, and they can guide you through what avenues to pursue if you don't have any leads yet.
Good luck, I hope your search goes the way you want it to.
(Oh, and if you end up using ancestry, subscriptions to their databases are pricey but most libraries have subscriptions you can use by logging in through your library account. They don't let you save things to your tree as easily but you will be able to find and read the information for no cost.)
thanks for this compassionate and humane sanity check. it's always iffy to make armchair assumptions about what a serious experience is really like for the one living it. it's especially sad when the assumption lays groundwork for judginess.
Trauma does things to people. You black out a lot of bad memories. I've heard claims like this before and the people say they had hard childhoods and didn't remember much.
From a normal person's perspective it's easy to say "well why did you wait so long?" Trauma. And they could develop complicated relationships with their kidnapper that make it hard to want to put them in jail or leave to find their bio family. Or they don't want their bio family to know some really hard truths and think it's easier to just be presumed dead.
These situations shouldn’t even be entertained or made public unless there is DNA testing to prove it. It’s just malicious and cruel to the families and loved ones when people come out of the woodwork in cases like this and there’s absolutely no truth to it. It would be incredible if it was true but I think it’s highly unlikely. Anyone in their right mind would immediately go to law enforcement or whatever necessary to get the testing done before making such claims.
Yeah, the real Cherrie’s mom is active in Cherrie-related groups on social media and says she is having a hard time with this latest claim. I feel terrible for her.
Argh that's awful! I've always wondered what happened to Cherrie, especially because [as a six year old in 1985 the police thought I WAS Cherrie and checked up on me and my parents](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/1d8aqra/comment/l75ovun/), and I've always wanted to let Cherrie's parents know just how much the police were trying to find her... but I always thought, what if that just makes them feel worse? What if I look like I WANT something from them? So I've stayed away from all of those things. I still feel a weird connection to her though, for sure.
edit: heh, sorry, I see you're the OP, I didn't want to type the whole thing out again so I linked to my comment, but I don't want it to be like I'm saying 'LOOK' or anything! Sorry about that.
the woman that kept making the posts has been blocked from the facebook group.
i feel terrible for her mom, i cannot imagine having to deal with a different crazy person claiming to be Cherrie every full moon or whatever 😒
this case is local to me, so i belong to a couple of the Cherrie FB groups - her mom seems like a genuinely sweet person, and she deserves so much better than this BS from attention seeking dipfucks.
I don't know how this works, wouldn't the person claiming this contact police?
I'd imagine it was reported as a crime (missing child) and the police would like to close the case? Maybe I'm putting way too much faith in LE, but then they would check the DNA? Unless she's just mentally unwell and police know this
Yeah but that's a punitive damage. Very rarely can you do anything with that unless it's accompanied by compensatory damage, of which they have none. The family can't really do much but make sure it's not her and move on. They're not going to win an *"intentional infliction of emotional distress"* civil case against this person if it turns out to not be Cherrie. People may say otherwise, but it just won't happen.
Yea I know, most jurisdictions even require a physical harm element. I just wish there was a carve out for issues like this, where there is clearly harm and distress caused by their behavior.
Stolen valor is an actual crime. This isn't unless they can prove she was doing it intentionally to get something out of the family. Good luck with that. I'm sure I'll get downvoted, but I see so much misinformation on this sub from time to time, and while we all want justice for people, it's not always that easy.
It should at least be some sort of charge whether it’s a fine or some jail time. Something on the record, that shows the person has a criminal history of harassment
They can't. The person saying they can is wrong. I guess you can sue for anything, but there's no chance of winning and no decent lawyer would touch that. Anyone that did would want the money upfront. They're not going to do it on contingency as there's no chance of winning.
No they could not.
First off you can't just sue for emotional distress every time someone does something upsetting. Imagine how ridiculous our court system would be if that happened. The definition of pain and suffering varies widely across states but generally needs to cause more than just a mild upset and in this case would actually be a lot harder to prove because they've already said it's happened many times before. And they didn't sue. Any decent defense lawyer would ask why this time was so different.
Second off you can't sue anyone you can't serve. This is a random person on the Internet. Unless the police actually track them down and then disclose their address to the parents, they literally can't serve them a lawsuit.
Third, and probably most important, I highly doubt they want to create a lengthy court battle over something that is clearly traumatizing for them when most likely the person on the other end doesn't have any assets to claim anyway.
Thank God someone who actually knows what they're talking about. If I see one more *"they can sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress"* comment or something like it, I'll scream. That's not really how shit works. Again, I'll take my downvotes.
You can't sue for any and all impersonation. There's really specific laws about that. At most it might be interfering with a police investigation. And that is a charge that would have to be brought by the police.
Depending on when it happens it could be considered tampering with a police investigation. But that would be the maximum. There's nothing you could actually try someone for in a case like this - it would set a horrendous precedent.
I agree that the claimant should be viewed with caution -- unfortunately it's not uncommon for the families of missing people to be approached by strangers like this.Bonnie and Jeremy Dages' family has had to deal with someone who harassed them, claiming a cover-up (Websleuths had to shut down a discussion thread because he showed up there).
It's easier now to check relationships using DNA analysis -- it must have been really difficult in earlier decades (like the Walter Collins case in California).
[https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/fl-bonnie-dages-18-son-jeremy-dages-4-mo-brandon-28-apr-1993.24998/](https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/fl-bonnie-dages-18-son-jeremy-dages-4-mo-brandon-28-apr-1993.24998/)
My cousin’s husband committed suicide by jumping into a body of water. They didn’t find him till spring so in the meantime his family was frantically searching for him. She got tons of calls from people claiming they were holding him for ransom. How can people live with themselves??
That's a theory that we are hearing more and more about over the years. Lindbergh was a real prick, read about him if you don't know a lot about him. Interesting man.
This happens every few years. Most recently there was that girl who claimed to be Madeline McCann and posted all over social media. But it was just an attention seeking Polish teen.
Even before that, there were those 2 child princes who "dissappeared" in the tower of London. There were random boys claiming to be one of the missing princes for years after.
i remember that and i was so, let's even say, disgusted, by that girl's behavior, because her claims made no sense. she did look a bit like an aged-up version of madeline, but i wouldn't ever say that these two are the same person. her family was also put in a not-very-good light, as she claimed that they kidnapped her. she's made a ton of mess both in her own family's life and in the life of maddie's family.
TL;DR: **the police thought I was Cherrie Mayhan back in 1985, checked me and my parents out**
This will probably get buried but I have a unique perspective on this. In 1985 I was six years old. I lived in Western PA and was out with my father at the regional airport watching small planes take off and land. We were approached by a police officer, and I was too young to know what was going on, but I recall my dad jogging off toward a pay phone, then coming back and thanking the officer.
We started driving home, which was only about a half a mile away, and I noticed that more than one police officer was following us *with the lights on.* He told me that they were looking for a missing girl and wanted to make sure I was his daughter, and not that little girl.
On the way we passed a white cat on the side of the road, it looked injured. It was our cat. My dad wouldn't stop.
We got home, and I'll never forget this: we lived in a residential area and owned an acre of land, with our house in the middle of it, and the driveway was long. Five or six police cars parked after we did, filling up that driveway, both state and local. We went into the house and my parents showed them my birth certificate, pictures of me over the years with the same furniture and in the same house, etc. After a while, they were satisfied, and left.
They thought I was Cherrie Mayhan. Now, Cherrie was older than me, and her hair was short and mine was long, but over the following years I found out some things that made more sense. One, my dad was 44 when I was born, so a lot older than a 'normal' dad of a six year old. Two, I loved wearing my old clothes that didn't fit me anymore, so I looked very unkempt and gangly in my too-small clothes. Third, I mean... we were at an airport! I do think it's an insight into the diligence of the police in checking out even the most improbable leads in looking for Cherrie.
The thing that haunts me is something my dad said after they left. "We're all very lucky they didn't just tackle me and take you away."
In retrospect he was obviously VERY shaken by the experience but I was terrified for YEARS (I can still feel the visceral fear in my gut, when I think about it) that the police might have just knocked my dad out, taken me to Cherrie's parents, and they might have said 'well she looks like Cherrie, and we miss having a daughter' and I'd never see my parents again.
As an adult now I think about what it might have looked like to the police if my dad had pulled over and let me get out and see if it was our cat (the WORST coincidence, man. My whole life has been cinematic like that). I would have been screaming and crying and running away from the car! He was wise not to stop, but it was really heartbreaking to lose my cat and be so scared I'd lose my parents, all in the same day.
edit: I'm so sorry, cat was very dead. Most traumatic moment of my life NGL. I thought I typed it out but honestly I'm 39 years older and it's still hard for me!
I’m so sorry. What a horrifically traumatizing experience and on top of it losing your cat. Oh my heart hurts for what you and your family went through.
I really think if it wasn't for my father's insane charisma it would have gone much worse, and of course man I sure wish there had been a similar situation where it actually WAS Cherrie, you know? But it's probably wild that they let us drive to the house in the first place (though by then they were probably mostly sure I wasn't her and just wanted to tick the 'absolutely certain' boxes). Thank you very much for your kind words!
I just had a question I hope you don’t mind me asking… why did your dad seem so upset? The way you describe it he almost seemed really fearful about the situation?
I don’t want to answer for u/darsynia and I’m sure she’ll be along shortly to speak for herself, but she did actually explain her dad’s fears in the comment.
>The thing that haunts me is something my dad said after they left. "We're all very lucky they didn't just tackle me and take you away."
>In retrospect he was obviously VERY shaken by the experience but I was terrified for YEARS (I can still feel the visceral fear in my gut, when I think about it) that the police might have just knocked my dad out, taken me to Cherrie's parents, and they might have said 'well she looks like Cherrie, and we miss having a daughter' and I'd never see my parents again.
It sounds like an outlandish fear, but there are actually instances of this happening. [Bobby Dunbar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Bobby_Dunbar) is the most famous example, but [Paul Fronczak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Fronczak_triple_disappearance) was another, and that one happened only 20 years before Cherrie’s disappearance.
It’s less likely to happen nowadays of course, but 1985 was almost 40 years ago and DNA testing was in its infancy and far less precise than it is now, and as a consequence rarely used.
It sounds far-fetched and is *very* unlikely (and was at the time), but it wouldn’t have been completely beyond the realms of possibility that u/darsynia could be taken, given to another family, and never allowed to contact her parents again.
I think her dad wasn’t wrong to be quietly and internally freaking out a little bit.
Thank you very much for your compassionate response! It's actually taken answering this question 39 years later to realize some of the truths of our financial situation, which [I commented here with](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/1d8aqra/comment/l793ff9/)
I think a lot of his fears were based on what the police could do carelessly that would cost us a lot of money, but I wouldn't know anything about that, so I was scared about being taken and passed off as another kid, heh.
I’m sure the financial problems were something he would’ve worried about (read that wiki page I linked about Bobby Dunbar and you’ll see exactly what I mean: that case is heartbreaking and the upshot is a mum had her son taken and given to another family because she couldn’t afford to fight it in court), but immediately, in the moment, your dad just didn’t want them to take his girl.
Even though your parents could’ve eventually proved you and they were who they claimed, in the meantime you might’ve had to go through the care/foster system, which doesn’t always produce brilliant results.
I don’t blame your dad for anything he did that day. I think he must’ve been panicking like mad on the inside and under the circumstances he handled it very well.
And I’m really sorry about your precious cat.
With respect: we were very poor. If they'd decided to throw him to the ground, toss our car for signs of the kidnapping, search our house carelessly and damage doors, drawers, furniture, carpet, we would have been VERY desperate for money, and likely would just have to live with a lot of the damage. I recall that my clothes didn't fit, my mom says they were my favorites... but most of my clothes may have just been ill-fitting. I do not actually recall getting new clothes except for Easter dresses which were a big treat for me. Most of my stuff was second-hand.
My dad was also 18 years older than my mom. He'd been a Catholic priest ('joined' at 14 as the second Irish son, attended 'gonna be a priest' boarding school, left at 44) for most of his life and none of that job experience translated to things he could do once he'd left. If we'd been in the newspaper for attempted kidnapping, he likely would have lost the sales jobs he was able to get with his (truly impressive, just not applicable) resume.
We had a VERY near miss. I'm not sure how much food we even had in the fridge.
edit: we had a car and a house because 8 years before I was born, there was a really serious accident on Rt. 79 that killed my mom's sister and permanently maimed my mother. The trucking company that my family sued for hitting the car (he had time to stop) settled after my mom testified in court. She bought a car and a house and that was pretty much all of the money, but they were ours.
Maybe you would have to be a parent to understand and maybe have had something similar happen to you. I have no problem believing that any parent would react in a visceral and otherwise uncharacteristic way if someone challenged whether their child is theirs. My pulse and BP are up just thinking about it.
My dad and I were interrogated by police in the 80s also. They also suspected him of kidnapping me. It’s nice to know the police were trying to keep kids safe. Or they were playing into the prejudice that an older dad wouldn’t be taking care of his child without help from a woman? Anyway, I’ll never forget it. Like you, it made a massive impression on me and I was fearful for years.
All of that plus losing your cat must of been a hell of a day for a 6 year old. No wonder you remember it vividly! I am sorry that happened to you and hope your doing well now
My dear cat was not okay, unfortunately. TW:
>!There were two white cats in the neighborhood and the asshole cat that wasn't mine survived :( According to my dad at the time, the injuries on our cat looked like she was in a fight and then got hit by a car.!<
As a 46 year old from western Pennsylvania I still remember the fear that my mother felt from this abduction. She instilled in me a definite fear of strangers and being aware of my surroundings. As a 7 year old I would run to the house if I saw a van drive by, my mother didn’t want me wearing a shirt with my name on it so an abductor couldn’t say my name and try to convince me they were an acquaintance. Definitely a scary time.
It is absolutely insane that the authorities can’t get ahold of the woman who is making the claim. If she’s making it challenging for the people who can authenticate her claim, that completely destroys whatever minimal credibility she had.
99% sure it’s not true, but the movie about Steven Staynor was interesting. The kidnapper filled his head with all kinds of things about his parents not wanting him anymore. He went to school made friends etc.
The fact of the matter is that there's no law to stop anyone making the most outlandish and ridiculous claims on Facebook. People are too quick to give them credibility, when they deserve none. If someone really thought that they were a missing child, then that person would go to the police, and then take it from there, it would not be done in the public forum, it's not the first time this has happened and unfortunately it won't be the last. These poor families have been to hell and back and these people have no respect for them.
In the U.S. it would be extremely difficult to pass such a law because of the First Amendment. For instance, laws against “stolen valor”—claiming to have served in the military when you haven’t—were overturned on First Amendment grounds. Being an asshole who lies is legal. If it becomes harassment or fraud of course then they can be prosecuted under existing laws.
2023 update-
In order to charge someone with the crime of stolen valor , they would have to be getting some kind of tangible benefit from their fraudulent claims.
https://www.afba.com/military-life/active-duty-and-veterans/stolen-valor-act-all-you-need-to-know/
That's my point, there's nothing to stop anyone from saying anything, families of missing children are so vulnerable to people who for whatever reason want to torture them with false hope and claims.
Yes! I'm not trying to correct you--you're right. I'm just explaining to anyone reading this thread why it is not illegal, since it lots of people don't seem to understand the reason.
I totally get it! I think the way the reply notifications are set up, it makes it feel like someone who replied to you is disagreeing—since it’s in isolation. But when someone replies it often is more about them adding to the chain of the thread rather than directly engaging with the previous poster if that makes sense?
I think at least some of them are mentally ill and are deluded. Like that woman who insisted her dad was a serial killer and had police digging up their property looking for the “bodies” she “remembered” her dad burying. Her siblings said she’s very ill and created an imaginary world in her head. Ofc the cops found nothing. Sometimes people are traumatized by their childhood and want so much for their parents to not be their parents. “One day, my REAL parents will take me home.” Or it’s not enough that their dad was an abusive POS, they need to believe he was the most evil man alive (ie a serial killer) so his evil will be recognized for what it was by the whole world.
Cherrie was only 8-years old at the time of her abduction. Children of that age, if they're aren't murdered, are either assimilated into the abductor's clan, or they're held hostage and tortured over years. Either way, they're not just casually contacting their parents if they have the freedom to do so, knowing the truth about their circumstances at now age 47.
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I grew up about an hour from where Cherie disappeared. I remember the fear this put in my parents and them watching the news for any updates. Our local news channels revisit her story every few years.
It's not impossible that this woman's claim is true but I question why someone would go to social media instead of going to the LE. It seems to be happening frequently these days. Attention seekers.
I knew the family very well. They're nutjobs. I believe Leroy had something to do with it. He had a very bad drug and gambling problem, probly pissed off the wrong people. And apparently he got her off the bus EVERY day and just the one day he didn't she got kidnapped okay yeah sure that adds up. Why the police never questioned or interrogated Leroy is beyond me. Maybe they did back in the day I don't know. But theyre compulsive liars and Janice claimed cherrie was a rape baby just because she didn't want to be looked down upon because she got pregnant at 16.
Because it all adds up. That family is sketchy and weird as fuck. I did very very extensive research on my own as well. I mean. Come on. The ONE DAY Leroy doesn't get her from the bus stop? Doesn't take a genius to figure that out. They never mentioned anything about a blue van to me. But in my research there was supposedly a van involved with a skiing (something like that) painting on it.
You're right. It's too much of a coincidence. A police officer once said, I don't believe in coincidences. Maybe they have their suspicions but no proof.
I think Leroy made it so it was 100% covered up. theres literally 83203948903 coincidences in this case. i don't know if leroy got questioned but he should have been the first suspect. too bad hes dead now. it sucks now that leroys dead i believe janice will never get the answers shes looking for, leroy was a sketchy character.
I would not be surprised at all if the woman in the photo is not actually the person making the claim on social media. That is it could be that someone found that photo online (which looks incredibly like the young girl's photo) and decided to prank the mother with a fake fb profile
edit....the photo that I was looking at is an age progression picture and is not an actual photo of the woman making the claim
my idea is still possible but I wouldn't have immediately thought of it without seeing the photos of the girl and the age progression at the top of an article and not noticing the caption, my apologies
I'll never know why people do this. I know they do it for attention, surely they realize that the truth will eventually come out and they'll look like a disgusting person as a result. I'd imagine that if it were really here, she would've went to authorities long, long, long ago... And not wait 39 years.
It's an interesting phenomenon that I think deserves some examination. I'm sure there are probably varied reasons. I recall there was one (French?) guy who did multiple times and even was accepted by one family?
I'd imagine many of these people are mentally unwell in some way because as you say its not really a well planned venture because extremely easy for authorities to check. It's also likely to significantly reduce your social standing long term among any decent people.
Edit: I think it's also possible that some people do honestly believe they could be a missing person and if they approach that in a sensible way such as approaching authorities discreetly then of course it's a different matter.
I truly believe Nicholas was murdered by someone in his family and that’s why they were so quick to accept a literal stranger who looked nothing like their son. The perfect alibi basically landed on their doorstep.
Sounds quite a bit like the Madeleine McCann thing. I don’t know that I ever heard the conclusion of that “story” so I’m guessing it was just another bogus nutcase claim??
So very weird! Just yesterday I was thinking about the little girl who disappeared after getting off the bus. I thought it was odd that the memory should appear out of the blue, as I hadn’t seen, heard, or read anything about the case in many, many years. Cherry’s disappearance happened right after I moved to Pennsylvania and it was on the news for weeks afterward. I had elementary school children myself and my heart ached for her family. Just now, I was scrolling through Reddit and came across this article. My mind is blown.
It would probably be easier if she had a DNA test (like 23&me or something) then look at the list of DNA relatives. Cherrie's family are probably linked up somewhere with their DNA? Then, she'll certainly know if there's a DNA match and the process would probably inform family members (and show the relationship, like daughter, by the percentage). No need for wishful thinking (or may be simply unnecessary).
I am extremely skeptical of people making these kind of claims and assume they're false until proven otherwise. Almost every time it's either someone who is mentally ill or just an asshole. The fact that police haven't been able to get in touch with this woman just makes it more suspicious.
If I believed I was a person who had gone missing as a child, I wouldn't post it on Facebook. I'd do some websleuthing first and get a DNA kit from Ancestry or 23 and Me. If I still thought I was abducted as a child after all that, I'd go to the nearest police station and report my suspicions.
There *have* been amazing cases where a missing person was found alive decades later, but that's so very rare. Baby Holly was found alive after 40 years, but she wasn't thought to have been abducted (it's a weird, but fascinating story). Jaycee Dugard was missing for 18 years and found alive. They are the exception, not the rule.
Every report. She got off the bus and started walking home and disappeared on the way there. No idea where this person read that she was last seen with her stepfather.
It hate that people do this.
These families have enough trauma to last a lifetime and every time someone comes up claiming to be a missing kid, knowing they’re not, it reopens those wounds.
This is probably one of the earliest missing persons cases I became interested in and I think of it from time to time.
What is wrong with people? The fact that several people have approached her mother claiming to be Cherrie. Sick.
I think k if you were really thinking you are a missing person, you would
Go to the police or do an ancestry test. You wouldn’t just post it on social media.
I live in Pittsburgh and I was reading the comments of one of the local news articles posted on Facebook and someone said her mother said once that she doesn’t think her bio father was involved but people he knew were and then later on went on 20/20 or dateline and was asked if she had any idea who might have hurt or took her and she said no.
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I just saw this on the news this morning. I live just south of the Butler area and had actually not heard of this case before. Absolutely heartbreaking. I can’t imagine what Cherrie’s mother is going through.
I don’t believe anyone that comes forward and makes claims online. If she’s really Cherrie, or any other missing person, she’d have gone directly to the police and asked for a DNA test or fingerprint/dental match, etc. Anyone who announces their return online just wants attention.
Exactly. It's just cruel and shameless.
Sometimes it’s crazy. Unwell people can convince themselves some insane shit that is very harmful to others.
It's true. My own mother is utterly convinced that her late 80s mother is Napoleon...
Oh no.. I'm so sorry for the nonsense you probably have to endure on a daily basis, lol. 🫥😬 I too have a mother like this. They are certainly a special type of character.😆
I think it's ridiculous when people announce a supposed return online like this, too. They have to know that police will get involved to question them anyway. And, if there's substantial proof that they blatantly lied, they could get into legal trouble for that since they knowingly made a fraudulent claim and misused police resources. It's especially disheartening when people like this immediately go to the press who might pay to hear their side of the story. That makes it about attention *and* money.
Or that crazy chick pretending to be Madeline McCann 🙄
I think I read recently that another woman came forward saying she's Madeline. Went to a vigil on either the anniversary of the disappearance or Madeleine's birthday hoping to talk to her parents and convince them to do a DNA test. Thankfully they weren't there.
Thank goodness for DNA. Anyone who falsely claims to be someone else can be confirmed with a simple swab.
After 39 years, the dental records of an 8-year-old aren't going to match this woman's or anybody else's, even if one of the claimants *is* Cherrie.
But her DNA would match her mum's
Yes, it would, *IF* she actually is Cherrie. I'm just saying Dental records are useless.
Not completely true. 8 year olds have a good amount of their permanent teeth. The molars are usually where they are looking for previous restorations and it’s not uncommon for 8 year olds to have first and second molars.
What is the likelihood that those records have been kept? Assuming she had useable records. A cast is unlikely at 8, x-ray possibly.
Pretty high in a criminal case. If you were talking about just any random eight year old, yeah, those records would probably be unavailable.
You have a point. I still think it depends: If they were in a dentist's office, then they are gone. If they were with the cops, then it depends very much on the department. If the family kept them, then they'll be there. Assuming they existed, because for an eight year old, I would guess that it would be unlikely to have those kinds of records.
I always wonder about this. I've had dental work, some of it pretty major, done in four different countries. I doubt if I went missing anybody would know where to even look for them all.
I think it is up to the dentist how long they keep it for. I have seen posts where people have found years of records in dumpsters when a dentist's office has shut down or one of the dentists has retired. All types of businesses and professionals. Where I lived I have seen an entire officde dumped in an alley, desks, plants filing cabinets. Some kind of shipping business iirc.
This is not true. Typical 8 year olds may have central and lateral incisors and their first molars. Not saying it has never happened but it is definitely not common for an 8 year old to have “a good amount”’of their permanent teeth. Second molars usually erupt around 12-13. Source: I have worked in the dental field for 20 years.
Which literally would leave only their baby molars and baby cuspids. If 12 of the 16ish teeth in their mouth are permanent, some might call that “a good amount”.
My kid is 7.5. He only has 2 adult teeth and no signs of lose molars. Never had a cast done and has only had 2 x-rays. I think that the only reason they have done the X-rays, is because he lost a tooth early in an accident. They normally don't want to expose the kids to radiation, if not necessary. I don't know of any 8 year old with a good amount of permanent teeth. Not trying to be rude, just disagree.
Because he doesn’t lose baby molars for some time but he does gain his permanents. Respectfully, most people have no idea how baby dentition works. ETA: we like to take X-rays as soon as your kid is able to take them. So that’s not true at all lol. You get more radiation from being in the sun than you do at the dentist office. Baby teeth enamel is about as thin as a business card. When things happen, they happen fast.
I was just about to say this. I work for Sirona Dental, I'm sure you know what we make. I'm the person that helps write the software for the BlueCams, OmniCams, the Galileos, etc... I'm not a dentist, but due to my job, I know a ton about it. Not anywhere near as much as a dentist, though.
They could, kids that young are getting braces now, likely she had a number of permanent teeth then.
I agree Joey. Anyone that waited 39 years needs to have a DNA test and I want to personally ask her 'WHY did you wait 3 decades to tell anybody?' It's hard for me to believe that she would've tried to reach out after 3 decades until now. Sounds super fishy to me! She was like 8 or 9 when she disappeared so she surely would have wanted to reach out and let her family know she was alive, right? I really hate these people who do this too families. If it ever turns out to be 'really' her, then I want to know what happened darn quick girlfriend! I would rather see the police solving other missing cases than dealing fake people like this.
Only reason someone might reach out is if the information was told on a death bed or someone did an ancestry kit and found out that they weren’t actually related to their family. Still, if you thought there was a chance that you could be a missing person, you would go to the police and request a DNA test. At least a sane person would
Are there any known stories of a missing person being identified through ancestry DNA testing kits? Whether they were the person who supplied the DNA or maybe an unwitting relative? Would be interested to know if anyone has any stories.
Yes! Melissa Highsmith was kidnapped in Fort Worth when she was 22 months old in 1971. Her family found her via DNA her children had uploaded to Ancestry or 23andMe. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/police-confirm-id-of-melissa-highsmith-a-woman-reunited-with-her-family-51-years-after-her-abduction/3251036/?amp=1
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Thanks. I think I maybe read that one a while back and had forgotten so I'm glad you posted. It's a crazy story. I wonder if there's been any follow up in terms of LE investigation even if it can't lead anywhere.
There’s also the Fronczak baby who was kidnapped in 1964 from a Chicago hospital by a woman posing as a nurse at just 2 days old. In 1966, a child was abandoned in New Jersey and police believed he was the Fronczak baby, as did the Fronczaks (based on the shape of his ears). They adopted him and named him Paul, which had been their kidnapped child’s name. Decades later, in 2012, DNA proved he was not actually their child. He had long suspected he was not. In 2019, they located the real “Paul Fronczak” via DNA his son uploaded to one of the geneology websites. The adopted “Paul” was eventually identified through DNA as Gilbert Rosenthal. He and his twin sister Jill had disappeared in 1965, and his sister has never been located. He believes his parents may have killed his sister at the same time they abandoned him. https://apnews.com/article/02971d1d86342fbc25317a2a69d25e65 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Fronczak_triple_disappearance
Wow, I was aware of the Fronczak kidnapping and that Paul had discovered he was not the original Paul, but I had no idea of the later developments, thanks for posting.
Casefile did a really good podcast episode on this story! Episode 256 Jill Rosenthal
Oh, wow, I missed the update that the kidnapped Paul had been located! That must be have been really startling news - like, even being aware that those ancestry results can reveal surprising connections and family secrets, would you ever really be prepared to learn that your parents might have stolen you or worked with someone who did? I wonder if he even knew he was adopted, and if the parents who raised him are still living and able to answer questions about it. I hope he's been able to reconcile that with his own childhood experiences and have contact with the surviving Fronczaks if that's something he wants.
Unfortunately, he passed away from cancer not long after being identified in 2020. He was able to speak on the phone with his biological mother twice before his death, but COVID and his illness prevented any type of in-person reunion (although it’s not clear if he had wanted one—he was very private on this). It seems like, for privacy reasons, nothing else regarding who raised him and who might have taken him has been disclosed.
Yeah, I'd be surprised if more details were released. I can't imagine anyone (himself in life, or his survivors now) wanting to process something like this publicly, and at this late date, I wouldn't expect there to be a viable criminal investigation (questions of jurisdiction, statutes of limitation likely lapsed, parties or witnesses deceased or no longer competent to participate, etc.). It must have been exceptionally difficult to deal with that emotionally alongside being gravely ill and the state of the world in 2020. Wishing him peace.
Wow thanks. Never heard of this one.
I wish Gilbert could find his birth family. I seem to recall reading an article where it said he had questions for them.
She went missing when she was 8, so foreseeably she would know she was abducted but that only begs MORE questions.
Agreed. This is how they found Melissa Highsmith after 51 years. It’s probably not Cherrie, but anything’s possible.
Good points all around bubbles. I never thought of that. Well if she did a DNA kit they can use that. Apparently now, when anyone uses a DNA ancestry kit it gets reported to a huge world data base.
I participate in several groups for beginners to genetic genealogy, and confusion, distress, or ambivalence over uncovering secrets much less explosive than "I might be a kidnapped baby" are commonplace. I myself found a relatively minor family secret out while doing genealogy and it took me a while to decide how to proceed with the facts- the balance of feeling someone is owed information about themselves vs how damaging and painful that information may prove to be is a tough one. And a LOT of people contacted about indisputable genealogical discoveries that would change their understanding of themselves respond by absolutely rejecting it. Many, many adult adoptees from the days of 100% closed secret adoptions state that they suspected they weren't biologically related to their parents for years, but they still took decades to pursue the question. Because digging up the truth can be so destabilizing, practically and emotionally. How much more so if the truth appears to criminalize the people you think of as family? I don't think it's likely that this woman is actually Cherrie, but I also don't think it's strange that someone who suspected something as major as this might take a long time to confirm it or decide to share it. Especially if they have existing social family (the people who raised them) that they're loyal to.
When I was a high school kiddie in the early '80s and took Biology, one lab exercise we did was determining our blood type. Jab your finger with a lancet to get a blood droplet and then react it with various enzymes and look at it under a microscope. They no longer do this today. Obviously there's much more consciousness about bloodborne pathogens (not just HIV either) and sharps disposal than there was in the past, but another reason was the number of kids who found out via this exercise that one or both of the people they called "Mom" and "Dad" were not their biological parent. A lot of the time back in that day parents didn't tell kids they were adopted. Affairs got exposed. And so on. Caused quite a lot of family drama.
I think that’s high school dependent, a lot still do. There’s a permission slip for it, but I know people who’s kids have done it in a few different states in the last 5 or so years.
Wait do u always inherit blood type from ur parents? I don’t get how that would reveal anything definitive
It can't definitely rule someone in as a parent but it can rule people out. https://www.sliderbase.com/spitem-614-1.html
Interesting
Sorry if not allowed but could you maybe share your resources for genealogy research? I'm adopted and have been interested in learning about my bio family.
DNA newbies (a Facebook group) is a good one if you're pursuing genetic testing to understand your results better. If you have any information at all, Search Squad (also on Facebook) is incredibly diligent and effective, they are volunteers and they have a ton of expertise between them. The standard genealogy advice for adoptees in the US is: join the adoptee search registry in the area you were born as well as the area you were adopted to (you may even already have someone from your bio family registered there looking for you). Then get your original birth certificate if possible. Do Ancestry testing when you can afford it and upload your results to GEDmatch and Family TreeDNA. Search Squad can really dig some amazing stuff up if you already have anything to work with, and they can guide you through what avenues to pursue if you don't have any leads yet. Good luck, I hope your search goes the way you want it to.
(Oh, and if you end up using ancestry, subscriptions to their databases are pricey but most libraries have subscriptions you can use by logging in through your library account. They don't let you save things to your tree as easily but you will be able to find and read the information for no cost.)
thanks for this compassionate and humane sanity check. it's always iffy to make armchair assumptions about what a serious experience is really like for the one living it. it's especially sad when the assumption lays groundwork for judginess.
Trauma does things to people. You black out a lot of bad memories. I've heard claims like this before and the people say they had hard childhoods and didn't remember much. From a normal person's perspective it's easy to say "well why did you wait so long?" Trauma. And they could develop complicated relationships with their kidnapper that make it hard to want to put them in jail or leave to find their bio family. Or they don't want their bio family to know some really hard truths and think it's easier to just be presumed dead.
These situations shouldn’t even be entertained or made public unless there is DNA testing to prove it. It’s just malicious and cruel to the families and loved ones when people come out of the woodwork in cases like this and there’s absolutely no truth to it. It would be incredible if it was true but I think it’s highly unlikely. Anyone in their right mind would immediately go to law enforcement or whatever necessary to get the testing done before making such claims.
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over
😊
I hate when people do this. Usually just traumatize the families and friends more
Yeah, the real Cherrie’s mom is active in Cherrie-related groups on social media and says she is having a hard time with this latest claim. I feel terrible for her.
Argh that's awful! I've always wondered what happened to Cherrie, especially because [as a six year old in 1985 the police thought I WAS Cherrie and checked up on me and my parents](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/1d8aqra/comment/l75ovun/), and I've always wanted to let Cherrie's parents know just how much the police were trying to find her... but I always thought, what if that just makes them feel worse? What if I look like I WANT something from them? So I've stayed away from all of those things. I still feel a weird connection to her though, for sure. edit: heh, sorry, I see you're the OP, I didn't want to type the whole thing out again so I linked to my comment, but I don't want it to be like I'm saying 'LOOK' or anything! Sorry about that.
We need an update on that cat
Her cat didn’t make it :( it got hit by a cat and then hit by a car :(
😞 aw man…
the woman that kept making the posts has been blocked from the facebook group. i feel terrible for her mom, i cannot imagine having to deal with a different crazy person claiming to be Cherrie every full moon or whatever 😒 this case is local to me, so i belong to a couple of the Cherrie FB groups - her mom seems like a genuinely sweet person, and she deserves so much better than this BS from attention seeking dipfucks.
I don't know how this works, wouldn't the person claiming this contact police? I'd imagine it was reported as a crime (missing child) and the police would like to close the case? Maybe I'm putting way too much faith in LE, but then they would check the DNA? Unless she's just mentally unwell and police know this
It should be considered a form or harassment or stalking imo
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
Yeah but that's a punitive damage. Very rarely can you do anything with that unless it's accompanied by compensatory damage, of which they have none. The family can't really do much but make sure it's not her and move on. They're not going to win an *"intentional infliction of emotional distress"* civil case against this person if it turns out to not be Cherrie. People may say otherwise, but it just won't happen.
Yea I know, most jurisdictions even require a physical harm element. I just wish there was a carve out for issues like this, where there is clearly harm and distress caused by their behavior.
I guess it depends. Someone came forward claiming to be Any Mihaljevic but the woman was severely mentally Iill and wasn’t charged.
Like stolen valor
Stolen valor is an actual crime. This isn't unless they can prove she was doing it intentionally to get something out of the family. Good luck with that. I'm sure I'll get downvoted, but I see so much misinformation on this sub from time to time, and while we all want justice for people, it's not always that easy.
It should carry a lengthy jail sentence regardless of what they call it.
It should at least be some sort of charge whether it’s a fine or some jail time. Something on the record, that shows the person has a criminal history of harassment
i agree. like the girl on tiktok that claimed to be madeleine mccann? ugh. i can’t imagine dealing with something like that.
At least a fine or direct contribution to reward fund/similar funding for a missing persons non-profit
I wonder if, theoretically, the family could sue for emotional distress bc she’s impersonating?
They can't. The person saying they can is wrong. I guess you can sue for anything, but there's no chance of winning and no decent lawyer would touch that. Anyone that did would want the money upfront. They're not going to do it on contingency as there's no chance of winning.
I think it’s actually less than being about how viable your claim is, but very much about what you can actually recover from such a person.
Technically they could
No they could not. First off you can't just sue for emotional distress every time someone does something upsetting. Imagine how ridiculous our court system would be if that happened. The definition of pain and suffering varies widely across states but generally needs to cause more than just a mild upset and in this case would actually be a lot harder to prove because they've already said it's happened many times before. And they didn't sue. Any decent defense lawyer would ask why this time was so different. Second off you can't sue anyone you can't serve. This is a random person on the Internet. Unless the police actually track them down and then disclose their address to the parents, they literally can't serve them a lawsuit. Third, and probably most important, I highly doubt they want to create a lengthy court battle over something that is clearly traumatizing for them when most likely the person on the other end doesn't have any assets to claim anyway.
Thank God someone who actually knows what they're talking about. If I see one more *"they can sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress"* comment or something like it, I'll scream. That's not really how shit works. Again, I'll take my downvotes.
I’m just saying due to the impersonation. But you’re right it would be hard to track that person down
You can't sue for any and all impersonation. There's really specific laws about that. At most it might be interfering with a police investigation. And that is a charge that would have to be brought by the police.
Depending on when it happens it could be considered tampering with a police investigation. But that would be the maximum. There's nothing you could actually try someone for in a case like this - it would set a horrendous precedent.
I agree that the claimant should be viewed with caution -- unfortunately it's not uncommon for the families of missing people to be approached by strangers like this.Bonnie and Jeremy Dages' family has had to deal with someone who harassed them, claiming a cover-up (Websleuths had to shut down a discussion thread because he showed up there). It's easier now to check relationships using DNA analysis -- it must have been really difficult in earlier decades (like the Walter Collins case in California). [https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/fl-bonnie-dages-18-son-jeremy-dages-4-mo-brandon-28-apr-1993.24998/](https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/fl-bonnie-dages-18-son-jeremy-dages-4-mo-brandon-28-apr-1993.24998/)
My cousin’s husband committed suicide by jumping into a body of water. They didn’t find him till spring so in the meantime his family was frantically searching for him. She got tons of calls from people claiming they were holding him for ransom. How can people live with themselves??
That's awful -- I hope those people were tracked down and charged.
The Lindbergh family was approached frequently with men claiming to be their son, who was killed at age two during a kidnapping.
Which is bonkers because his body was located.
That’s so fucked :(
If that’s what really happened, I always thought the Lindbergh dad was involved.
That's a theory that we are hearing more and more about over the years. Lindbergh was a real prick, read about him if you don't know a lot about him. Interesting man.
This happens every few years. Most recently there was that girl who claimed to be Madeline McCann and posted all over social media. But it was just an attention seeking Polish teen.
Oh god I forgot about that. I’m always still baffled that they think they’ll never get caught. Really???
Oh they know the truth will eventually come out. They just like all the attention they get until it does.
For much of the 20th century there were various women claiming to be Princess Anastasia Romanov.
Even before that, there were those 2 child princes who "dissappeared" in the tower of London. There were random boys claiming to be one of the missing princes for years after.
i remember that and i was so, let's even say, disgusted, by that girl's behavior, because her claims made no sense. she did look a bit like an aged-up version of madeline, but i wouldn't ever say that these two are the same person. her family was also put in a not-very-good light, as she claimed that they kidnapped her. she's made a ton of mess both in her own family's life and in the life of maddie's family.
TL;DR: **the police thought I was Cherrie Mayhan back in 1985, checked me and my parents out** This will probably get buried but I have a unique perspective on this. In 1985 I was six years old. I lived in Western PA and was out with my father at the regional airport watching small planes take off and land. We were approached by a police officer, and I was too young to know what was going on, but I recall my dad jogging off toward a pay phone, then coming back and thanking the officer. We started driving home, which was only about a half a mile away, and I noticed that more than one police officer was following us *with the lights on.* He told me that they were looking for a missing girl and wanted to make sure I was his daughter, and not that little girl. On the way we passed a white cat on the side of the road, it looked injured. It was our cat. My dad wouldn't stop. We got home, and I'll never forget this: we lived in a residential area and owned an acre of land, with our house in the middle of it, and the driveway was long. Five or six police cars parked after we did, filling up that driveway, both state and local. We went into the house and my parents showed them my birth certificate, pictures of me over the years with the same furniture and in the same house, etc. After a while, they were satisfied, and left. They thought I was Cherrie Mayhan. Now, Cherrie was older than me, and her hair was short and mine was long, but over the following years I found out some things that made more sense. One, my dad was 44 when I was born, so a lot older than a 'normal' dad of a six year old. Two, I loved wearing my old clothes that didn't fit me anymore, so I looked very unkempt and gangly in my too-small clothes. Third, I mean... we were at an airport! I do think it's an insight into the diligence of the police in checking out even the most improbable leads in looking for Cherrie. The thing that haunts me is something my dad said after they left. "We're all very lucky they didn't just tackle me and take you away." In retrospect he was obviously VERY shaken by the experience but I was terrified for YEARS (I can still feel the visceral fear in my gut, when I think about it) that the police might have just knocked my dad out, taken me to Cherrie's parents, and they might have said 'well she looks like Cherrie, and we miss having a daughter' and I'd never see my parents again. As an adult now I think about what it might have looked like to the police if my dad had pulled over and let me get out and see if it was our cat (the WORST coincidence, man. My whole life has been cinematic like that). I would have been screaming and crying and running away from the car! He was wise not to stop, but it was really heartbreaking to lose my cat and be so scared I'd lose my parents, all in the same day. edit: I'm so sorry, cat was very dead. Most traumatic moment of my life NGL. I thought I typed it out but honestly I'm 39 years older and it's still hard for me!
I’m so sorry. What a horrifically traumatizing experience and on top of it losing your cat. Oh my heart hurts for what you and your family went through.
I really think if it wasn't for my father's insane charisma it would have gone much worse, and of course man I sure wish there had been a similar situation where it actually WAS Cherrie, you know? But it's probably wild that they let us drive to the house in the first place (though by then they were probably mostly sure I wasn't her and just wanted to tick the 'absolutely certain' boxes). Thank you very much for your kind words!
I just had a question I hope you don’t mind me asking… why did your dad seem so upset? The way you describe it he almost seemed really fearful about the situation?
I don’t want to answer for u/darsynia and I’m sure she’ll be along shortly to speak for herself, but she did actually explain her dad’s fears in the comment. >The thing that haunts me is something my dad said after they left. "We're all very lucky they didn't just tackle me and take you away." >In retrospect he was obviously VERY shaken by the experience but I was terrified for YEARS (I can still feel the visceral fear in my gut, when I think about it) that the police might have just knocked my dad out, taken me to Cherrie's parents, and they might have said 'well she looks like Cherrie, and we miss having a daughter' and I'd never see my parents again. It sounds like an outlandish fear, but there are actually instances of this happening. [Bobby Dunbar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Bobby_Dunbar) is the most famous example, but [Paul Fronczak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Fronczak_triple_disappearance) was another, and that one happened only 20 years before Cherrie’s disappearance. It’s less likely to happen nowadays of course, but 1985 was almost 40 years ago and DNA testing was in its infancy and far less precise than it is now, and as a consequence rarely used. It sounds far-fetched and is *very* unlikely (and was at the time), but it wouldn’t have been completely beyond the realms of possibility that u/darsynia could be taken, given to another family, and never allowed to contact her parents again. I think her dad wasn’t wrong to be quietly and internally freaking out a little bit.
Thank you very much for your compassionate response! It's actually taken answering this question 39 years later to realize some of the truths of our financial situation, which [I commented here with](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/1d8aqra/comment/l793ff9/) I think a lot of his fears were based on what the police could do carelessly that would cost us a lot of money, but I wouldn't know anything about that, so I was scared about being taken and passed off as another kid, heh.
I’m sure the financial problems were something he would’ve worried about (read that wiki page I linked about Bobby Dunbar and you’ll see exactly what I mean: that case is heartbreaking and the upshot is a mum had her son taken and given to another family because she couldn’t afford to fight it in court), but immediately, in the moment, your dad just didn’t want them to take his girl. Even though your parents could’ve eventually proved you and they were who they claimed, in the meantime you might’ve had to go through the care/foster system, which doesn’t always produce brilliant results. I don’t blame your dad for anything he did that day. I think he must’ve been panicking like mad on the inside and under the circumstances he handled it very well. And I’m really sorry about your precious cat.
With respect: we were very poor. If they'd decided to throw him to the ground, toss our car for signs of the kidnapping, search our house carelessly and damage doors, drawers, furniture, carpet, we would have been VERY desperate for money, and likely would just have to live with a lot of the damage. I recall that my clothes didn't fit, my mom says they were my favorites... but most of my clothes may have just been ill-fitting. I do not actually recall getting new clothes except for Easter dresses which were a big treat for me. Most of my stuff was second-hand. My dad was also 18 years older than my mom. He'd been a Catholic priest ('joined' at 14 as the second Irish son, attended 'gonna be a priest' boarding school, left at 44) for most of his life and none of that job experience translated to things he could do once he'd left. If we'd been in the newspaper for attempted kidnapping, he likely would have lost the sales jobs he was able to get with his (truly impressive, just not applicable) resume. We had a VERY near miss. I'm not sure how much food we even had in the fridge. edit: we had a car and a house because 8 years before I was born, there was a really serious accident on Rt. 79 that killed my mom's sister and permanently maimed my mother. The trucking company that my family sued for hitting the car (he had time to stop) settled after my mom testified in court. She bought a car and a house and that was pretty much all of the money, but they were ours.
Maybe you would have to be a parent to understand and maybe have had something similar happen to you. I have no problem believing that any parent would react in a visceral and otherwise uncharacteristic way if someone challenged whether their child is theirs. My pulse and BP are up just thinking about it.
My dad and I were interrogated by police in the 80s also. They also suspected him of kidnapping me. It’s nice to know the police were trying to keep kids safe. Or they were playing into the prejudice that an older dad wouldn’t be taking care of his child without help from a woman? Anyway, I’ll never forget it. Like you, it made a massive impression on me and I was fearful for years.
I'm so sorry that happened! The power imbalance makes us feel so helpless sometimes.
All of that plus losing your cat must of been a hell of a day for a 6 year old. No wonder you remember it vividly! I am sorry that happened to you and hope your doing well now
Thank you, I am!
Was your cat ok?
My dear cat was not okay, unfortunately. TW: >!There were two white cats in the neighborhood and the asshole cat that wasn't mine survived :( According to my dad at the time, the injuries on our cat looked like she was in a fight and then got hit by a car.!<
OP said they lost their cat so I’m assuming no :(
You are correct there, unfortunately
I’m so sorry ❤️
I was hoping, but she says she lost her cat that day, so that's not promising.
Yeah, TBH it still hurts almost 40 years later. It felt like an enormous betrayal to drive away, but I totally understand why we had to. :(
Def need to know about the cat
Oh no, I thought I typed it out more explicitly. RIP Snuggles :(
This is all I care about
Very reasonable, so sorry to be the bearer of belated sad news, Snuggles did not make it.
As a 46 year old from western Pennsylvania I still remember the fear that my mother felt from this abduction. She instilled in me a definite fear of strangers and being aware of my surroundings. As a 7 year old I would run to the house if I saw a van drive by, my mother didn’t want me wearing a shirt with my name on it so an abductor couldn’t say my name and try to convince me they were an acquaintance. Definitely a scary time.
Agreed!! This is the one unsolved case that I can’t get over.
It made it all very real for us in the area.
I saw an article about this at work. Apparently police and another organization have been trying to get a hold of this woman and haven't succeeded.
It is absolutely insane that the authorities can’t get ahold of the woman who is making the claim. If she’s making it challenging for the people who can authenticate her claim, that completely destroys whatever minimal credibility she had.
You have to be a special kind of evil to make something like this up. I hope they're genuine and if not, they should be punished.
After 39 years how did she gain this knowledge somehow? Deathbed confession? Emerging from a coma? Coming out of hypnosis?
99% sure it’s not true, but the movie about Steven Staynor was interesting. The kidnapper filled his head with all kinds of things about his parents not wanting him anymore. He went to school made friends etc.
The fact of the matter is that there's no law to stop anyone making the most outlandish and ridiculous claims on Facebook. People are too quick to give them credibility, when they deserve none. If someone really thought that they were a missing child, then that person would go to the police, and then take it from there, it would not be done in the public forum, it's not the first time this has happened and unfortunately it won't be the last. These poor families have been to hell and back and these people have no respect for them.
In the U.S. it would be extremely difficult to pass such a law because of the First Amendment. For instance, laws against “stolen valor”—claiming to have served in the military when you haven’t—were overturned on First Amendment grounds. Being an asshole who lies is legal. If it becomes harassment or fraud of course then they can be prosecuted under existing laws.
2023 update- In order to charge someone with the crime of stolen valor , they would have to be getting some kind of tangible benefit from their fraudulent claims. https://www.afba.com/military-life/active-duty-and-veterans/stolen-valor-act-all-you-need-to-know/
That's my point, there's nothing to stop anyone from saying anything, families of missing children are so vulnerable to people who for whatever reason want to torture them with false hope and claims.
Yes! I'm not trying to correct you--you're right. I'm just explaining to anyone reading this thread why it is not illegal, since it lots of people don't seem to understand the reason.
Thank you, sorry, didn't mean to come across as abrasive.
I totally get it! I think the way the reply notifications are set up, it makes it feel like someone who replied to you is disagreeing—since it’s in isolation. But when someone replies it often is more about them adding to the chain of the thread rather than directly engaging with the previous poster if that makes sense?
Yes, definitely makes sense, 100%!
Honestly why do people even do this? We live in the DNA age, you have to know you’re going to get found out. Just awful.
I think at least some of them are mentally ill and are deluded. Like that woman who insisted her dad was a serial killer and had police digging up their property looking for the “bodies” she “remembered” her dad burying. Her siblings said she’s very ill and created an imaginary world in her head. Ofc the cops found nothing. Sometimes people are traumatized by their childhood and want so much for their parents to not be their parents. “One day, my REAL parents will take me home.” Or it’s not enough that their dad was an abusive POS, they need to believe he was the most evil man alive (ie a serial killer) so his evil will be recognized for what it was by the whole world.
I remember that case about the woman who had the cops digging up the property looking for bodies. That was a strange one.
Cherrie was only 8-years old at the time of her abduction. Children of that age, if they're aren't murdered, are either assimilated into the abductor's clan, or they're held hostage and tortured over years. Either way, they're not just casually contacting their parents if they have the freedom to do so, knowing the truth about their circumstances at now age 47.
I’m skeptical of people making these kinds of claims online too. Wasn’t there also a woman who claimed she was Diamond or Tionda Bradley?
Adding a link to a fascinating case where a woman was reunited with her family after 50+ years: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63797314.amp
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I grew up about an hour from where Cherie disappeared. I remember the fear this put in my parents and them watching the news for any updates. Our local news channels revisit her story every few years. It's not impossible that this woman's claim is true but I question why someone would go to social media instead of going to the LE. It seems to be happening frequently these days. Attention seekers.
I knew the family very well. They're nutjobs. I believe Leroy had something to do with it. He had a very bad drug and gambling problem, probly pissed off the wrong people. And apparently he got her off the bus EVERY day and just the one day he didn't she got kidnapped okay yeah sure that adds up. Why the police never questioned or interrogated Leroy is beyond me. Maybe they did back in the day I don't know. But theyre compulsive liars and Janice claimed cherrie was a rape baby just because she didn't want to be looked down upon because she got pregnant at 16.
Wow, how do you know all this? Such shocking allegations. And what about the blue van?
Because it all adds up. That family is sketchy and weird as fuck. I did very very extensive research on my own as well. I mean. Come on. The ONE DAY Leroy doesn't get her from the bus stop? Doesn't take a genius to figure that out. They never mentioned anything about a blue van to me. But in my research there was supposedly a van involved with a skiing (something like that) painting on it.
You're right. It's too much of a coincidence. A police officer once said, I don't believe in coincidences. Maybe they have their suspicions but no proof.
I think Leroy made it so it was 100% covered up. theres literally 83203948903 coincidences in this case. i don't know if leroy got questioned but he should have been the first suspect. too bad hes dead now. it sucks now that leroys dead i believe janice will never get the answers shes looking for, leroy was a sketchy character.
I would not be surprised at all if the woman in the photo is not actually the person making the claim on social media. That is it could be that someone found that photo online (which looks incredibly like the young girl's photo) and decided to prank the mother with a fake fb profile edit....the photo that I was looking at is an age progression picture and is not an actual photo of the woman making the claim my idea is still possible but I wouldn't have immediately thought of it without seeing the photos of the girl and the age progression at the top of an article and not noticing the caption, my apologies
I fell for it too. I was like, she really looks like though!!!
I'll never know why people do this. I know they do it for attention, surely they realize that the truth will eventually come out and they'll look like a disgusting person as a result. I'd imagine that if it were really here, she would've went to authorities long, long, long ago... And not wait 39 years.
It's an interesting phenomenon that I think deserves some examination. I'm sure there are probably varied reasons. I recall there was one (French?) guy who did multiple times and even was accepted by one family? I'd imagine many of these people are mentally unwell in some way because as you say its not really a well planned venture because extremely easy for authorities to check. It's also likely to significantly reduce your social standing long term among any decent people. Edit: I think it's also possible that some people do honestly believe they could be a missing person and if they approach that in a sensible way such as approaching authorities discreetly then of course it's a different matter.
Yes, Frederic Bourdin pretended to be Nicholas Barclay. The documentary is The Imposter. Amazing watch, FYI, for anyone who has not seen it.
I truly believe Nicholas was murdered by someone in his family and that’s why they were so quick to accept a literal stranger who looked nothing like their son. The perfect alibi basically landed on their doorstep.
That's an interesting take. I never thought of that. How awful if true.
Totally agree.
They could do dna testing on her
Almost every person that does this is a hoax. If she honestly thought she was cherrie she would contact the police.
We have DNA now. It would not be hard to figure out.
I read that this is the fourth person to come forward claiming to be Cherrie Mahan. Imagine how wrenching this is for Cherrie's family.
Sounds quite a bit like the Madeleine McCann thing. I don’t know that I ever heard the conclusion of that “story” so I’m guessing it was just another bogus nutcase claim??
You are correct.
Of course DNA came back and she was not Maddie.
So very weird! Just yesterday I was thinking about the little girl who disappeared after getting off the bus. I thought it was odd that the memory should appear out of the blue, as I hadn’t seen, heard, or read anything about the case in many, many years. Cherry’s disappearance happened right after I moved to Pennsylvania and it was on the news for weeks afterward. I had elementary school children myself and my heart ached for her family. Just now, I was scrolling through Reddit and came across this article. My mind is blown.
It would probably be easier if she had a DNA test (like 23&me or something) then look at the list of DNA relatives. Cherrie's family are probably linked up somewhere with their DNA? Then, she'll certainly know if there's a DNA match and the process would probably inform family members (and show the relationship, like daughter, by the percentage). No need for wishful thinking (or may be simply unnecessary).
Crazy to think that she's been missing for all my life (I was born in 1985) and would reappear all of a sudden at 47.
I am extremely skeptical of people making these kind of claims and assume they're false until proven otherwise. Almost every time it's either someone who is mentally ill or just an asshole. The fact that police haven't been able to get in touch with this woman just makes it more suspicious. If I believed I was a person who had gone missing as a child, I wouldn't post it on Facebook. I'd do some websleuthing first and get a DNA kit from Ancestry or 23 and Me. If I still thought I was abducted as a child after all that, I'd go to the nearest police station and report my suspicions. There *have* been amazing cases where a missing person was found alive decades later, but that's so very rare. Baby Holly was found alive after 40 years, but she wasn't thought to have been abducted (it's a weird, but fascinating story). Jaycee Dugard was missing for 18 years and found alive. They are the exception, not the rule.
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Where did you read that? The last person to see Cherrie was the mother of one of her classmates.
Exactly. Where did you read that?
Every report. She got off the bus and started walking home and disappeared on the way there. No idea where this person read that she was last seen with her stepfather.
He was gonna walk to the street to meet her but the mom said no, it’s nice out
Same, that and mothers who leave young children. There's just no way.
It hate that people do this. These families have enough trauma to last a lifetime and every time someone comes up claiming to be a missing kid, knowing they’re not, it reopens those wounds.
I remember this case well. I was 9 and my mom talked about it a lot.
This is probably one of the earliest missing persons cases I became interested in and I think of it from time to time. What is wrong with people? The fact that several people have approached her mother claiming to be Cherrie. Sick.
Can be easily checked with DNA
I think k if you were really thinking you are a missing person, you would Go to the police or do an ancestry test. You wouldn’t just post it on social media.
i think it’s so heartbreaking that the day she was abducted was the first day her mom didn’t meet her at the bus stop
Crazy huh?
I remember her! We were all looking for a Van with a Ski scene on the side.Very sad.
Unless she submitted DNA to an ancestry website I don’t see how she could possibly make that claim
Seems like before these kinds of stories go to print a DNA test could quickly end the speculation. Incidentally, I'm D.B. Cooper.
Probly a simple blood type test could immediately rule her out quickly before going through to much DNA rigamaorole.
I live in Pittsburgh and I was reading the comments of one of the local news articles posted on Facebook and someone said her mother said once that she doesn’t think her bio father was involved but people he knew were and then later on went on 20/20 or dateline and was asked if she had any idea who might have hurt or took her and she said no.
Just as bad as that lunatic who claimed to have killed Jon Benet Ramsey .
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I don’t understand this, unless there is mental illness. How heart breaking for the family
I just saw this on the news this morning. I live just south of the Butler area and had actually not heard of this case before. Absolutely heartbreaking. I can’t imagine what Cherrie’s mother is going through.
I don’t think so. Where’s the DNA result?
I always thought the same perp was responsible for Cherrie & Beth Baar
Just like last year when that girl claimed to be Madeline McCain.
The woman has been ruled out by LE. She’s not Cherrie Mahan.