This week's episode is a listener suggestion.

Thank you to Christy for bringing Cherry's story to my attention.

It is listeners like you that keep the podcast going,

and I will always be appreciative of the support and kind

words. February 22, 1985, Cabot, Pennsylvania. Eight-year-old Cherry Mahan got off her school

bus, but never made it home. Although she was declared dead, her family never received the

closure they deserved, because her remains have

never been found. Different speculations have come up over the years. However, all leads to

investigators back to a mysterious blue van with a distinctive mural on its side, a van that has

never been located, despite many decades of tireless searching by the officers involved.

This is Cherry's story.

Cherry Ann Mahan was born August 14, 1976, in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania,

to her mother Janice Mahan, the day after Janice's 16th birthday.

Now, Cherry's father's identity has never been publicly released. Cherry's father was never in her life, which I don't even

feel comfortable calling him that, given how Cherry was conceived. When Janice was 15 years old,

she was allegedly raped and fell pregnant.

Janice and her parents would go to the police about this,

and they simply told her that she was lying and they didn't want to pursue charges.

Cherry's father denied being her father, which it seems given the circumstances Janice was happy to oblige, never seeking any financial assistance or child support from

this man, and this will become important later. Regardless how she came to be, Janice saw Cherry as a

miracle and loved her daughter deeply. Janice would later describe it as they were growing up together,

and Janice's parents really stepped up and made up for this, supporting their daughter and

...