Mystery woman claims to be missing girl who vanished nearly 40 years ago

A mystery woman has come forward to claim that she is an eight-year-old girl who disappeared almost 30 years ago.

The heartbreaking story of Cherrie Mahan took place on 22 February, 1985, in Winfield Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, USA.

Cherrie was getting off a school bus around 100 yards from her home when she vanished, with authorities still unsure about how this happened.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, it is believed that a blue 1976 Dodge van featuring a mountain mural may be involved in her disappearance.

An unnamed woman has recently come forward and claimed that she is the missing girl, posting on 23 May in the Facebook group 'Memories of Cherrie Mahan'.

She did not publicly post a photo so authorities are not certain about what she looks like, though Cherrie's mother is not convinced that the woman is her.

Cherrie's mother, Janice McKinney, said that she doesn't believe that it's her and that the woman had 'thought in her mind' that she was her daughter.

Janice also saw a photo of the woman and said it looked nothing like her long-lost daughter.

Cherrie Mahan disappeared in 1985. (missingkids.org)

A spokesperson from the Pennsylvania State Police said to DailyMail.com: "We are investigating this woman's claim to be Cherrie Mahan,

"We are working with an out of state agency to positively identify the female. They have not made contact with her from the contact information she provided. The out of state agency is attempting to locate her."

Since she made the post, the unnamed woman's posts were deleted by the group's administrator, who alleged that she was 'harassing and bullying' others, DailyMail.com says.

The administrator apologised, and Cherrie's mother commented under the apology post, revealing that she had spoken to police.

Janice posted: "I talked to the police they are investigating this is very hard on me please be aware I see everything."

This is not the first time Cherrie's mother has experienced something like this though, saying that she usually gets a number of claims every February, the anniversary of her disappearance and every August, Cherrie's birthday month.

However, she said that this claim hit her 'different', as someone had to tell her about it before she saw it.

An age progression photo of what Cherrie could look like today. (missingkids.org)

"People are mean, they are cruel, but this affects me really crazy. It's gonna be 40 years since Cherrie's been missing," she told Butler Eagle.

Janice revealed that she is at peace with the idea that her daughter is dead or alive, as she believes that if her daughter is dead, she will be in heaven with her grandparents and uncles, and if she is alive, she feels like someone is taking care of her, admitting she doesn't know why she believes that.

Back in February, the mother recalled waiting with her husband on the family's driveway for Cherrie to come running over the hill to say hello, even turning down her husband's offer to pick her up, but she never appeared.

Lieutenant Adam Reed of the Pennsylvania Police Department told LADbible: "We are investigating this woman’s claim to be Cherrie Mahan and are currently working with an out-of-state agency to identify her. The out of state agency has not yet made contact with her based on the contact information she provided. The investigation continues."