Police: Possible break in case of girl gone since ’85

CABOT, Pa. (AP) — State police say someone has provided “potentially crucial” information that could help them solve the case of an 8-year-old western Pennsylvania girl missing almost 26 years.

Cherrie Mahan was last seen stepping off a school bus in Winfield Township on Feb. 22, 1985. She hasn’t been seen since, and was the first child ever featured on the now-famous “Have You Seen Me?” advertising circulars produced by a company called Advo Inc.

The Valley News Dispatch first reported Wednesday that Trooper Robert McGraw says police are chasing a new lead. McGraw won’t say what it is, only that the person providing the information is apparently trying to help the girl’s family find out what happened to her.

Her mother, Janice McKinney, of Saxonburg, says “not knowing is what kills you.”