Cherrie Mahan was 8 years old when she was abducted Feb. 22, 1985. She went missing less than 100 yards from her Winfield Township home after getting off the school bus.

Her case caught the nation’s attention. Mahan was the first child to be featured on ADVO’s “Have You Seen Me?” direct mail campaign when it launched May 25, 1985, on National Missing Children’s Day. An initiative that placed her face on milk cartons had launched the previous year.

The two campaigns built momentum as the public was further encouraged to report tips — not entirely different from the momentum built for the Mahan investigation in 2025.

The “Find Cherrie Mahan” Facebook group posted on Feb. 13 there will not be a public event for the 41st anniversary of her disappearance. The organization said it no longer needs to raise money, they need to instead focus on efforts to find her.

“Last year’s gathering was the catalyst that brought renewed focus to Cherrie’s case and allowed our small team, Cherrie’s Angels, to formally step in to support Janice (McKinney, Mahan’s mother),” the post said.

The 41st anniversary will instead be spend in a private strategy meeting, which will include McKinney, Cherrie’s Angels, private investigators, witnesses, retired law enforcement, cadaver dog handlers and others.

“We will be reviewing everything uncovered over the last year to determine next steps,” the post said.

State police declined an invitation to the private meeting Sunday but continue to work the case, according to Cherrie’s Angels.

Attempts to reach state police for comments were unsuccessful.

Private investigator Steve Ridge, a former news director from Iowa who most famously worked on the case of missing anchor Jodi Huisentruit, will attend the Sunday event.

Ridge said Monday, he continues to get regular tips and is still looking at multiple suspects.

“You can’t force these things,” Ridge said, emphasizing the time needed for such an investigation.

One suspect in particular is sticking out, Ridge said. He said a witness he considers “rock-solid” came forward and said they personally witnessed a confession from someone who claimed responsibility.

One of the first tips he received when he took the case was from a person who claimed to have overheard a phone conversation shortly after Mahan went missing. That suspect is already in prison for separate crimes.

Cherrie’s Angels said the group has confirmation of connections between multiple people who have been mentioned in tips, and it’s heard from victims of alleged child sexual abuse in the area at the time.

“While not all may be directly tied to Cherrie’s disappearance, they confirm a much broader pattern of abuse occurring locally during that time period,” the post said.

For many years, the investigation revolved around both a bluish-green van with a skiing scene painted on the side and a blue sedan, both of which other students on the bus had seen. Police have followed up on multiple alleged sightings over the years and interviewed three students who reportedly got off the bus with her, but the tips and interviews haven’t led to a full identification of the vehicles or their drivers.

The FBI Behavioral Science Academy previously said they believed the kidnapper was someone who knew Mahan.

McKinney also previously said her daughter reported seeing someone looking in at her from outside a window at their home at 1136 Cornplanter Road after their move from Saxonburg.

As the year’s after her daughter’s disappearance went on, McKinney annually held a vigil to remember her daughter and Mahan continued to be a topic of conversation across Butler County. But no trace of her was ever found.

Ridge got people’s attention after joining the case by offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to Mahan’s discovery at a May 6 news conference. He also brought attention to a blue backpack Mahan was reportedly wearing when she disappeared. It was never found, he said.

“I am convinced, through some fairly recent testimony and input, that Cherrie’s bookbag was very likely submerged in a pond in an area very near her grandmother’s home,” Ridge said at the May 6 news conference.

Her grandmother, Shirley Mahan, lived on Tower Road in Clinton Township before her death in 2009.

In September, the group looking for Mahan used a team of cadaver dogs independent from state police to search at least one area of interest in Clinton Township, but nothing was uncovered.

No digging took place at the site, but Ridge previously said it wasn’t the only area of interest.

State police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation collaborated on a digging operation in October near a residence in South Buffalo Township, Armstrong County, but police declined to comment on whether anything was found.

A post to the “Find Cherrie Mahan” Facebook page in December said there was no update on the results of the cadaver dogs’ search.

State police have previously said their file on Mahan’s disappearance sits at more than 4,000 pages, excluding attachments, photos, statements and polygraph results.