Cherrie Mahan's family, friends hopeful after property searches in South Buffalo

Friends and family of Cherrie Mahan believe law enforcement is zeroing in on the location of the young girl who disappeared in 1985 near a rural bus stop in Winfield.

Hopes have skyrocketed one day after state police and FBI conducted a search along River Road in South Buffalo, about 10 miles from where Mahan, 8, went missing along Cornplanter Road near her home.

“The search came as a bit of a shock,” said Bailey Gizienski, a close friend of Mahan’s mom, Janice McKinney. Gizienski is co-founder of the Find Cherrie Mahan Facebook page. “After speaking to the lead detective this morning, we are filled with hope.

“Janice knows Cherrie wants to come home, and she knows it’s about to happen.”

Crews performed an extensive digging operation, using a backhoe to excavate a small section of the private property. State Police Sgt. Scott Zigo confirmed it was part of an ongoing investigation but declined to offer further details.

It was unclear if they retrieved anything from the grassy field where the excavations took place.

Police have never identified a suspect in Mahan’s case. State police said Wednesday they had no information to share on the investigation.

The search comes on the heels of a separate event in September when cadaver dogs made multiple hits on a 26-acre parcel, also in South Buffalo. Coordinated by Gizienski and her “Cherrie’s Angels” team, that search was near an area of Saxonburg close to where Mahan’s grandmother lived.

“They are different areas but not necessarily far, about 10 or 15 miles,” Gizienski said. “We believe these areas are connected by a group of people.”

Gizienski said the land was identified through multiple tips from the public. The search was performed with the help of two volunteer cadaver dog teams, one from Ohio and one from Hamburg, Pa., which were paid for by the Cherrie’s Angels group. Both cadaver search teams alerted to the same plot of land, she said.

McKinney has long asserted she believes her daughter was taken by someone she knew, describing him as a man imprisoned on child molestation charges.

Cadaver dog teams also arranged through Cherrie’s Angels are expected to return to the Saxonburg area this fall, Gizienski said.

“Until then, we’ll just keep holding Janice up,” Gizienski said. “We believe we’re close.”