State police, FBI begin digging operation in South Buffalo

State police crews, with assistance from the FBI, began an extensive digging operation Tuesday near a private residence in South Buffalo.

Police used a backhoe to excavate a small section of the private plot along River Road in the township’s Clinton neighborhood. Several law enforcement vehicles were on-site, including one labeled “FBI Evidence Response Team.”

Pennsylvania State Police Sgt. Scott Zigo said the earthmoving was part of an ongoing investigation but declined to offer further details.

Zigo would not confirm or deny whether the excavations were related to the Feb. 22, 1985, disappearance of Cherrie Mahan, an 8-year-old who was last at her bus stop in nearby Winfield.

Police still do not have a prime suspect and have not identified specific areas they think might hold Cherrie’s remains.

Over the years, Cherrie has been featured on national TV shows dedicated to finding missing children, and she was the first person featured on the “Have you seen me?” circulars by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

A neighbor who said he has lived in the neighborhood all his life claimed to have seen FBI personnel at the same site for one day during the summer.

Currently a grass field, the plot where excavations took place Tuesday was previously a sparsely wooded area, said the neighbor, who did not want to be identified.

Crews used surveying tools as well as a drone to examine the area. Some took photographs of the excavated pits, but officials didn’t appear to extract any objects or bag evidence at the site.

Zigo declined to say whether officers had collected anything from the excavations.

A spokesman for the FBI Pittsburgh office, Bradford Arick, said he could not comment because of the ongoing federal government shutdown.

Crews began refilling the pits around 3 p.m.

Zigo said police had “accomplished their goal” at the site, though he declined to elaborate. He said the yard would be restored to its prior state, though police could return at some point.

Private investigator Steve Ridge joined the search for Cherrie in May, taking on the case pro bono and offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to her discovery.

He said the excavation Tuesday was “very likely” related to the Mahan case.

Ridge said he’s not the one who led police to the site, but “credible tips” had steered him to the Clinton area in the past.

Bailey Gizienski, co-leader of advocacy group Cherrie’s Angels that runs the “Find Cherrie Mahan” Facebook group, said she wasn’t aware of the excavations.

The fact officials are working in the field is promising, Gizienski said.

“We’re very happy to hear the FBI is involved,” she said.