Cherrie Mahan

In a quiet rural community, a young child stepped off the school bus one afternoon and began the short walk up the driveway toward home, but she never arrived. Witnesses recalled a distinctive van with a mural parked nearby. Despite frantic searches by family, neighbors, and authorities, no footprints were found in the snow, only mysterious tire tracks leading partway up the drive. The disappearance sparked one of the largest investigations in the region, with thousands of interviews, countless leads, and sightings of similar vans reported across multiple towns. Yet every clue dissolved into dead ends, leaving behind a mystery of how a child could disappear within sight of home.