Woman claims she is missing girl, 8, who disappeared 39 years ago

When eight-year-old Pennsylvania toddler Cherrie Mahan disappeared after being dropped off by her school bus outside her home in February 1985, her family feared they'd never see her again.

This week, however - in a shocking twist of fate - a woman has come forward, claiming the identity of the missing youngster.

Investigating authorities believed at the time of her disappearance that Cherrie may have been abducted by the driver of a 1976 Dodge van - which featured a unique design of skier on a mountain - after a witness observed the child walking past it after disembarking the bus.

Her mother, Janice and stepfather LeRoy McKinney both told responding officers that they'd heard the bus arriving, but claimed that due to the sunny weather that day, they'd allowed their daughter to walk home, as opposed to walking to meet her.

Despite the couple subsequently noticing a set of tire impressions in the driveway soil approximately 50 yards from their home, a lead connected to the mysterious van was never discovered, and in November 1998, Cherrie was legally declared dead.

In the years that followed, officers investigating the missing youngster pursued thousands of leads, tragically, to no avail.

Cherrie disappeared from outside her home. (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

They initially refused, however, to discount the possibility that Cherrie might still be alive.

That was, until in 2011, after Pennsylvania police received a new 'potentially crucial' tip that indicated that the youngster was unlikely to have survived her abduction.

This week, however, another US-born woman posted in a Facebook group titled 'Memories of Cherrie Maham', claiming to believe she is the missing youngster.

Despite initial hope, though, Cherrie's heartbroken mother Janice says she no longer holds onto hope of finding her daughter, due to the countless number of other individuals who have claimed to be her.

Speaking to the Butler Eagle, Janice said: "I truly believe she thought in her mind that she was Cherrie. It did not look anything like Cherrie at all."

She went on to slam the social media user, hitting out: "If you wanted your 15 minutes of fame, you’ve already blown it.

Police believe the real-life Cherrie would now look like this. (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

"People are mean, they are cruel, but this affects me really crazy. It’s gonna be 40 years since Cherrie’s been missing."

The youngster's family are understood to still hold an annual remembrance dinner on the anniversary of her disappearance, but Janice says that this time of year often comes with further, nonsensical claims about what happened to her little girl.

Despite her heartache, she added, however, that she still feels her daughter is alive somewhere.

"I’ve always felt that she was OK. If she was dead, she is in heaven with my parents and my brothers. If she was alive, someone was taking care of her. I don’t know why I feel that way."