Family of Cheryl Anne Scherer begins new chapter in search for answers

SCOTT CITY, Mo. (KBSI) – What happened to Cheryl Anne Scherer?

Four and a half decades after the beautiful redhead vanished from Scott City her siblings say they could be closer than ever to finding out the truth.
“I still think that that day can still happen,” said Diane Scherer-Morris, Cheryl’s sister.

Cheryl was working at the Rhodes pump-your own gas station in Scott City on April 17th in 1979.
She seemed to simply vanish, police believing sometime before noon, she was kidnapped.
Her car was in the lot with the keys inside and her purse and checkbook were also still inside the gas station.
Small town Scott City.  The middle of the day.

Cheryl’s brother Anthony and sister Diane say it’s a surreal reality to know that someone could have taken their spirited sister they loved so much.
“For us, this is bigger than Cheryl,” said Anthony Scherer.
Now momentum continues to raise awareness about Cheryl’s case and also other missing person’s cases.
The family and community recently worked together to raise money for a remembrance marker to be placed at the site in Scott City where she was last seen to tell her story.
Now they travel a new avenue, this time working with forensic investigators at Southeast Missouri State University. Dr. Jennifer Bengtson leads the team.

“My specialty is the analysis of human skeletal remains; I work on human skeletal remains I work on them from both archaeological and forensic context. We focus on long term unidentified skeletal remains,” said Dr. Bengston.
“It just gives us hope,” said Diane. “It renews that belief that we will one day know what happened.”
With the help of labs like Othram for DNA and the University of Georgia Center for Applied Isotope Studies, the SEMO team is able to unlock clues of the past.

Dr. Bengston says her passion is for older cases like Cheryl’s, coming from small towns like Scott City
“The new technology definitely helps,” she said. “Particularly the advances in DNA over the last years but a lot of it is just somebody putting forth the effort, somebody stepping up to take the lead on these cases,” she said.
“A lot of times there’s one or two cases in a county that they’ve had four decades and don’t know what to do next, and those are the cases that we like to offer our assistance with,” said Dr. Bengston.
SEMO’s team of students has already proven successful, bringing closure to seven families in Missouri. They have several others in the works.

“It’s always amazing to get that name finally,” said Dr. Bengston.
“It always kind of is an emotional moment for me,” she said.
But the research is costly and tedious. So the family is continuing their fund-raising mission and hoping to raise thousands of dollars to solve Cheryl’s case.

“It costs money each time and so we are developing targeted methods at SEMO to figure out what is our best chance so that we can streamline our resources to be directed at those samples,” said Dr. Bengston.
Detectives in Scott County are working in partnership with the cold case team. Together they encourage the public to come forward with new information. Detective Michael Williams says every time Cheryl’s story is shared, they get new leads.
“Through the years of investigation, several names have come up multiple times and so what happened is the last time we had something, somebody came in and said we know this, this, and this,” said Williams. “It is from a different source not related to any of the rest that may confirm some of that stuff and gave us new ideas and people to talk to.”
Cheryl’s case has also been a labor of love for Sheriff Wes Drury. The family and Drury say they’ve grown close over his years in office. “They just want to bring her home,” said Sheriff Drury.
With just over a month left as sheriff, Drury says he hopes the next sheriff will continue to make Cheryl’s case a priority
“I wish I could give them the answers they want before I leave,” said Sheriff Drury. “We’ve got forty-one days left and we are using them.”
“Nobody ever wants this to happen to them, and I don’t even want to begin knowing how they feel. Only the man upstairs knows,” he said. “I am still convinced somebody knows something and we’re probably the team that needs to figure out who that is.”
As for Cheryl’s siblings they want to say thanks to the community for rallying around them and inspiring them to never give up hope.
“This year especially we’ve tried to keep her name out there not just for her but for all missing people,” said Diane. “It is a community effort. We have been very humbled by the response that we get anytime we have any event and it’s just amazing about the community and how much love and support they show and how much they want to find her too.”
“This is way bigger than our family so many more people care than we could imagine,” said Anthony Scherer. “We are just overwhelmed and humbled by that.”