A look into Cheryl Anne Scherer’s case on her 65th Birthday

SCOTT CITY, Mo. (KBSI) –  Monday, August 19 is Cheryl Anne Scherer’s 65th birthday.  

To this day her family has never given up hope of finding the fiery redhead who vanished from a Scott City gas station in April of 1979. 

“Everyone has people in their life that they wish were here and they’re not,” said Diane Scherer-Morris, Cheryl’s sister. “You do have the ‘what-ifs’ but you can’t live on that, that’s not the way to go through life.” 

Diane says she and her brother will never give up hope the mystery of what happened to their sister will be solved. 

“We have learned this can happen anywhere to anyone, because I don’t think Anthony and I can believe we are sitting here 45 years later still wondering where Cheryl’s at,” she said.  

Cheryl Anne Scherer was working at the Rhodes Pump-Your-Own in Scott City on April 17, 1979. That is the last place anyone saw her alive.

Police believe sometime before noon Cheryl was kidnapped.

Her purse and checkbook were still inside the gas station.

Her car in the lot with keys inside.

“It was a small-town in the middle of the day and she was taken, so it can happen and it does happen,” said Diane. 

Cheryl was just 19 years old at the time of the abduction. Years later her Kelly High School classmates gather to remember her. The classmates say they’ll never forget the day she vanished.

“The feeling I had, just tears just anguish of not knowing what the next step was going to be just hoping that she’d come back any day now,” remembers Jim Simmons. 

Cindy Harris says she also remembers that day. “I thought surely she’ll be home — but she never came back,” said Harris.  

Cheryl’s boyfriend and friends searched backroads across Scott County. They made flyers, and networked with truckers to relay information on the search, to this day, some of those same Kelly high school classmates say they have never given up hope, and that they never will.

Geri Riley says, “I just wish somebody would come forth with some information and help us bring Cheryl home.”

“It is difficult for me to think about what she might have gone through or is still going through but it’s important that we find her,” said Harris. 

Now family and friends continue working together to raise awareness for Cheryl. The group wearing yellow shirts and bracelets in honor of Cheryl, and all missing persons. Their mission for Cheryl is to put up a remembrance marker where Cheryl was last seen at the site of the old Rhodes gas station.

“I think it’s a very important thing,” said Harris. “I hope that people will recognize that something in a small town can happen to people that are very trusting of their neighbors which we all are here.”

Friends hope the marker will not only tell the story of Cheryl’s legacy, but that one day soon hoping her story will have an ending.

“The marker they plan on and hopefully will get put in will be a good reminder and will be quite a testimony to Cheryl and just a reminder that you have got to keep yourself safe,” said Simmons. 

Part of the marker’s ambiance includes a light shining upward to represent that Cheryl is a light in the world.

“Cheryl was so sweet, always had a kind word, never spoke ill of anyone,” said Harris. 

Diane says she is still moved by her own memories of her beautiful red-headed sister, and the impact Cheryl’s Kelly High School classmates say she still has on them today, calling her “Our Cheryl.” 

“One of her friends made the comment that Cheryl’s disappearance has bonded them for life, and her class remains good friends. They just wish Cheryl was here to grow old with them rest of them.

If you have information, call the Scott County Sheriff’s Office at: 573-545-3525. You can remain anonymous. 

Family and friends will also be a part of Benton Neighbor Days coming up on August 29-31. They will walk in the parade and also sell shirts and hats and bracelets. 

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