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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/Round_Peach9527 on 2023-12-30 04:41:04+00:00.
This is my first post, so bear with me.
Cheryl Kenney was a 30 year old woman, married, with two children and had recently lost her mother. She worked at a gas station located in Nevada, Missouri. On February 27th, 1991, Cheryl was working the late shift and it’s known that she closed the station early as it was a slow night, clocking out at 10:00 pm and setting the alarm at 10:17 pm. What occurred after this is a mystery.
The doors to the shop were locked, so one can assume that she had made it to the parking lot before running into trouble, but she seems to not have made it to her car as it was left in the lot. It has been reported that witnesses heard screaming in the area around the time she would have been leaving. A janitor who left right before close stated that a man came into the store, but it’s unknown if he is connected in any way and his identity remains unknown. Cheryl only had a small amount of cash on her at the time of her disappearance and it seems unlikely she left of her own free will.
Cheryl’s case is rarely discussed without the mention of Angela Hammond or Trudy Darby. Hammond, a Clinton Missouri woman, was abducted in April of 1991 from a pay phone while speaking to her boyfriend. Angela was pregnant at the time and never seen again. Trudy, a Mack’s Creek Missouri woman, was working at a convenience store at the time of her disappearance in January of 1991. She had called her son to report men lurking outside, when he arrived she was gone but her vehicle and belongings remained. She was later found murdered off a gravel road. The only connection between the three women seems to be the circumstances surrounding their disappearances. An anonymous tip in Angela’s case alleges that her abduction was a case of mistaken identity. Brothers, Jesse Rush and Marvin Chaney, were later convicted of killing Trudy. They came to light after bragging about the murder to friends.
Aside from Rush and Chaney, the only other name mentioned is that of serial killer, Kenneth McDuff, who was known to be active in the area at the time, but there’s nothing linking him specifically to Cheryl or Angela’s cases. As maddening as it is, this is really the only information we have on the case. I’ll admit that I have a lot of feelings about this case as I’m from the area, so I will try to summarize some thoughts I have…
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Nevada is an extremely small town, in 1991 the population was less than 9,000. It’s extremely uncommon to hear the case discussed at all, occasionally something will get shared around on the anniversary of her disappearance. I can’t help but find it odd how quiet things are about the case. When it’s brought up, it’s really just to bring up how cool it was to have an Unsolved Mysteries case from here.
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There are two highways running through, interstate 49 (then US 71) and 54 highway. Interstate 49 runs from the Kansas City area all the way down to Louisiana. 54 highway runs Northeast to Southwest from Illinois to Texas. Both routes are heavily traveled by semi-trucks and everyday motorists. The gas station was easily accessible to both in very short time and someone could have grabbed her and been out of town or into Kansas within minutes.
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We can only assume the janitor is not a suspect as nothing about him has ever been released. Again, with this being such a small town I’m shocked I’ve never heard his name, not that I would post here.
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the area is extremely rural and there are a decent amount of strip pits, fields, conservation land, and wooded areas around. If someone went to any effort to conceal her, it’s no wonder she hasn’t been located.
Thank you all for reading, I’m open to any constructive criticism.