On the evening of February 27, 1991, 30-year-old Cheryl Ann Kenney was nearing the end of her shift at the Quality Convenience Store on Business 71 Highway in Nevada, Missouri. A married mother of two, with two stepchildren, she was described as a devoted family woman. The night was slow, and she decided to close the store early. Her time card shows she clocked out at 10:00 p.m., and records indicate the store's alarm was set at 10:17 p.m. After locking up, Cheryl presumably headed to her white Chevrolet parked in the lot, but she never arrived home. Her husband, Walter James Kenney, grew worried when she didn't return as expected and, after searching for her, contacted the Nevada Police Department around 2:00 a.m. Her car was found in the convenience store parking lot, suggesting she never made it to her vehicle.
Investigators initially considered that Cheryl may have left on her own, as she was reportedly upset about the recent death of her mother.
However, her family insisted she would never abandon her children or her ailing father. This theory was further discredited by the fact that she only had six dollars in cash with her. The investigation took a more ominous turn when two witnesses came forward after reading about her disappearance in the news. They reported hearing a woman's scream in the vicinity of the convenience store around the time Cheryl would have been leaving. The store's janitor, who left just minutes before she closed, told police he had seen an unidentified man inside the store shortly before closing time, though it is unknown if this individual was connected to her disappearance.
Cheryl Kenney's disappearance has been potentially linked to two other cases in Missouri that occurred within a few months of each other, creating fear that a serial offender was targeting women in the area. Six weeks prior to Cheryl's disappearance, Trudy Darby was abducted from the convenience store where she worked and was later found murdered. About five weeks after Cheryl vanished, Angela Hammond was abducted from a payphone. Half-brothers Jesse Rush and Marvin Chaney were eventually convicted of Trudy Darby's murder, and police have suspected their involvement in the disappearances of both Cheryl and Angela, though no definitive evidence has connected them to Cheryl's case. In a letter, one of the brothers mentioned burying two other bodies, but their remains have never been located. Over the years, leads have been pursued, including the investigation of serial killer Kenneth McDuff, but none have led to a resolution. The case of Cheryl Ann Kenney remains an unsolved and haunting mystery, leaving her family and community without answers for decades.Last Seen: Feb 27, 1991
