Cheryl “Cherie” Wyant, age 13, disappeared from Rohnert Park, California on May 1, 1978.
Cheryl was living in a group home there at the time. She was involved in a car accident, and was in a local hospital as a result. She left the hospital and has never been seen again.
It has been speculated that she may have planned on returning to Clark County, Washington as she had a former foster home there.
My first thought was that she may have returned to her biological family, although that scenario was eliminated when I saw that her biological family has submitted a DNA sample, thus apparently searching for her.
Law Enforcement does not know what she was wearing when she disappeared, but depending on the circumstances under which she left the hospital, it may have been a hospital gown.
She was only 13, so obviously too young to drive – whoever was driving her when the car accident happened could probably fill in the blanks (or at least, could have, back then) about what she was wearing when she went into the hospital – which likely would be what she was wearing when she came out, unless she was indeed wearing a hospital gown.
There is no indication of whether she was released from the hospital, or just bolted while still under treatment. I’d have to guess the latter, since I can’t imagine a hospital releasing a 13 year old without a guardian to pick her up.
In searching the internet, the only group home I can find associated with Rohnert Park is one called Sarah’s Group Home for Young Adults. They don’t have a website, so I don’t know how long it’s been in operation, or if this could be the group home where Cheryl was living.
I wonder if she had a history of running away, or if she were adventurous enough to travel across two states on her own. I’m curious as to her state of mind while living at the group home.
I have found a couple unidentified remains that I think could be a possible match – the most likely being this one, which was found in Pierce County, Washington on August 29, 1978. The unidentified is listed as 5’7″, while Cheryl is listed as 5’8″. The unidentified had brown hair with blonde strands. The photo of Cheryl appears to have blonde strands, although it could just be due to the lighting.
The age is off a little, as the unidentified is supposed to be 15-20 years old. I am not sure if that could be due to her height, though, as 5’7-5’8 is very tall for a 13 year old. If she is still out there, she’d be at least 5’10” by now, I’d think.
Strangely, the clothing the unidentified was wearing are noted as girls clothing, as opposed to juniors or womens. That seems unlikely for anyone who is 5’7-5’8, but especially so for someone over 15. That small tidbit makes me think it would be an 11-13 year old that would still be wearing girls clothing.
The other issue I see, is that Pierce County, where this unidentified was found, is about 2 1/2 hours north of Clark County, where it was believed she may have been headed.
There’s been no news coverage that I’ve found on her case, which surprises me due to her age. There is another similar case in the same county, of 12 year old Mary Ann Hogland-McCloskey, who ran away from a group home in 1981 and I’ve seen nothing on her case either.
I think I’ll shoot an email to the Press Democrat and gently remind them that they have two missing girls from their corner of the world who could use some publicity. Someone knows what happened to Cheryl.
If you’d like to join me in my effort, the newsroom email is ted.appel[at]pressdemocrat.com
Sources:
Whereabouts Still Unknown 
Cherie was 14 years old, not 13 years old when she ran away. She was last seen in a runaway shelter for teens in San Bernardino, CA, She was not living in Rohnert Park, California in a group home. She was living in a group home called “Youths For Christ” in Oregon outside of Portland in which she ran away from twice. She was in a minor car accident and was in the emergency room in San Bernardino, and went back to the shelter she was staying at where they just let the run-aways come and go as they pleased. She left the shelter with some teens she met there and did not return home on the plane as she was scheduled to do. The shelter had no information on her except that she left with some other teens. She was not planning on returning to Clark County, Washington as she never lived there. She did have a history of running away since there is a police report that is documented she was picked up in Seattle, Washington just a few short weeks before she ran away again. There was never a missing persons form or a runaway form filled out by her incompetent case manager at the time so nobody in authority ever even knew she disappeared. The DNA sample was submitted by her family in about 2003,about a quarter of a century after she was last seen by anyone who knew her.
Cheryl Schille Wyant
Posted by whereaboutsstillunknown
April 23, 2013
Home
wyant_cherie
I am Cheryl Schille Wyant’s sister. I have added some corrections to the story I found online about the facts in my sisters missing person case. I would really appreciate you taking the time to read these corrections as they might shed some new light on the matter. You see I am Cherie’s sister and my name is Susan Elizabeth Wyant-Reinholz. I was the sister who supplied the DNA that the lab tested and my DNA is in the Federal Database with no match that has been found as yet.
Here are the facts that I know for certain to be wrong.
Please see below:
Cherie just turned 14 years old, not 13 years old when she ran away. She was last seen in a runaway shelter for teens in San Bernardino, CA, She was not living in Rohnert Park, California in a group home. She was living in a group home called “Youths For Christ” in Oregon outside of Portland in which she ran away from twice. She was in a minor car accident and was in the emergency room in San Bernardino, and went back to the shelter she was staying at where they just let the run-aways come and go as they pleased. She left the shelter with some teens she met there and did not return home on the plane as she was scheduled to do. The shelter had no information on her except that she left with some other teens. She was not planning on returning to Clark County, Washington as she never lived there. She did have a history of running away since there is a police report that is documented she was picked up in Seattle, Washington just a few short weeks before she ran away again. There was never a missing person form, or a runaway form, filled out by her incompetent case manager at the time so nobody in authority ever even knew she disappeared. The DNA sample was submitted by her family in about 2003, about a quarter of a century after she was last seen by anyone who knew her. She ran away in May 1978, however it was toward the end of May not May 1.
My friend, Clark County Detective Lindsay Schultz, is very interested in this story, and is working on a number of cold cases in Clark County. She is my Granddaughters God Mother, and has a very strong interest in this case.
I do not remember Cherie’s case worker at the time in the foster care system, our old one we had for more than ten years was Mr. Walters. I met the new case manager one time when he came over to our older sister Linda’s house to tell me it was my fault that Cherie ran away because she was trying to be like me. My sister Linda told him not to talk to me like that and that was all I remembered from him. We did not call the police or the airport to make sure she did not arrive on the plane he just told us that and we believed him. I think it would be a good idea to check out this story and this man, for some reason my gut has been thinking about this for a while. After all it is his job to report these things to the authorities which he never did. I called a few years ago and I do not think he is still in the same job position.
You may reach me at (360) 213-5104 or reinholz.susan@yahoo.com
Thank You, Susan Reinholz
This is the printed Story:
Cheryl “Cherie” Wyant, age 13, disappeared from Rohnert Park, California on May 1, 1978.Cheryl was living in a group home there at the time. She was involved in a car accident, and was in a local hospital as a result. She left the hospital and has never been seen again.It has been speculated that she may have planned on returning to Clark County, Washington as she had a former foster home there.My first thought was that she may have returned to her biological family, although that scenario was eliminated when I saw that her biological family has submitted a DNA sample, thus apparently searching for her.Law Enforcement does not know what she was wearing when she disappeared, but depending on the circumstances under which she left the hospital, it may have been a hospital gown.She was only 13, so obviously too young to drive – whoever was driving her when the car accident happened could probably fill in the blanks (or at least, could have, back then) about what she was wearing when she went into the hospital – which likely would be what she was wearing when she came out, unless she was indeed wearing a hospital gown. There is no indication of whether she was released from the hospital, or just bolted while still under treatment. I’d have to guess the latter, since I can’t imagine a hospital releasing a 13 year old without a guardian to pick her up.In searching the internet, the only group home I can find associated with Rohnert Park is one called Sarah’s Group Home for Young Adults. They don’t have a website, so I don’t know how long it’s been in operation, or if this could be the group home where Cheryl was living.I wonder if she had a history of running away, or if she were adventurous enough to travel across two states on her own. I’m curious as to her state of mind while living at the group home.I have found a couple unidentified remains that I think could be a possible match – the most likely being this one, which was found in Pierce County, Washington on August 29, 1978. The unidentified is listed as 5’7″, while Cheryl is listed as 5’8″. The unidentified had brown hair with blonde strands. The photo of Cheryl appears to have blonde strands, although it could just be due to the lighting. The age is off a little, as the unidentified is supposed to be 15-20 years old. I am not sure if that could be due to her height, though, as 5’7-5’8 is very tall for a 13 year old. If she is still out there, she’d be at least 5’10″ by now, I’d think. Strangely, the clothing the unidentified was wearing are noted as girls clothing, as opposed to juniors or womens. That seems unlikely for anyone who is 5’7-5’8, but especially so for someone over 15. That small tidbit makes me think it would be an 11-13 year old that would still be wearing girls clothing. The other issue I see, is that Pierce County, where this unidentified girl was found, is about 2 1/2 hours north of Clark County, where it was believed she may have been headed. There’s been no news coverage that I’ve found on her case, which surprises me due to her age. There is another similar case in the same county, of 12 year old Mary Ann Hogland-McCloskey, who ran away from a group home in 1981 and I’ve seen nothing on her case either.
I think I’ll shoot an email to the Press Democrat and gently remind them that they have two missing girls from their corner of the world who could use some publicity. Someone knows what happened to Cheryl. If you’d like to join me in my effort, the newsroom email is ted.appel[at]pressdemocrat.com
Sources:
Charley Project
Any chance this is your sister?: https://www.facebook.com/cvallimont/friends?lst=100007415943847%3A743622360%3A1582775307&source_ref=pb_friends_tl
Curious that this woman’s post has been ignored. Seems like someone wants to prevent the case from being solved by throwing people off the tracks with all bad information.
It hasn’t been ignored, although I see how it could look that way. I had an email conversation with her (which ended up in email because I wanted to verify that she was ok with her contact info being public before I approved her post). The lack of comments doesn’t mean anyone wants wrong information out there, but there is nothing we can do about newspaper articles that were published years ago, other than give family members a platform to give the correct version.
Cheryl is on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children spotlight in the circular that comes with coupons today. I got it in Bay City, MI. I look at the pictures everyday, as they come on a daily basis. If the photograph speaks to me for whatever reason, I check into the case. There is an age progression shown. As as artist, I have a problem with most age progressions. In Cheryl’s original photograph, her personality speaks volumes. Especially the eyes. Do we really think she gave up what appears to be her signature eye makeup? I don’t know. Those are my thoughts, however off the beaten track.
Personally, I don’t think she would be wearing the eyeliner anymore, she’s 50 years old now and I think that’s more of a teen thing?
I agree about the age progressions, not Cheryl’s in particular, but they usually aren’t what I would expect someone to look like at all.
I really am wondering how or why a runaway from Oregon would end up in San Bernardino – it’s a desert area and I’d never even heard of it until I was an adult and would pass through it headed to Vegas. I could understand Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Francisco, but San Bernardino just seems like an odd place to go. I wonder if she knew someone there, or if she was traveling with someone who had a connection to the area.
I’m not sure if you are male or not, I’m guessing you are as woman do wear eyeliner, it is not just a teen thing. Women in their 70s where it, maybe even older. I too have a problem with age progression pictures, not so much the makeup, although they do lack putting the on, it’s the hair style that they choose. I remember seeing two sisters who were missing, they had hair girls who listened to hard/classic rock music had but when they aged them they had these hairstyles that I couldn’t see them having. But that’s just my opinion. Great site by the way.
Update us all if she is found
Hi,This information is for Susan Reinholz,My name is Katrina and I am a psychic.a friend of mines Tracie Lawrence came across a flyer of some sort with the information that was not correct as you have stated,Never the less I was able to receive a name.I had relayed my information to my friend who in turn had notified the police from the number on the filer.It seems to me as well that there has been a lot of misguiding information with this case.So on that note I hope and pray that this information will go straight to Susan.The name I received came as Peter as in Pete for short are Peters as in Mr.Peters.Also I get the feeling that 1 of her friends are family members knows who this Peter,Pete,Mr.Peters is.More importantly is this The residence that this Peter person lived in at the time of her disappearance must be searched The basement are cellar are even under the house.I wish you all good luck.I pray that this case will be solved with are without my help.Susan you can email me back if you have any questions.Katrina
Greetings and all Blessings for Susan and all concerned with a just dispensation for Cheryl Wyant.
My name is Trace Lawrence. And I am a Spiritualist Minister from Chicago, Illinois.
I have worked with Katrina Tassin on a number of occasions during the past ten years. She is the most dependable and accurate psychic I have come to know and I can recommend and commend her most highly.
Please give due consideration to her comments.
If I can be of further service please feel welcome to contact me at: mrtclawrence@aol.com
Sincerely,
Tracey C. Lawrence
Minister, The Society of Modern Philosophy, Inc.
Hi, I saw this young girls face on the Sunday newspaper coupon book and it just got me. I got the chills, so I looked her up and stumbled upon here. I didn’t realize she has been missing this long… This is an odd and interesting case. I hope we can find more information on her
Have you had Cheryl DNA compared to the jane Doe and John Doe found in 1979 in Mendocino , California there’s been conflicting information on the doe’s , some web sights even says it was two females doe’s and not a male they were found together and thought to be sibling , but they compared there maternal DNA and were found not to be sibling there was another girl missing around the same time Kerry ann graham… she went missing with another friend from Sonoma in 1979 I find it weird there’s no information on the friend who went missing with Kerry but a name Francine Walsh no missing person report pictures..ect if both of the Mendocino doe children were in fact females has anyone ever tested these two missing girls Cheryl and Kerry’s DNA against the doe children ..the doe’s were belived to be 12 to 14 yrs old born around 1964 I understand Kerry Ann graham was 16 yrs but there so much conflicting information on both girls one says Kerry Ann Graham was missing from not Sonoma California , so I thought it was worth looking into however another report states the doe could be from to 12 to 20 yrs old and the resemblance between Kerry Ann is very close to the sketch of the female doe ! Any way I feel for both family’s and hope you find your sister there’s always hope the grateful doe case is making great progress in recent weeks !
HI there, I saw this girls picture on the NCMEC facebook page. I found the case intriguing b/c I LIVE in Rohnert Park & have never heard of this case. I would also like to add that I have lived in the county for about 25 years & have never heard of a group home in RP…there are two in nearby Santa Rosa however which have operated for decades. RP is pretty small so its relatively hard to be missing too long if they stick around. I HOPE the increase in her photo being shown gets answers, and I hope shes out there.