June
21, 2003
MAN
AT HOSPITAL WHEN BISH DISAPPEARED
Boston Globe, The (MA)
After police investigating the death of Warren lifeguard Molly Bish
requested information about John Robert Allen, a Level III sex offender,
they learned he had an alibi for June 27, 2000, the day Bish disappeared.
According to Justin Latini, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of
Correction, Allen was at Bridgewater State Hospital on that day.
Investigators probing Bish's disappearance had sought information about
Allen, who was convicted of attempting to abduct a 12-year-old girl in 1998,
according to Sturbridge Police Chief Thomas Button.
June
22, 2003
John
Bish believes Molly's killer will be found
Gerard F. Russell,
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
WARREN -- Ask John J.
Bish if he believes police are close to catching the person who killed his
daughter three years ago and left her broken body on a rugged Palmer
hillside and he'll tell you he thinks so.
``I think they are
close,'' he said Friday.
Moreover, he said, ``I
think they will find this person and I think they will find him sooner than
we expect, just because of the amount of work that has gone into this.''
State Sen. Stephen M.
Brewer, D-Barre, a close Bish family friend, shares the confidence.
``It is my strong feeling
this noose is tightening. I think the heat is getting turned up,'' Mr.
Brewer said about the hunt for Molly Ann Bish's killer.
Worcester District
Attorney John J. Conte said Thursday that state police are focusing on seven
local men in the case, some of whom are sex offenders. Mr. Brewer is
convinced that something among the hundreds of items police found in their
four-week search of woods near the Nenameseck Sportsmen's Club will yield a
vital clue and link the killer to the lifeguard, who was 16 when she
disappeared.
``I think some
evidentiary material will be linked,'' Mr. Brewer said.
The search for Molly's
remains was launched after a bathing suit believed to be Molly's was
reported found in the rugged terrain of Whiskey Hill. On June 3, a forensic
anthropologist confirmed that a bone found by searchers was human. An
intensive search followed. Each day thereafter, the Bish family had to
endure a painful recitation of what the day's search revealed.
``I know the state police
have recovered all they can of her,'' Mr. Bish said.
The search for Molly's
remains, and for evidence, ended last week after nearly 65 acres were
scoured by more than 50 state and environmental police.
Mr. Bish's optimism,
though, is tempered by a sadness that the searchers are gone.
``It is a little sad to
see the searchers leave, but it also provides us with some relief. We kind
of feel connected to them,'' he said.
After two years and 10
months of little information or progress in the case, the surge of
information in the case in recent weeks is a boost, he said.
``Prior to this, we just
didn't have anything,'' Mr. Bish said.
For years, there were no
witnesses; no signs of struggle at Comins Pond, where police believe Molly
was abducted from, and no evidence.
Now there is a wealth of
information, evidence and items that may be critical in the June 27, 2000,
disappearance of Molly from her lifeguard post at Comins Pond.
This next phase of the
investigation, delayed for nearly three years because Molly was not found,
is now under way. It involves thousands of leads collected in the past few
weeks. Police must prioritize what they found in the woods, much of which
could be viewed as junk or litter. But under the scientific scrutiny of
today's criminal investigators, the most insignificant of clues could be the
link needed to solve the case, police say.
``Of course, there is a
lot of stuff in the woods. You find milk containers and wonder how it got
there. They have to look at what may be tied to the crime and send that out
for testing,'' Mr. Bish said.
DNA testing is an
important tool that police will use, he said. Although there are limitations
to the science, police have cast a wide, high-tech net through a voluntary
collection of DNA samples from Molly's friends, acquaintances and possible
suspects in the case.
While he acknowledges he
is no more a criminologist than the average guy who watches crime-solving
programs on the A&E television network, Mr. Brewer speculated that the
person who killed Molly would likely not confide in another person about the
heinous act.
``With this type of
sickness and psychosis they have, it makes them loners and they don't talk
to anyone. A loner who does not go to the bars, but lives in a pseudosexual
world,'' Mr. Brewer said. Of the seven local men police are focusing on, no
recent DNA samples have been taken from them, Mr. Conte said last week. Some
of their genetic signatures, though, are in a state DNA database, he said.
Mr. Conte did not disclose their names.
Throughout this
investigation, and the probe into the abduction and murder of 10-year-old
Holly Piirainen nearly 10 years ago in Sturbridge, police frequently focus
on sex offenders.
In August 1998, Dudley
police arrested John R. Allen of Clinton, who tried to abduct a 12-year-old
schoolgirl from a bus stop in Dudley. At the time of his arrest, he made
unsolicited statements to police about the unsolved abductions and murders
of Holly and Sarah Pryor, of Wayland, who was 9 years old when she was
abducted in 1985.
Mr. Allen was stopped in
Sturbridge on the Dudley charges. At the time of the Dudley abduction
attempt, he told the victim he was looking for a girl named ``Molly,''
police said.
The similarity of the
name ``Molly'' to Holly prompted state police in 1998 to question Mr. Allen
in connection with the Holly case.
It could not be
determined last week if state police are investigating a link between Mr.
Allen and the Molly Bish case. Sturbridge Police Chief Thomas Button said he
last talked to state police about Mr. Allen in 1998. Dudley police Lt.
Michael Stevens, who investigated Mr. Allen's abduction attempt,
characterized Mr. Allen as a predator and added, ``Certainly, it would be
worth looking at anything involving the activities of John Allen with
respect to the Molly case.'' Lt. Stevens said he provided state police with
a copy of all the evidence he had on Mr. Allen at the time.
Mr. Allen was sentenced
to two and a half years in the Worcester County Jail and House of
Correction. He was released May 2, 2000, just weeks before Molly's
abduction.
As police continue to
sift through a mountain of new leads and evidence and continue questioning
anyone who may have information on the case, another type of investigation
is in high gear with the remains police were able to recover in the Palmer
woods. But finding a cause of death in such cases can prove as elusive as
finding the killer, according to Mary H. Manhein, a forensic anthropologist
and director of Louisiana State University's Forensic Anthropology and
Computer Enhancement services in Baton Rouge.
A forensic anthropologist
is assisting state police in the Molly case, and early in the search
identified the bones as those of a teenager. A forensic anthropologist is a
trained investigator in the science of reading clues on human bones that are
often left exposed, sometimes for years, to extreme weather conditions and
predators.
Identifying how a person
died based on the condition of the bones is sometimes easy, Ms. Manhein
notes.
``Sometimes you can,
especially if the person was shot or if the hyoid (bone) was found,'' she
said.
The hyoid is a small bone
just below the chin that helps anchor the tongue in place. If the hyoid is
broken and the break was made at, or around, the time of death, the bone
will show ``what we call a green bone break,'' indicating the bone was
living at the time it occurred, she said.
Such a break, she said,
could suggest strangulation. Another obvious injury is blunt force trauma to
the head, she said.
Mr. Conte has given no
indication if the forensic examination of Molly's bones has yet yielded
crucial clues in solving the case.
No murder weapon was
found in the search of where Mr. Conte said police believe her body was
left. Ms. Manhein said it is a customary investigative procedure for police
to use metal detectors to look for bullets, or bullet casings, to determine
if the victim might have been shot. For victims who might have been stabbed
with a sharp object, bones and ribs are inspected closely for nicks. Those
marks are distinguished from the teeth marks of such predators as wild dogs,
coyotes, pigs and rodents. The marks caused by those animals are
distinctive, she explained.
``You can get
identifications very easily if you have the proper remains, but determining
the cause and manner of death can be more difficult,'' she said.
``It is not always
easy,'' she added.
State Rep. Reed V.
Hillman, R-Sturbridge, last week said he believes the investigation is
getting closer to finding the killer.
``They've eliminated
suspects. But until you have probable cause, you have nothing. You can't
arrest somebody for suspicion.''
A friend of the Bish
family and former colonel in charge of the state police, Mr. Hillman said,
``It may be next week. It may be years. They (the police) are just dedicated
to finding out who did this. This is a passion, not just a job. They are
dedicating their every waking moment.''
June
20, 2003
SEVEN MEN NOW FOCUS OF BISH PROBE -
INVESTIGATORS ENTER SECOND PHASE OF CASE: FINDING THE KILLER
Farah Stockman, Globe Staff
WARREN - The excruciating
search that began last month for the remains of 16-year-old life guard Molly
Bish officially ended yesterday.
As more than 50 members
of the State and Environmental Police team filed out of the dense woods for
the final time, Worcester District Attorney John Conte announced that his
detectives have launched an "exhaustive examination" of seven individuals
who are in some way connected to the Bish investigation.
"Now what we are going to
do . . . is to move on to the second phase of the investigation, which is to
find out what happened to Molly Bish," he told reporters yesterday.
The seven are not
necessarily suspects, Conte said, but most have been known to investigators
since Bish disappeared from her Comins Pond lifeguard post three years ago.
None of the seven men is currently in jail, he said, although some are
convicted sex offenders who have been incarcerated and who have submitted
their DNA to a state database. All have ties to the area.
Conte declined to offer
additional details concerning the suspects. But Sturbridge police chief
Thomas Button confirmed yesterday that investigators in the Bish case have
asked for the file of John Robert Allen, 60, who admitted to the attempted
kidnapping of a 12-year-old girl five years ago, and who was interviewed in
connection with the murders of Holly Piirainen and Sarah Pryor.
"They are unequivocally
aware of him," Button said. "That name and information has been turned
over."
Allen was arrested in
Sturbridge in 1998 after he offered a 12-year-old $25 to get into his pickup
truck at a bus stop in Dudley. Allen told the girl that he was looking for a
"12- or 13-year-old blond-headed girl named Molly" who had a dimple like
Marilyn Monroe, according to court documents reviewed in 1998 by the Globe.
Police later found him at
a boat dock, Button said. A search of his vehicle turned up pornographic
magazines, liquor, rope, a book on tying knots, a paper with the word
"blonde" written on it, and maps of towns in the area.
Investigators at the time
questioned Allen on the 1993 disappearance of 10-year-old Holly Piirainen
and the 1985 disappearance of 9-year-old Sarah Pryor, whose remains were
discovered years after they vanished. He had an alibi for Piirainen's
disappearance, Button said. After Bish disappeared, investigators again
asked police for information about Allen.
The investigators told
Button that Allen was not in jail on June 27, 2000, the day that Bish
disappeared.
Allen was sentenced to 2
1/2 years in Worcester County House of Correction after he pleaded guilty to
the attempted kidnapping. He served some of his sentence in Bridgewater
State Hospital. He was released on May 2, 2000, said William Frisch, deputy
superintendent of Worcester County Jail and House of Correction.
Allen returned to jail on
July 31, 2000 on a larceny-related offense, Frisch said, and was sent back
to Bridgewater. A corrections official said yesterday that Allen is no
longer in custody there.
Attempts to reach Allen
and his relatives were unsuccessful last night. Conte declined to comment
yesterday on whether Allen is among the seven people investigators are
targeting, but said that no one has been ruled out.
Besides recovering Bish's
remains, Conte said investigators hope forensic evidence and even DNA might
be found on items taken from the woods.
The meticulous search of
65 acres of difficult terrain on Whiskey Hill in Palmer was sparked by a
hunter's discovery of a bathing suit. Dozens of officers from the
Environmental Police and the State Police search and rescue team began the
search on May 23. Within days, searchers uncovered a human arm bone that DNA
testing later linked to Bish. The searchers eventually recovered much of her
remains, including her skull and a lock of hair.
Though they were not able
to determine a cause of death or the actual site of her killing, State
Police Colonel Thomas Foley called the search "very successful" and gave
Bish's family closure.
After praising the
52-black-clad searchers lined up at the West Warren fire station, Foley and
Lieutenant Thomas Curran, leader of the State Police's Special Emergency
Response Team, said they were confident that Bish's killer would eventually
be caught.
"To accomplish what we
did was beyond my expectations," Curran said of the search. "It was just an
incredible thing to bring Molly home to her family
Molly Ann Bish Timeline
T&G Staff
Molly Ann Bish Timeline
2000
June 27, 9:45 a.m.:
Magdalen A. Bish drops off 16-year-old Molly at Comins Pond in Warren..
June 28: More than 200
searchers look for Molly; police investigate suspicious off-road tire
tracks.
June 29: State police
begin questioning 6 or 7 possible suspects; hot line set up; search area
expands.
July 6: District Attorney
John Conte distributes composite sketch of man in white car drawn from
Magdalen Bish's recollections.
July 8: $20,000 reward
offered for information on Molly's disappearance.
Aug. 4: Side search of
pond reveals no body, plans to draw down pond put off.
Aug. 16: Conte announces
13 individuals have been given polygraph tests, including some sex
offenders; gives no results.
Aug. 24: John and
Magdalen Bish begin the family's ongoing Kid Care ID program.
Sept. 10: More than 1,000
motorcycles raise $18,344 for the Molly Bish Fund with a 60-mile `Ride for
Molly`. $10,000 added to reward.
Dec. 4: Legislature
approves $250,000 supplemental budget funds to pay for continuing
investigation of Bish case. Conte announces reward is up to $100,000.
2001
March 19: Conte
distributes new sketch of man in car drawn by nationally-known artist Jeanne
Boylan.
March 28: Bones found in
remote area of Warren turn out to be animal bones, not human.
June 20: Conte announces
seven of the 13 lie detector tests given failed.
2002
Oct. 2l: Magdalen Bish is
among parents of kidnapped children meeting with President Bush in
Washington.
2003
Jan. 29: Conte announces
that a five-member task force headed by Lt. Thomas Greene will spend the
next three months working exclusively and intensively on the Bish
investigation.
May 19: Conte announces
the finding of a blue bathing suit similar to the one worn by Holly off West
Warren Road; new searches triggered.
May 30: Headband similar
to those worn by Molly found in the Quaboag River in Warren.
June 3: Arm bone said to
be from someone 14 to 20 years old found on remote hillside in Palmer.
June 9: Conte announces
that DNA tests prove the bones are Molly's; teeth found also match those
from Molly's dental records.
May 22, 2003
No
evidence found -
Searchers intend to work rest of week
Bradford L. Miner
, Worcester
Telegram & Gazette (MA)
PALMER -- State police
canine teams and others searching the heavily wooded hillside yesterday near
the Nenameseck Sportsmen's Club found no additional evidence that might shed
light on the June 27, 2000, disappearance of Molly Ann Bish of Warren.
A week ago, a blue-and-white bathing suit similar to one the 16-year-old
lifeguard was wearing when she disappeared from Comins Pond beach in Warren
was found, prompting a search of the rugged terrain on both sides of West
Warren Road.
John J. Bish, Molly's
father, said yesterday that the bathing suit found is unique enough that it
could prove to be the one his daughter was wearing the day she disappeared.
He said neither he nor his wife, Magdalen M. Bish, had actually seen the
bathing suit being analyzed for DNA and other forensic evidence at the State
Police Crime Lab.
``When we got the call Friday from Capt. (Thomas)
Greene, telling us that a blue bathing suit had been found ... it was out of
the blue. The news was so stunning I didn't know what to think,'' Mr. Bish
said.
District Attorney John J. Conte described the bathing suit Monday as the
first credible lead in the nearly 3-year-old case. ``The key here is the
forensic testing of the bathing suit,'' he said.
Mr. Conte said it could take up to eight weeks before his office gets the
results back and investigators should be able to determine whether the
bathing suit was Molly's.
Mr. Conte said it is too soon to say if he will try to get blood samples
from suspects to try to match their DNA with any found on the bathing suit.
``We're jumping ahead right now,'' he said. ``I've got to find out what
evidence we have.''
He said that canine teams specializing in finding cadavers were used for
yesterday's search along with tactical teams that state police assigned to
Mr. Conte's office.
Searchers were well-organized and well-prepared for the rugged terrain and
search, Mr. Conte said.
``Tomorrow we'll be mapping the area, and Friday we'll launch an intensive
grid-by-grid search,'' he said yesterday. ``The cadaver dogs will be back,
and we'll have a lot more searchers involved as well,'' the district
attorney said.
Light rain fell throughout the morning, as canine teams and investigators on
all-terrain vehicles searched both sides of West Warren Road near the
intersection of Bacon Road.
Timothy S. McGuigan of Ware, a former North Brookfield and Sturbridge police
officer who is writing about his experiences investigating the death of
Holly Piirainen of Grafton a decade ago, said he talked with Mr. Bish May 1
about his interest in Molly's disappearance, citing the similarities in the
two cases.
Mr. McGuigan said he was a catalyst in the renewed search, explaining it was
his friend, Ricky J. Boudreau of Ware, who initially spotted the bathing
suit in the woods while deer hunting seven months ago.
``He mentioned finding the bathing suit in the woods and I asked him if he
had told police. He said he hadn't because it hadn't occurred to him that
the bathing suit might have belonged to Molly,'' Mr. McGuigan said.
He said he called state police May 15 and the next day a crime scene
services team showed up and bagged the evidence for further analysis.
The Bishes appeared on New England Cable News network's Newsnight program
Tuesday and Mr. Bish said his feeling is that the investigation may be
``approaching the envelope.''
``From day one, we've all been hopeful of bringing Molly home alive, at the
same time balancing that with her potential peril and the statistics for
teen-agers abducted by strangers. Now that this bathing suit has been found,
it's like we're waiting for the other shoe to drop and find ourselves
thinking and talking about the possibility of Molly's death, a funeral, and
how we're going to react to that news should the phone call come,'' Mr. Bish
said.
``We've been through difficult times since Molly disappeared, but this
weekend was particularly difficult for our family,'' he said.
Mr. Bish said he wants Molly home whatever the outcome. ``We may never
experience closure or resolution, but we do need to have an ending,'' he
said.
The general area being searched -- where Palmer and Ware meet -- is the same
area where authorities discovered the bodies of Michel I. Smith of Warren
and Glen Robbins of Ware three months before Molly's disappearance.
That case was investigated as a murder-suicide by the Northwest District
attorney's office. Ms. Smith's car was found on a fire road off Bacon Road
beyond the Nenameseck Sportmen's Club. The two bodies were found in Mr.
Robbins' pickup truck on a rocky logging road a quarter mile east of West
Warren Road.
May 22, 2003
SEARCH FOR BISH GOES ON
IN WOODS
Peter DeMarco, Globe
Correspondent
PALMER - Specially
trained dogs and state troopers continued their search yesterday for the
remains of Molly Bish, a week after a hunter found a bathing suit in a
rugged patch of woods 5 miles from where she was last seen three years ago.
"Wherever the dogs take us, that's where we'll go," said Worcester District
Attorney John Conte, who briefly toured the search staging area yesterday
morning.
Conte said authorities
will spend today mapping out a grid of the 2 1/2-mile area for a more
organized search. Yesterday, about 10 officers with three German shepherds
combed the area around where the bathing suit was found, and Conte promised
a "much more significant" effort when the search resumes tomorrow morning.
Bish was a lifeguard at Comins Pond in Warren, which is just across the town
line from the area where the suit was found by a hunter last November. The
hunter, Rick Boudreau, returned to the place where he saw the suit last week
with a former police officer who said it might help the investigation.
The 16-year-old vanished on June 27, 2000, minutes after her mother dropped
her off. Investigators and family members have said the suit, which is the
same color, size, and brand as the one she was wearing, is a major break in
the long-stalled investigation.
If tests on the suit prove it is Bish's, Conte reiterated yesterday, the DNA
could be matched to suspects. He would not describe the "suspects" he had
mentioned on Tuesday, or say how many people are under consideration. Conte
said Tuesday that 11 people failed lie detector tests at some point in the
three-year probe. Conte said he has DNA only from suspects who have
previously been incarcerated, but would not say from how many.
May 22, 2003
Investigators promise to scour `every inch' of forest for Bish girl
Tom Farmer, Boston Herald
Authorities probing the
mysterious disappearance of Warren lifeguard Molly Bish vowed yesterday to
search "every inch" of a wooded area in Palmer where a bathing suit was
found last week similar to the one the 16-year-old girl was wearing the day
she vanished nearly three years ago.
State troopers with
cadaver-sniffing dogs have combed through the steep, rugged woods off Ware
Road in Palmer after the weathered and torn blue Nike swimsuit was found May
14 by a hunter.
"It will continue until we are satisfied we have covered every inch of that
ground," said state police spokeswoman Lt. Marian McGovern. "It will
continue on, no matter what the conditions are."
Worcester County District Attorney John J. Conte said investigators were
prepared to map the area today and conduct a more thorough search tomorrow.
Searchers are working in a 2.5-mile area near the Nenameseck Sportsman's
Club, about five miles from Comins Pond in Warren where Bish disappeared on
June 27, 2000, after being dropped off for work by her mother.
A hunter from Hardwick found the bathing suit in November when he was
scouting spots for hunting deer, but didn't think anything of it because he
assumed Bish would have been wearing a more traditional orange or red
bathing suit for her lifeguard job.
The hunter told former police officer Timothy McGuigan about the bathing
suit last week and it was recovered by state police.
Conte said it could take up to eight weeks before authorities know if the
bathing suit contains DNA that could prove it belonged to Bish or identify a
suspect.
"The key here is the forensic testing of the bathing suit," Conte said.
A former state police homicide investigator, who used DNA evidence in a case
that resulted in a first-degree murder conviction, said despite the bathing
suit's prolonged exposure to the elements, there is a good chance it still
contains genetic material.
"They could find a hair or material could be in a fold in the bathing suit
that could protect it," the investigator said.
Bish's parents have steeled themselves for the worst possible news since the
bathing suit was found last week.
"We're going to miss Molly no matter what," said Magdalen Bish. "We want
peace for Molly."
George Martel and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
May 22, 2003
'Intensive' Bish effort
mapped
KIM RING; STAFF; The
Republican (Springfield, MA)
Holly Piirainen's family
wishes DNA technology had advanced to its present state when their
daughter's body was found almost 10 years ago.
PALMER - Converging on a
wooded spot where a blue bathing suit was found, police with
cadaver-sniffing dogs fanned out yesterday in search of more clues to the
disappearance of Warren lifeguard Molly Anne Bish.
As state police scoured the terrain, Worcester County District Attorney John
J. Conte said authorities continue to investigate local suspects in the case
of the missing girl. Bish disappeared nearly three years ago at age 16 while
guarding Comins Pond in Warren five miles from the search site.
The case, which Conte said could hinge on DNA evidence, is being watched
closely not only by the parents of Bish, but by the family of Holly
Piirainen, the 10-year-old whose body was found in Brimfield a decade ago
and whose murder has never been solved.
Conte said the investigation at the site will resume today. Police will map
the rugged area in preparation for a more intensive search tomorrow.
Tomorrow's search will be "more intensive . . . more significant" and would
involve more personnel, he said, adding yesterday's search yielded "initial
progress."
The discovery of the swimsuit with a Nike swoosh emblem on the chest is the
first piece of potential physical evidence in the case. Investigators are
looking for more clues in the area where a hunter discovered it off West
Warren Road in Palmer.
The swimsuit, retrieved by state police last week, matches one worn by Molly
when she disappeared after her mother dropped her off for lifeguard duties
on the morning of June 27, 2000.
The suit is being tested at the state police crime laboratory in Sudbury.
Conte said plans for the investigation include using DNA from subjects "who
may have been incarcerated" or others. He said that part of the
investigation is probably a long way off.
Testing on the bathing suit could take six to eight weeks, Conte said.
"We're trying to move that up so we can positively know if that's the
bathing suit Molly had on that day," Conte said.
Police continue to explore the theory that a local person may have abducted
the lifeguard, Conte said.
"We have suspects in the case," he said. "Some of the suspects would fit
into the mode that would bring them five miles from the beach."
Conte said DNA evidence will be the key to the case.
It's a key that members of Holly Piirainen's family wish they had when she
disappeared nearly a decade ago while visiting her grandparents in
Sturbridge when she was 10 years old.
When a hunter found the girl's remains 21/2 months later off Five Bridge
Road in Brimfield, no DNA could be collected, partly because, at the time,
the science wasn't as advanced as it is today, Holly's grandmother said.
"DNA came such a long way since then," Maureen E. Lemieux said yesterday.
Lemieux said she's keeping a close eye on developments in the Bish case
because a resolution for Molly's family could mean a development for Holly's
family, too. If nothing else, the news about Molly's case generates new
interest in Holly's death.
"Are they connected?" Lemieux said. "The geography is close."
And there are other similarities. The girls were each blond, and, had she
lived, Holly would be the same age as Molly.
Lemieux has worked with the Bish family on their child identification
programs. She said she admires their strength and often wonders how they go
on.
Lemieux said there was some relief in bringing Holly home to be buried even
though it meant acknowledging that she'd met a terrible fate.
"I don't think I'd rather still be waiting," Lemieux said. "At least we know
she's at peace."
Conte said at least four detectives are working the case now and more will
be assigned if necessary. Dogs, helicopters, troopers, environmental police
and the Ware Fire Department assisted in yesterday's search. The fire
department provided the use of an open-air all-terrain vehicle that was used
to carry searchers in and out of the woods.
Fire Chief Thomas W. Coulombe said firefighters are familiar with the area
because a fire burned for nearly 10 hours and charred 250 acres there two
months before Molly Bish disappeared.
May 31, 2003
Search continues in Bish case
KIM RING; STAFFThe Republican (Springfield, MA)
Sites in Warren will be searched because of potential evidence
found.
PALMER - Searchers for missing Warren life
guard Molly Anne Bish will direct their attention to the
Quaboag River today after a potential piece of evidence was discovered
earlier this week in the river and reported to state police yesterday,
according to a press release from Worcester County District Attorney John J.
Conte.
The release, issued late last night, did not
say what possible evidence was found, but said the item was delivered by
state police detectives to the State Police Crime Lab in Sudbury. Based on
preliminary findings, several areas in the Warren vicinity will be searched.
State police detectives, Warren Police
Department and the Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Team will
examine parts of the Quaboag River today, according to Conte.
The item was found within two miles of the spot
Bish was last seen and about two miles of where a swimsuit that could
be the teen's was found recently, her father, John Bish, told the
Associated Press. He said he was asked by authorities not to say what the
item is.
"It's a discovery that we hope will bring
Molly home, but of course, not a good discovery," he said. "They haven't
found a body or anything like this."
Bish vanished June 27, 2000, as she was preparing
for her morning lifeguard duty. When swimmers arrived at the beach, only her
lunch, water bottle, radio and sandals were there. Her first-aid kit was
open.
Searching began again in the case after
investigators retrieved the bathing suit from the woods May 16.
Yesterday, Bish's sister, Heather
Bish, thanked searchers who spent the day looking in the woods along
West Warren Road for clues into the disappearance of her youngest sibling.
Bish, a Ware school teacher, visited the Nenameseck
Sportsmen's Club where investigators heading the search have set up
headquarters.
"My family didn't get a chance to come
yesterday or today so I just came down to thank the troopers for coming out
and searching with the dogs," Bish said.
Bish drove to the site with her classroom aide,
Maeve O'Brien, during their lunch break just before noon. The pair talked
briefly with state police who've been searching the area since a bathing
suit resembling one Bish wore when she disappeared from Comins Pond
nearly three years ago was found.
Bish said her family is thankful for the resources
that have been dedicated to the search and for the time that investigators
are spending on the case.
"We feel very confident that they're very
dedicated and even if nothing comes up today that they will keep looking,"
Bish said.
Yesterday's search was similar to one conducted
Thursday with canines specially trained to sniff out cadavers. The dogs
worked in an area close to the road, and vehicles were prohibited from
stopping. Troopers said the dogs could be affected by pedestrian traffic and
asked members of the press to stay inside their cars and away from the site.
Elizabeth Stammo, a spokesman for Conte's
office, said there have been no new developments in the DNA testing on the
bathing suit which is being conducted at the state police crime laboratory
in Sudbury and at the private Bode Laboratory in Springfield, Va.
Conte said testing process has been put on a
fast track.
January
30, 2003
Conte announces new Bish task force
Bradford L. Miner, Worcester
Telegram & Gazette (MA)
WARREN -- It's
been 21/2 years, dozens of suspects and more than 8,000 tips, leads and
clues since Molly A. Bish, 16, disappeared from Comins Pond
beach where she worked as a lifeguard.
Now Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte's
office is ready to redouble its effort to unravel the mystery of the
teenager's disappearance on the morning of June 27, 2000.
Mr. Conte said yesterday that Lt. Thomas Greene
had been named to head up a five-member task force that would spend the next
three months working ``exclusively and intensively'' on the Bish
investigation.
``They will be looking at every viable lead,
every single suspect. They may interview some people again and for certain
they will be spending time in Warren. We expect this review will take three
months and that's the time we've committed to it,'' he said.
``The one thing that hasn't changed, that may
change as a result of this effort, is that virtually from the beginning
we've been so close, yet so far from solving this case,'' Mr. Conte said.
``Not only are we going back to review all of
the information from the last 21/2 years but, in the process, perhaps find
that key piece of information that allows us to solve this case,'' he said.
As for the Team Adam program, Mr. Conte said
any initiative in the direction of helping with child abduction is a step in
the right direction.
He cited the expertise state police detectives
brought to the investigation from day one and said that since then
investigators had become that much more experienced.
``Knowing what it takes to put together an
investigation of this magnitude, summoning the technological resources to
organize the flood of information we received and continue to receive is
invaluable,'' Mr. Conte said.
October 8, 2002
Bishes continue to hope
Bradford L. Miner,
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
WARREN -- John and
Magdalen Bish know there's a chance they may never know what's become of
their daughter, who was 16 when she disappeared.
Reflecting on last week's White House-sponsored conference on missing,
exploited and runaway children, where hundreds of parents of missing
children gathered in Washington, D.C., they know they're not alone, and in
the words of Mrs. Bish, ``there's always hope.''
Molly, a lifeguard at
Comins Pond Beach, was last seen by her mother the morning of June 27, 2000,
as she walked from the parking lot toward the beach.
The Bishes attended the daylong conference Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan
Federal Building, met with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and shared their
story with officials and the parents of other missing children.
Mr. Bish said the conference was a bittersweet experience for both of them,
emotionally and physically draining.
``Even so, I came away with hope, energized and inspired to press ahead with
the work of the Molly Bish Foundation,'' John Bish said.
For Mrs. Bish, meeting President Bush was ``a moment I'll always remember.''
``As the president walked by, I gave him a hug, and a Molly pin. I told him
about Molly and about my first-graders who had written him a letter,'' said
the teacher at the Old Mill Pond School in Palmer.
``He said, `I'm so sorry.' We were both crying and he told me to `be
strong,' '' she said.
Mrs. Bish said before the conference she had written a ``mother-to-mother''
letter to first lady Laura Bush.
``In my letter, I asked Mrs. Bush to look in her daughters' eyes and imagine
what life would be like without them,'' she said.
``I don't have my Molly, but her spirit is always with me as it was that day
in Washington,'' she said.
Mrs. Bish said the president spoke for about 30 minutes, and made a
compelling case for a comprehensive nationwide Amber Alert system, and said
more than once that ``one (missing or exploited child) is too many.''
She said she and other parents at the conference were disappointed that the
House had not approved legislation that would have provided $25 million to
help create a national AMBER Alert network. The Senate approved the
legislation in September.
Currently many states, regions and cities have variations on the AMBER Alert
system, the Bishes said, but their hope is to see a comprehensive nationwide
system in place.
``I think this is one place where the federal government can play a key
role,'' he said.
The AMBER Alert system is named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Arlington,
Texas, who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996.
The Massachusetts State Police will be launching a statewide AMBER Alert
system sometime this month, and Mr. Bish said he believed that state police
throughout the New England states would be cooperating to establish an AMBER
Alert system for the region.
The couple said they came away from the conference with a renewed commitment
to work with local police on training methods most useful in investigating
an abduction.
``We know that time is our enemy and that the first two or three hours after
a child has been abducted are critical. We need to raise people's awareness
of how what they see and hear may be critical in saving a child's life. We
need bloodhounds to track the scent of the missing child. We need evidence
from the scene that can help police mount an intensive investigation. Most
of all, we need to learn from our mistakes and make certain we don't repeat
them,'' Mrs. Bish said.
She said she will continue to speak out on personal safety for children,
drawing upon her years of experience as a first-grade teacher in advising
parents what to tell their children, and what to do in the event of an
emergency.
Mr. Bish said he was heartened by the response he received at the conference
to the pocket-size, child-identification kits which include a current color
photograph and a complete set of the child's fingerprints.
He said he also realizes the importance of working cooperatively with other
groups and agencies toward the common goal of combating what he and Mrs.
Bish called ``terrorism against our children.''
``It's important to get everyone under the same tent, so to speak, and have
a consensus of what needs to be done to achieve that goal,'' he said.
He said he and his wife will work with as many other organizations as
possible -- schools, after-school groups, community groups -- to raise the
public's awareness and to educate children about personal safety.
``It's equally important that we train police officers to understand the
risk that a missing youngster represents, whether it be a runaway, a child
taken by another family member or the worst-case scenario, a child abducted
by a stranger,'' he said.
Topics addressed at the conference included youth homelessness, the
international trafficking of children for sex and labor, and the sexual
solicitation and exploitation of children over the Internet.
The Bishes said they were very pleased that in addition to President Bush,
many members of the president's Cabinet were active participants in the
conference as well.
Mrs. Bish met Friday afternoon with Assistant District Attorney Richard L.
Greco and state police detectives assigned to the Bish investigation.
She said she was briefed on the current status of the investigation and told
that as far as the district attorney was concerned, it would never become a
``cold case.''
Mrs. Bish said some days are more difficult than others, and when the
telephone rings, her first thought still is that it might be news about
Molly.
Despite a $100,000 reward, thousands of leads, national exposure of the case
on television and in magazine and newspaper stories, Mrs. Bish said she was
told by investigators there's a chance the Bish family may never learn what
happened to their daughter that day at Comins Pond.
June 28, 2002
After two years, Bishes hold on to `sliver of hope'
JESSICA HESLAM,
Boston Herald
Magi Bish's heart stopped yesterday when her watch struck 10 a.m. - the time
she last saw her daughter two years ago after dropping the teen off at her
lifeguard post at a Warren pond.
"I watched my watch
today. I wanted to embrace Molly. I wanted to hold her in my arms and to
give her strength. I pray God was holding her in his arms that day," a
tearful Magi Bish said of her teenage daughter.
The then 16-year-old Molly Bish said "Bye Mom, love ya," before hopping out
of the car that ill-fated morning at the wooded Comins Pond. The teen hasn't
been seen since.
"We're still holding on to our sliver of hope. I never thought today would
be as difficult as it's turning out to be," Magi Bish said outside St.
Stanislaus Parish in West Warren, where dozens of friends, neighbors and
classmates gathered to pray for the Bishes.
"It tears at your heart because those very moments and seconds, you know
she's in peril. And that by this hour, it may have very well been over.
We're very realistic about that," her father, John Bish, said after the 10
a.m. Mass.
Worcester County District Attorney John Conte told the Herald this week that
authorities are now focusing on the first two days of the investigation and
have six or seven suspects.
Authorities say Bish was snatched, or enticed by someone who knew her, just
after her mother dropped her off at the pond. Her personal belongings and an
open first-aid kit were left on the beach.
Conte said the abuctor could live in the Warren area. He said eight people
have failed lie detector tests in connection with the case.
"I really want him to know that we will never stop looking for him. I wish
he had the conscience and courage to tell us where Molly is. She belongs to
her family. We will find him," Magi Bish said.
Magi Bish believes a suspicious-looking man she saw at the pond the day
before the abduction might be connected to her daughter's disappearance. The
middle-aged man had a mustache and was smoking in his white car.
During yesterday's Mass, Magi Bish told the congregation she could not have
survived the last two years without their support.
"You've touched our hearts," she said.
The family had planned to hold a vigil last night to honor Molly Bish and
other missing children and women.
June 27, 2002
Missing lifeguard probe focuses on 6-7 suspects
Jessica Heslam,
Boston Herald
As a community comes together today to remember missing Warren teenager
Molly Bish, authorities are now focusing on the first two days of the
investigation and a half-dozen suspects.
"We're back to the first 48 hours of the
investigation. We're back to some of the original suspects and have new
ones," Worcester County District Attorney John Conte said yesterday. "Most
of the people we're dealing with maybe didn't know her directly but knew the
area, knew the pond and knew of her," Conte said.
Investigators say Bish was snatched, or enticed by someone who knew her,
from her lifeguard post at Warren's Comins Pond just after her mother
dropped her off that morning two years ago today. The abductor could live in
the Warren area, investigators said.
"We have more information on the individuals that we're concentrating on,"
Conte said.
Six or seven men are being eyed as suspects, some of whom are sex offenders,
Conte said, adding that eight people have failed lie detector tests in
connection with the case. In the past four weeks, two men underwent lie
detectors tests. One failed and one passed, said Conte, who would not
identify the suspects.
"We have a feeling now that there are people out there that knew what
happened. We just urge them to come forward," Conte said.
When swimmers arrived shortly after the then 16-year-old Bish vanished, they
found some of her personal belongings, including an open first aid kit.
Her mother, Magi Bish, had seen a suspicious looking mustachioed man smoking
in his white car at the pond the morning before the abduction.
Conte said investigators had received a "mass of information" during the
first 48 hours of the probe.
Today, hundreds of friends and relatives plan to gather with the Bish family
at a second anniversary Mass and 7 p.m. vigil on the common.
Her father, John Bish, said investigators have revisited the pond in the
past few weeks. "I never imagined that two years down the road we would
still be looking for Molly," he said. "We really need to bring Molly home.
We are realistic about her peril, but we of course have hope."
March 20,
2001
Bish family hopes new
sketch can break case
Tom Farmer, Boston Herald
WORCESTER - Hoping to
turn up the heat on "two or three" suspects in the disappearance of Warren
lifeguard Molly Ann Bish, investigators released a new sketch of a
suspicious man who was seen by Bish's mother the day before her daughter
vanished.
Worcester County District
Attorney John J. Conte said the drawing resembles two of three suspects
police identified within 48 hours of the 16-year-old Bish's disappearance
June 27.
Conte and Bish's parents, who paid to have the new drawing made, indicated
one of the two similar suspects has particularly interested investigators
because the man has refused to cooperate.
"I just know that this man has not come forward," said Bish's mother,
Magdalen.
"We've asked him to come forward. If he would just talk to the police and
had nothing to do with it, we could have moved on. We've asked him to do
that. He has not taken that opportunity so my fear is because he has not,
that he has something to do with it."
Bish vanished from Warren's Comins Pond shortly after being dropped for work
by her mother at 9:30 a.m. Conte said investigators have now determined that
the "window of opportunity" when she was alone at the beach was just "five
to 10 minutes" before her belongings were found unattended at 10 a.m.
"The sketch has led us back to one individual and maybe two individuals that
we originally had in the investigation that we have not been able to rule
out," said Conte.
One of the two men took a polygraph test that Conte called "inconclusive"
while the second man has refused to cooperate past an initial interview.
"I've described this investigation as being very close and very far at the
same time and I can't think of any other explaination," Conte said. "We're
looking for a couple of pieces to put this thing together and if we get it,
hopefully, we'll be able to solve this particular case."
Bish's father, John, said evidence indicates his daughter may have been
asked to open a first-aid kit and then abducted.
In an effort to keep the investigation moving, Bish's parents hired Jeanne
Boylan of Colorado to create a new sketch of a man Magdalen Bish saw sitting
in a white car smoking cigarettes near the pond the day before her daughter
disappeared.
She said the man concerned her because he stared at her and appeared
unfriendly in a small New England town where a wave or nod of the head is
the norm.
The Bishs declined to say how much they paid for Boylan's work, only saying
some of the money came from a fund established to assist the family.
Boylan has created about 5,000 sketches for investigations since 1977,
including drawings of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski and Richard Allen Davis,
the man sentenced to death for kidnapping and murdering 12-year-old Polly
Klaas of Petaluma, Calif.
She also works for the television show "America's Most Wanted," which will
feature the new Bish case drawings March 31.
Magdalen Bish said she worked with Boylan for 12 hours to complete the new
drawings. The one showing the man smoking is more important, Bish said,
because she believes her recollection of the man chain-smoking will also
mean something to someone who might be able to provide information about her
daughter.
"It's about love and loss, but mostly about hope," she said.
"And that's why we did this, because we want Molly to know we're trying
everything we possibly can do."
Photo Caption: WHO IS HE? This sketch of the man believed to be a suspect in
the disappearance of Molly Ann Bish was commissioned by the family of the
missing lifeguard.
March 20, 2001
Sketch impresses
investigators
HOLLY ANGELO, STAFF;
Union-News (Springfield, Mass.)
SKETCH
Police are still waiting
for that 1 piece of evidence that will solve the case.
WORCESTER - A new sketch by renowned artist Jeanne M. Boylan has led
detectives investigating the June 27 disappearance of lifeguard Molly Anne
Bish back to two original suspects.
The sketch was released by Worcester County District Attorney John J. Conte
at a press conference at the Holiday Inn here yesterday.
The drawing depicts a mustached man in his 50s smoking a cigarette with his
left hand. He was seen inside a white car at Comins Pond in Warren by Molly
Anne's mother, Magdalen M. Bish, the day before her daughter disappeared
from the pond. The new sketch replaces a computer-generated composite sketch
produced in the days following the girl's disappearance.
"The (new) sketch has led us back to one individual, and maybe two
individuals, that we originally had in the investigation that we were unable
to rule out," Conte said.
He said the two men live in the vicinity of Warren, have not cooperated with
investigators, but have been interviewed. He said one of the men took a
polygraph test, but the results of the test were inconclusive. Neither man
is the owner of a white car that was impounded by Conte's office in October.
Tests for hair and tissue samples from the car proved inconclusive.
Conte thanked the Bish family for hiring Boylan. The artist, who is
headquartered in Colorado, is best known for her sketch of Unabomber
Theodore J. Kaczynski. She and Mrs. Bish spent the weekend of March 10
together to create the sketch. Conte admitted yesterday that he was
initially skeptical about a new sketch, but after seeing the drawing, he
changed his mind.
"I believe this sketch is a remarkable sketch," he said. "It's very
distinctive. I think it will help us a great deal. We're going to release it
as much as possible."
Mrs. Bish said the old sketch made the man look too friendly. The new sketch
brings out his cockiness, she said. She said her family wants to do
everything it can to bring Molly Anne home. The girl was 16 when she was
abducted.
"We want Molly to know we're doing everything we can possibly do," said Mrs.
Bish, flanked by her family, Conte, state and local police.
Conte said six to eight detectives still work the case at any given time.
They are still following up on more than 6,000 leads and continue
interviews. In all, there are two to three suspects, he said.
He said the investigation has led back to the day Molly Anne disappeared. He
said whoever took the girl had only a five- or 10-minute window of
opportunity. Mrs. Bish dropped Molly Anne off at the beach around 9:45 a.m.
By the time swimmers arrived minutes later, she was gone.
"For someone to abduct Molly Bish at the pond that day, with that small
window of opportunity, everything had to be letter perfect," Conte said.
And, although the investigation is ongoing, it has not moved forward much
since the abduction occurred, he said.
"We're not any closer at this point than we were in the first 48 hours,"
Conte said. "We're looking for a couple of pieces to put this together."
Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-808-9677.(PHOTO 1) (SKETCH)
At left, a police artist's rendering of a suspect in the disappearance of
Molly Anne Bish. At right, a sketch of the same suspect by Jeanne M. Boylan,
drawn after intensive interviews with Molly Anne Bish's mother, Magdalen M.
Bish.
March 20, 2001
SKETCH MAY UNLOCK MYSTERY
\ MOLLY'S MOTHER SAYS `IT'S MOSTLY ABOUT HOPE'
Dianne Williamson, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
The two sketches rest on
a big black easel in a banquet room at the Holiday Inn. In one, the man is
staring straight ahead, with a look that might be described as ordinary or
vaguely sinister, depending on the angle. In the other, he balances a
cigarette between two fingers held close to his bottom lip; the top lip is
covered by a mustache.
In front of the easel, a large half-circle of print
and television reporters dutifully record the words of the district
attorney, who calls the drawings ``remarkable'' tools in the ongoing
investigation into the disappearance of Molly A. Bish.
``They have led us back to one or two individuals we haven't been able to
rule out,'' said District Attorney John J. Conte, who held a press
conference yesterday to distribute the new artwork. ``I was skeptical at
first ... but I believe this sketch is a remarkable sketch.''
For the parents of Miss Bish, the picture of the man who may have abducted
her is a conflicting image of hope and fear -- hope that it could unlock the
evil that confronted their teen-age daughter.
``It's frightening, because it represents in a very real way what Molly's
peril must have been,'' said her father, John J. Bish. ``It adds to the
sense of loss and pain. It just makes this all the more real ... In many
ways, it's a hideous picture to me.''
There is nothing pretty about the anguish of the parents of a missing girl,
but John and Magdalen Bish refuse to hide behind their grief as they
struggle to keep their daughter's case in the public eye. Yesterday, they
patiently and politely answered questions they'd likely already addressed a
hundred times: How does it feel? What is this like? How do you go on?
Molly was 16 when she disappeared the morning of June 27 from Comins Pond in
Warren, shortly after she was dropped off by her mother. The day before,
Mrs. Bish had seen a middle-aged man sitting in a white car in the parking
lot, smoking a cigarette. His presence at the pond so early in the morning
raised Mrs. Bish's suspicions, so she made sure the man was gone before she
left Molly alone at the beach.
She also did something else -- she locked eyes with the man who may have
taken her daughter.
``The way he stared at me, I felt this cockiness in him,'' she said. ``I saw
him for less than two minutes, but we locked eyes.''
The newest drawings are the work of a renowned and rather unconventional
sketch artist named Jeanne Boylan. Ms. Boylan has worked with the FBI on
many high-profile cases, including the ones involving the Unabomber (her
sketch was on the cover of Newsweek) and the slaying of Ennis Cosby, Bill
Cosby's son. Her sketch of the man who kidnapped 12-year-old Polly Klaas in
1993 from a slumber party in California helped lead authorities to Richard
Allen Davis, who later confessed to the killing.
While Mrs. Bish initially collaborated with state police to develop a sketch
of the man in the white car, Ms. Boylan's work was the result of 12 hours'
worth of emotional interviews between Mrs. Bish and the artist, who has
drawn a more detailed and multidimensional portrait.
``I put an extreme amount of pressure on myself to remember anything I
could,'' Mrs. Bish said. ``It was emotive and emotional. Some of my memory
was gently released.''
For his part, Mr. Conte described the case in the typically cryptic language
of investigators. While saying that ``two or three suspects'' have been
identified and the case has not grown cold, he acknowledged that police have
little to no hard evidence.
``I've described this investigation as very close and very far at the same
time,'' he said. Later he said, ``We're not any closer at this point than in
the first 48 hours, but we were very close in the first 48 hours.''
To some, the hiring of the artist is a long-shot hope of desperate people,
and the Bishes would agree that they're both hopeful and desperate. They are
also good and decent people whose lives have been thrown into torment, yet
they carry their pain with dignity and a touching devotion to each other. As
Mrs. Bish spoke to reporters, her husband rested his hand on her back; when
Mr. Bish spoke, his wife clasped his hand and held it in her own.
Both were wearing buttons bearing color photos of their young and pretty
daughter. Next to the easel, the photos were a stark contrast to the
black-and-white sketch of a parent's worst nightmare. Beneath Mrs. Bish's
button was another one that bore just one word: hope.
``This is about love and loss, but it's mostly about hope,'' said Mrs. Bish.
``We want Molly to know that we've done all we can do.''
Dianne Williamson can be reached via e-mail at
dwilliamson@telegram.com.
October 21, 2000
Police to search woods for signs of missing teen
DOUG HANCHETT, Boston Herald
