Molly Bish case will get a contemporary look 25 years after Massachusetts teen’s homicide

In 2021, 20 years after her sister went lacking, Heather Bish did one thing she by no means thought she would do.

Heather Bish: 40-year-old me acquired into the TikTok sport. … It is allowed me to love share my story and share Molly’s story and actually simply be trustworthy.

HEATHER BISH | TikTok: It has been 7,680 days since my sister disappeared. And I have been ready for solutions on what occurred to her.

She hopes that by going public together with her TikTok movies on-line she is going to generate suggestions that may lastly clear up her sister’s case and put an finish to a painful 25-year-old thriller.

HEATHER BISH | TikTok: If you understand one thing, please say one thing. The wait must be over.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MOLLY BISH

The final time Heather Bish noticed her little sister Molly was the morning of June 27, 2000 – simply earlier than Molly left for her job as a lifeguard at Comins Pond in Warren, Massachusetts. Molly was enjoying with Heather’s 11-month-old daughter Mikaela.

Heather Bish: She was … having enjoyable with Mikaela and I bear in mind my mother saying, come on we gotta go, we gotta go, you are gonna be late.

However shortly after Molly was dropped off, beachgoers arrived and she or he wasn’t there. Police have been ultimately referred to as to the scene. By the point they informed Magi Bish, Molly had been lacking for 3 hours.

Heather Bish: And my mother was frantic on the telephone …

Heather Bish: She’s mentioned, she’s not there, she’s not there … her sneakers are there. … My coronary heart dropped. I simply knew one thing was incorrect as a result of I knew Molly would not go anyplace with out her sneakers on.

Erin Moriarty: Why?

Heather Bish: As a result of she did not like icky toes.

Erin Moriarty: Once you first heard that she was lacking, did you suppose possibly she had gone off with associates?

John Bish Jr.: No.

John Jr. is Molly Bish’s brother.

John Bish Jr.: Not what we do. … It is not our persona, our character. We have been raised higher than that.

Sixteen-year-old Molly was Magi and John Bish’s third and youngest baby. “48 Hours” interviewed John Bish Sr. in 2003.

John Bish Sr.: She was closely concerned at school, with sports activities, together with her associates.

Molly was an honor roll scholar, varsity athlete and she or he had simply accomplished her junior yr of highschool.

Heather Bish: Molly was simply very loud and enjoyable.

Heather says regardless of their six-year age distinction, they have been extraordinarily shut. It was a bond she had had with Molly ever for the reason that day she was born.

Heather Bish: I do bear in mind pondering that “Oh that child is my child too.” … I am gonna educate her all the things I do know. And, um, you understand, we’re gonna do that life collectively.

Molly additionally had an in depth relationship together with her brother.

Heather Bish: She very a lot needed to be like my brother.

John Bish Jr.: I took her beneath my wing. … You understand, I used to be a lifeguard earlier than her. She needed to be a lifeguard. Um, we performed soccer collectively, baseball collectively.

Heather Bish: Molly was 5 seven you understand, she was athletic and in form and powerful.

So when police instructed that Molly might have drowned, they did not imagine it.

Magi Bish: When Molly went lacking, I imply we— it was inconceivable. … After which, what I used to be informed was, the primary help package was open.

Including to the thriller … the police radio was there, however Molly had not used it for her required morning test in.

Magi Bish: Why? So what was, what occurred?

Later that afternoon, when it turned clear to native police that Molly had not simply walked off with associates, State Police took over the investigation and launched an intensive search.

Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant Colonel Dan Richard headed to Warren to assist out.

Det. Dan Richard: I had a 3-year-old daughter. Her identify is Molly. She had blonde hair, she has blue eyes. This case has daily been with me from that day to at present.

Additionally current on the scene was then Worcester District Lawyer John Conte.

Detectives zeroed in on everybody who was near Molly — together with members of the family, associates and Molly’s boyfriend, Steven Lukas. They’d solely been relationship for 3 months and had simply gone to the promenade collectively.

Kathy Curran: What raised some suspicion was that Steven Lukas had a fats lip and he had some scratches on him.

Kathy Curran is a former investigative reporter at WBZ.

Kathy Curran: May a younger child pull off this crime in such a brief period of time …

The Bishes by no means believed that Lukas was concerned.

Inside 24 hours, authorities have been taking a look at recognized intercourse offenders within the space.

D.A. JOHN CONTE (to reporters in 2000): We have checked out, uh, 35 to 45, uh, intercourse offenders, uh, within the space.

Heather Bish: That is been the scariest half about all that is realizing what number of dangerous individuals have been inside the material of our, of our group.

Molly’s dad labored tirelessly with police.

Heather Bish: He was at all times going each weekend making an attempt to work with police and looking for alternative ways to, to search out Molly.

And although DNA testing was nonetheless in its early phases again in 2000, Detective Richard says they did acquire and doc many gadgets present in and across the pond space, together with discarded cigarettes and trash.

Det. Dan Richard: Once we did the preliminary search … something that wasn’t there by nature or by God was no less than recognized as, as potential proof.

As the times glided by the Bishes’ despair grew.

Heather Bish: It wasn’t like Molly was hit by a automotive or acquired sick. She was simply abruptly gone and we did not know the place she was …

However it will be Magi Bish who would give detectives their greatest lead.

The morning earlier than Molly disappeared, as Magi went to drop Molly off at work at Comins Pond, she recalled seeing a person, sitting alone in a white automotive.

Magi Bish: And I see this man … and he is simply smoking a cigarette and he simply provides me a — like slightly look and I say oh I am unable to go away her right here. …  you understand it is just like the Mama Bear comes out.

Magi says she waited for 20 minutes till he lastly left. When she introduced it up with Molly that night, Molly did not appear involved.

Magi Bish: She says, “Oh no, Ma, it is simply fishermen, do not be — I am not afraid.”

The subsequent day, when Molly disappeared, Magi informed the police about what she had seen.

Det. Dan Richard: That turned very important … as a result of now we had a bit of knowledge.

A sketch was composed primarily based on Magi’s description and it was launched to the general public.

D.A. CONTE (to reporters in 2000 holding up a sketch): That is the person that we’re searching for, uh, in that white automotive.

Magi Bish: I had seen the hair. It was grey. It was very thick. … It is simply that smoking (she indicators together with her palms) you understand that doggone smoking. That is what I remembered.

Virtually instantly, lots of of suggestions began flooding in.

Det. Dan Richard: In the event you have been a — a 50-year-old white male with a mustache and salt and pepper hair, any individual might have, uh, needed to present us a name.

Many months later, authorities launched a second, totally different sketch.

D.A. CONTE (to reporters in 2000): I imagine that this sketch is a exceptional sketch and it is very distinctive and I believe it is gonna assist us an excellent deal.

However nonetheless no Molly.

Kathy Curran: I believe that is what makes this case so tough. You understand, you’ve gotten so many individuals who resemble that sketch.

Magi Bish (emotional): You understand when, when time stored going and passing, you knew it wasn’t good. You simply know that any individual both has her. And that is horrendous.

After which, nearly three years after Molly disappeared, police have been notified {that a} bathing swimsuit had been discovered within the woods simply 5 miles from Comins Pond.

 

THREE YEARS LATER — A BREAK IN THE CASE

Erin Moriarty (strolling within the forest): Do you bear in mind the very first time you got here right here?

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: Sure I do. … It was Could of 2003. We got here right here for what we thought could be the restoration of Molly Bish.

Three years after Molly Bish disappeared, Dr. Ann Marie Mires, a forensic anthropologist for the Boston Medical Examiner’s Workplace, was summoned by police to the realm referred to as Whiskey Hill — positioned about 5 miles from Comins Pond.

Dr. Ann Marie Mires (strolling deeper into the forest): That is how we got here in at first … So proper above us listed below are these rock ledges. And that is the place the showering swimsuit was discovered.

An area hunter had stumbled upon items of a weather-beaten blue bathing swimsuit, very similar to the one which Molly Bish was sporting when she disappeared.

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: Once I noticed the showering swimsuit, I mentioned this has most likely been up right here for roughly  three years.

Erin Moriarty: And the way might you inform?

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: It was lined by deadfall, so leaves and particles from three years of, uh, foliage dropping. However then it had additionally grown into the floor and roots had come up by means of it.

Kathy Curran: I arrived with my photographer… And I used to be let in.

Performing on a tip, Kathy Curran and her information crew acquired there in time to take photos of the showering swimsuit.

Erin Moriarty: What is going on by means of your head?

Kathy Curran: I used to be sick to my abdomen. Simply fascinated about Magi and John. And understanding what it might imply. (tears up)

As Curran left Whiskey Hill, she referred to as Magi.

Kathy Curran: And she or he mentioned, you understand, might you present us the video? And I mentioned Magi, you understand, I, I actually do not wanna do this. However you understand if that is what you need to do … I — I wanna do no matter I can to assist.

Magi Bish (crying): She simply had slightly van and had the six little TVs or no matter inside and she or he confirmed it to us.

John Bish Sr. (2003) (viewing video of the showering swimsuit and comforting Magi): So distinctive.

John Bish Sr.: (2003) It seems to be like hers.

Magi Bish: (Covers her eyes and cries.)

Magi Bish: And I knew. I knew that was Mol’s bathing swimsuit proper then and there (cries).

John Bish Sr. (2003): Let’s go in the home.

Magi Bish: And I went up. I locked myself within the room … I cried so arduous. There was nothing, I used to be intestine wrenched.

Kathy Curran: It was one of many hardest days of my profession. … As a result of you understand for 3 years, there was nonetheless hope. And she or he knew at that second that one thing was drastically incorrect and one thing horrible had occurred.    

Investigators despatched the showering swimsuit to the Massachusetts State Police Lab and a personal lab in Virginia for DNA testing.

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: So now we have gotta search the realm and see if we will discover proof … that may assist us decide what occurred up there.

As they waited for DNA outcomes, below Mires’ instruction, a brand new search was launched.

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: And that is once I principally mentioned we’re gonna grid this space …

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: We did grid looking arm to arm, they have been within reach of one another, they raked, they combed the forest with rakes.

Erin Moriarty: And had any of that space been searched earlier than?

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: No.

When John Bish Sr. arrived to the scene,  Mires assured him of 1 factor.

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: You understand I seemed him straight within the face and I — I shook his hand and I mentioned, Mr. Bish in case your, in case your daughter’s stays are — are right here, we’re gonna deliver her residence to you.

District Lawyer John Conte introduced that the DNA outcomes got here again as “inconclusive.” The search continued and intensified.

Heather Bish: And it was the most important search that is ever been performed in Massachusetts historical past.

And nearly two weeks later, they made a horrific discovery.

D.A. CONTE (to reporters in August 2003): This afternoon … we did uncover a human bone. It is the higher arm bone. And Dr. Mires does describe it because the bone of an individual between 14 and 20 years of age.

Erin Moriarty: What did that really feel prefer to lastly discover a bone?

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: Unbelievable … however instantly I considered the household.

DA CONTE (to reporters in August 2003): We have now established the realm as a criminal offense scene space.

As days glided by, investigators would come to search out extra human bones.

Magi Bish: It was like daily they got here with small rib bones. It was like aw, agonizing and, you understand, they have been looking for Mol. And we went out each morning. We thanked the, the searchers. We have been so grateful that folks would proceed to look and assist us discover Mol.

By the tip of the three-week search, investigators discovered as many as 27 bones and a human cranium unfold throughout 35 acres of forest. It was confirmed by means of DNA testing and dental identification that the bones have been Molly’s. Mires believes that Molly’s killer more than likely picked Whiskey Hill due to its hidden location.

Erin Moriarty: Do you imagine the killer might need been a hunter?

Erin Moriarty: Being that —

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: It is doable.

Erin Moriarty: —  accustomed to the realm?

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: It is doable.

She additionally believes that after Molly was killed, a mountain lion might have scattered her stays among the many 35 acres of forest.

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: I typically felt that the individual knew the realm and knew that there was, uh, a big animal up there.

MAGI BISH (to reporters in August 2003): We need to inform you that Molly’s come residence. We’re extraordinarily saddened, the depth of our disappointment no household ought to must endure.

With the invention of her sister’s stays, Heather had a tough time accepting the tragic information. 

Heather Bish: I needed to run away. Actually, I simply needed to run outdoors of this nightmare and this life and possibly my — even my very own physique. However I bear in mind feeling like I needed to run away, immensely.

The seek for Molly Bish was now over, however the seek for her killer was by no means extra pressing.

 

“ONE PIECE OF INFORMATION AWAY”

 
Two months after Molly Bish’s bones have been found in August 2003, on what would have been her twentieth birthday, Molly was laid to relaxation.

Magi Bish: We have been so blessed. We acquired to have it in a church.

However after three years, the Bishes nonetheless had no solutions as to who might have murdered Molly. And the person within the white automotive, who Magi had seen the day earlier than Molly disappeared, had by no means been recognized.

Det. Dan Richard: Irritating is a reoccurring phrase in — on this case.

Magi wasn’t the one one who reported seeing a suspicious white automotive within the neighborhood, say investigators. On the day that Molly went lacking, a white automotive was noticed at a automotive wash proper down the road from the pond and once more within the cemetery behind the pond.

Erin Moriarty: So the place is Comins Pond proper from right here?

Det. Dan Richard: It is that route straight down. … And you’ll see there is a path opening there.

Erin Moriarty: Sure. So any individual noticed a white automotive, the place? Proper down on that –

Det. Dan Richard: Down alongside that highway.

Erin Moriarty: — highway down there? (pointing)

Det. Dan Richard: Sure.

Erin Moriarty: So, is the thought that if any individual introduced the automotive down there they might … possibly seize her, pull her again up, get within the automotive, earlier than …

Det. Dan Richard: That is a principle.

In reality, within the early days of the investigation, search canine did observe Molly’s scent from the pond, main as much as the cemetery.

Kathy Curran: You do not simply bump into Comins Pond. That is why the one that killed Molly Bish … needed to have watched her. And so they needed to have had a plan.

However there have been nonetheless so many unanswered questions: like, why was the primary help package left open? Kathy Curran believes that Molly’s abductor might have pretended to be injured.

Kathy Curran: After which somebody both compelled her or threatened her … to get her up that hill as a result of she, she’s athletic. … She’s not going to go simply.

Then in Could 2004, 4 years after Molly disappeared, D.A. John Conte referred to as for a grand jury to be convened.

Kathy Curran: Everytime you hear a grand jury in a legal case, you suppose oh … they’ve proof in opposition to somebody … So the hope was that the case was transferring ahead.

Heather, alongside together with her household, have been referred to as to testify. They are saying that lots of the D.A.’s questions gave the impression to be targeted on Molly’s associates.

Heather Bish: I bear in mind we have been all kinda like mad as a result of … we did not really feel like they have been actually important.

However detectives had discovered that a few of Molly’s associates had gathered at her boyfriend Steven Lukas’ home the morning of Molly’s disappearance.

Heather Bish: We’ve a timeline.

And so they have been telling police conflicting tales about what occurred within the hours earlier than and after Molly went lacking.

The grand jury transcripts are sealed so it isn’t recognized whom the investigators really questioned, however they might later clear Steven Lukas as an individual of curiosity. After two lengthy years, in December 2006, the grand jury was dismissed with out an indictment.

Heather Bish: It was disappointing … it was extremely disappointing.

Simply weeks after the grand jury was dismissed, John Conte retired, and Joe Early Jr. took over as Worcester District Lawyer. He says the grand jury was used as an investigative instrument to protect witnesses’ testimony.

D.A. Joe Early: You get ’em proper in. You get ’em below oath and there is a legal penalty in the event that they lie within the grand jury. … they usually cannot say later, I did not say that as a result of it is proper there. .. And that’s one thing that helps us get instances past an inexpensive doubt and show guilt.

However Heather says not having solutions as to who murdered her sister was taking its toll.

Heather Bish: I used to be giving up hope in numerous areas.

And issues solely acquired worse. In 2007, her father John Bish Sr. — who labored so intently with police — had a stroke. Heather would now face the daunting process to take over the place her father had left off, and it will not be straightforward.

Magi Bish: The police have at all times stayed very cautious about what they’d tell us.

Heather Bish: The police stored saying it, we’re only one piece of knowledge away. Properly the place is that piece? 

In 2008, a person who resembled the sketch named Rodney Stanger, was arrested for murdering his girlfriend in Florida. The sufferer’s sister reached out to Heather and claimed that Stanger might have been concerned in Molly’s homicide as nicely.

Heather Bish: He has this violent historical past. He lived, um, very near the place Molly educated to be a lifeguard.

Erin Moriarty: Was he a smoker?

Heather Bish: He was additionally a smoker. He was recognized to fish at Comins Pond and hunt within the space the place Molly was discovered.

Police have been notified about this tip. However Heather says she was informed that Stanger had been on one of many investigator’s lists of individuals of curiosity from the very starting.

Lt. Shawn Murphy: I’ve really visited him in jail.

Lt. Shawn Murphy: He did not have a lot to say to me however I tried. And so have, so produce other investigators as nicely.

Stanger was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and was sentenced to 25 years in jail. In 2012, State Police went all the way down to Florida once more to go looking Stanger’s trailer.

Det. Shawn Murphy: We did execute a search warrant at his residence with our regulation enforcement companions. And we did take gadgets.

Detective Murphy says the gadgets have been examined for DNA to see in the event that they might be linked to Molly.

Det. Shawn Murphy: We have examined and proceed to check and transfer ahead.

However there was not sufficient proof to make him an official suspect. After which, in 2011 a personal investigator got here to Heather with a brand new tip a couple of man named Gerald Battistoni.

Heather Bish: He had really raped a lady within the woods the place Molly was discovered. His ex-wife had a white automotive that she reported he was driving in Warren the day Molly disappeared.

Heather says she took this tip to the State Police who’ve confirmed that Battistoni, who died in jail in 2014, was on their radar together with many others.

Det. Dan Richard: There are occasions … you might say this individual’s actually good for this. This individual’s actually good for that. That is not the way you clear up a criminal offense. You understand, you must have the proof to help it.

Lastly in 2021 — 21 years after Molly disappeared — it seemed like investigators had sufficient proof. The District Lawyer’s Workplace formally named an individual of curiosity.

Kathy Curran: For the primary time, I assumed that is it. There will probably be justice …

THE BISH FAMILY LOSES HOPE

On June 3, 2021 — greater than 20 years after Molly Bish disappeared — there was lastly information.

WBZ NEWS REPORT: Tonight, a break within the homicide of Molly Bish. Greater than 20 years after {the teenager} was killed, Investigators have named a brand new individual of curiosity.

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: We named the individual of curiosity.

Erin Moriarty: However you had by no means executed that earlier than.

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: By no means executed that — by no means executed that on this case. … However we did get extra info to return in, we pursued these leads. And at that time I used to be snug saying … this individual is an individual of curiosity. Sure.

Francis “Frank” Sumner, Sr. was a neighborhood auto restore store proprietor with an intensive legal report. Kathy Curran was the primary to report the small print.

Kathy Curran: Frank Sumner appeared like an excellent suspect. … Frank Sumner has a violent previous. He was convicted of rape and kidnapping.

Erin Moriarty: Was he accustomed to the realm?

Kathy Curran: He was, he was accustomed to the realm. … He was from the realm. He had entry to a white automotive.

Kathy Curran: And while you examine the photograph of him smoking the cigarette to the sketch … you’ll be able to see a resemblance there.

And similar to the sketch, Sumner was photographed smoking together with his left hand. D.A. Joe Early Jr. says Sumner, who died in 2016, had been well-known to investigators working the Bish case for years.

Erin Moriarty: What made Frank Sumner rise to that prime to truly be referred to as a suspect?

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: Data that got here in … some dots that have been linked.

Though tight-lipped concerning the particulars, the Worcester D.A.’s workplace was assured that Sumner was a viable suspect and deliberate to match his DNA to DNA discovered on the crime scenes. However because it turned out, they could not acquire Sumner’s DNA. Sumner had been cremated and his DNA had by no means been submitted to the nationwide CODIS database.

Heather Bish: I do not know who dropped the ball. However any individual dropped the ball …

So authorities traveled to Ohio to get DNA from his son, Frank Sumner Jr. He was serving time in jail for theft.

Heather Bish: And so we waited and we waited trigger they mentioned … we’ll, you understand, do some DNA evaluation.

Heather, who had began that TikTok months earlier, reached out to her followers to see if she might drum up extra proof.

Heather says it took investigators a couple of yr earlier than they lastly informed her the outcomes of the DNA testing.

Heather Bish: It was inconclusive.

Erin Moriarty: What do you imply inconclusive? Was he eradicated from the DNA?

Heather Bish: I do not know what meaning.

Erin Moriarty: Oh, you do not —

Heather Bish: And so they will not inform me.

Heather wonders if authorities who collected discarded cigarettes and different proof at Comins Pond also have a viable pattern of the killer’s DNA.

Erin Moriarty: Do you’ve gotten sufficient DNA that you might do genetic family tree and have you ever executed any?

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: I am unable to communicate to the DNA. … I can communicate on this method. We proceed to check. … And we have gotten nicely over 100, uh, items of knowledge examined and we proceed to check.

Erin Moriarty: You understand that the Bishes have been annoyed. They do not really feel they’re getting sufficient info out of your workplace. They wanna know is the DNA being preserved correctly, what sort of DNA?

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: As a basic rule of thumb, it doesn’t matter what household it’s, the Bishes, uh, different households that we have now, we simply do not share the data as a result of … somebody would possibly say one thing they only should not say and it may compromise all the case.

Nonetheless, he says DNA is only one piece of the puzzle.

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: This is not only a DNA case. There is a — numerous investigation that is been executed. … We’d like slightly bit extra. I am not going to say what it’s … However we’d like slightly bit extra to get the place we would like— have to get to call an individual because the per — as a defendant on this case.

However Heather says she’s shedding religion within the investigators.

HEATHER BISH (TikTok): It is actually a tragic scenario to be a sufferer member of the family within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Investigator Shawn Murphy says he understands Heather’s frustration.

Lt. Shawn Murphy: Heather is a fierce advocate for her sister and her household, and I would not have it another method. And I’ve no downside being held accountable by Heather and I am joyful that she holds me accountable.

25 years after Molly Bish’s homicide, the case stays lively and there’s a new detective who has not too long ago joined the investigation. She has a plan.

Det. Chelsea Safford: Once I dedicate myself to one thing I don’t cease till it is achieved …

 

A RENEWED LOOK AT THE MOLLY BISH CASE

In March 2025, Detective Chelsea Safford was employed to take over the Bish investigation.

Det. Chelsea Safford: It is an ideal job for somebody that has an overactive thoughts, thrives on challenges, and would not sleep a lot.

Considered one of her first duties has been to weed by means of and manage over 80 packing containers of case information which have collected through the years.

Det. Chelsea Safford: I noticed all these packing containers and I simply needed to dive in. I simply needed to study extra.

Safford believes the reply to who killed Molly may lie inside these 80 packing containers.

Det. Chelsea Safford (pulls out a yearbook from a field within the proof room): This one, I discovered Molly’s, um, highschool yearbook and I went by means of that. Um, you understand, I’ve a number of suggestions that I used to be making an attempt to trace down.

It is a part of her technique to prepare and take a look at previous suggestions with contemporary eyes.

Det. Chelsea Safford: Who else might need heard or seen one thing that they did not notice was important. That one individual that we have not spoken to, they could be the lacking piece that we have been trying to find this whole time. … I imagine that that another piece is on the market. … I simply must maintain digging.

And Detective Safford faces an awesome process. She says there was nearly 8,000 suggestions which have are available since Molly went lacking — they usually maintain coming.

Det. Chelsea Safford: I can truthfully say that since I have been on this workplace, I do not suppose per week has passed by the place we have not obtained a Molly Bish tip, if not a number of all through the weeks.

Detective Safford says she’s additionally learning the numerous items of proof concerned in Molly’s case. She allowed “48 Hours” to accompany her to the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab’s DNA Chilly Storage facility in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Sherri Mittelholzer is a forensic help part supervisor on the Crime Lab.

Erin Moriarty: And what am I taking a look at proper in entrance of me?

Sherri Mittelholzer: So it is a bay, um, stuffed with proof … And all of these things right here go together with … the Molly Bish case.

Inside among the brown paper luggage are gadgets taken from the crime scenes.

Erin Moriarty: Is the … swimsuit right here?

Sherri Mittelholzer: (pulls proof bag from a shelf): It’s … Oh, it is this one I imagine. I do not suppose it says it on it however I do know it was despatched out for added testing.

Erin Moriarty: Are there any cigarettes right here? Or any –

Sherri Mittelholzer: There positively are cigarettes.

Det. Chelsea Safford (taking a look at an proof record): Containers ABC. There are numerous them in ABC.

Sherri Mittelholzer: ABC is that this one right here. They have been repackaged over time.

Erin Moriarty: Have they been examined?

Det. Chelsea Safford (trying down at her paper): Oh yeah.

Erin Moriarty: Chelsea, are you going to be taking a look at this to see if there’s one thing else … your pondering, what, why do not we attempt to take a look at that?

Det. Chelsea Safford: Completely. Yeah.

In the present day, Detective Safford has her eye on one piece of proof particularly: Molly’s backpack.

Det. Chelsea Safford: I will inform you that is the primary merchandise that I have been searching for … (factors to a field that claims “backpack.”)

Erin Moriarty: Why?

Det. Chelsea Safford: I believe what we feature in our … backpack or our pocketbook, uh, I believe it says rather a lot. And I, I personally suppose studying concerning the individual, the sufferer, I believe is a vital a part of every case.

Regardless of the challenges, Detective Safford says she is set to search out solutions for the Bish household.

Det. Chelsea Safford: None of us can deliver Molly again, however the most effective factor I can do is … discover out what occurred.

Erin Moriarty (Pointing to images of different instances posted on Safford’s bulletin board): I see you’ve gotten a few of these … solved, responsible, captured … Is that what you need to do on this case?

Det. Chelsea Safford: It is not what I need to do, it is what I’ll do. We — we are going to do it.

Heather Bish, who has been crucial of the Massachusetts State Police investigation up to now, says she is inspired by Detective Safford’s ardour.

Heather Bish: I really feel like she has the identical power and dedication to fixing this as I do.

Heather nonetheless makes TikTok movies about Molly’s case, hoping her efforts will sooner or later generate a tip that may assist investigators.

HEATHER BISH (TikTok): Someone is aware of one thing, and any individual is aware of who killed Molly Bish.

Heather Bish: I’ll by no means hand over. I — I will battle. … Molly deserves that justice.

D.A. Joe Early Jr. insists that investigators are transferring in the best route.

Erin Moriarty: As you sit right here, is Frank Sumner nonetheless on the highest of the record of individuals of curiosity?

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: He is the one individual of curiosity we have named. The one individual of curiosity that is been named on this case. … Sure.

On June 27, 2025, the Bish household gathered with family and friends to recollect Molly 25 years after her dying — first on the cemetery after which at a extra formal ceremony within the heart of Warren.

Heather Bish: I really feel her beside me. Due to Molly, I’ve turn out to be braver than I ever thought doable. I’ve confronted my deepest fears. I’ve endured unimaginable heartbreak. I’ve survived.

Magi Bish: I imagine Molly’s love and lightweight have guided us by means of these 25 years. So at present we share our household’s gratitude. … And due to Molly we have now conquered what evil couldn’t … for love is way stronger.

The night ended with a gathering at Comins Pond.

Heather Bish: I do not need individuals to ever overlook Molly. … And we are going to by no means … cease honoring her.

If in case you have any info that may assist authorities discover Molly’s killer, please attain out to the Molly Bish Tipline: 508-453-7575.

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