Molly Bish case gets a fresh look 25 years after Massachusetts teen’s murder

In 2021, twenty 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 bought into the TikTok recreation. … 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 remedy her sister’s case and put an finish to a painful 25-year-old thriller.

HEATHER BISH | TikTok: If you recognize 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 taking part in with Heather’s 11-month-old daughter Mikaela.

Heather Bish: She was … having enjoyable with Mikaela and I keep 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 he or she wasn’t there. Police had been ultimately referred to as to the scene. By the point they instructed 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 footwear are there. … My coronary heart dropped. I simply knew one thing was flawed as a result of I knew Molly would not go wherever with out her footwear on.

Erin Moriarty: Why?

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

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

John Bish Jr.: No.

John Jr. is Molly Bish’s brother.

John Bish Jr.: Not what we do. … It isn’t our persona, our character. We had been raised higher than that.

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

John Bish Sr.: She was closely concerned in class, with sports activities, together with her buddies.

Molly was an honor roll scholar, varsity athlete and he or she had simply accomplished her junior 12 months of highschool.

Heather Bish: Molly was simply very loud and enjoyable.

Heather says regardless of their six-year age distinction, they had 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 keep in mind pondering that “Oh that child is my child too.” … I am gonna train her the whole lot I do know. And, um, you recognize, we’re gonna do that life collectively.

Molly additionally had a detailed relationship together with her brother.

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

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

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

So when police prompt that Molly may 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 instructed was, the primary support 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 grew to become clear to native police that Molly had not simply walked off with buddies, 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 title is Molly. She had blonde hair, she has blue eyes. This case has each day been with me from that day to immediately.

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

Detectives zeroed in on everybody who was near Molly — together with relations, buddies and Molly’s boyfriend, Steven Lukas. That they had solely been courting 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 had been identified 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 had been throughout the cloth of our, of our group.

Molly’s dad labored tirelessly with police.

Heather Bish: He was at all times going each weekend attempting to work with police and looking for other ways to, to seek out Molly.

And even supposing DNA testing was nonetheless in its early levels again in 2000, Detective Richard says they did gather and doc many objects present in and across the pond space, together with discarded cigarettes and trash.

Det. Dan Richard: After we did the preliminary search … something that wasn’t there by nature or by God was not 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 bought sick. She was simply immediately gone and we did not know the place she was …

However it could 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 offers me a — like slightly look and I say oh I can not go away her right here. …  you recognize 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 following day, when Molly disappeared, Magi instructed the police about what she had seen.

Det. Dan Richard: That grew to become very important … as a result of now we had a chunk of data.

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 who we’re in search of, 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 fingers) you recognize that doggone smoking. That is what I remembered.

Nearly instantly, a whole bunch of suggestions began flooding in.

Det. Dan Richard: For those who had been a — a 50-year-old white male with a mustache and salt and pepper hair, any person could have, uh, wished to offer us a name.

Many months later, authorities launched a second, completely 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 a terrific deal.

However nonetheless no Molly.

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

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

After which, nearly three years after Molly disappeared, police had 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 keep 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 here are these rock ledges. And that is the place the washing swimsuit was discovered.

A neighborhood 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 washing swimsuit, I mentioned this has in all probability been up right here for roughly  three years.

Erin Moriarty: And the way may you inform?

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: It was coated 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 way 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 bought there in time to take photos of the washing swimsuit.

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

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

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

Kathy Curran: And she or he mentioned, you recognize, may you present us the video? And I mentioned Magi, you recognize, I, I actually do not wanna try this. However you recognize if that is what you wish 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 he or she confirmed it to us.

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

John Bish Sr.: (2003) It appears to be like 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 laborious. 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 recognize for 3 years, there was nonetheless hope. And she or he knew at that second that one thing was drastically flawed and one thing horrible had occurred.    

Investigators despatched the washing swimsuit to the Massachusetts State Police Lab and a non-public 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, underneath Mires’ instruction, a brand new search was launched.

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

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: We did grid looking out arm to arm, they had 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 recognize I regarded 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 carry her residence to you.

District Legal professional 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 seek out extra human bones.

Magi Bish: It was like each day they got here with small rib bones. It was like aw, agonizing and, you recognize, they had been looking for Mol. And we went out each morning. We thanked the, the searchers. We had 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 way of DNA testing and dental identification that the bones had been Molly’s. Mires believes that Molly’s killer almost certainly 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 attainable.

Erin Moriarty: —  acquainted with the realm?

Dr. Ann Marie Mires: It is attainable.

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

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

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

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

Heather Bish: I wished to run away. Actually, I simply wished to run outdoors of this nightmare and this life and possibly my — even my very own physique. However I keep in mind feeling like I wished 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 had been found in August 2003, on what would have been her twentieth birthday, Molly was laid to relaxation.

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

However after three years, the Bishes nonetheless had no solutions as to who may 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 course straight down. … And you may see there is a path opening there.

Erin Moriarty: Sure. So any person 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 person introduced the automotive down there they may … possibly seize her, pull her again up, get within the automotive, earlier than …

Det. Dan Richard: That is a principle.

The truth is, within the early days of the investigation, search canines did comply with Molly’s scent from the pond, main as much as the cemetery.

Kathy Curran: You do not simply encounter Comins Pond. That is why the one who 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 support package left open? Kathy Curran believes that Molly’s abductor could 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 felony case, you suppose oh … they’ve proof towards somebody … So the hope was that the case was transferring ahead.

Heather, alongside together with her household, had been referred to as to testify. They are saying that most of the D.A.’s questions appeared to be centered on Molly’s buddies.

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

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

Heather Bish: We’ve got a timeline.

And so they had 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 identified whom the investigators really questioned, however they’d 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 Legal professional. 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 underneath oath and there is a felony 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 bought worse. In 2007, her father John Bish Sr. — who labored so intently with police — had a stroke. Heather would now face the daunting activity to take over the place her father had left off, and it could not be simple.

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

Heather Bish: The police saved saying it, we’re only one piece of data away. Nicely 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 could have been concerned in Molly’s homicide as effectively.

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

Erin Moriarty: Was he a smoker?

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

Police had been notified about this tip. However Heather says she was instructed 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 effectively.

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 objects.

Detective Murphy says the objects had been examined for DNA to see in the event that they might be related 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 non-public 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 can say this particular person’s actually good for this. This particular person’s actually good for that. That is not the way you remedy a criminal offense. You recognize, you must have the proof to help it.

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

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

THE BISH FAMILY LOSES HOPE

On June 3, 2021 — greater than twenty 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 particular person of curiosity.

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

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

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

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

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

Erin Moriarty: Was he acquainted with the realm?

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

Kathy Curran: And if you examine the photograph of him smoking the cigarette to the sketch … you possibly can see a resemblance there.

And similar to the sketch, Sumner was photographed smoking along 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 high to really be referred to as a suspect?

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: Info that got here in … some dots that had been related.

Though tight-lipped in regards to 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 person 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 recognize, do some DNA evaluation.

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

Heather says it took investigators a couple of 12 months earlier than they lastly instructed 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 which means.

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 sufficient DNA that you can do genetic family tree and have you ever carried out any?

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: I can not communicate to the DNA. … I can communicate on this manner. We proceed to check. … And we have gotten effectively over 100, uh, items of data examined and we proceed to check.

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

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

Nevertheless, 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 carried out. … We’d like slightly bit extra. I am not going to say what it’s … However we want slightly bit extra to get the place we wish— must get to call an individual because the per — as a defendant on this case.

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

HEATHER BISH (TikTok): It is actually a tragic state of affairs 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 manner. And I’ve no drawback being held accountable by Heather and I am comfortable 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 completed …

 

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.

Certainly one of her first duties has been to weed by way of and manage over 80 bins of case information which have accrued through the years.

Det. Chelsea Safford: I noticed all these bins and I simply wished to dive in. I simply wished to be taught extra.

Safford believes the reply to who killed Molly could lie inside these 80 bins.

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 way of that. Um, you recognize, I’ve a couple of suggestions that I used to be attempting to trace down.

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

Det. Chelsea Safford: Who else might need heard or seen one thing that they did not understand was important. That one individual that we’ve not spoken to, they is likely to be the lacking piece that we have been looking for this whole time. … I imagine that that yet one more piece is on the market. … I simply should preserve digging.

And Detective Safford faces an awesome activity. She says there was nearly 8,000 suggestions which have are available since Molly went lacking — they usually preserve 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’ve not acquired a Molly Bish tip, if not a number of all through the weeks.

Detective Safford says she’s additionally learning the various 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 proper in entrance of me?

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

Inside among the brown paper luggage are objects 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 extra testing.

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

Sherri Mittelholzer: There positively are cigarettes.

Det. Chelsea Safford ( an proof listing): 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 (wanting down at her paper): Oh yeah.

Erin Moriarty: Chelsea, are you going to be 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.

At the moment, Detective Safford has her eye on one piece of proof particularly: Molly’s backpack.

Det. Chelsea Safford: I am going to inform you that is the primary merchandise that I have been in search of … (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 quite a bit. And I, I personally suppose studying in regards to the particular person, the sufferer, I believe is a vital a part of every case.

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

Det. Chelsea Safford: None of us can carry Molly again, however the very best 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 a few of these … solved, responsible, captured … Is that what you wish to do on this case?

Det. Chelsea Safford: It isn’t what I wish to do, it is what I will do. We — we’ll do it.

Heather Bish, who has been crucial of the Massachusetts State Police investigation prior 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 at some point generate a tip that may assist investigators.

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

Heather Bish: I’ll by no means surrender. I — I am going to battle. … Molly deserves that justice.

D.A. Joe Early Jr. insists that investigators are transferring in the suitable course.

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

D.A. Joe Early Jr.: He is the one particular person of curiosity we have named. The one particular person 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 demise — 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 develop into braver than I ever thought attainable. 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 way of these 25 years. So immediately we share our household’s gratitude. … And due to Molly we now have 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 neglect Molly. … And we’ll by no means … cease honoring her.

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

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