Lifeguard abduction suspects targeted

By Dave Wedge

June 30, 2000 Web posted at: 12:34 PM EDT (1634 GMT)

In this story: Investigation grows Community holds vigil RELATED STORIES

WARREN, Massachusetts (The Boston Herald) -- Investigators said yesterday they're closing in on Molly Ann Bish's possible kidnapper and believe he is a man seen lurking in the parking lot of Comins Pond the day the popular teen vanished without a trace.

``In the last 24 hours - without raising expectations - we've made considerable headway in identifying at least six or seven (suspects),'' Worcester County District Attorney John J. Conte said yesterday. ``We want to question them about being at the pond at that particular moment in time and what they were doing there a week before.''

Conte said the batch of suspects includes two men who fit the description of a man in his 40s seen several times in the area in a white car and who may have been stalking the teen. All of the suspects are local men and have been contacted by police. Some have been questioned but Conte said investigators had more work to do.

``We're going to be here a while,'' he said. ``We want the town of Warren and the family to know the investigative forces of the state police are going to do everything possible to bring this matter to a conclusion.''

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Conte would not say if any of the men were sex offenders and refused to discuss any of their criminal backgrounds. He did say, however, that none were suspects in the 1993 unsolved murder of Holly Piirainen. Piirainen, a 10-year-old Grafton girl, was abducted from Sturbridge and was missing for three months before her body was found in nearby Brimfield.

Conte - who was still at the Warren Police Department last night - said police have taken ``very seriously'' reports about the mysterious man in the white car seen in the beach parking lot. Reports that the man was at the pond last week and again Tuesday are ``absolutely true,'' he said.

``We believe we know who it is,'' Conte said of the man. ``There are at least two individuals who fit that description. It certainly is very suspicious.''

When asked if the suspect may have known Bish, Conte said, ``probably not.''

There has been unfounded speculation that the alleged kidnapper may have been a disgruntled client of John Bish, who is a probation officer at East Brookfield District Court. When asked if any of the suspects may have known John Bish, Conte said, ``I doubt it.''

Molly Bish, a 16-year-old incoming Quaboag Regional High School senior, has been missing since her mother, Magdalen, dropped her off at the pond for her lifeguard job around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday. About a half-hour later, after swimmers arrived at the beach and couldn't find her, police recovered only her sandals, lunch bag, two-way police radio and water bottle.

Police are looking into reports of screams heard in the area around that time, as well as the reported stalker sightings. The FBI joined the probe yesterday and a number of civilian volunteers were added to the massive search effort.

Also brought in was a computer forensics team and the state police Behavioral Science Unit. Authorities also contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who will be putting out a poster nationally.

``Do we still have hope? Yes,'' Conte said. ``But we're heavily leaning on the criminal side (of the investigation) at this point. We've brought in every investigative tool we can think of.''

State Sen. Stephen Brewer (D-Barre), who is a close friend of the Bish family, said investigators are also scouring her computer hard drive and the Internet to see if Molly may have received any suspicious e-mails or threats in Web chat rooms. Brewer, who went to Warren to be with the family yesterday, described the Bishes as ``totally exhausted.''

``They're emotionally drained,'' he said. ``But they've made it very clear how grateful they are to everyone.''

State police Capt. Robert Bird said investigators have reviewed a list of sex offenders in the area.

The search for the missing girl continued until nightfall but it was unclear how long it would continue.

``We'll continue to work and search as long as we think searching is productive. We'll have to stop eventually but I don't know when,'' Bird said.

At Sacred Heart Church in West Brookfield, friends and family members gathered for a vigil for the blond-haired teenager yesterday morning. Bish, the youngest of three children, is a goalie on the Quaboag High soccer team and is a right fielder on the softball team. She also plays basketball and enjoys painting.

``However this whole, horrible nightmare unfolds, Molly will be in our hearts,'' the Rev. Peter Shea of Sacred Heart Church said. ``We pray that Molly is well.''

Friend and classmate Jamie Pelletier said Bish loves joking around and is always quick to make others laugh.

``She's very funny,'' Pelletier said. ``Whenever she's in your sight, she's cracking jokes.''

Andrea Courtemanche, who works at Howard's Drive-In with Bish, said the pair would constantly joke around while working at the rural ice cream and hamburger stand on Route 9 in West Brookfield.

``She's hilarious,'' Courtemanche said. ``She's one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life. It's shocking basically.''

Pelletier said she doesn't think her friend would run away and thinks ``someone took her.'

``I miss her. I hope we get her back,'' she said. ``It's hard. I just hope they'll find her. I believe she's still alive because she's a strong girl. She's tough.''

Conte's office has set up a hotline for anyone with any information about the case. The hotline has been flooded with calls, many of which have helped investigators, Conte said.

The number is 1-800-808-9677.

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