In the summer of 2000, Molly Bish, a 16-year-old girl from Warren, Massachusetts, started working as a lifeguard at Comins Pond near her home.
It was a great job with a lot of responsibilities, but Molly was mature and excited to land that job. But she only got to work a few shifts because Molly disappeared from her lifeguard stand.
Molly Vanished From Her Job As A Life Guard
On June 27, Magi Bish drove her daughter Molly to Comins Pond and dropped her off near the lifeguard station so she could work her shift. It was a quiet morning without a lot of people around.
Magi Bish was the last known person to see Molly before she disappeared. Her family learned something had happened to Molly when police contacted Molly Bish's parents, informing them that no lifeguard had been on duty all day and that Molly's belongings were found at her station, but she was nowhere to be found.
Her Disappearance Triggered A Huge Search
An extensive search was immediately launched as news spread of Molly's disappearance. The search would eventually become the largest and most expensive search for a missing person ever undertaken in Massachusetts.
On June 26, the day before Molly's disappearance, her mother, Magi, saw a man with dark hair and a mustache in a white car parked in the lot of the beach where the lifeguard post was located.
Magie later said she thought the man seemed suspicious at the time, but she didn't think much of it or the fact he seemed odd until after Molly's disappearance.
When Magie dropped Molly off on June 27, Magi didn't see the man. But another witness reported that he saw a man matching the stranger's description in the pond's parking lot just minutes before Molly arrived for her shift. Another witness said they saw a car matching the description parked in a nearby cemetery.
Molly's case was profiled on numerous American television shows, including Disappeared, America's Most Wanted, Unsolved Mysteries, and 48 Hours.
It Took Several Years To Find Her Body
In later 2002, a hunter reportedly told a friend he had seen a blue bathing suit in the woods on Whiskey Hill in Palmer. In May 2003, he mentioned this to Tim McGuigan, who contacted the police.
Police soon launched a wide search of the area. On June 9, 2003, Molly's body was found five miles from her home. Investigators did not release a cause of death, but investigators believe Bish was murdered and her remains buried.
Police Name Several Suspects
Over the years, several people have been eyed as potential suspects as part of the investigation.
Rodney Stanger used to fish and hunt in the Warren area and lived in the Southbridge area at the time of Molly’s abduction. In 2010, Stanger was sentenced to 25 in prison for the 2008 stabbing death of his girlfriend in Florida. He was long believed to be a prime suspect in Molly's cause, but police could never make the full connection.
There have also been suspicions about Gerald Battistoni, a convicted child rapist from Ware who was in custody at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital when he died on Nov. 11, 2014.
A New Suspect Emerges
Last year, the Worcester district attorney named convicted sex offender Frank Sumner as the suspect in Molly's murder. He's a convicted rapist who died in 2016. His remains were cremated and his DNA was never entered into the CODIS system that's often used to link suspects to crimes, so he flew under the radar for years.
Officials are now working with DNA from Sumner's son, who's currently serving time in an Ohio prison.
Anyone with information about Molly's disappearance is urged to call state police investigators from the Worcester District Attorney's office at 508-453-7575.
]]>The Inquisitr
