New lead detective hopes to solve Molly Bish case, as murder hits 26 years

WARREN, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - This weekend marks 26 years since the abduction and murder of Molly Bish on June 27, 2000. The 16-year-old disappeared after being dropped off for her job as a lifeguard at a pond in Warren.

While the investigation is officially classified as an unresolved case, her family has never given up on their efforts to find her killer and bring them to justice. We have an update on that investigation — and the new detective determined to find answers.

It was a story that haunts western Mass. To this day, back on a Tuesday morning in late June 2000 — a young lifeguard, Molly Bish, seemingly vanished just moments after arriving for work at Comins Pond. Her disappearance led to one of the most extensive missing persons searches in state history.

It would be about 3 years before her remains were eventually found on Whiskey Hill in Palmer, roughly 5 miles away.

“It’s one of those things that you kind of think about all the time. It’s so sad on so many different levels, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early became involved with the Molly Bish case soon after taking office, forming what at the time was called a cold case squad.

But after meeting with Molly’s father John, Early changed the name of the unit to the Unresolved Case Squad, “he said at one of our hearings, he said please don’t call these cold cases. Because cold case kind of denotes a file sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust and we know that you’re working on these cases every day.”

Over those days, months, years, and now decades – thousands of leads and tips have poured in, along with more than 200 boxes of evidence. In 2021, the D.A. named a suspect in the case - convicted rapist Frank Sumner, but DNA results weren’t a match.

The investigation moved on — now, there’s a new set of eyes taking up the challenge to find Molly’s killer, State Police Detective Chelsea Safford, “first of all it’s a very active case 26 years later. We average 3 to 4 tips a week.”

Safford said she brings focus, and attention to detail. Following up on new and old leads, interviewing and re-interviewing people related to the case, and keeping in close contact with the Bish family, especially Molly’s sister Heather, “I probably speak with Heather Bish 3 times a week at least. They know a lot about the case and getting information from their point of view and their side is very important to me as well.”

“She’ll call and say ‘hey, was this right? Or what date was her prom, and I get that that’s hard because there’s files and files in this case and they’re not in the same format so you can’t just ‘boom’ put them all together,” Heather Bish said.

Still, Heather said she has confidence in Detective Safford, and something else that’s new to the case: artificial intelligence. Technology that’s able to sort through all those files, and perhaps connect the dots.

For instance, like why Molly, who hated going barefoot, left behind her flip-flops? And why were there no signs of a struggle?

“So, you know there’s just some things you think about behaviorally and logistically and so when we look at AI can tell us – within 8 minutes it had to be someone that knew, and because it was the second day, will say it’s probably someone that maybe possibly was in law enforcement because why would she be so complacent to go with them,” Heather Bish said.

For her part, Trooper Safford said she’s not utilizing AI — instead relying on the evidence they already have, and her skills as a detective while also keeping an open mind, as she opens all those boxes of evidence once more. Searching for something, anything, that may have been overlooked, no matter how long it takes.

“When you work with the detectives we work with and the staff that we got – I don’t think there’s anything in law enforcement that’s not possible, and eventually we’ll get there,” Early said.

The D.A. said there’s no such thing as a bad tip — if you think you have any information about the Molly Bish case call it in. The number is 508-453-7575.