MOLLY BISH - 16 yo - (2000) Warren MA

New details in Molly Bish disappearance
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Magi Bish says there's an "amazing" resemblance between Rodney Stanger and the man she saw in a car near where her daughter Molly disappeared in 2000.

Molly Bish was 16-years-old when she vanished from her lifeguard post at Comins Pond in Warren, Massachusetts on June 27, 2000.

Her mother, Magi Bish, dropped her off and never saw her again.

"I don't think anybody could imagine having a child missing and hard," Magi tells FOX23 News by phone Thursday night. "It's beyond what even one's imagine will allow."

In 2003, police found Molly's bones in Palmer, Massachusetts.

No one has ever been charged with her abduction and murder.

Of all of the persons of interest in the case, Magi tells us that Rodney Stanger is the most frightening.

Stanger was living in Massachusetts at the time of Molly's disappearance but moved for Florida one year later.

Magi says Stanger bears an amazing resemblance to the man she saw in a white car at Comins Pond on the morning that she dropped off Molly.

FOX25 in Boston is reporting that, on Thursday, Stanger pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the 2008 death of his girlfriend, Crystal Morrison, in their Florida home.

According to FOX25, Stanger has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

The news brings some relief to Magi Bish.

She tells us, "He is a very dangerous person and, I believe, quite sick and, you know, to have him even outside of a prison would be... I would consider extremely dangerous for anybody."

FOX25 is also reporting that, just days before Stanger murdered Morrison, she had called her sister in Massachusetts and implied that Stanger may be connected to the Bish case.

FOX25 says Morrison was also looking for a way to get in touch with the Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Magi Bish says she's spoken with Morrison's sister and believes her account.

"I do believe that her story was true," Magi tells us. "That's why there's been this big concern because the fact that she had mentioned Molly and the connection to Molly."

A clear end to Molly's story is something that Magi both wants and fears.

She explains, "It's kind of a cross between the fearful part of knowing what he might have done and also having justice for Molly."

MA Police Arrest Sketch Look-A-Like
A man who resembles a sketch of a suspect who may have kidnapped and killed Molly Bish is behind held after allegedly chasing down a female jogger. Robert Burno Jr., 54, pled not guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex and is being held on $500,000 bail. Burno bears a striking resemblance to a sketch of a man seen at Comins Pond in Warren, where Molly Bish disappeared six years ago.»The Full Story

http://www.amw.com/missing_children/recovered.cfm?id=24911

Last updated August 10, 2007

Posted: 03/10/09 at 5:35 pm EDT .
ShareBOSTON -- Police in Florida arrested the brother of the man being questioned in the murder of 16-year-old Molly Bish.
Nine years after the disappearance and murder of the Warren lifeguard, sources tell 7News Massachusetts authorities plan to question Randy Joseph Stanger, 54, who was arrested on unrelated drug charges.



"When my sister disappeared, my mother saw a white car, a man in a white car, smoking a cigarette in the parking lot when she dropped molly off," said Heather Bish, Molly's sister.

Stanger's neighbor said she remembered his white Ford, similar to the one Molly's mother saw the day her daughter vanished.

He will be brought back to Massachusetts for questioning.

His brother, Rodney Stanger was accused of killing his girlfriend in Florida and lived in Central Massachusetts at the time Bish disappeared from her lifeguard post in 2000.

In June of 2003, her remains were found just five miles from her family's home.

Heather Bish said their family welcomes the new developments, "We're quite hopeful."

Police urge anyone having any information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for Molly Bish's death to please call their tip line at 508-832-9124.


http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO107076/

WARREN –
The Piirainen and Bish families share an unfortunate and tragic bond -
their beloved girls were stolen from them, their killers never found.

But after a new lead was announced this week in the case of Holly
Piirainen, who was abducted in Sturbridge in 1993 at age 10, the Bish
family remains optimistic that some day they will know who took their
teenage daughter, Molly Anne, from her lifeguard post at Comins Pond on a
June day 12 years ago.

The Bishes are hopeful that the Piirainen family finally will have
closure, that the mystery of who was responsible for the girl’s death
soon will be solved.

Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni announced a new lead in the Piirainen case on Jan. 3 at a press conference.

Mastroianni said authorities have established an “indisputable” link
between a piece of evidence found near the crime scene and deceased
Springfield resident David E. Pouliot, but he said Pouliot is not a
suspect in Holly’s murder. He did not reveal what the piece of evidence
was.

Molly’s mother, Magdalen M. Bish, 60, said there is an element of
nervousness, and hopefulness, every time a new lead, or new name,
emerges.

Molly Anne Bish


She and her daughter, Heather Bish, 34, wonder if Pouliot also could
have a connection to their case - he resembles the composite sketch that
was done of a man that Magi saw at Comins Pond the day before the
abduction occurred, and he was an avid outdoorsman.

Both Holly and Molly were found in wooded areas frequented by hunters.

Heather Bish, who speaks to a prosecutor from the Worcester County
District Attorney’s Office regularly about her sister, said she found
the resemblance of Pouliot to the sketch “unnerving.”


“They couldn’t find anything solid to connect him to our case of yet,” she said.

Both Magi and Heather Bish recalled that the night before Molly disappeared, Magi talked to her daughter about her safety.

“She said, ‘Mom, don’t worry, it’s just fishermen,’” Heather Bish recalled.

Said Magi Bish, “As a mother, a survivor of a horrific crime, you just
want the answers and pray that each one of these leads connects some
more.”

In the years since Molly’s murder, the Bish family - which also
includes Molly’s father John Bish and brother John Bish Jr. -has made
protecting children its mission. The family created the Molly Bish Foundation in
their daughter’s memory, and has provided more than 200,000 child
identification kits to families in Massachusetts, New York and
Connecticut.

“My dad, he wanted to make sure nobody ever experienced this. It’s such
a horrible nightmare, especially not knowing,” Heather Bish said.

The Bishes used to be out nearly every weekend at child safety events,
taking up-to-date photographs of children, and their fingerprints. It
all would go in a kit for parents, to use in case their child went
missing.

That was one of the obstacles they encountered when Molly disappeared -
they had no recent photographs of her. There was a prom picture of
their daughter all dressed up, and photos of her playing soccer, but
they didn’t have anything that truly showed how she looked.

“With the third kid, you just don’t have as many pictures,” Magi Bish said.

The work with the foundation was very important for Bish’s husband, John, she said. And, she said, he dove right into it.

But their regular weekend child safety events came to a halt after John
Bish, 62, had a stroke four years ago. Heather Bish said their work has
resulted in other agencies holding similar events, something that makes
her proud.

“It helps the children and it educates the parents,” Magi Bish said.

The Bishes still give out scholarships in their daughter’s name through
their foundation, and also perform outreach to families who have
experienced similar tragedies.

“We go wherever we need to go. Our focus has always been to protect children,” Heather Bish said.

Every June they mark Molly’s death with a vigil.

“Having found Molly gave us the peace that no one was harming her, but we also had to trade that hope,” Magi Bish said.

She said she wonders how someone could take her child, when she was
just sitting innocently at the beach - how that level of evil can exist.


But she said she has seen “amazing goodness” in the years since, too.

The family served on the National Amber Alert family roundtable,
helping bring the Amber Alert to Massachusetts. They attend Missing
Children’s Day every year at the Statehouse in Boston, and have forged
relationships with parents around the country who have had the same
devastating loss.

Anna Maria College in Paxton collaborated with the Bishes to create the
Molly Bish Center for the Protection of Children and the Elderly in
memory of Molly.

The family’s latest project is advocating for a bill to change license plates in Massachusetts.

Called EZ-ID, it would replace one of the six digits on state license
plates with a recognizable symbol. Magi and Heather Bish said this would
make remembering license plates easier for children and adults.

Heather Bish noted that a forensic pathologist said years ago that
science would develop that would be the key to solving these cases.
Mastroianni said Pouliot, who died in August 2003, is positively linked
by new forensic testing to an item of evidence collected in 1993 when
Holly’s body was found in a wooded area of Brimfield. Holly disappeared
in August 1993.

“It’s a tough position not having him to question,” Heather Bish said.




Holly Piirainen



According to Timothy J. Connolly, spokesman for the Worcester County
District Attorney’s Office, said the state police detectives assigned to
the Worcester and Hampden district attorney offices talk regularly, and
have shared information about the latest development regarding the
Piirainen case.

“In the Bish case we do not have the same facts on the ground so we
don’t have any update at this point . . . We do continue to get leads
and tips on the Molly Bish case and we follow them to their logical
conclusion,” Connolly said.

Over the years, several names have been publicized in connection with the Holly and Molly cases.

There was Rodney Stanger, formerly of Southbridge, charged with
murdering his girlfriend, former Massachusetts resident Crystal
Morrison, in Florida. A 2009 Worcester Telegram & Gazette article
stated that Morrison told her sister, Bonnie Kiernan, of Douglas, that
Stanger was responsible for two unsolved killings in Massachusetts.

Another report about Stanger in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette
last year said that Kiernan said her sister gave hints in a telephone
call that Stanger was involved in the murder of Molly.

More recently, convicted child rapist Gerald Battistoni, 49, formerly of Ware,
was highlighted by a private investigator as a possible suspect in the
Bish and Piirainen murders because Battistoni’s rape victim had ties to
both Warren and Sturbridge, where the abductions occurred.

Heather Bish said she is hopeful and glad for the Piirainen family,
even though what the new lead eventually will mean is uncertain.


She said she will never give up hope that Molly’s killer will be found.

“It’s just not OK for someone to steal my sister and leave her on the
side of the mountain,” Heather Bish said. “Hopefully they will find him
in my lifetime.”

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/bish_family_hopes_molly_annes.html

Rodney Stanger: Florida killer linked to death of Mass. teen girl

The Associated Press
1:38 p.m. EST, July 17, 2012


Rodney Stanger (Marion County Jail / Jul 17, 2012)

DOUGLAS, Massachusetts — Massachusetts authorities investigating the unsolved disappearance and death of a teenage lifeguard 12 years ago say they plan to examine items found in the Florida home of a convicted killer who once lived near the girl.

The items were discovered in the trailer near Ocala where Rodney Stanger once lived with his longtime girlfriend, Chrystal Morrison.

Stanger pleaded guilty in October 2010 to fatally stabbing Morrison in 2008 and is serving a 25-year prison sentence.

Morrison's sister, Bonnie Kiernan of Douglas, found the items when she went to Florida to collect her sister's belongings.

Kiernan told The Telegram & Gazette they include barrettes, hair bands, and other personal effects associated with girls and not with a woman her sister's age, who was 50 when she was killed.

"They're kids' things," she said. "They had no kids. There were no kids there."

The items also include a Massachusetts gun license with a photo of Stanger that bears a remarkable likeness to a sketch of a man seen hanging around Comins Pond in Warren in June 2000 just before 16-year-old Molly Bish disappeared.

Molly's remains were found three years later in the neighboring town of Palmer. The sketch was based on a description from Molly's mother, Magi Bish.

"We follow up on every lead," said Paul Jarvey, a spokesman for the district attorney. He did not offer any sort of timeline for when police would look at the items found by Kiernan.

Massachusetts State Police have traveled to Florida at least once and Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. has confirmed that Stanger is one of several men being investigated by his office.

Stanger lived in nearby Southbridge before moving to Florida shortly after Molly's disappearance and his birth certificate indicates he was born in Warren. Neighbors say he was familiar with the woods around the small central Massachusetts town.

The news was welcomed by Molly's family. "I'm hopeful the state police will follow up with this," said Heather Bish, Molly's sister. "We appreciate the people that come forward because it gives us a reason to push the investigation."

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-07-17/news/os-florida-murderer-rodney-stanger-20120717_1_comins-pond-magi-bish-florida-killer

Convicted Florida killer may be involved in unsolved murder of Massachusetts girl


Convicted killer Rodney Stanger: In jail for stabbing girlfriend Chrystal
Morrison in Fla., he may also have killed Mass. teen Molly Bish

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 4:36 PM


WARREN POLICE/Associated Press


The remains of Molly Ann Bish, 16, of Warren, Mass., were found in the woods of central Massachusetts in 2003.

A gun license found in a convicted murderer's wallet in Florida may hold
clues to the killing of a Massachusetts girl that has gone unsolved for
12 years.

Rodney Stanger is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend, Chrystal Morrison.

The Telegram & Gazette reported
that Morrison's sister, Bonnie Kiernan, recently went to the trailer in
Summerfield, Fla., where she was murdered to recover her belongings.

Inside the dilapidated trailer she found Stanger's wallet, which contained
cash and identification, as well as Stanger's Massachusetts firearms
license.

Kiernan, a Massachusetts resident, thought the photo on
the license resembled a forensic sketch of a man seen in June 2000 at
Comins Pond in Warren, Mass., the day before 16-year-old lifeguard Molly
Bish disappeared.

"He looks just like the sketch," Kiernan insisted. "It's him. I have no doubt it's him."


CHARLES KRUPA/Associated Press


This sketch, made available by the Bish family, shows the alledged abductor of Warren, Mass., lifeguard Molly Bish.

Bish's remains were found in 2003. No one has been arrested for her murder.

Kiernan also found "kids' things" such as barrettes and hair scrunchies that
her sister would not have worn. "They had no kids; there were no kids
there," she said.

Stanger had previously been identified as a
person of interest in Molly's death. Kieran told police that before her
sister was killed, she had hinted that he had committed murders in
Massachusetts. Criminal profiler John Kelly told the Telegram &
Gazette that Stanger shows "risk factors" for being a serial killer and
may have kept the children's affects as "trophies."

Kiernan claimed she also found a video in the trailer that appeared to show a man breaking a blond girl's neck.

Investigators in Massachusetts are examining the evidence recovered from the trailer.

"We follow up on every lead," Worcester County District Attorney's Office
spokesman Paul Jarvey said. "We will look at this, but I don't know what
the timeline is."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/convicted-florida-killer-involved-unsolved-murder-massachusetts-girl-article-1.1116366#ixzz20y9Bq8XW[/quote]

What I don't understand is why the victim's sister went to the trailer where she was murdered and found evidence. Why didn't LE find it previously. Maybe the article is incorrect, but if it's not, no wonder why murderers get away without getting caught. Evidence in plain sight and it's overlooked!

I hope they are able to prove this guy was Molly's murderer so justice can be served and the family can have closure.

babyjustice wrote:What I don't understand is why the victim's sister went to the trailer where she was murdered and found evidence. Why didn't LE find it previously. Maybe the article is incorrect, but if it's not, no wonder why murderers get away without getting caught. Evidence in plain sight and it's overlooked!

I hope they are able to prove this guy was Molly's murderer so justice can be served and the family can have closure.

Not just Molly but little Holly Piirainen as well. Hopefully both families will get justice. God will at least
judge those who escape our justice. RIP little angels.
William

babyjustice wrote:What I don't understand is why the victim's sister went to the trailer where she was murdered and found evidence. Why didn't LE find it previously. Maybe the article is incorrect, but if it's not, no wonder why murderers get away without getting caught. Evidence in plain sight and it's overlooked!

I hope they are able to prove this guy was Molly's murderer so justice can be served and the family can have closure.

Seems to me if LE had done their job properly it would have ended up saving a girl's life.

UPDATE: Massachusetts police seize possible evidence in Molly Bish murder case

Published July 18, 2012
FoxNews.com

Massachusetts State Police have seized items from the Florida home of a "person of interest" in the 2000 murder of 16-year-old Molly Bish, who disappeared from a Massachusetts pond where she worked as a lifeguard.

Fox affiliate WFXT-TV reported Wednesday that investigators are reviewing possible evidence taken from the Summerfield, Fla., trailer home of 64-year-old Rodney Stanger, now imprisoned for another murder. The items include a film showing a blonde girl stripping then getting her neck snapped, according to MassLive.com, and a photo of Stanger that bears a striking resemblance to sketches of a suspicious man seen hanging around the Warren, Mass., pond where Bish worked.

"He looks just like the sketch. It's him. I have no doubt it's him." - Bonnie Kiernan, murder victim's sister

Stanger, who lived in nearby Southbridge at the time of Bish's disappearance, is serving a 25-year prison term in Florida for the 2008 stabbing death of his live-in girlfriend, Chrystal Morrison.

Morrison's sister, Bonnie Kiernan, recently traveled to the Florida trailer home where the couple lived to retrieve items belonging to Morrison, WFXT reported. While there, Kiernan found a wallet belonging to Stanger that was hidden inside a kitchen cabinet, according to the station. In it was a Massachusetts Firearms Identification Card, with a photo of Stanger that looks eerily similar to police sketches of a mystery man seen near Comins Pond the day before Bish vanished. The F.I.D. card was renewed just two months before Bish's disappearance.

"He looks just like the sketch," Kiernan told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "It's him. I have no doubt it's him."

Kiernan also found girls' hair accessories, keys to a previously unknown safety deposit box and Stanger's birth certificate, which listed Warren, Mass., Bish's hometown, as his birthplace.

After the largest search for a missing person in Massachusetts history, Bish's remains were discovered in 2003 about five miles from her family's home. The case was ruled a homicide but no cause of death could be determined.

Stanger was already a person of interest in the Bish case, partly because of a tip from Kiernan. After Morrison's death in 2008, Kiernan told cops about a cryptic phone call from her sister, in which the doomed woman implied Stanger may have been involved in murders in Massachusetts, according to the Worcester newspaper. Morrison alluded to Bish and another girl, Holly Piirainen, who disappeared in 1993 in Sturbridge, a town adjacent to Southbridge. No one has ever been charged in the death of Piirainen, whose body was found two months after she disappeared by hunters in nearby Brimfield.

The Worcester district attorney is reportedly conducting DNA testing on the items from Stanger's home as well as possible evidence from Comins Pond, like discarded cigarettes.

"We hope to get a break there," Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr. told WBZ-TV last month. "As we’ve said before, time can be your enemy right away, but as years pass, time becomes your friend. There is a variety of emotions involved with this as opposed to other homicides. This one is unique, unique for so many reasons."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/18/authorities-seize-items-from-home-person-interest-in-molly-bish-murder-case/#ixzz21531wAps

Only on FOX: Mass. State Police head to Fla. for clues to Molly Bish murder

Posted: Jul 31, 2012 9:34 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 01, 2012 6:51 AM CDT

VIDEO REPORT AT LINK

SUMMERFIELD, Fla. (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - The investigation into the murder of Molly Bish has brought Massachusetts State Police detectives to Florida.

Investigators are searching the trailer where potential prime suspect Rodney Stanger lived, and they are looking to see if they can find anything that would link Stanger to Bish's murder.

The trailer itself sits dilapidated in a lot of overgrown trees and brush, but Massachusetts State Police detectives found it important enough to travel more than 1,000 miles. They hope to find clues that might help solve the June 2000 murder of Bish.

>>interview with private investigator Tom Shamshak

A state trooper investigating the 1993 murder of Holly Piirainen in Sturbridge, Mass., joined the crew in Florida.

"I don't know what changed for them. I am not privy to their information. But they had a lead or something happen in Massachusetts, they were able to come here. They asked me to prepare a search warrant for a safe deposit box in Dunellon, and a search warrant for this house," Det. Rhonda Stroup of Marion County told FOX 25's Bob Ward.

Stanger, a former Southbridge resident, abruptly moved to the trailer in Summerfield, Fla., in the weeks after Bish was abducted from Comins Pond in Warren, Mass.

Stanger strongly resembles the sketch of a man in the Bish case.

In Florida, Jim Kaufman, Stanger's neighbor, remembers having to call the cops on the suspect.

"I called 'em because I heard a shotgun go off ... boom, boom, boom. High-powered, eight times. I said 'there's trouble, you better get here,'" Kaufman said.

Stanger himself is serving a 25-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, Chrystal Morrison, inside the trailer in Florida.

In June, Morrison's sister retrieved items from the trailer, including Stanger's wallet and keys to a secret safe deposit box.

The keys found in Stanger's trailer go to a safe deposit box at a Bank of America branch in Dunellon, Fla.

Bank officials told FOX 25 that Massachusetts State Police detectives, acting on a search warrant, went to the branch and opened Stanger's safe deposit box on Monday. However, the contents of the box are unknown.

Back at the trailer in Summerfield, Massachusetts State Police removed evidence, but their work is not done. They intend to re-interview Stanger in prison.

The investigation into the murder of Molly Bish is now 12 years old. The hope is that after all these years, Stanger's home might give up the clue to bring the Bish family justice.

Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/19163329/2012/07/31/only-on-fox-mass-state-police-head-to-fla-for-clues-to-molly-bish-murder#ixzz22JDe2Uem

Law named after Molly Bish would simplify license plates, help catch criminals

By DAVID RAINVILLE, Gazette Contributing Writer
Friday, August 17, 2012

Legislators hope a proposed state law will make it easier to catch criminals.

The law would add symbols - possibly a diamond, star, heart or triangle - to the numbers and letters on vehicle license plates, in an effort to make them easier to remember.

The bill's advocates hope to have it finalized and on Gov. Deval Patrick's desk next week.

"I've had many occasions where I've wanted to jot down someone's plate number, but it's difficult to even think of when you're driving," said state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst.

Though he was referring to encounters with erratic drivers, supporters of the new law also had more serious matters in mind.

The legislation was nicknamed "Molly's Bill," in honor of Molly Bish, a teenager abducted in 2000 and later murdered # her killer is still at large. Its advocates hope that making license plates easier to remember will help police find kidnappers and other criminals before it's too late.

The new plates would be made up of one symbol and up to four alphanumeric characters.

But before you see stars, hearts, hashmarks or other symbols on license plates, the state has to do its homework.

"We want the Registry of Motor Vehicles and public safety officials involved in all decisions related to the concept of this law," said Rosenberg. If the bill is signed by the governor, the state will put together a task force to find out what symbols work, how to phase them in, what it will cost, and other factors.

The task force will have until Dec. 31, 2013 to file its findings, so plate numbers like R4#9B are still a ways off.

Low-number plates, as well as vanity plates, will be unaffected, as they have been deemed more easily recognizable than six-character alphanumeric plates.

The proposal is the brainchild of Gary Richard, a Bay State businessman and inventor. "I set about trying to analyze the dynamics of an abduction," he said. "The common denominator is a private vehicle, and how do you identify a vehicle? The license plate."

Unfortunately, young children and anyone with limited literacy often cannot recognize some letters and numbers, especially if they go by in a flash. So Richard designed the "EZ-ID" license plate, and began lobbying to have it adopted by the state.

EZ-ID license plates would add a diamond, star, heart or triangle to the existing set of characters. Registries would then need no more than four characters to allow for 107 million possible combinations, or three times what current plates allow.

In addition, using fewer characters also allows using a larger font, making plates easier to read.

"If such license plates are indeed easier to memorize or recognize, this could help, for example, a victim relay a license plate to law enforcement after an incident," said Cynthia Lum, a professor of criminology and director of George Mason University's Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, in published reports about the proposal. "Memorizing a plate is difficult in a stressful situation."

No one's empirically tested the effectiveness of the new plates, but the math shows that fewer numbers on a license plate makes even a partially remembered registration more valuable.

According to Richard, just the style and color of the car with a symbol alone would narrow it down to one of 360 cars, and more information would further focus the search.

"If you said it was a blue SUV and 'Diamond 5,' it's one of about 12 cars," he said.

The ability to quickly narrow a list of suspected vehicles would help law enforcement track down the owner of a vehicle. Although the owner of the vehicle may have had nothing whatsoever to do with the crime, it is still an important lead.

"By connecting with the owner, the police can determine who had the vehicle at a given time, or whether the car or license plate had been stolen," Lum said.

There are practical problems. Because there's no easy way to input a star or diamond on a standard computer keyboard, EZ-ID uses a small two-digit code to indicate its symbol and where it's located in the character stream. For instance, a diamond in the second position would be entered as "D2." Richard said state officials estimate it would cost $30,000 to upgrade the tooling to manufacture the new plates.

http://www.gazettenet.com/2012/08/17/law-would-simplify-license-plates

Physical, testimonial evidence vital to solving Molly Bish's murder

Posted: Aug 28, 2012 10:22 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 28, 2012 10:22 PM CDT

FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – The murder of Molly Bish is still unsolved; however, police continue to hunt for her killer and are pouring over stacks of new evidence in hopes of bringing a potential suspect to justice.

FOX 25's Bob Ward, who has been covering the story from the beginning, reported that Rodney Stanger emerged as a potential prime suspect in the investigation.

Massachusetts State Police went to Summerfield, Fla. in order to re-interview Stanger and search his trailer. The trip produced a lot of new evidence that they are still going through and trying to piece together.

Police spent hours combing through his belongings, as well as other items that did not appear to belong to him. Luckily, the search paid off and police recovered some important pieces of physical evidence.

Stanger is currently incarcerated for the 2008 fatal stabbing death of his girlfriend Chrystal Morrison. He pleaded guilty to her murder and is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.

All of the evidence collected from the trailer has been sent out for DNA testing.

Massachusetts State Police, armed with search warrants, opened a secret safe deposit box that Stanger kept in Dunellon, Fla. The box contained $10,000 cash; however, it is unclear why Stanger kept that much cash in a safe deposit box about an hour away from where he was living.

Stanger also had thousands of dollars that he kept in bank accounts from the sale of his Massachusetts home.

Stanger lived in Southbridge at the time Bish disappeared from Comins Pond in nearby Warren.

Bish's mother told police that she saw a mystery man at Comins Pond the day before her daughter was abducted. She gave a description to police who produced a sketch that bore striking resemblance to a photo that was snapped of Stanger and used on his firearm identification card.

The photo of Stanger was taken days before Bish's disappearance.

Stanger fished in Comins Pond and also hunted in the woods where Bish's remains were found.

In the months after Bish's murder, Stanger suddenly moved to Florida.

A friend who helped Stanger move told FOX 25 that Stanger told him that he had to get out of Massachusetts and that he was going to put his house up for sale.

However, when Bish was murdered, Stanger was not under investigation, and the cops were not after him. So there was no reason for him to move to Florida so quickly.

Hopefully, the physical evidence combined with testimonial evidence will be enough to solve the murder of Molly Bish.

Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/19402404/physical-testimonial-evidence-vital-to-solving-murder-of-molly-bish#ixzz24wdLeCsO