Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Postmortem.
Chapter 2: What happened to Molly Bish on June 27, 2000?
I'm your host, Anne-Marie Green, and today we're discussing the case of Molly Bish, a 16-year-old lifeguard who disappeared from a local pond in Warren, Massachusetts, on June 27, 2000. Her remains were found three years later, but the big question still lingers today, which is who killed Molly Bish? Her sister, Heather, has taken to TikTok pleading for leads.
So joining me now to talk about this case is 48 Hours correspondent, Erin Moriarty.
Thanks for joining us again, Erin. Oh, I love being here, but a little warning. This is a tough story to talk about, an important story, but it's tough.
Chapter 3: Why is there renewed interest in Molly's case after 25 years?
It is.
And before we get into it, if you have not listened to this episode yet, head on over to your podcast feed. The full audio version of this episode of 48 Hours is here. It's in your podcast feed right beneath this one. Go listen and then come on over for this conversation.
And yes, Erin, this is a tough one because unlike a lot of the cases that we do for 48 Hours, you know, there isn't a resolution yet. We don't know who's responsible for her murder.
Chapter 4: What crucial details did Maggie notice about a suspicious man?
48 Hours actually covered this case back in 2003. Why revisit it now?
Well, one thing, 48 Hours, we stick with stories for a long time until they are resolved. But most important is there's an unidentified killer. And what happened to Molly, nobody wants to happen to any other child. And so it is important to try to get answers in this case. Plus, there have been updates, important updates, since we first aired this story. Number one, there's a person of interest.
There had never been a person of interest named. And there's also a new detective who was assigned the case, who is going to give new eyes.
Chapter 5: How did the police initially respond to Molly's disappearance?
to the evidence. And it's the 25th anniversary. And I think most police officers will tell you and investigators will tell you that when you go back on a story, when there's an anniversary, there's always a chance that you'll get new tips. And this story is worth pursuing.
Yeah. And, you know, Aaron, one of the things that we have noticed with some cases that have gone unsolved for even decades, you know, things change. People get older. They may decide to come forward. So you never know who may remember something that they had buried that may help with this case once they hear about the hour.
So just to remind people, on the morning of June 27th, 2000, Molly's mom, Maggie, dropped her off at Cummins Pond after 9.50 a.m., where Molly was working as a lifeguard. Shortly after that, beachgoers arrived, but Molly was not there. Police were eventually called to the scene, but Maggie wasn't notified until Molly had been missing for three hours.
First question, why did they wait so long to tell her family that she was missing?
Chapter 6: What significant evidence was found three years later?
I think they didn't want to overly alarm her family. They thought, hey, maybe she just walked off with friends and took too long. Think back to 2000, of course. This was 25 years ago. Warren is a small town. I think a lot of people kid themselves, but they think these things don't happen in a small town. I think that, sadly, they didn't have a plan in place.
I don't think it occurred to anyone this would happen. In fact, with hindsight, you look back, she actually had a police radio that she went to pick up, and she's supposed to call in and check in, and I don't think anybody noticed that she didn't or didn't.
It's possible she never got a chance to because we do know that whatever happened to her happened to her within minutes, a very short period of time.
Chapter 7: Who is the forensic anthropologist involved in the case?
I've got to tell you, one of the things that sort of struck me, being the mom of a semi-newly-minted teenager, is that I was surprised she was working at the pond alone.
I have to agree with you, Anne-Marie. That was concerning. I was a lifeguard many years before that, and I was never alone. Not because anyone feared I was going to get kidnapped, but because if I had to go in—and I did have to do that once, go in for a child— Someone else has to be there to call the alarm, to help me bring the child in if the child needs CPR, anything like that.
So it really surprised me that she would be alone there.
Right. So here's the thing, though. Once they determine that she's missing, I mean, they really do spring into action. There's an extensive search that's launched.
Chapter 8: What updates have emerged regarding a person of interest?
Hundreds of tips start flooding in after police release a sketch. It is a description that Maggie gives them of a man that she remembers seeing in the parking lot. He has a white car with him and he's at Cummings Pond the day before Molly disappeared. What about this man really stuck out to Maggie?
Well, according to Maggie, here's this man sitting in this white car. Usually families go there to go swimming, and he's just sitting there smoking a cigarette with his left hand. Clearly, it was a little bit of mother's instinct and just like concern, why is he there? She tried to put it out of her head, but it just kept bugging her.
So that night, she was concerned enough that she raised it with Molly. And Molly, just as 16-year-olds might do, said, oh, mom, he's probably a fisherman. And she just kind of dismissed it. But it clearly bugged Maggie. But then the next day when Maggie did drop Molly off, there was nobody sitting there.
So I think it was after her daughter disappeared that she realized that really may have been important.
So after three years, there was a breakthrough in the case. Police are notified that there's a blue bathing suit that was found about five miles from Cummins Pond. It resembles the one that Molly was wearing on the day she disappeared. Yes. You interviewed a local reporter, Kathy Curran, who described what that moment was like for Maggie and John Bish.
And it was, you know, obviously very emotional for them as parents, that kind of realization that if you're finding the bathing suit and you're not finding her, this is not a good sign. But what I was surprised about was how emotional Kathy was.
They trusted Kathy. That's the benefit of reporters staying on a story from the beginning and staying on it. They trusted her and they needed to have that information. And let's be honest, as we also know,
Police sometimes and investigators don't share everything with the family, and the family wanted to know, and they pushed Kathy to tell them, and I think she struggled with it, and that's why she's tearful, but they wanted to know.
Yeah, and I think, you know, when you're a journalist and you know that maybe you have an awareness of news that will be heartbreaking to the family, It's really difficult to determine what the right thing to do is in that moment, but it certainly seems like, you know, Maggie and her husband were appreciative to get that opportunity to know, you know, what police already knew.
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