Family Makes New Appeal 23 Years After Girl's Unsolved Killing

The family of a 10-year-old Massachusetts girl issued a new appeal Friday for information about her unsolved killing 23 years ago.

Holly Piirainen disappeared Aug. 5, 1993, from a country road near her grandparents' summer cottage in Sturbridge. She and her little brother had gone off to see a litter of puppies down the road, but only the boy returned.

The girl's remains were found more than two months later and about 5 miles away by hunters in a wooded area of Brimfield. The death was ruled a homicide.

Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said Holly's family is again asking anyone who has any possible information about her disappearance or subsequent killing to contact his office.

"The Piirainen family has been coping with this tragedy for 23 years," Gulluni said in a statement. "Along with Holly's family, members of my office and the Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the case have never stopped investigating to try to bring justice to Holly and her family."

In 2012, authorities said forensic tests linked evidence found near Holly's body to a Springfield man who died in 2003, but said that man was not considered a suspect. A $15,000 reward was issued at the time for information leading to the capture and conviction of the girl's killer or killers.

Investigators have probed but found no links between Holly's killing and the still-unsolved death of Molly Bish, a 16-year-old girl who disappeared from her lifeguarding job in Warren in 2000. Molly's remains were found three years later in a wooded area of Palmer.

Palmer and Warren are in the same region of the state as Sturbridge and Brimfield.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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