Massachusetts authorities are hoping that the brutal murder of 16-year-old lifeguard Molly Bish could finally be solved.
Molly disappeared in 2000 while working as a lifeguard at Commins Pond in Warren and her remains were found three years later in a wooded area of Palmer.
Investigators believe she was abducted and murdered and unidentified evidence in the case is being sent to a private Texas lab for testing in the hope that it will finally nail down her killer.
Last year, authorities searched
the Florida trailer of Rodney Stanger, a convicted killer serving
25-years for the murder of his girlfriend and are looking for any clues
that might implicate Stanger in the Bish case.
Stanger, 64, was living in Southbridge, Massachusetts at the time of Bish's disappearance but suddenly moved to Summerfield, Florida, three months after Bish went missing.
In 2008, Stanger stabbed his girlfriend, Chrystal Morrison to death and was convicted of her murder.
However, in June 2012, Morrison's sister, Bonney Kiernan, traveled to Stanger's trailer and while inside discovered evidence that could possibly be linked to the Bish disappearance according to Fox News.
The items, which were handed
over to the police, reportedly include a video of a blond girl stripping
and then having her neck snapped.
Also, according to local media reports, police recovered a photograph in a firearms ID of Stanger that bears a striking resemblance to sketches of a man seen hanging around Cummins Pond in 2000.
Timothy J. Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early, confirmed on Sunday that evidence was being transferred to Orchid Cellmark Labs in Dallas for DNA testing.
However, he declined to identify the items but did say that the evidence sent has been tested in the past.
In addition to the items to found at Stanger's trailer, police are also reportedly testing cigarette butts and duct tape according to Heather Bish, Molly's sister.
Stanger had originally been a person of interest in the disappearance of Bish in 2000, but insufficient evidence was recovered to charge him.
Tom Shamshak, who is the private investigator for the Bish family, said state police were prompted to go down to Florida after Bonnie Kiernan, Morrison's sister, went to retrieve her sister's belongings from the trailer where Morrison and Stanger lived in June.
While she was in the home, Kiernan said she also found Stanger's wallet in a cabinet.
The wallet contained $581, Stanger's driver's license, birth certificate, the keys to a safety deposit box, and his Massachusetts Firearms Identification Card (FID) that had been renewed two months prior to Bish's disappearance.
'The Massachusetts Firearms Identification Card was the article of information that was really quite revealing,' said Shamshak to ABC News in August.
Kiernan said the photograph of Stanger, whom she had never met, looked exactly like the rendering of a suspicious man Molly's mother, Magi Bish, had seen by the pond where her daughter worked.
'When I first saw the FID, I said, 'Oh my God, this guy could have sat there and posed for that sketch,' said Kiernan.
Molly's sister Heather said in
August that she hopes that the truth will come out as a result of
investigators' efforts in Florida.
'[Police] initially said in the investigation that we were missing pieces of the puzzle, but I think we're in reach of those pieces,' she said to ABC News.
'If the person who did this could have a change of heart and tell us what happened, it would give us a certain amount of peace and closure, just as far as justice is concerned,' said Heather Bish.
Molly disappeared in 2000 while working as a lifeguard at Commins Pond in Warren and her remains were found three years later in a wooded area of Palmer.
Investigators believe she was abducted and murdered and unidentified evidence in the case is being sent to a private Texas lab for testing in the hope that it will finally nail down her killer.
Molly Ann Bish, 16, was a lifeguard at a small
Massachusetts pond in 2000 - and went missing that year - only for her
body to be found three years later
Stanger, 64, was living in Southbridge, Massachusetts at the time of Bish's disappearance but suddenly moved to Summerfield, Florida, three months after Bish went missing.
In 2008, Stanger stabbed his girlfriend, Chrystal Morrison to death and was convicted of her murder.
However, in June 2012, Morrison's sister, Bonney Kiernan, traveled to Stanger's trailer and while inside discovered evidence that could possibly be linked to the Bish disappearance according to Fox News.
Rodney Stanger, is serving a 25-year sentence in
a Florida prison in the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend in 2008 - In
2012 he was implicated in the 2000 disappearance and murder of Molly
Bish
Also, according to local media reports, police recovered a photograph in a firearms ID of Stanger that bears a striking resemblance to sketches of a man seen hanging around Cummins Pond in 2000.
Timothy J. Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early, confirmed on Sunday that evidence was being transferred to Orchid Cellmark Labs in Dallas for DNA testing.
However, he declined to identify the items but did say that the evidence sent has been tested in the past.
In addition to the items to found at Stanger's trailer, police are also reportedly testing cigarette butts and duct tape according to Heather Bish, Molly's sister.
Stanger had originally been a person of interest in the disappearance of Bish in 2000, but insufficient evidence was recovered to charge him.
Tom Shamshak, who is the private investigator for the Bish family, said state police were prompted to go down to Florida after Bonnie Kiernan, Morrison's sister, went to retrieve her sister's belongings from the trailer where Morrison and Stanger lived in June.
A lifeguard's chair and a bench are seen at
Comins Pond in Warren - Lifeguard Molly Bish, then 16, vanished June 27,
2000, as she was preparing for her morning lifeguard duty at Comins
Pond
The wallet contained $581, Stanger's driver's license, birth certificate, the keys to a safety deposit box, and his Massachusetts Firearms Identification Card (FID) that had been renewed two months prior to Bish's disappearance.
'The Massachusetts Firearms Identification Card was the article of information that was really quite revealing,' said Shamshak to ABC News in August.
Kiernan said the photograph of Stanger, whom she had never met, looked exactly like the rendering of a suspicious man Molly's mother, Magi Bish, had seen by the pond where her daughter worked.
'When I first saw the FID, I said, 'Oh my God, this guy could have sat there and posed for that sketch,' said Kiernan.
Massachusetts State Police Troopers and
Environmental Police officers search in tight formation Monday, June 9,
2003, for evidence in the disappearance of Molly Bish
'[Police] initially said in the investigation that we were missing pieces of the puzzle, but I think we're in reach of those pieces,' she said to ABC News.
'If the person who did this could have a change of heart and tell us what happened, it would give us a certain amount of peace and closure, just as far as justice is concerned,' said Heather Bish.