Holly's Family: New Lead 'Promising'

Holly Piirainen’s family holds out hope that a possible new lead in her case could solve the girl’s 1993 murder.

“It sounds promising, but so have a lot of leads,’’ said Maureen Lemieux, Holly’s grandmother.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette is reporting that private investigator and former Vermont state trooper Daniel Malley believes there could be a link between Gerald B. Battistoni and the Holly Piirainen case.

Battistoni is now in prison for raping the daughter of a woman he was dating as many as 100 times, the paper reports. The mother of his rape victim, a real estate agent, had posted a “for rent’’ sign outside the Sturbridge home where Piiranen’s grandmother lived, the paper reports.

Piirainen, who lived with her family in Grafton, was 10 when she disappeared in August 1993 while visiting Lemieux at her home in Sturbridge. She was last seen going to a neighbor’s home to see the neighbor’s puppies.

Her remains were found in Brimfield woods in October 1993.

Lemieux said the family was aware of Malley’s investigation. “Bringing it up raises up your hopes’’ that an arrest and conviction will be made, she said.

“It would be nice if he would give us a confession,’’ she said.

She hopes that renewed interest in the case could spark someone’s memory. The family has offered a $30,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Piirainen’s killer.

“Maybe somebody will come forward,’’ she said.

Holly remains dearly missed and deeply loved by her family. “She was a great kid, a smart little girl’’ who served as a “little mother’’ to her younger brothers.

“She was a good swimmer, a good athlete,’’ she said. She wanted to become a marine biologist and save the whales and dolphins, her grandmother remembered.