Finding Molly Bish

News & Media

By April Yee, Globe Correspondent

A suspect charged with an attempted abduction in Brimfield resembles a sketch of a man seen near the area where teenager Molly Bish disappeared seven years ago, according to a spokesman for the Worcester district attorney's office.

Robert R. Burno Jr., 54, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with trying to abduct a young woman July 21. Investigators said other than the resemblance to the sketch, there is nothing connecting Burno to Bish, whose remains were found in 2003 in Palmer.

"Our interest in him is only that his mug shot and this artist sketch are very similar, so we're planning on talking to him," said Timothy J. Connolly, a spokesman for the Worcester district attorney's office.

Magdalen Bish said today that a mug shot of Burno resembles the man she saw June 26, 2000, at Comins Pond, the day before her daughter disappeared, but she is hesitant to make a connection.

"We don't know if he has anything to do with it," Bish said by phone. "We've had suspects presented to us before who have similarities. It's a very exhausting roller coaster."

Bish marked what would have been her daughter's 24th birthday last Thursday. "Seven years is a long time to wait. All this does is give us hope in some way that there's one less predator to harm kids," she said. "If one day this person is caught, we have a long road ahead of us."

Investigators urged people not to rush to judgment.

"I know there's a lot of people trying to make a connection," said Lieutenant Eric Anderson of the State Police. "But at this point, there's no connection."

Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 04:09 PM

Worcester Telegram & Gazette photographs

$500G bail for suspect resembling Bish sketch
By Jessica Fargen
Boston Herald Health & Medical Reporter

Friday, August 10, 2007 - Updated: 06:05 AM EST

A suspect who resembles a sketch of the mustached man who may have kidnapped and killed Warren teen Molly Bish is being held on high bail after allegedly chasing down a Brimfield female jogger in broad daylight.

Robert Burno Jr., 54, pleaded not guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex for allegedly forcing a 20-year-old woman into a guard rail on July 21.

Burno bears a striking resemblance to a sketch of a man seen at Comins Pond in Warren, where Bish was a lifeguard, the day before she vanished in 2000, said Worcester County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Tim Connolly.

“Certainly, we’d like to talk to him,” he said. “We look into every lead we get in the Bish case.”

Bish’s remains were found in 2003, but her killer hasn’t been found.

Burno was arrested Tuesday and ordered held on $500,000 cash bail or surety in Palmer District Court yesterday. He is also wanted for defaulting on a March breaking and entering trial in Springfield.

A Hampden County prosecutor said the woman finished a jog and was walking home with her dog when Burno passed by, turned around and drove the wrong way down the street, forcing her into a guard rail.

The woman, who frantically called her mother on a cell phone, told police that Burno’s car was so close he “could have reached out and grabbed her.”

Burno allegedly followed her as she ran to a neighbor’s house and then tailed the neighbor as she drove the woman home.

Magi Bish said she sees similarities between Burno and her daughter’s suspected killer, but noted there have been a lot of false leads in recent years.

She applauded the Brimfield woman for calling for help and warding off a would-be attacker.

“We’re so delighted this girl was able to get away,” Bish said. “I haven’t met this young lady, but if I did, I’d give her a hug.”