New Lead Developed in Piirainen Case

A new development will be announced Tuesday in the unsolved murder of Grafton resident Holly Piirainen, State Police have announced.

The 10-year-old was last seen alive Aug. 5, 1993 in Sturbridge. Her remains were found Oct. 23, 1993 in Brimfield.

State Police investigators and Hampden County (Mass.) District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni will host a press conference Tuesday morning to announce an “evidentiary development’’ in the investigation.

They will be appealing to the public for assistance.

In November, it was reported that a man in jail for raping the daughter of a woman he was dating as many as 100 times might be connected to the case.

It is not known whether the man has any connection to the news to be announced Tuesday.

Holly remains dearly missed and deeply loved by her family, her grandmother Maureen Lemieux has said. “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.