SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- The family of Holly Piirainen, a 10-year-old girl murdered in 1993, said they are hopeful that new DNA technology used to solve another decades-old killing will one day bring answers in her case.

Holly disappeared on August 5, 1993, after leaving her grandparents’ Sturbridge home to see a neighbor’s litter of puppies. Her father found one of her sneakers along South Shore Road. More than two months later, hunters found her remains in a wooded area off Five Bridge Road in Brimfield. No one has ever been charged with her murder.

The Hampden District Attorney’s Office announced this week that investigators used new DNA technology to identify the man responsible for killing Celestina Perez, a 24-year-old Springfield mother, in 1995. The suspect died in 2013. Evidence collected and preserved at the scene three decades ago was tested using technology that did not exist at the time of the crime, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said. The case is now officially closed.

Holly’s paternal aunt said she felt hope when she first heard the news. In a statement to Western Mass News, she said: “We are very happy for the family of Celestina Perez now that they are getting closure and we are confident that this day will come for Holly because of the wonderful team at the Hampden District Attorney’s Office working to solve her case.”

On Wednesday, Springfield Police Superintendent Larry Akers addressed families still waiting for answers. “To the families still waiting for answers, know this: You have not been forgotten,” he said. “We will continue to follow the evidence, embrace advances in technology, and pursue justice with the same determination no matter how many years have passed because every victim matters, every family matters, and every community matters.”

The Hampden District Attorney’s Office has also been using forensic investigative genetic genealogy to generate new leads in Holly’s case. Investigators said evidence from the original crime scene has been preserved and reexamined as science has evolved. Gulluni said his office is actively working dozens of unresolved cases.

Anyone with information about Holly Piirainen’s disappearance or murder is urged to contact investigators.

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