Her body was also found in a wooded area in Hampden County on June 9, 2003, 5 mi (8.0 km) from her family home.

[5] On January 3, 2012, Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni announced that forensic evidence found near Piirainen's body had been linked to Pouliot, a suspect who died in 2003.

[4] In October 2020, Boston news station WCVB-TV reported that according to their sources, the body of a 22-year-old man was exhumed at a cemetery in Hampden County, which might be connected to the investigation into the disappearance and murder of Piirainen.

[7] Holly's cousin Leah Jolin said investigators were searching for a letter placed in the subject's coffin that could advance the case.

[8] A website created by a team of now-retired police investigators who worked on the case for years said an unidentified man in a brown pickup truck likely abducted and murdered the 10-year-old Grafton girl.

[9] On their website, they claim the man was driving down a neighboring street approximately 200 yards (180 m) from where Holly was standing and then slowed to a crawl to leer at two teenage girl cousins checking their mailbox.

The website said the man in the pickup truck likely turned around at the end of South Shore Drive, where Piirainen was standing.

The retired investigators believe that, given the area's rural nature and low crime rate, the man in the pickup truck abducted and murdered Holly.

Richard Price, an investigative reporter interviewed by The Worcester Telegram, discovered that the man in the pickup truck has a lengthy criminal history, though none involving a child.

[10] The reporter said he interviewed the subject’s ex-wife, claiming that her former husband had a sex addiction and often behaved compulsively, as also revealed on a podcast.