Remains found in small Mass. town identified as missing woman since 1989

Remains found in Warwick, Massachusetts, nearly 35 years ago have been identified through genetic testing, the Northwestern District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

On June 24, 1989, Constance Holminski Bassignani's remains were found by a driver on Route 78 in Warwick, District Attorney David Sullivan said, a mile and half south of the New Hampshire border.

"Upon examining the remains, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the victim had been dismembered," Sullivan.

Bassignani was born in 1924 in Hawaii, First District Attorney Steven Gagne said, and at the time of her death, he said she was living with her second husband, William Bassignani, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

The couple had previously lived in the Franklin, Massachusetts, area, according to Gagne.

After speaking with her grandchildren, investigators learned that Bassignan was last seen or heard alive on Memorial Day weekend in 1989, Gagne said.

"Her husband William told her family that Constance had decided to move back to Hawaii and that they would not be seeing or hearing from her again," said Gagne. "Investigators were unable to locate any shred of evidence that Constance, in fact, ever moved back to Hawaii."

The family reported not having any contact with Bassignani since that time, Gagne said.

"Other than her husband's cryptic and apparently untrue statement that she had moved to Hawaii, investigators, at this time, do not currently have sufficient evidence to officially name anyone as a suspect in Constance's murder," said Gagne.

Although her husband died in 1993, Gagne said William is a person of interest.

"Investigators have yet to determine what reason her killer would've had to dispose her remains in Warwick, which is about an hour and a half and approximately 80 miles from Woonsocket," he said.

After her remains were found in 1989, Bassignani went unidentified until 2024, the district attorney's office said.

Investigators still don't know where she was murdered but say her remains were deposited in Warwick, a town of about 800 residents.

Since a suspect hasn't been identified, the case remains under investigation.

Investigators worked with Othram, a private forensic lab based in Houston, Texas, that helped identify the remains of Patricia Tucker — known for years only as "Granby Girl."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the State Police Detective Unit at the Northwestern District Attorney's Office at 413-512-5361.