EAST MILLINOCKET - A renowned pathologist will lend his expertise to efforts to solve the murder of a 16-year-old girl nearly three decades ago in this northern Maine papermaking town, the victim's mother says.

Dr. Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police, has agreed to exhume the body of Joyce McLain and perform a second autopsy, Pamela McLain said.

She quoted Baden as saying he planned to bring along some high-profile help: Dr. Henry Lee, the retired director of the Connecticut State Forensics Science Laboratory.

"It was more than I could have hoped for," McLain said, noting that Baden and Lee were two of the forensic experts she had hoped to convince to take another look at the case. "I never dreamed they would both do it."

Joyce McLain, a sophomore at Schenck High School, was killed around the night of Aug. 8, 1980, and her body was found two days later in a clearing near the school's soccer fields. Her head and neck had been struck repeatedly with a blunt object.

Several suspects have been investigated, but no arrests have been made and the case remains open.