Two 15 year old girls are strangled to death On July 11, 1973, Diane Compagna, a 15-year-old White female, left her home in Merrimack, New Hampshire, with her friend, 15-year-old Anne Psaradelis. The girls told their parents they were having a sleepover at each other’s houses, a classic teenage ruse. Diane, who had long dark hair and was about five feet, four inches tall, was last seen wearing blue jeans, sandals, and a dark blue crop top, and she carried a red beach bag. The girls were actually headed out for a day trip.
When neither girl returned to their respective homes the next day, their parents began to worry. On July 12, Diane’s father, Marcel Compagna, went to the Merrimack police station to file a missing persons report. An investigation began, revealing that the girls had been at Hampton Beach. The last confirmed sighting of them was late that afternoon, when they were seen hitchhiking in the direction of Merrimack.
Initially, it was thought the girls might have run away, but as weeks turned into months with no contact, fears grew for their safety.
The search ended tragically on September 29, 1973. The bodies of both teenagers were discovered in a wooded area off New Boston Road in Candia, New Hampshire, not far from Route 101, a major road connecting the seacoast to Merrimack. Their remains were badly decomposed, making it difficult for medical examiners to determine an official cause of death. However, authorities have stated it is believed the girls were strangled, and one report suggested they may have also been stabbed.
The case became a lifelong mission for Merrimack Police Sergeant Joseph Horak, who took the initial report. In the first days of the search, he drove for hours with the girls' fathers, checking local hangouts, backroads, and shopping malls. Horak’s dedication to the case continued long after he retired from the force; he wrote three books on the murders and even named the person he was convinced was the killer. Despite his persistent efforts, which some family members found obsessive, no arrests were ever made in the double homicide.
The murders of Diane Compagna and Anne Psaradelis remain unsolved. In July 2011, the New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General noted that the case was not an active priority for the state's Cold Case Unit, which was established in 2009. The case remains open, awaiting new evidence or a substantive tip. Anyone with information is asked to contact the New Hampshire State Police Cold Case Unit at (603) 271-2663 or the Concord Regional Crimeline at (603) 226-3100. 
