1980 - Newport, Rhode Island.

On March 21, 1980, as wind and rain swept through Middletown, Rhode Island, 19-year-old Diane Drake got ready for work. But she never made it there.

The next morning, her nude body washed up on Easton’s Beach. Witnesses later reported seeing Diane the night she disappeared, walking—and even hitchhiking—along the three-mile route to work despite the harsh weather. But Diane had always warned her younger sister, Jean, never to hitchhike. Would she have ignored her own advice?

Forty-five years later, Jean is still searching for answers. And to this day, she believes one thing: Diane Drake knew her killer.

Episode sources and photos: https://www.murdershetold.com/episodes/diane-drake-1

If you have any information on the murder of Diane Drake, please contact the Rhode Island Cold Case Unit tip line at (401) 468-2233. You can also call the anonymous tip line at the Newport Police Dept at (401) 846-2606.

Donate to the Diane Drake Memorial Scholarship Fund at Roger Williams University. Choose ‘Make a Gift to RWU’, select Other, and write in Diane Drake Memorial Scholarship: https://www.rwu.edu/giving/ways-to-give

If you contribute to Diane's scholarship, please email me at [email protected] for a gift.

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