By Matt Hersh
Staff Writer

Courtesy photos Above, Michele Iannacchino, 13, shown here on her birthday, was killed by a hit-and- run driver more than 20 years ago. Her case has recently been reopened by Salem police. Below, Michele Memorial Park was named for her.

The thing Catherine Weatherbee remembers most about her daughter, Michele Iannacchino is her laughter.

“It was just the funniest, most contagious thing,” she said. “She was a really good kid.”

Iannacchino, a 13-year-old Salem resident, was killed on Jan. 18, 1986, after being struck by a car while crossing Route 28 in Windham near what is now, the Park Place Lanes bowling alley.

The impact threw her 100 feet down the road and caused her to suffer massive internal injuries which killed her, according to Windham police.

The driver pulled on to the shoulder of the road and then sped off, Weatherbee said.

Iannacchino’s death has remained unsolved for more than 20 years. Now after Salem Police Captain William Ganley took special interest in the case, it is being reopened in hopes that someone will come forward with information.

Ganley, who was a new officer at the time of the accident, was visiting Michele Memorial Park, named after Iannacchino, when he decided to take another look at the case.

Since the incident occurred in Windham, it will be primarily investigated by Sgt. Wendy Foley of the Windham Police Department, who will be in contact with Salem police.

Foley, who has been looking in to the case since May, has interviewed old witnesses and gotten reacquainted with the incident. Currently she has no leads and is looking for new information.

“Someone out there knows something,” she said. “Someone’s out there living with it.”

Foley said the initial investigation consumed a massive number of hours and yielded a hefty case file. However, some of that information has been lost over the years.

After the incident, an anonymous tip line was set up, which received many calls, according to both Foley and Weatherbee.

None of this information has been found and Foley said she’s still looking for it.

Still, Weatherbee said more could have been done to turn up a suspect.

“It looks like there was a lot more that could have been done, but it didn’t get looked in to thoroughly,” she said. “I don’t know why that happened.”

Foley said the investigation was handled well, but since Windham was a smaller town with fewer resources at the time, more could probably have been done had the accident occurred recently.

After reviewing the existing evidence and witness reports, Foley said she still knows little about who hit Iannacchino.

Foley said there is conclusive evidence that the vehicle was a metallic blue passenger car with a male driver. Some witnesses reported a female passenger as well. Foley said she believes the driver was a local resident.

“We’re asking anyone who knows something to come forward,” she said. “We’d like to locate the driver so that the family can have some closure.”

Not a day goes by that Iannacchino doesn’t cross her family members’ minds, they said. The family left Salem not long after the accident, scattering throughout New England.

Weatherbee lives in Concord, her ex-husband, Mike Iannacchino, lives in Massachusetts, and Iannacchino’s sister, Tracy Beck, lives in Rhode Island. Though they are removed from where the accident happened, it has stayed with them.

“There isn’t a happy occasion in our lives that isn’t colored by asking what if she were here,” Weatherbee said.

Since Iannacchino’s birthday was Oct. 16, this time of year is especially hard for the family. They got together for the occasion to share memories of Iannacchino, Weatherbee said.

“We laughed and cried together,” she said.

Beck, who was 17 at the time of her sister’s death, said she has blocked out much of what happened during that time period, but she remembers her sister as always upbeat and positive.

Even when the two were fighting, Iannacchino would always end up making her laugh and they would get along again, Beck said.

Beck and Weatherbee said they aren’t sure if anyone will come forward but having the case reopened has forced them to deal with their feelings about Iannacchino.

“It’s helping my whole family to deal with a lot of things that we weren’t emotionally capable of dealing with then,” Beck said.

“We can talk about it and it’s letting us heal a little bit better, even if they don’t ultimately find the person.”

Still, Weatherbee said she’s hopeful that someone may come forward.

“Maybe they’ve changed as a person and can tell us what happened and why they ran,” she said.

Beck said she’s still angry about what happened and she can’t understand why someone would leave the scene of the accident.

“What type of person can hit a little girl, leave them to die and then go on with your life?” she asked.

Statistics on Deadlyroads.com, an advocate site for hit-and-run victims, state that four people every day will be involved in hit-and-run incidents. New Hampshire has relatively less incidents than other states, Foley said.

Even if a suspect is apprehended, the New Hampshire statute of limitations may restrict prosecution, Foley said. In the state, a felony such as a hit and run can only be prosecuted for six years after the incident.

“There are only a few states where there is no statute of limitations on felony hit and run,” David Long, a spokesperson from Deadlyroads.com said in an e-mail. “It’s one of those little dirty ‘secrets’ no one wants to talk about because it might just encourage more people to run.”

However, if the suspect left the state for a significant period of time or moved elsewhere, Foley said prosecution may still be possible.

Foley said any leads will be fully investigated and a press conference regarding the case is being scheduled for early November.