Body of Brittanee Drexel Found 13 Years After Her Disappearance, Suspect Charged

Authorities in Georgetown County, South Carolina have recovered the remains of missing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel, 13 years after she went missing while on a Myrtle Beach spring break trip.

The last place Drexel was on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach on April 25, 2009, the day she disappeared. She was reportedly going to meet friends who were staying at a different hotel.

Her mother, Dawn Drexel, told CNN that she was forbidden to go to Myrtle Beach, but went anyway. Her mother joined the search to look for her once she was contacted by South Carolina authorities.

Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver said in a press conference Monday that Drexel’s body was found May 11, and that police have charged 62-year-old Raymond Moody with her murder.

Dawn Drexel said at the press conference that this was “truly a mother’s worst nightmare” and noted how she was mourning her daughter and now closer to closure and peace she has been looking for.

Moody was arrested May 4 on a charge of obstruction of justice. He was listed as a person of interest in the case in 2012.

The investigation led authorities to a site where they believed Moody buried her body the day after she went missing. All of his alleged crimes took place the day Drexel disappeared.

Raymon Moody is charged with murder, obstructing justice, kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.