Suspect Charged After Body Of Missing New York Teen Brittanee Drexel Is Discovered

In 2009, 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel went to celebrate spring break in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and she never came back to her Rochester, New York, home. Her mother, Dawn Drexel, had a bad feeling about the spring break trip and said she couldn’t go, but the teen went anyway. Within days of leaving for the vacation, the teenager vanished.

Brittanee was last seen on the evening of April 25, 2009, before 9 p.m.. The Washington Post reported that hotel security footage revealed her leaving a hotel where she was visiting friends. That hotel was only a mile and a half from where the teen was staying, but something happened that prevented her from ever returning to her hotel.

Drexel’s disappearance made national headlines at the time, and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies worked on the case over the 13 years since she went missing.

On Monday, May 16, 2022, Sheriff Carter Weaver of Georgetown County, South Carolina, announced in a press conference that Brittanee Drexel's body had been found on May 11, identified through dental records, and he also said that 62-year-old Raymond Moody has been charged with her murder.

According to PEOPLE, Moody was first identified as a suspect in Drexel’s murder back in 2012. It is believed he kidnapped, raped, and murdered Drexel on April 25, 2009, and then the next day he left her remains in a wooded area approximately 35 miles from where she was last seen alive. Moody has been charged with kidnapping and sexual misconduct in addition to murder.

The teen’s parents, Dawn and Chad, were present for the announcement. Her mother Dawn said, “Today marks the beginning of a new chapter. The search for Brittanee is now a pursuit of Brittanee’s justice.”