Brittanee Drexel, What happend to this Teen?/ Family has created an official Web site for Brittanee/4.25 w/be 3 Years since Brittanee has been missing. New tips have created a new search!!/Traffic tickets proves POI near Drexel's last known location!!

Me, too.

You can do a google alert.

by TerryRose Today at 7:47 pm

Thanks for those maps and the article, Mommy! Yes, the map shows the location not far from the ocean, Myrtle Beach Grand Strand and the Golden Mile. There is one thought I have had about this----only locals would know about these perfect places for illegal activities, dumping evidence and dumping bodies. Travelers from other states who are just on vacation would not and it would be quite a stretch to believe a coincidence like that would happen and they would choose that wooded area when the whole trip back up North on the Highway is surrounded by rural, forested, deserted stretches of land and mountains. I think, if foul play, it is a local criminal who dumped the body there and may not have anything to do with Britanee at all, unless a local did this to her. (I also keep remembering that N.C. is having a big problem with sexual slavery rings and drug traffickers and I keep hoping that one of those gangs didn't get a hold of her.)

TerryRose, after looking over and over again at the terrain, Roads and Highways, while I was in Google Earth getting those Maps from Earlier.. I too have to agree with your post. River Road is actually a Highway, which eventually meets up with another highway that ends up meeting back up with Ocean Highway 17!!!

Anyone local that knew these back Highway roads well could have taken this as a crime of opportunity, IMO!!!

by Wrapitup Today at 10:03 pm

You can do a google alert.

What is this?? :scratch:

I MUST KNOW!!!!

I really don't think the remains are Brittanee...I just feel that whatever happened to her, happened south of Myrtle Beach, and that's where her body was disposed of The river, swamps, and woods in that area just offer too many hiding places...I hope I'm wrong and this beautiful girl will be found and brought home soon.

by mommyof3kids Today at 11:16 pm What is this??
I MUST KNOW!!!!

Google Brittanee Drexel and then click on NEWS.........go to the bottom of that page and you can click on Create an email alert for brittanee drexel and then sign up to have an email sent to you if there is anything in the news about her.

This is what it says at the bottom of the page.

Stay up to date on these results:
Create an email alert for brittanee drexel
Search blogs for brittanee drexel
Search Google Fast Flip for brittanee drexel

Thanks BJ... You are the Bomb Jiggity!!! :cheers:

Lisette, I totally understand you! This might just be some fluke thing and we all might have our hopes up for the sake of finally bringing Brittanee HOME :(

Just think.. if we are all blogging about this one possibility that these remains could be Hers... Just think of what her poor Mother has been going through the past 6 months with every lead she hears about her daughter

Oh, I see how this works. BJ is the Bomb Jiggity but not your blog Mom who actually mentioned Google Alerts.

You can also just google Google Alerts and get a google alert for any case or anyone. It's the Bomb! (Jiggety!)

Oops... LOL, ok, so I meant to say, Blog momma for the initial advise about Google Alert and Bomb Jiggitty GET it BJ, lol, for the answer to my ignorance, LOL! Love to U both!

Tuesday, Jan. 05, 2010

Family members, friends and authorities will return to the Georgetown County area Saturday to search for clues in the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel, the New York teen who has not been seen since leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel room in April.

An official Web site for the missing teen was also launched this month after officials and family members learned about several people posing as Drexel on the Internet, said Monica Caison, director of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons based in Wilmington, N.C., which conducts nationwide searches for missing individuals.

“The Internet can be a wonderful tool to get the information out there, but it can also be a vicious attack for the family,” Caison said. “There have been some vicious, horrible things out there.”

A search for clues in the disappearance of an Andrews woman, which was planned for this weekend, has been postponed until January because recent heavy rains have flooded portions of the search area, according to Monica Caison with the N.C.-based CUE Center for Missing Persons.

Searchers and police had planned to search for clues in the 2005 disappearance of Crystal Gail Soles after getting new information about the case, but the area they planned to search has standing water in it, Caison said.

Caison has led efforts to search for information about Soles and missing New York teen Brittanee Drexel in Georgetown County this month. More searches in both cases are planned for January, Caison said.

Different local law enforcement agencies and a missing persons group continue today to search in Georgetown and Charleston counties for missing New York teen Brittanee Drexel after Georgetown County authorities received a new tip, said Monica Caison, founder of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons.

Caison said authorities and those with the CUE Center spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday searching by the north Santee River in Georgetown County and some areas in Charleston County.

Nothing of significance was found, said Caison, who took Drexel's mother, Dawn Drexel, around to areas they searched after Dawn Drexel flew into the area from New York Thursday. Caison said authorities and the CUE group plan to continue their search efforts Monday.

After a weeklong search for Brittanee Drexel that involved several law enforcement agencies, officials may have at least one clue to her whereabouts.

A pair of sunglasses, resembling those that the then-17-year-old wore in a photo taken with friends on April 26 - the day she was last seen in Myrtle Beach - were found Monday in an area near the Santee River in Georgetown County, said Monica Caison, founder of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons.

The find occurred during a search that started Dec. 3 and ended Thursday. Between 60 and 70 representatives from the CUE Center, Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, Charleston County Sheriff's Office and the Myrtle Beach Police Department searched areas in Georgetown and Charleston counties for the New York teen.

The site was launched Jan. 1 and as of Monday night, Caison said there had been more than 5,000 hits to it and hundreds of people had left messages of hope for the family as well as information that could help the investigation.

Volunteers and law enforcement officials have focused their searches in the Georgetown County area after a cell phone belonging to Drexel, who was 17 at the time of her disappearance, gave off its last known signal the night of April 26 in the area around U.S. 17 and the South Santee River, authorities said. Drexel was last seen that night leaving the Blue Water Hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach

In December, a pair of sunglasses, resembling those that the then-17-year-old wore in a photo taken with friends the day she was last seen in Myrtle Beach, was found in an area near the Santee River in Georgetown County. The sunglasses were sent to the State Law Enforcement Division for processing.

“It’s so imperative if anyone finds anything in the woods they need to call police especially in that area. I don’t care if it’s a lipstick container,” Caison said. “If you find any kind of article that doesn’t belong out there you need to call police. It could be imperative to this case.”

A large group of searchers will spend the weekend looking for clues about Drexel’s disappearance, which has garnered national attention. Authorities did not conduct any searches during the holidays, but Caison said she has searched the area weekly.

“I’ve been going down weekly and spending the day with a small team,” Caison said. “We’re continuing to eliminate space and focus on new areas we’ve discovered.”

Anyone with information about Drexel’s disappearance can call Myrtle Beach police at 918-1300 or go to the web site at www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com.

http://www.thesunnews.com/news/breaking_news/story/1245448.html

Thanks for this update Wrap! Man, I have been looking all over for more info on the remains that were found in Wilmington, but there is nothing, and one would think if it was indeed linked to Brittanee's case, something would be said somewhere!!

I am aiming more towards Listte's post above, that Brittanee is most likely in the area her sunglasses ended up, or perhaps she was tossed in the Ocean and her glasses made it up river.. IDK I just want Brittanee brought home to her family!!

Your welcome. Here is another one. I cannot believe some people could be so cruel!!
p.s. some of the data may be on the above thread I posted. This is an update.

Wednesday, Jan. 06, 2010
Missing teen's family to return
By Tonya Root - troot@thesunnews.com

A missing 17-year-old New York girl's family members and friends will return to the Georgetown County area Saturday to search for clues in her disappearance.

Brittanee Drexel has not been seen since she left a Myrtle Beach hotel room in April.

An official Web site for the missing teen was also recently launched after officials and family members learned about several people posing as Drexel on the Internet, said Monica Caison, director of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons based in Wilmington, N.C. The organization conducts nationwide searches for missing individuals.

Family members, friends and authorities will return to the Georgetown County area Saturday to search for clues in the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel, the New York teen who has not been seen since leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel room in April.

An official Web site for the missing teen was also launched this month after officials and family members learned about several people posing as Drexel on the Internet, said Monica Caison, director of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons based in Wilmington, N.C., which conducts nationwide searches for missing individuals.

“The Internet can be a wonderful tool to get the information out there, but it can also be a vicious attack for the family,” Caison said. “There have been some vicious, horrible things out there.”
•
Search for missing Andrews woman postponed

A search for clues in the disappearance of an Andrews woman, which was planned for this weekend, has been postponed until January because recent heavy rains have flooded portions of the search area, according to Monica Caison with the N.C.-based CUE Center for Missing Persons.

Searchers and police had planned to search for clues in the 2005 disappearance of Crystal Gail Soles after getting new information about the case, but the area they planned to search has standing water in it, Caison said.

Caison has led efforts to search for information about Soles and missing New York teen Brittanee Drexel in Georgetown County this month. More searches in both cases are planned for January, Caison said.
•
Search starts up again for missing New York teen along Grand Strand


Different local law enforcement agencies and a missing persons group continue today to search in Georgetown and Charleston counties for missing New York teen Brittanee Drexel after Georgetown County authorities received a new tip, said Monica Caison, founder of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons.

Caison said authorities and those with the CUE Center spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday searching by the north Santee River in Georgetown County and some areas in Charleston County.

Nothing of significance was found, said Caison, who took Drexel's mother, Dawn Drexel, around to areas they searched after Dawn Drexel flew into the area from New York Thursday. Caison said authorities and the CUE group plan to continue their search efforts Monday.
•
Family creates Web site for missing teen Brittanee Drexel


The family of Brittanee Drexel, a New York teenager who disappeared while on a trip to Myrtle Beach in April, has created an official Web site.

The CUE Center for Missing Persons in Wilmington, N.C. helped the family create the site, http://www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com/, said Monica Caison, the founder of the center.

The goal is to have the site serve as a central location to keep all information and allow people to submit tips that would get to law enforcement and communicate with the family, she said.

"The internet can be a wonderful tool to get the information out there, but it can also be a vicious attack for the family," Caison said.

"There have been some vicious, horrible things out there."

The site was launched Jan. 1 and as of Monday night, Caison said there had been more than 5,000 hits to it and hundreds of people had left messages of hope for the family as well as information that could help the investigation.

Volunteers and law enforcement officials have focused their searches in the Georgetown County area after a cell phone belonging to Drexel gave off its last known signal the night of April 26 around U.S. 17 and the South Santee River, police said.

Drexel was last seen that night leaving the Blue Water Hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach

In December, a pair of sunglasses, resembling those Drexel wore in a photo taken the day she was last seen in Myrtle Beach was found in an area near the Santee River in Georgetown County.

The sunglasses were sent to the State Law Enforcement Division for processing.

"It's so imperative if anyone finds anything in the woods, they need to call police, especially in that area.

" I don't care if it's a lipstick container," Caison said.

"If you find any kind of article that doesn't belong out there, you need to call police. It could be imperative to this case."

A group will spend the weekend looking for clues about Drexel's disappearance, which has garnered national attention.

Authorities did not conduct any searches during the holidays, but Caison said she has searched the area weekly.

"I've been going down weekly and spending the day with a small team," Caison said. "We're continuing to eliminate space and focus on new areas we've discovered."

Anyone with information about Drexel's disappearance can call Myrtle Beach police at 918-1300 or go to the Web site at www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com.
Contact TONYA ROOT at 444-1723.

http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1246445.html

New search for Brittanee Drexel

Brittanee DrexelFriends, family members, and authorities will return to the Georgetown County area this weekend to continue the search for missing Chili teenager Brittanee Drexel. Monica Caison of the CUE Center for Missing Persons tells News 10NBC Drexel’s mother, Dawn, will participate in the search. Drexel’s aunt and grandparents are also expected to team up with the search team.

Brittanee Drexel went missing while on spring break in Myrtle Beach in April.

The Drexel family recently teamed up with the CUE Center for Missing Persons to launch an official website for the search. The website was created after law enforcement officials and the Drexel family learned about several people posing as Brittanee on the Internet.

Last month, crews searching near the Santee River found a pair of sunglasses similar to those belonging to Drexel. The family is still waiting to hear the results of DNA tests on those sunglasses.

Caison says authorities did not conduct any searches during the holidays, but she and a small team continued weekly searches near the Santee River, where Drexel’s phone gave off its last known signal.

For more Rochester, NY news, go to our website, www.whec.com.

What's the word on that body that was found a few days ago? I think there was speculation that it could be Brittanee or Morgan, has any new info come out about it?

This just in;

http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=11749272

I am sad for this woman and her family. But bittersweet happy this is not Morgan or Britanee.

Those families must have been holding their breaths, hoping it was and praying it was not. So sad.

Don't you know how hard it is on all of the families of the missing? Must be awful, I cannot even imagine how it must feel to go to sleep at night thinking of it, waking up the next morning and realizing that it is not a dream, but real.:(

Oh yes, Critter, who can really imagine their pain and suffering? My heart goes out to Dawn Drexel and the other family members. How I wish Brittanee was just a runaway and that she is found unharmed, but I know as time passes, this scenario looks more and more unlikely.

Thanks Jeanne for the updated article!

by Wrapitup Today at 12:27 pm

I am sad for this woman and her family. But bittersweet happy this is not Morgan or Britanee

Wrap, I couldn't agree more.

I am still holding onto hope that they find both Morgan and Brittanee ALIVE and Well, but it's been so long since she disappeared

Miracles do happen. Jaycee Duggard sure proved that.

So true Critter!

If you are interested in one mothers feelings and thoughts while they search for her daughter you can join Gil Harrington on the family blog at findmorgan.com. Gil writes about once a week and it is heartbreaking to hear her beautiful words of love and hope. I am posting the link if you are interested.
http://findmorgan.com/category/family-blog

so much, jeanne!!!

Ashwin Verghese • Staff writer • January 9, 2010

Nothing was found today during a search in South Carolina for missing Chili teenager Brittanee Drexel.

“We still haven’t really found anything that is related to Brittanee or about her case,” said Monica Caison, founder for the Center for Missing Persons in North Carolina.

Close to 100 people spent about 11 hours searching through areas in Georgetown and Charleston counties today, including near the spot where Drexel’s cell phone gave off its last signal.

Law enforcement officials, mounted horse teams and canine cadaver units assisted in the search, Caison said.

She said the search will continue Sunday in Georgetown County.

Drexel, 18, a Gates Chili High School student, has been missing since April 25.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100109/NEWS01/100109004

Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010

By Monique Newton - mnewton@thesunnews.com

Bundled in down coats, gloves, boots and winter hats, nearly 100 people searched parts of Georgetown and Charleston counties Saturday for clues in the case of a missing New York girl.

Brittanee Drexel, who was 17 at the time of her disappearance, has not been seen since she left a Myrtle Beach hotel room in April.

A missing 17-year-old New York girl's family members and friends will return to the Georgetown County area Saturday to search for clues in her disappearance.

An official Web site for the missing teen was also recently launched after officials and family members learned about several people posing as Drexel on the Internet, said Monica Caison, director of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons based in Wilmington, N.C. The organization conducts nationwide searches for missing individuals.
•
Search will resume this weekend for missing N.Y. teen last seen in Myrtle Beach

Family members, friends and authorities will return to the Georgetown County area Saturday to search for clues in the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel, the New York teen who has not been seen since leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel room in April.

“The Internet can be a wonderful tool to get the information out there, but it can also be a vicious attack for the family,” Caison said. “There have been some vicious, horrible things out there.”

Searchers are returning the Georgetown County area today to look for clues in the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel, the New York teen who has not been seen since leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel room in April.

More than 100 people are expected to spend the weekend searching areas of interest in Georgetown County, according to authorities.

Volunteers and law enforcement officials have focused their searches in the Georgetown County area after a cell phone belonging to Drexel, who was 17 at the time of her disappearance, gave off its last known signal the night of April 26 in the area around U.S. 17 and the South Santee River, authorities said. Drexel was last seen that night leaving the Blue Water Hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.

Nearly 100 people, bundled up in down coats, gloves, boots and winter hats, searched parts of Georgetown County Saturday for clues in the case of a missing 17-year-old New York girl.

Family members of Brittanee Drexel who has not been seen since she left a Myrtle Beach hotel room in April as well as law enforcement and search groups from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Maine, scoured through the wooded areas near Powell Road and Seven Mile Road in Georgetown.

Most volunteers wore bracelets of different colors that read, “Help Find Brittanee”, and several, including Drexel’s mother, aunt and grandmother, wore white sweatshirts with large pictures of the bright-eyed teenager.

After a weeklong search for Brittanee Drexel that involved several law enforcement agencies, officials may have at least one clue to her whereabouts.

A pair of sunglasses, resembling those that the then-17-year-old wore in a photo taken with friends on April 26 - the day she was last seen in Myrtle Beach - were found Monday in an area near the Santee River in Georgetown County, said Monica Caison, founder of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons.

The find occurred during a search that started Dec. 3 and ended Thursday. Between 60 and 70 representatives from the CUE Center, Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, Charleston County Sheriff's Office and the Myrtle Beach Police Department searched areas in Georgetown and Charleston counties for the New York teen.

Family members, as well as law enforcement and search groups from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Maine, scoured wooded areas near Powell Road in Georgetown County and Seven Mile Road in Charleston County.

This wasn't the first time volunteers had searched those particular areas in Georgetown, said Monica Caison, director of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons in Wilmington, N.C., which conducts nationwide searches for missing people.

"It's always good to go back to places that we've searched prior," she said. "We have to continue to go back and look at areas and make sure we've turned over every stone looking for her."

It's important to search the woods in the winter because the foliage is at a minimum and animal activity is very low, making the conditions safer for the dog and horse teams that accompany those on foot, Caison said.

Some debris, a shoe and many animal bones, old and new, came up in the search, but nothing substantial to the case, she said.

Volunteers and law enforcement authorities have focused their searches in the Georgetown County area after Drexel's cell phone gave off its last known signal on April 26 around U.S. 17 Bypass and the South Santee River, police said.

Drexel was last seen that night leaving the Blue Water Hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.

Drexel's mother, Dawn Drexel, said it's always emotionally tough to search for her daughter.

"It's hard because here they are out in the woods. It's difficult to think that somebody would do something to her," she said. "She was a little fighter. She was very feisty. If she was in danger or something, I think she would've fought."

In December, a pair of sunglasses, resembling a pair Drexel wore in a photo taken the day she was last seen in Myrtle Beach, were found in an area near the Santee River in Georgetown County. The sunglasses were sent to the State Law Enforcement Division for processing.

An official Web site for the missing teen launched Jan. 1 after officials and family members learned about several people posing as Drexel on the Internet. There have been more than 7,000 unique hits to the site so far, and hundreds have left messages with encouraging words and tips for the case, Caison said.

Drexel's paternal grandmother, Linda Wolpert, came down and searched for Brittanee for the first time Saturday.

"To just stand still and not do anything would just tear you apart," she said. "You want to know, but you don't want to know the worst."

Jaime Mullin, who has never met Brittanee, said searching Saturday was an emotional roller coastal ride, but well worth it.

"I have a 13-year-old daughter, and if it were my kid, I would want the world to stop," the Lake Wylie resident said. "You just can't get enough support."

Carol Wagner, who said she had a deep appreciation for volunteers like Mullin, who help search for her granddaughter, is not giving up.

"We're not going to stop looking for her," she said. "Somebody knows something. We're just waiting for that individual to come forward."

Anyone with information about Drexel's disappearance can call Myrtle Beach police at 918-1300 or go to the Web site at www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com.

Please see video here: http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1253130.html

Some of this article seems a bit repetitive but I let it go. These people are searching in extremely cold temps. Kudo's to them!!!

The two-day search ended Sunday afternoon for missing spring breaker Brittanee Drexel who vanished nearly nine months ago.

Around 100 volunteer searchers with the CUE Center for Missing Persons spent Saturday and Sunday scouring different wooded sections in Georgetown and Charleston counties.

Nothing of significance was found either day, said Monica Caison, the director of the CUE Center.

The majority of the searches since Drexel vanished April 25, 2009, have concentrated on a five-mile radius around the North Santee Community. It's where detectives say they tracked Drexel's cell phone signals from the night and day after she disappeared.

Caison and Myrtle Beach police have several areas of interest around the North Santee Community, but there's no specific reason searchers were back this weekend.

Caison said the search had been planned for a while to re-check areas that had already been searched and to look for clues in new areas.

Drexel, who was 17 at the time, vanished from Ocean Boulevard around 9:15 p.m. on April 25 after leaving the Blue Water Resort.

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=399596

Oh my goodness. What a wonderful, strong woman she is. If her family has endured what was written above and she still keeps her head above water then she would be a "true American hero".

Do you know she contacted Morgans parents Dan and Gil Harrington and offered comfort.

It is a club they all belong to and nobody wants to join.

To lose a child and not know where they are or what happened to them.

I believe the Kesse's and Natalie Holloway's mother are a part of this club, too. Also, Josh Duckett. They have all handled their child missing with class and perseverance - nothing like that Anthony's or the Croslin/Cumming's.

Thanks for the update articles Wrap!

Man, I hope there are more expected searches in the near future. I have a feeling that her body is going to be found in that vicinity of where her last cell phone pinged. Especially now that a pair of sunglasses matching the ones she was last seen wearing were found in that same area :(

I wonder how large of an area they have to search?

Shudder at the thought, but could it be that those items somehow got washed upriver from the ocean? I don't want to think it, but could her belongings have been in the ocean? I hope not, of course, but, when there is a big storm on the Atlantic, do things get thrown into that river?

TerryRose I am thinking the same thing.

It is definitely a possibility it could have come from the ocean, but why the last cell phone ping in the same area? The cell phone pings made a direct V line to that location, so perhaps it was just a last ditch effort of some of her belongings to throw LE off their tracks? IDK. I need to create new Maps of the location and delete the ones up thread since we now know that was NOT Brittanee's body found in Wilmington.

I am thinking in terms of the ocean current carrying the items further south and depositing them there as can happen even with swimmers, they can drift further down from their hotel beach before they know it. I would think that process would be speedy enough, but to get in the river itself would require a boost of some type which is why I would ask if there had been a storm right after that.

Gary McLendon • Staff writer • February 9, 2010

The head of a company that helps parents find missing children has hired a detective agency to search for Brittanee Drexel.

Drexel, 18, of Chili was last seen walking out of a Myrtle Beach, S.C., hotel during a spring break trip last April. Her cell phone gave off its last signal several hours later about 40 miles south of there.

Frank Del Vecchio, CEO of AMBER Ready in Rockaway, N.J., and deputy chief of the Fairview, N.J., Police Department, said the company hired Benson Agency Investigations last week in the hope they can bring fresh insight to the case.

"After speaking to (Brittanee's mother) Dawn Drexel and others, we concluded that a private investigator is appropriate," Del Vecchio said Monday. "The Drexel family would be better served having a private investigator on the case."

AMBER Ready provides financial and logistical resources to assist searches and has developed technology allowing parents to create profiles of their children that can be quickly distributed if a child goes missing.

This is the first case in which AMBER Ready has hired a private investigator.

While Drexel's fate remains a mystery, Del Vecchio said it's not uncommon for missing teens to be trafficked.

Between 100,000 and 300,000 people are trafficked each year in the United States, Del Vecchio said. "Teens between the ages of 15 and 17 account for 59 percent of the 800,000 persons reported missing," he added.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100209/NEWS01/2090310/1002/NEWS

Between 100,000 and 300,000 people are trafficked each year in the United States, Del Vecchio said. "Teens between the ages of 15 and 17 account for 59 percent of the 800,000 persons reported missing," he added.

I have a few questions here, not that I doubt this statistic......How does he know this number? Where are they trafficked? 100,000-300,000 is a very big number and if this info is known why can't someone have a clue about stopping it and arresting those involved?????? I have never heard about the break-up of a trafficking ring and the rescue of victims. As I said I am not doubting this happens, just don't understand if so much is known why can't something be done about it?

I wonder if the river where her last cell phone ping was located could have had a boat waiting that could have taken her to an offshore ship...just speculating...

I have some renewed hope with a PI coming in to it. When I look at Brittney's photos here on VH I highly suspect someone abducted her. Human trafficking is making news all over the world. I wonder how many high officials are profiting off crimes like these? Not saying they know how the money flows but I wonder why we are not hearing about arrest and rings being broken up. Like Laga said

By Graeme Moore
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 10:39 p.m.

Read more: Local, Brittanee Drexel, Spring Break, Myrtle Beach

Several spring breakers in Myrtle Beach say the case of a spring breaker thought to have been abducted this time last year made them think twice before coming to the Grand Strand.

Kate Ruberry and her friends from Maryland are down for the week, and said their parents warned them about a couple of high-profile missing persons cases.

"They told us about Natalee Holloway and (Brittanee Drexel)," Ruberry said.

Drexel vanished from Ocean Boulevard on April 25, 2009, and police have said in the past they think she was abducted.

"We never like do our own thing. We always go out together. We always have our phones on us. And we're always like in contact with each other," Ruberry said.

As for police, they say Drexel's disappearance will not affect protocol on the boulevard.

"One incident's not going to change the way we police Ocean Boulevard. We've done it the same in the 20 plus years that I've been here," said Cpt. David Knipes with the Myrtle Beach Police Department.

"We have officers. They are visible. They make numerous cases. They try to keep the peace down there. Obviously we ask for voluntary compliance on everybody's part. Don't do anything here that you wouldn't do at your own home," Knipes said.

Knipes said the March spring break crowds are usually the older college-aged students, and he said they don't typically cause too many problems.

He said it's the high school students who flood Myrtle Beach beginning mid-April through June who get the rowdiest.

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=432439

It is hard to believe she has been missing for a year.

By Prentiss Findlay
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Myrtle Beach police are investigating a Facebook account that featured a photo of missing Rochester, N.Y., teen Brittanee Marie Drexel, who vanished nearly a year ago on a spring break trip.

Police learned about the account through a tip received Monday by way of the "America's Most Wanted" TV show Web site, police Capt. David Knipes said Tuesday.


Brittanee Drexel

"We're familiar with it. Is there anything to it? Probably not. We're still working on it. I don't think it has a whole lot of weight in the case with the way we're investigating it," Knipes said. He declined to elaborate.

Facebook account holders typically post pictures of themselves. The account in question featured a photo of Drexel that was visible to all Facebook users until Tuesday afternoon, when it apparently was removed.

Drexel's aunt, Keri Drexel of Bradenton, Fla., said she tried to contact the person listed as the account holder for the Facebook page. She sent an e-mail asking that the picture of Brittanee Drexel be removed.

"I don't even know who she is," Keri Drexel said of the account holder. "The emotions each day are just like killing us. We're just in survival mode every day."

The Drexel photo that was posted on the Facebook page has been widely used on missing posters and in the media.

"I think it's pretty cruel. I don't know what the goal is," said Carol Wagner of Rochester, who is Drexel's grandmother.

On Tuesday morning, the Facebook page that featured the Drexel photo had 59 fans who included high school students in Montana, Missouri and Pennsylvania. Sixteen of them said they were students at Sturgeon (Mo.) High School.

Sturgeon High Acting Administrator Kevin Hicks confirmed that the names listed as Sturgeon High fans of the Facebook page were those of students. He said he had never heard the name of the account holder. He said he would contact the students to discuss the Facebook page and find out what was going on.

'We're just trying to get her home'; Missing girl's mom discusses case, risks for teens, published 03/30/10

Facebook officials did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment.

Brittanee Drexel last communicated with her mother Dawn Drexel in a text message sent late in the afternoon of April 25, 2009, in which she said she was packing to come home, Wagner said.

She was last seen on a security camera leaving the lobby of a Myrtle Beach hotel. She took her pink cell phone and purse. Her belongings were left behind. "We have all her clothing and luggage," Wagner said.

Brittanee Drexel went to Myrtle Beach without her mother's permission. Wagner said she has had two dreams in which her granddaughter is alive. "I do believe Brittanee is out there. Somebody is holding her against her will," Wagner said.

Anyone with information on the disappearance of Brittanee Marie Drexel is asked to call the Myrtle Beach police tip line at 843-918-1963.

Crime Stoppers playing cards that include information about the Drexel case will be distributed this week in South Carolina prisons and jails, said Monica Caison, founder and executive director of the Cue Center for Missing Persons in Wilmington, N.C.

"We've been dealing with some very odd things with people impersonating Brittanee," Caison said.

Wagner said a candlelight vigil for Drexel is planned in Myrtle Beach. "I have made so many friends down there in Myrtle Beach. They are a very giving community," she said.

The vigil will be at 7:30 p.m. April 25 at the Blue Water Resort. Anyone is welcome to participate. "We're doing it to keep her face out there because we don't want anybody to forget her," Wagner said.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/mar/31/photo-put-on-facebook/

The mother of a New York teenager who vanished last April in Myrtle Beach is angry over people impersonating her daughter on social networking sites.

"It's demented," said Dawn Drexel during a phone interview from her Rochester, NY, home on Sunday.

Drexel's daughter, Brittanee, disappeared April 25, 2009, from Ocean Boulevard while the then-17-year-old was on spring break.

Brittanee, now 18, has yet to be found, though investigators say they continue to investigate the case on a daily basis.

In the months that followed Brittanee's disappearance, the internet has lit up with some people posting insulting things about Brittanee and her family.

The latest faceless attack comes from people setting up fake profiles on Facebook.com and using Brittanee's pictures as if they were their own.

"It makes me very, very angry," Dawn said. "Brittanee is missing. There's no reason why people should be doing that."

Drexel said there have been several fake profiles lately, but most of them are removed within a few days.

Myrtle Beach Police said they were looking into the postings, though they don't think the pages will provide clues into Drexel's case.

Meanwhile, Drexel said she's going to contact a lawyer to see if she can pursue legal action should the people behind the profiles be identified.

"I mean that is demented. I mean it's sick. I mean anyone in their right mind wouldn't do something like that."

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=439222

People have nothing better to do with their time? This is disgusting to put this family through this.

That's really sad. People have no compassion.

By Graeme Moore
Friday, April 09, 2010 at 6:08 p.m.



Investigators in the case of missing spring breaker Brittanee Drexel say they've developed three, possibly four, persons of interest in connection to the teen's disappearance.

"The people we're looking at, I feel really good about because all of our little pieces of evidence ... they're all pointing in the same direction towards certain people," Myrtle Beach Detective Vincent Dorio said Friday.

Drexel, 17 at the time of her disappearance and from Rochester, NY, vanished April 25, 2009, from Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.

In the first few days following her disappearance, investigators tracked Drexel's cell phone signals to an area near the South Santee Community in Georgetown County.

Dozens of searches over the past year provided no clues, and at one point last fall, detectives described the case as becoming cold.

But Georgetown County Investigator Chris Bailey says that all changed during the holidays.

"I think the tip I received in the first part of December was the big turn around," Bailey said Friday afternoon during an interview.

Bailey, Dorio and Charleston County Detective Rocky Burke formed a task force soon after the December discovery and have spent most of this year developing additional leads.

The trio, along with an outside group, Merrill's Investigations, have concentrated their efforts in an area along the Georgetown/Charleston County line.

They're describing that area as the "location of interest," and they say it's where the persons of interest live. However, detectives wouldn't provide specific details for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.

Bailey said the new information has recently provided enough probable cause for search warrants and even lie detector tests that have been given to the persons of interest.

"There have been some polygraphs, but again, we can't discuss that," Bailey said. "But we're real comfortable with our (persons of interest.)"

The persons of interest, Bailey said, know what happened to Drexel.

"They're suspected of being present with Brittanee, knowing her whereabouts or possible whereabouts," Bailey said.

The investigators, while confident in their persons of interest, say they still need the final clue to establish that a crime occurred.

"We could use that one person -- or that one piece of evidence -- that comes forward and ties everything together to make a solid arrest which leads to a solid conviction," Dorio, the Myrtle Beach detective said.

When asked whether they thought if Drexel is still alive, both Dorio and Bailey said no.

"Things that we are hearing, and I'm speaking for myself, leads to believe that she is not," Bailey said. "In the beginning, it was a missing persons case, but everything we've looked at, I'm confident foul play was involved, and this is probably going to be a homicide investigation."

When reached Friday afternoon and asked about the new developments, Brittanee's mother, Dawn Drexel, said she was reeling from all sorts of emotion.

Dawn said it means they're probably close to finding closure based on the news, but "are you ready to hear what you're about to hear?" Dawn said.

She said it's tough adjusting to a possible turn of events, "knowing it is going to be a whole different story."

"I may have to accept I'm never going to see my daughter again."

Investigators ask that anyone with information call their tipline at the Georgetwon County Sheriffis Office that number is 843-436-6058. Remember you can remain anonymous.

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=441801

Even though it is sad that she is probably not alive, I am so glad that they are close to finding out what happened to her...It would be awful to never know for sure where she was and what had happened.

I agree Lisette.
And if the poor girl is no longer with the living, I hope that she can help others as an example of what bad decisions and going against your parents wishes can lead.

Not that I am saying what may have happened to her is her own fault at all--just that you never know who can take advantage of you anywhere.

Aw, I am so disheartened. Once again, I hoped against hope that this child was still alive, but the investigators are pretty sure that she was murdered. OMG, this makes me so sad.

Charming, I couldn't agree more with what you have said, but I know what teenagers are usually like in their years of rebellion. Parents can preach all they want, but, alas, few listen to their warnings.

Yes, this was one that we could kind of feel might be a runway...but then her phone and everything never concurred with that. I feel so strange to live my life in happiness when I think of parents out there longing to know what happened to their children. Bless their hearts.

xoxo
Heike

Big break announced in case of missing teen Brittanee Drexel
Erica Pitzi 1 hr ago

Bradenton, FL - Nearly one year has gone by since Brittanee Drexel was last seen walking into a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina hotel.

Law enforcement along the entire East coast has come together in the search for the missing teenager. Brittanee's face has even graced the cover of People magazine, all in hopes of a good lead.

For Brittanee's family, it's been the longest year of their lives. "You hear the phone ring and you don't know. It could be good news, it could be bad news," said Kari Drexel, the victim's aunt, who lives in Bradenton.

On Friday, detectives announced three to four "persons of interest." They say they're men that Brittanee did not know. That makes the family fear the worst.

"I felt like there was a knife in my stomach," said Drexel.

As Brittanee's aunt, Kari has been a point person for the family, even organizing search efforts.

She got her niece's name and face into a deck of Crimestoppers cards for the South Carolina prison system. "She's the two of diamonds," explained Drexel.

She did the same with a truckstop guide that's featured nationwide.

"We want to find out where she is - alive -and bring her home," said Drexel.

The problem is, police say all signs point to death.

"Until they [police] have evidence or a body is found... our hope is still there. We're never going to give up. We want everyone in the world to see Brittanee's face and have her out there and bring her back home and get answers to where she is."

Lead Detective Chris Bailey from the Georgetown Police Department in South Carolina tells 10 Connects they got a good tip back in December and that is what led them to this point.

They've already put the "persons of interest" through lie detector tests and are working the case seven days a week until they make an arrest.

Unless that happens, in the next two weeks, the family will be back in Myrtle Beach on April 24th for a big awareness push on the one year mark of Brittanee's disappearance.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=129543&catid=8