Brittanee Drexel disappeared 13 years ago, the mystery is getting solved. The remains of a Brittanee Drexel were found in the Harmony Township neighborhood last week.
According to Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver, Drexel’s remains were found on May 11, after evidence led them to a possible site in the Harmony Township neighborhood.
Georgetown County Coroner Chase Ridgeway was able to identify Drexel through dental records.
Originally from New York, Brittanee was last seen April 25, 2009, outside the Blue Water Resort on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach during spring break when she was 17,
The sheriff announced on Monday that Raymond Moody was arrested in connection to Drexel’s death.
The FBI said the remains, found in a wooded area of Georgetown County, were identified through DNA and dental records.
Moody was first identified as a person of interest in 2012 and is now believed to have killed and buried Drexel on April 26, 2009, Weaver said. Moody has an “extensive sexual offender history,” Weaver said.
“This is truly a mother’s worst nightmare,” Brittanee’s mother Dawn Drexel said Monday. “I am mourning my beautiful daughter today, as I have for the last 13 years. We are much closer to the peace that I have been hoping for.”
Authorities searched an area north of McClellanville, S.C., where her cell phone last produced a signal. Her disappearance and the ensuing search made national news at that the time of her disappearance.
Moody is being held without bail, the D&C reports. No court date for his next appearance has been announced.
