Brittanee Drexel has been found and her body returned to her family. This took 13 years to do, though.
“’Where did it happen? How did it happen? And why did it happen? The ‘why’ may never be known or understood. But today, this task force can confidently and without hesitation answer the rest of those questions, along with the who is responsible,” said Sheriff Carter Weaver of Georgetown County during Monday’s press conference.
We know Drexel was visiting Myrtle Beach in 2009 and was last seen alone leaving the Blue Water Resort on Ocean Boulevard. We know she was killed and buried in Georgetown County, South Carolina.
Police say they know what happened right before Drexel’s death and how she died.
On or about the night of April 25, 2009, Moody unlawfully seized and confined Drexel, then committed non-consensual sexual battery against the 17-year-old then manually strangled her, the warrants state.
According to 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson at Monday’s press conference, Drexel was raped and killed at the Santee River and then her body was moved to Old Town Avenue.
While the Drexel family’s most pressing questions have been answered, amid this complex, over-a-decade-long case, there are still some unanswered questions.
“Moody admitted to the crimes during questioning and indicated where the body was buried,” Jason Lesley, public information officer for the Georgetown County Sheriff’s office, said.
It is not clear, however, how law enforcement officially determined that Drexel was raped.
Lesley said he does not know if Moody confessed to that particular aspect of her final days.
Certain details pertaining to why Moody received an Obstruction of Justice charge are also unclear. The warrant states that Moody “[took] overt actions to conceal and/or dispose of evidence of a crime also committed in the jurisdictional boundaries of the County of Georgetown.”
Lesley said that he cannot confirm whether the evidence mentioned in the warrant is Drexel’s body or not. He said, “I don’t want to draw my own conclusion to that, because I don’t know what else it would be.”
The warrant also states that Drexel died of manual strangulation at the hands of Moody, but WPDE reported that Georgetown County Coroner’s Office says that it could take weeks for a clearer cause of death to be released. As of Monday, the office said an official cause of death is still pending.
Drexel’s mother, Dawn, said at Monday’s press conference that there will be a “celebration of life” for her daughter, both in Myrtle Beach and in their hometown of Rochester, New York.
The dates, times and exact locations of such events have not yet been set.
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