~BRITTANEE DREXEL - 17 yo - Rochester NY / Myrtle Beach SC

On Saturday, search efforts for missing spring
breaker Brittanee Drexel grew to levels not seen since the 18-year-old
vanished from Ocean Boulevard in April. More
than 100 search volunteers and law enforcement officials combed through
hundreds of wooded acres near the Georgetown/Charleston County line,
though no signs of Drexel were found.Efforts
are focused on that area because it's where detectives tracked Drexel's
cell phone signals in the first few days of her disappearance.The
searchers scoured much of the same area in April, though the heat,
thick growth and active wildlife made conditions less than ideal. Saturday
morning's shot of crisp, cool air was just what searchers had hoped for
this time around.

The cadaver dogs, mounted horse patrols and searchers
are able to work better in cooler weather, said Monica Caison with the
CUE Center for Missing Persons.The group
gathered around 8:30 Saturday morning for a debriefing from the
"Incident Command Post," and they were then handed out specific search
assignments.The men and women, dogs, horse
teams and ATV teams worked in groups of 8-10 as they worked areas from
McClellanville to the North Santee Community in Georgetown County.A
central area of focus was along South Santee Road in the Collins Creek
Community, and there were moments of piqued interest Saturday."We've
had many articles found throughout the day which tells us that our
searchers are working really hard and uncovering things," said Caison,
but "at this point ... nothing fits Brittanee's case or any other
missing persons from this area."The searchers called it a night around 8:00 p.m., but things will ramp up again Sunday morning.
"We're just going to continue on and continue searching and hope that we'll
get to the right place where we'll have some type of discovery," Caison
said.The search was organized by the CUE
Center for Missing Persons and Myrtle Beach Police detectives who've
worked the case since day one. The Georgetown and Charleston County
Sheriff's offices provided additional logistical planning. Thornehill
Farms on Higwhay 17 opened their farm for search teams to camp for the
weekend.

The search for missing spring breaker Brittanee Drexel wrapped
up Sunday, but crews left with no new information on her whereabouts.Searchers
from the CUE Center for Missing Persons spent Saturday and Sunday
scouring areas along the Charleston/Georgetown County line. A few hours
on Sunday afternoon were spent re-searching areas in Myrtle Beach.Myrtle
Beach Police said if and until new leads are developed, no more
large-scale searches are planned. The investigation and tracking down
current leads, however, will not stop, said Detective Vincent Dorio.Drexel, 18, from Rochester, NY, vanished from Ocean Boulevard around 9:00 p.m. on April 25th.A
reward is being offered, and anonymous tips can be called in to the
Myrtle Beach Police Department at 843-918-1963 or to the CUE Center at
910-232-1687.

A team of searchers scoured woodlands near McClellanville over the
weekend seeking clues in the disappearance of Brittanee Marie Drexel
but came up empty-handed.

"There was nothing related to the case located," said Lt. Mark Fields of the Charleston County Sheriff's Office.

Searchers were hoping to find her cell phone, clothing or anything else that would be helpful in solving the case, Fields said.

Drexel, 17, of Rochester, N.Y., last was seen in Myrtle Beach in
April wearing a white, black, teal and gray top, black shorts and white
flip-flops. She is 4 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs 103 pounds and has
blue eyes and blond hair with highlights. Her ears and nose are
pierced.

The searchers revisited a wooded area near Healing Farm Ministries where her cell phone gave off a signal in May, Fields said.

The Sheriff's Office, the Myrtle Beach Police Department and the
Centers For Missing Persons participated in the search. In all, 85
people hunted for clues to Drexel's disappearance, including 26 on
horseback and five canine teams. Officials from Missouri, Florida and
North Carolina participated, along with sheriff's officers from
Richland, Kershaw, Darlington and Georgetown counties, Fields said.

To offer tips


To provide information on the Drexel case, call the Myrtle Beach Police Department tip line at 918-1963.




The search was a continuation of previous searches. There was no new
information on Drexel's disappearance that prompted the new searches,
Fields said.

The search for Brittanee Drexel made its way
back into the national spotlight today, after her family appeared on
Maury Povich's show. Brittanee is the spring breaker from New York who
vanished in April from Myrtle Beach.Host
Maury Povich hired a psychic for the family to aid in the search for
the missing teenager. The psychic and the girl's mother, Dawn Drexel,
went to Myrtle Beach to retrace Brittanee's last known steps.
When the psychic returned, he talked about the Blue Water Resort hotel where she was last seen.
"I was getting my strongest hits when we were at the hotel. So I think she is still in that area," said Jeffrey Wands, Psychic.
Authorities did trace signals from her cell phone to Georgetown County after she disappeared.
If you have any new information on Drexel's disappearance, call Myrtle Beach police at (843) 918 - 1963.

Simply put, this might be one of the worst months of Chad Drexel’s life.
He celebrated his missing daughter’s 18th birthday on Oct. 7. A week
later, he traveled to South Carolina to join a two-day search, hoping
to find new clues about her whereabouts, but came back home to
Rochester more dejected.
And today marks exactly six months since his daughter, Brittanee Drexel, was last seen.
“This is all very stomach-turning,
draining, and I feel sick all the time,” said Chad Drexel. “It’s just a
horrifying thought to search through the very thick woods, scared of
what you might find. But I’ve got to keep doing whatever I can to find
my little girl.”
Brittanee, a Gates Chili High School student, went missing April 25
after taking a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach with several
acquaintances.
Last weekend, the Myrtle Beach Police Department searched the
Georgetown County area, about 35 miles south of Myrtle Beach, for the
third time. That was where her cell phone last gave off a signal.
Police had planned this search since May, aiming to take advantage of
better conditions, including cooler temperatures and fewer insects. The
search included 150 volunteers, 50 law enforcement officers, 12 cadaver
dog teams and horses searching water and land. However, they found
nothing.
“We at least eliminated some areas that
were hard to search in May because it was so hot and that affected the
volunteers and the dogs’ ability to track a scent,” said Vincent Dorio,
a Myrtle Beach police detective. “We haven’t ruled out looking anywhere
again because we could have always missed something.”
Dorio, who said the case is still considered active, expects another search to occur before the end of the year.
The Drexel family’s anguish began in the spring when Brittanee’s
mother, Dawn Drexel, found out that instead of her daughter staying at
a Rochester’s friend home during spring break, she had gone to Myrtle
Beach.
On April 25, Brittanee had texted her boyfriend, John Grieco, and
then left the Bluewater Resort on Ocean Boulevard to go for a walk on
the beach.
She never returned.
A few days later, the Drexel family drove 14 hours to South Carolina
to search for Brittanee. They found hope in tips that a person matching
her description had been seen on a bus and at a convenience store. But
both were false leads.
Now six months and several searches later, doubt sometimes creeps
into the family, and they wonder whether they will ever find their
Britt. Chad Drexel said he still cries occasionally thinking about the
situation but refuses to think that all is lost.
On his Facebook page, his profile picture is a photograph of Brittanee with the words, “We miss you so much.”
“We have a lot of family support and that
helps sometimes,” said Dawn Drexel. “But some days that is not enough
because we still have a lot of pain. We’re hoping to find her soon
because six months is a long time.”
New York received more than 20,000 reports of children missing last
year, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Nearly all of the missing cases — about 92.3 percent — were suspected
runaways. About 31 percent of the cases were resolved by the child
coming home. By the end of last year, more than 2,000 cases remained
unresolved.
Alicia Grieco of Greece, the mother of John, has seen her son grow
stronger in the midst of his own heartache. He also drove to South
Carolina last weekend to join the search party.
Grieco said John spends most of his free time on the computer trying
to find the latest information or making phone calls to the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children,
refusing to give up hope that his girlfriend will be found alive. There
are days when family and friends become frustrated because they wish
that police could give them more information, that any witnesses would
come forth and that more leads would come out.
John decided to go back to Monroe Community College and change his major from biology to criminal justice.
“He tells me, ‘Mom, when I get an A in
class, that makes me feel like I am one step closer to finding
Brittanee.’ He feels like he will find her one day, and we believe she
is not dead, but she is out there,” said Alicia Grieco.

Brittanee Drexel, 18, has been missing for six months.

The Gates-Chili teen disappeared back in April after going on a spring break trip with her friends in Myrtle Beach.

Last weekend a crew of over 100 people search the area in which Drexel's
cell phone last gave off a signal, but they found nothing.

Saturday afternoon friends and family of the missing teen gathered at Ontario
Beach Park in Charlotte to release balloons in Brittanee's honor.

"It's been too long. Not a day goes by or a minute goes by that none of us
think about her," Brittanee's mother Dawn Drexel said. Investigators
in Myrtle Beach continue to follow leads but the family says they have
no plans to go back unless there is a break in the case.

Officials with the CUE Center for Missing Persons are initiating an
awareness campaign for a missing 17-year-old New York teen who
disappeared in Myrtle Beach in April.
The aunt of Brittanee Drexel, Kerri Drexel, has arrived in Myrtle
Beach Friday to help distribute posters of the teen in an effort to
remind the public she is still missing.

Drexel was last seen in the area of 11th Avenue South and 20th
Avenue South in Myrtle Beach on April 25 after meeting up with friends
from her hometown. Drexel, who was 17 at the time, was in Myrtle Beach
on spring break, against the will of her mother.
Contact was lost with Drexel and family in New York on Saturday evening, when authorities say she disappeared.
Since her disappearance, police and regional law enforcement
agencies have followed a number of leads, but all have turned into dead
ends. Myrtle Beach Police suspended an active search for Drexel in
June, following several weeks of no progress in the case. Investigators
extended their search as far as Charleston County, along the Santee
River and Coastal Reserve.
CrimeStoppers of the Lowcountry continues to offer a reward for any
information on Drexel's whereabouts. Anyone with information regarding
the disappearance of Drexel is urged to contact the agency at
1-888-CRIME-SC.

Missing Chili teen to appear on cover of People magazine


Missing Chili teen Brittanee Drexel disappeared more than six months ago. She
vanished while on Spring Break in Myrtle Beach and was last scene on
April 25.
Brittanee’s aunt – Keri Drexel – said that Brittanee will be featured on the cover of People magazine. Her story
is one of six being featured in an article called “Vanished.”
The magazine comes out Friday.

It's been almost seven months since a New York teen went missing in
Myrtle Beach, and now, Brittanee Drexel is being featured on the cover
of this week's PEOPLE magazine.
The article tells the stories of six young people who went missing
in 2009 - including Drexel's. That issue of People hit news stands
Friday.
Many people in the Myrtle Beach area, like Barbara Hamilton, saw the
magazine issue and she says she still thinks about where Drexel could
have gone.
“Any time you can get a missing person's picture or information out there, it's always good,” said Hamilton.
Dorla Martinez agrees and hopes this national exposure will help to keep the search alive.
"We're still believing that she's out there somewhere and someone will see her or know of her whereabouts,” said Martinez.
Drexel went missing back in April while on a spring break trip to
Myrtle Beach. The Rochester, NY, teenager was last seen on April 25
leaving the Bluewater Hotel on Ocean Boulevard.
After spending weeks canvassing the area with flyers, Drexel’s mother, Dawn, is back home near Rochester, New York.
“Anything that can put her name and her face out there, it can bring in more leads,” said the mother.
Dawn says it's getting more difficult to live without her daughter as the holidays get closer and closer.
"Christmas was one of Brittanee's most favorite holidays,” said
Drexel. “You know just decorating, making cookies, and things like
that, you know, she enjoyed that. Right now, as it looks, she's not
gonna be here for that, and it's gonna be very hard."
Dawn says she hopes this magazine cover will bring more awareness to
the search - awareness that hopefully won't go out with next week’s
edition.

The family of missing Chili teen Brittanee Drexel received words of encouragement this weekend.

Saturday
night, Ed Smart joined the Drexel family at the 25th annual gala for
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"I don’t think parents can give up hope," Smart said.

Smart's daughter, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, returned home safely in 2003 after being spotted with her abductor.

For the Drexels, his story is a sign of hope for Brittanee, who has been missing for nearly 7 months.

"That's your child, that’s your flesh and blood...and you want to find them," Smart said.

The evening gave him a chance to reach out to the Drexel family.

“It helps to be around people who have either been through it or are going through it," Dawn Drexel, Brittanee's mother, said.

The 18-year-old disappeared on April 25th while on spring break in Myrtle Beach.

As
people bid on Christmas decorations all around Dawn Drexel, she said
the upcoming holiday will be difficult without her daughter.

"Decorating
the Christmas tree," she said. "Decorating the house. Going out
Christmas shopping. Wrapping gifts. She just loved it all."

"I
just miss her so much," Brittanee's grandmother, Carol Wagner, said. "I
just wish whoever has her just brings her home safely to us."

Ed Suk, Executive Director at the Center's New York branch, says the Drexels have to keep believing in Brittanee's return.

"We
know that situations happen all the time, where a child's been missing
for several months, several years, sometimes more than a decade, and
that child is brought home safely," Suk said.

He says the story of Elizabeth Smart, who was found safe after nine months, is proof of that.

Ed Smart says the Drexels are doing the right thing by keeping Brittanee's photo out there.

"It is that awareness, it is going to be that exposure, that helps her to be found," Smart said.

"We
have to keep hoping that she's out there," Dawn Drexel said. "We're
hoping that somebody will come forward with any information."

The fundraiser included about a thousand items donated for silent auction and 33 items for a live auction.

All
of the money goes toward the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children for activities like search efforts and education.