BRITTANEE DREXEL - 17 yo (2009) - Rochester NY / Myrtle Beach SC

Family and friends will gather along the Grand Strand in two weeks,
hoping to bring new light to the case of a missing New York teenager
who vanished while on Spring Break in Myrtle Beach last year.
Those closest to 18-year-old Drexel will gather on Saturday at the
Bar Harbor Motel at 6 p.m. for a march to Hurl Rock Park, where family
members are expected to hold a candlelight vigil in honor of the missing
teen.
Drexel's family will also be hosting a classic car show at the Myrtle
Beach Harley Davidson on South Kings Highway, where volunteers will be
passing out flyers to the public in hopes of generating new leads in the
case.
Myrtle Beach Police say Drexel, of Rochester, NY, disappeared after
she was last seen in the area of 11th Avenue South and 20th Avenue South
in Myrtle Beach. Drexel, who was 17 at the time of her disappearance,
was in the area against the will of her mother.
Contact was lost between Drexel and her family in New York on April
25, 2009, the same night authorities say she disappeared. The last
signal from her cell phone came the next night near the South Santee
River.
Lt. Neil Johnson, spokesman for the Georgetown County Sheriff's
Office, says a cell phone signal is what originally led the search for
18-year-old Brittanee Drexel out of Myrtle Beach and into the Santee
area of Georgetown County.
Investigators have pinpointed three or four people of interest in the
disappearance of the 18-year-old New York girl. Johnson said all
persons of interest have been previously questioned by authorities, but
could not confirm an exact time frame in which they were questioned.

Almost a year after 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel disappeared while on
spring break in Myrtle Beach, S.C, the mother of the missing girl says
she's not giving up hope - and she's not at all happy with South
Carolina police.
On Tuesday, Dawn Drexel said she won't stop
looking for her daughter, and says she is "appalled" police are now
saying they believe Brittanee is dead, even though "they don't have a
body or remains." Authorities in Georgetown County, S.C. recently said
prospects of finding the Rochester, N.Y. girl alive do not look good.




Brittanee Drexel (Personal Photo)



Police said Friday they have identified "persons of interest" in
the case, and hope to find evidence that will lead to an arrest. Asked what she knows about those "persons of interest," Drexel
said, "We weren't told much by the police at all... they told us that
they also have a location of interest. They aren't saying anything about
that either." Citing the reported new leads in
the case, Brittanee Drexel's family has postponed a safety awareness
event in her honor, which was intended to mark the one-year anniversary
of her disappearance. The family also announced on its website, www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com,
that they will travel to Myrtle Beach for a pre-planned march and
candlelight service in honor of the anniversary. . Brittanee
Drexel hasn't been seen since leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel April 25,
2009. Dawn Drexel said that although it's been a year, she "will
never stop looking... we need to find her." If you have
information concerning this case, please contact the Myrtle Beach Police
Department at (843) 918-1963.

The distressed mother of a missing New York teen is scheduled to
appear on the Today Show in New York Friday concerning her daughter's
missing persons case.
Officials with the CUE Center in Wilmington say Dawn Drexel is
expected to appear on the nationally televised show between 7-8 a.m. to
bring awareness to the disappearance of her daughter, Brittanee Drexel.
Keri Drexel, a relative of Brittanee, will also attend a conference
at 10 a.m. in collaboration with Brittanee's awareness campaign in
Florida to reveal a new deck of playing cards featuring her niece.
Drexel was chosen as the 2 of clubs to honor her lengthy love for the
sport of soccer and her last known jersey number.
On April 23, an additional new deck of cards will be released at the
Myrtle Beach Police Department at 2 p.m., featuring Brittanee as the 2
of diamonds.

Myrtle Beach Police have not released any new details in their
investigation of missing Chili teenager Brittanee Drexel.
The teen's mother is scheduled to appear on NBC's Today Show Friday
morning. Dawn Drexel will be joined by the founder of Community United
Effort Center for Missing Persons.
Her daughter disappeared nearly a year ago while on spring break in
Myrtle Beach. She's upset that police won't reveal more information on
why the case is now being investigated as a homicide.
Also tomorrow, Brittanee's aunt will reveal a new deck of playing
cards featuring missing children. Brittanee is the 2 of Clubs in honor
of her love for soccer.

The mother of a New York teen who was last seen in South Carolina
nearly a year ago says she's been told little about new information in the case.

New video of Brittanee Drexel, who was 17 when she was last seen in
Myrtle Beach on April 25, 2009, was shown before "Today" show host Matt
Lauer interviewed Dawn Drexel, the teen's mother. The video from
"Investigation Discovery" shows Drexel the day before her disappearance
in a hotel room and texting on her phone.

Drexel told NBC's "Today" show on Friday she thinks police in South
Carolina are trying to find her daughter.

Police have indicated they think Brittanee is dead and Drexel said
Friday the only real possibilities are that her daughter is being held
against her will or that she is dead.

"She's either being held against her will, she's been trafficked or
she's not alive," Drexel said on "Today."

Police anniunced last week they have identified
several people of interest. The Rochester-area, NY, mother says that's also
about all police have told her.

A vigil is planned in Myrtle Beach next week to mark the one-year anniversary of Brittanee's disappearance.

Hope is hard to hold onto after your
daughter has been missing for almost a year; however, Dawn Drexel,
mother of missing teen Brittanee Drexel, told Inside Edition Friday that
hope is one of the few things she still has.

“I have to hold out hope,“ said Dawn Drexel. “She’s my daughter.“

Dawn’s daughter, then 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel from New York, was
vacationing in Myrtle Beach last spring break when she vanished.

Video surveillance from the Blue Water Resort captured the last images of the teen.



Now, Investigation Discovery released new images of Brittanee at a
Myrtle Beach hotel the night before she vanished.

The video shows her texting on her cell phone and laughing.

With three or four person’s of interest in her daughter’s
disappearance, Dawn Drexel is hoping she will see Brittanee again.

“I want to bring her back,“ said Dawn Drexel. “I want her to be back
in our lives. She’s our family. I want my daughter back.“

So far, police have not arrested anyone in connection with Brittanee
Drexel’s disappearance.

Captain Neil Johnson of the Georgetown County
Sheriff’s Office and Lieutenant David Knipes of the Myrtle Beach
Police Department, both say, they have no new information on the case.

Almost a year after Chili teen Brittanee Drexel went missing on
spring break, her family is returning to Myrtle Beach.

"When this first happened and when I went down there, I thought I would be
able to go down there and get her and bring her back," mother Dawn
Drexel said.

Tuesday night, Dawn Drexel left for Myrtle Beach.
She and Brittanee's father Chad will be meeting with Myrtle Beach
police for the first time since they announced a possible break in the case.

Eighteen-year-old Brittanee disappeared while on spring break in Myrtle Beach last April.

This coming Sunday, it will be one year since Brittanee disappeared, and her mother is
hoping that a march and candlelight vigil will encourage someone with
information to come forward.

"It's hard going down there," Dawn Drexel said.
She has packed for Myrtle Beach too many times in the
search for her daughter, but this trip is different.

It is a terrible anniversary, marking one year since Brittanee left a hotel in
Myrtle Beach and disappeared.

This weekend, her mother says they will retrace her steps.

"We're going to travel the same way Brittanee traveled down to that hotel," Dawn Drexel said. "We're
going to walk from the Bar Harbor Hotel down to the Blue Water Hotel."

There, she says, they'll hold a candlelight vigil, something she
says is difficult but important to do.

"When your child goes missing, you have to keep them in the media no matter what," she said.
"Youhave to because then people will still be looking for them."

Brittanee's younger brother Camden and younger sister Myrissa will be a part of
that march. It will be their first time in the city where their sister disappeared.

"It may help them to feel a little bit closer to her," Dawn Drexel said.

The family will also meet with Myrtle Beach police and the Sheriff's office for the first time since
they announced they were investigating this case as a homicide.

Earlier this month, police said they had three to four people of interest and
an area of interest along the Georgetown/Charleston County line.


"We'll be going in there with a lot of questions," Dawn Drexel
said. "We both have questions, Chad and I."

It's been a year of questions for the Drexel family, and now they are ready for answers.

"I just want to find her, you know," Dawn Drexel said. "I want to find her and bring her back home."

Dawn Drexel says local police will be holding a press conference on Friday
afternoon to talk about Brittanee's case.

Brittanee Drexel went missing almost one year ago, and searchers
hope billboards, fliers, and now playing cards will help get the word
out about the case.
The South Carolina CrimeStoppers Council put together a list of 52
cases, highlighting Drexel and others, including Crystal Soles, who went
missing from Andrews in 2005. Each playing card has a picture and
description of either a missing person or an unsolved case.
Gail Soles, Crystal's mother, says she is glad to have her daughter
featured.
"I just hope [with] all this publicity, people see and know that
she's still missing," said Soles. "She's still out there somewhere and
I'm never going to give up. I've still got my hope."
This is the second edition of the deck of cards, and Tom Lucas of the
CrimeStoppers Council says they have gotten several breaks in cases
before. Lucas says they sell the cards to inmates.
"In the prison system, there's a lot of information. People know
things. You're constantly seeing a victims' family, victims' faces,"
explained Lucas of the benefit of putting the cases on playing cards.
Dawn Drexel, Brittanee's mother, says she does think having her
daughter's picture on these cards will help in the search. Brittanee is
featured on the 2 of diamonds.
"We're very thankful that they did think of Brittanee," said Drexel.
Brittanee Drexel went missing nearly a year ago from a Myrtle Beach
hotel while on spring break. Her family is in town for a candlelight
vigil this weekend and say this deck of cards can only help in their
search for her.
"All we can do is hope," said Drexel.
If you have any tips about any of these cases, you're asked to call
888-CRIME-SC.

Brittanee Drexel and Crystal Soles are among 50 other cases featured in a
campaign to increase awareness about missing people and unsolved
homicides in the state.
The missing women are featured in a deck of cards that are sold to
prison inmates throughout the state through a program by crime stoppers.
Drexel also was featured in a deck of cards released in Florida.

Brittanee Drexel was last seen on video surveillance leaving the Blue
Water Hotel on Ocean Boulevard while on spring break in the area on
April 25, 2009. Dozens of searchers have scoured Myrtle Beach and wooded
areas in Georgetown and Charleston counties looking for clues in the
teen's disappearance.Searches began about nine months ago after
officials learned Drexel's cell phone gave off its last known signal on
April 26 around U.S. 17 Bypass and the South Santee River in the
Georgetown County.Also from the Georgetown County area, the case
of Crystal Soles, who was 28 when she was last seen Jan. 24, 2005 at
Shaw’s Corner Store in Andrews, is featured in the card campaign.The
cards were unveiled Friday and families of the women will gather along
Ocean Boulevard today for a march and candle light vigil to mark the
year anniversary since the Drexel was last seen in Myrtle Beach.“It’s
hard to come back down here, very emotional,” said Dawn Drexel,
Brittanee’s mom. “I think it’s wonderful to get her name and face out
there. We need information about her. We’re very thankful to them for
putting her in that deck of cards.”Brittanee’s dad, Chad Drexel,
said he hopes the cards, which are sold in state prisons and in some
county detention center, will generate some information that can be left
anonymously with state crime stoppers.“We’ll do anything to help
to bring our daughter home,” Chad Drexel said. “Criminals know
criminals. Someone knows something out there.”More than 20 people
came from the Rochester, N.Y., area where Brittanee lived to support
her family. Those supporters included two of Brittanee’s friends.“We
came to show her that we care and for support,” said Jessica Nice, who
has known Brittanee her entire life. “We want to show her we haven’t
given up yet.”Chad and Dawn Drexel said the year since their
daughter was last seen has been “hell.”“It’s been a roller
coaster ride of endless nightmares,” Chad Drexel said. “I just want to
wake up and it’s not there, not real.”“The not knowing where she
is or is she hurt, is she not alive has been the worse,” Dawn Drexel
said. “We need someone to come forward with that key piece of
information so we can get some resolution to Brittanee’s case.”Soles’
mother, Gail Soles, said she understands how the Drexel family feels as
the anniversary approaches.“We know what it’s like. Lord, I wish
I could find my child, just to have closure. It’s hard. It’s really
hard not knowing,” Gail Soles said. “Somebody please come forward and
give us some more information. Let us bring her home because we really
need closure.”Monica Caison, director of the Community United
Effort Center for Missing Persons, said the cards do generate leads in
cases.“I know it solves cases and it brings forth tips,” Caison
said. “This is reassurance that no one has forgotten them. This is just
another outlet to get their information out there.”Anyone with
information about Brittanee Drexel's disappearance can call Myrtle Beach
police at 918-1300 or go to the Web site at
www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com.Anyone with information about
Crystal Soles’ disappearance can call Andrews police at 264-5223 or go
to the Web site at www.findcrystalsoles.com.

For the families of missing persons, anniversaries can evoke fond
memories or devastating reminders of the past.The Drexel
family understands that today likely will involve both emotions.
Three hundred and sixty-five days ago today, Brittanee Drexel walked
through the sliding doors of the Bar Harbor Motel in Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
sporting brown hair with blond highlights and wearing a multi-colored
shirt, black shorts and flip-flops.That image of Brittanee — at the time a 17-year-old
junior at Gates Chili High School — walking out of the South Carolina
motel during an impromptu spring break trip remains frozen in relatives'
minds."One of the greatest challenges when you reach that one-year anniversary is
maintaining hope because that ... tends to be a very powerful moment
for families. They have to go through a whole host of emotions that get
brought back to the forefront," said Ed Suk, executive director of the
New York chapter of the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children. "It's one of those absolute markers that remind you that a
year's worth of hard work has not resulted in your child being found."

A difficult milestone
The Drexel family traveled to South Carolina
this weekend and participated in a 20-block march Saturday from the Bar
Harbor Motel to Hurl Rock Park in Myrtle Beach. A candlelight vigil and
a video montage on a projection screen showing Brittanee interacting
with family members were also parts of the tribute. The first
anniversary is hitting family members hard."It's just a horrible feeling, and our stress and
anxiety level is off the chart," Keri Drexel, Brittanee's aunt, said
Saturday afternoon."I'm actually staying right next to the
hotel where Brittanee was last seen, and it just makes us feel so
frustrated and upset that we don't have any answers and that we don't
understand what happened."Family members have met with Myrtle Beach police, but
no new information was released.Suk said it's common for
families to go back to the last place where their child was seen, such
as the highway where a drunken driver killed them or a particular
location, such as a hotel. Experts believe it brings a connection to
families, knowing their loved one was there, and sometimes they dream of
finding unseen clues there.
For the Drexel family, the year has been filled with some hope that
turned to anguish as promising leads resulted in disappointing
dead-ends.
Five days after her disappearance, police said they received a tip
that a young woman, believed to be Brittanee, had been on a bus. After
another tip alleging she was seen a week later in a grocery store didn't
pan out, police thought they had their best lead yet when her cell
phone gave off a signal about 55 miles south of Myrtle Beach. After
using canine, boat, aerial and foot patrols, neither Brittanee nor her
cell phone has been found.At least 10 smaller searches were conducted during the
past year with the same results.In the past month, more
leads surfaced. Lt. Neil Johnson from the Georgetown County Sheriff's
Department said there are three to four people that police are now
interviewing. Their names have not been released.South Carolina police have said they are now
investigating the case as a homicide.

Looking ahead
"You can't take hope from the (families) because that is the only thing they
have. It's what they have when they wake up, and it's what keeps people
moving through the day," said Monica Caison, founder for the Center for
Missing Persons in North Carolina, who has become the liaison for the
Drexel family."And
it's not about false hope, either. It is the hope that something will
be found or an answer will come one day."As days go by,
another challenge is keeping people as connected to the cause as
Brittanee's parents are.In
missing person cases, distant relatives or friends' attention to the
cause often starts to wane, and they spend less time with the family
during search efforts. If family members feel like they are receiving
less support, their optimism can fade, said Suk. That's when they need
even more positive support."Even during tough days, families don't want to think
anything horrific has happened to their child. They need to feel like
their child is going to come back," said Suk. "That is what's going to
keep this challenging anniversary somehow manageable."

Lt. Neil Johnson of the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office said
this morning there are no new areas of interest in the case of Brittanee
Drexel, a New York teenager who disappeared last year when visiting
Myrtle Beach.But searchers are still looking, said Monica Caison
of the CUE Center for Missing Persons in Wilmington, N.C., which has
organized searches for the missing teen since she disappeared about a
year ago. Drexel was last seen on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.Caison
said her organization searched an area in Georgetown County two weeks
ago, one of several that have been on CUE's search plan from the start.
She said the areas were scattered in Georgetown and elsewhere that she
didn't want to identify.
"These are very small areas that need to be looked at just because,"
Caison said today.

http://www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com/News_Updates.html

Poster's Note: When putting this story up, I wondered what page she was on in "Missing Children". Then, using the search tool, I was reminded that it has been over a year since Britt went missing. As she was a "neighbor from just up the road a piece" I am as saddened today. perhaps more than, when this first happened.


She vanished without a trace more than a year ago,
and now one New York high school will be honoring the disappearance of
Brittanee Drexel with an honorary diploma.

Drexel was to graduate alongside her friends and
classmates from Gates Chili High School on June 23, but instead of
accepting a hard-earned diploma herself, the teen's family will be
doing it for her.

"[The school] called last week to inform me that they would honor my daughter with an honorary diploma," Dawn Drexel, the
teen's mom, said. "This entire ordeal is so real. I miss my daughter
and ache for her to come home."

The teen, who was 17 at the time of her
disappearance, was last seen in the area of 11th Avenue South and 20th
Avenue South in Myrtle Beach. Drexel was in the Grand Strand against the
will of her mother.

Contact was lost between Drexel and her family in
New York on April 25, 2009, the same night authorities said she
disappeared. The last signal ping from her cell phone came the next
night near the South Santee River.

Since Drexel's disappearance, several search
efforts for the teen have been executed from Horry County to Charleston
County. Despite the efforts fronted by area police and the CUE Center
for Missing Persons, each search effort has fallen short.

Both the Myrtle Beach Police Department and
Georgetown County Sheriff's Office have full-time investigators working
only on the Drexel case, according to authorities.

In April, authorities publicly pinpointed three or
four persons of interest who have all been previously questioned by
authorities in connection to the case. Lt. Neil Johnson, spokesman for
the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office at the time, could not confirm a
time frame in which the suspects were questioned.

Two of the suspects, according to Johnson, were
subjected to lie detector tests. Johnson, however, would not comment on
the results of the tests.

"At this time, there is no reason to believe these
people [the persons of interest] know Drexel directly," Johnson said.

Myrtle Beach Police Det. Vincent Dorio said the
recent advancements in the case in April developed from a tip, and
detectives are confident the information is leading them in the right
direction to finding who might be responsible for Drexel's
disappearance.

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.

Hundreds donned the cap and gown Wednesday evening, graduating high
school and entering a new chapter in their lives. But for one Chili
family, they can't even turn the page.
Brittanee Drexel was supposed to graduate Wednesday night with her
friends. Instead no one knows where she is or if she's even alive.
"We just wish she was here, and I know a lot of graduates wish she
was here too," said Brittanee's mother Dawn Drexel.
She says it was a tough night. After all the graduates' names were
called, one last name was read: Brittanee Drexel. The entire Class of
2010 stood up and gave the missing teen a standing ovation.
Gates-Chili High School honored Brittanee with an honorary diploma.
Brittanee's parents Chad and Dawn Drexel accepted the diploma along with
Brittanee's little sister Myrissa Drexel.
"It's hard not seeing her cross that stage," said Myrissa. "She would
have been right up there being like, "Yeah! I graduated!"
Brittanee's disappearance has been hard on the Drexel family and the
Gates-Chili community. She hasn't been seen since April 25th, 2009 when
she left a hotel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She had been there on
Spring Break against her parents' wishes. Now, everyone just wishes she
was with the rest of her classmates at graduation.
"Had she had been here, she would have been holding it," said Dawn
Drexel as she held her daughter's honorary diploma. "She would have been
so proud."
Some of Brittanee's best friends are still keeping hope alive.
"She was such a strong person," said Mike Caruso. "I have no doubt in
my mind that she's still out there. She's one of the bravest people I
ever met in my entire life, and I'll always miss her."
The Drexel family will continue their search.
"We're trying to find her and hopefully when she comes back home I
can go ahead and dry her rose and give her this," said Dawn Drexel
speaking of the diploma.
Dawn Drexel says she spoke with Myrtle Beach Police this week. Right
now, they don't have any new leads. Back in April, police announced they
had several persons of interest in the case and were investigating her
disappearance as a homicide. So far, no arrests have been made.

The task force of investigators on the case of
missing spring breaker Brittanee Drexel now includes an agent from the
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.A
source close to the investigation confirmed SLED Cpt. Kin McKenzie
joined the investigation last week after receiving a full briefing.
Drexel, 18, and from Rochester, NY, vanished from Ocean
Boulevard in Myrtle Beach on April 25, 2009.Drexel's
cell phone signals were tracked from Myrtle Beach to an area along the
Georgetown/Charleston county line the night she went missing.
The investigation has spanned all three counties and prompted
the creation of a task force of detectives from Myrtle Beach, Georgetown
County and Charleston County.While the
task force has worked closely together, each investigator has
jurisdictional restrictions.McKenzie,
however, will not have to worry about jurisdiction since his is
statewide, the source said.McKenzie's
presence could help "expedite" certain aspects of the case, though the
source could not talk specifics.In April,
the task force announced that they had developed several persons of
interest in the case, though no arrests have been made.

A team of detectives looking to crack the case of
a missing New York teen is investigating the attempted abduction of a
20-year-old woman along South Ocean Boulevard late Wednesday afternoon.

Myrtle Beach Police were called to the 2200 block
of South Ocean Boulevard after a woman claimed the occupants of a pale
blue van attempted to abduct her near 22nd Avenue South.

The victim told police she was walking to a nearby
mini-mart when the van approached her. Two men inside of the vehicle,
the woman said, grabbed her by the waist and arms in an attempt to pull
her inside of an open van door.

The 20-year-old's brush with danger has sparked
the curiosity of many who are familiar with the 2009 disappearance of
Brittanee Drexel.

The teen, who was 17 years old at the time,
vanished while on Spring Break in Myrtle Beach. Drexel, according to
investigators, was in the Grand Strand against the will of her mother.

Police said Drexel was last seen in the area of
11th Avenue South and 20th Avenue South, in close proximity to
Wednesday's latest attempted abduction.

The related incident locations have sparked a
large amount of speculation, but Myrtle Beach Police aren't quick to tie
the crimes together.

"At this time, we are not saying that the cases
are related; however, we must exercise due diligence and properly review
the cases and see if there are any similarities," Capt. David Knipes,
spokesman for the Myrtle Beach Police Department, said.

Knipes said in a prepared statement that the only
similarities between the two cases are the approximate locations and the
fact that the two victims are younger women.

As investigators continue to mull through the two
cases, Myrtle Beach Police are asking the public to be on the lookout
for two male suspects believed to be tied to Wednesday's attempted
abduction.






Police are actively searching for two black males,
one of which has been described by the 20-year-old victim as a heavyset
man with a moustache and goatee. At the time of Wednesday's attempted
abduction, the man was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts.

The second suspect, according to victim reports,
was described as a tall, slender black male. He was said to have been
wearing a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts at the time of the
incident.

The two were traveling in a pale blue, older-model
box van with a large number of rust spots during the attempted
abduction. The victim said she remembered a square, yellow sticker
located on the rear-passenger window.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Myrtle Beach Police Department immediately.

A 37-year-old man has been arrested in connection
to the attempted abduction of a 20-year-old woman along South Ocean
Boulevard on July 21.

Capt. David Knipes, spokesman for the Myrtle Beach
Police Department, said Timothy Shaun Taylor, 37, of McClellanville,
SC, turned himself into police Wednesday morning.



Taylor was charged with attempted kidnapping and
first degree assault and battery for his role in the attempted abduction
of a Tennessee woman in the 2200 block of South Ocean Boulevard.

The victim, identified as Randa Massey, told
police she was walking to a nearby mini-mart when a pale blue van
approached her from behind. Two men inside of the vehicle, Massey said,
grabbed her by the waist and arms in an attempt to pull her inside of an
open van door.

The 20-year-old managed to successfully escape her
potential abductors, after throwing an elbow at one of the suspects and
hitting him in the face. After injuring the man, he and two others fled
the area by van.

Massey's brush with danger has sparked the curiosity of many who are
familiar with the 2009 disappearance of Brittanee Drexel.

Chad Drexel, Brittanee's father, said Wednesday
she became familiar with Taylor's name at the time of her daughter's
initial disappearance.

Drexel, who was 17 years old at the time, vanished
while on Spring Break in Myrtle Beach. The teen, according to
investigators, was in the Grand Strand against the will of her mother.

Police said Drexel was last seen in the area of
11th Avenue South and 20th Avenue South, in close proximity to the
latest attempted abduction on July 21.

Contact was lost between Drexel and her family in
New York on April 25, 2009, the same night authorities say she
disappeared. The last signal from her cell phone came the next night
near the South Santee River.

Since she went missing, multiple search efforts
for the teen have been executed from Horry County to Charleston County.
While investigators have searched throughout three counties, each search
effort has left police empty handed.

The Drexel case has led the Myrtle Beach Police
Department, Georgetown County Sheriff's Office and State Law Enforcement
Division to dedicate a handful of detectives to investigate leads in
the teen's disappearance.

The related incident locations have sparked a
large amount of speculation, but Myrtle Beach Police aren't quick to tie
the crimes together.

"At this time, we are not saying that the cases
are related; however, we must exercise due diligence and properly review
the cases and see if there are any similarities," Capt. David Knipes,
spokesman for the Myrtle Beach Police Department, said.

Knipes said in a prepared statement that the only
similarities between the two cases are the approximate locations and the
fact that the two victims are younger women.

Dawn Drexel, Brittanee's mother, said she has
placed a call into police requesting further information on Taylor's
arrest, but has not been contacted by authorities.

Myrtle Beach Police say investigators are
continuing their search for two other suspects tied to Massey's
attempted abduction, in addition to leads in the Drexel case.

Anyone with information on the two incidents is asked to call
the Myrtle Beach Police Department immediately.

Authorities in South Carolina are investigating possible links
between the attempted kidnapping of a young woman, the disappearance of a
New York teen and an unsolved homicide.The Post and Courier of
Charleston reports that Timothy Shaun Taylor, 37, of McClellanville,
S.C., turned himself in Wednesday, accused of trying to kidnap a woman
in Myrtle Beach last week.The incident occurred near where
Brittanee Drexel, 17, of Rochester, N.Y., disappeared in April 2009.
That disappearance led to extensive searches along the South Carolina
coast.
Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon says detectives are now also
comparing the cases to the 1998 killing of Shannon McConaughey.Taylor's
brother, Randall Keith Taylor, was originally charged in the
McConaughey case, but those charges were later dismissed. McConaughey's
body was found in Charleston County, near the last location of Drexel's
cell phone signal.Drexel was last seen leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel
with a group of friends who had traveled with her from Rochester, N.Y.
Cannon said the three cases have similarities and officials would be remiss if they did not investigate."It's
just a natural evolution when you are dealing with cases like these,"
the sheriff said. "If you've got something that suggests a pattern of
similar incidents, it is the responsible thing to do."Myrtle
Beach Police Capt. David Knipes said no connections have been found
between last week's attempted kidnapping and the Drexel case.
Taylor could be sentenced to 40 years if convicted of attempted kidnapping
and first degree assault and battery.He told authorities at a bond hearing Wednesday
he tried to contact police when he heard he was wanted.
"I didn't try to hide anything because I know it wasn't me," he said.

The Wilmington-based Cue Center for Missing Persons made a stop in
Rochester, N.Y. Monday night with this year's "On the Road to Remember
Tour." The team attended a rally hosted by the family of Brittanee
Drexel, the New York teen who was last seen in Myrtle Beach in April of
2009. The goal of the tour is to help renew interest in missing persons cases."You
have to keep your child's face out there in case someone sees them or
someone may know some info about them," said Dawn Drexel, Brittanee's
mother. "If it was someone else's child, I think they would do the same
thing."The 10-day, 11-state tour ends Saturday in Wilmington.

The case of a missing Chili teen will be the topic of a nationally televised show premiering Monday. “Disappeared”, airing at 10 p.m. on Investigation Discovery, will feature the story of Brittanee Drexel. Drexel was 17 years old when vanished during a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. on April 25, 2009. She was last seen leaving a hotel with a group of friends.


- A show that follows the unpredictable path of a missing person's case will be highlighting the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel during its season premiere, schedued to air Oct. 4 on Investigation Discovery.The episode of "Disappeared" will attempt to piece together exactly what happened to the New York teen who vanished in April 2009 while on Spring Break in Myrtle Beach.Drexel, who was 17 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen in the area of 11th Avenue South and 20th Avenue South in Myrtle Beach. Drexel was in the area against the will of her mother when she disappeared.Investigators report contact was lost between Drexel and her family in New York on April 25, 2009, the same night authorities believe she disappeared.The last signal ping from her cell phone came the next night near the South Santee River.Since Drexel's disappearance, several search efforts for the teen have been executed from Horry County to Charleston County. Despite the efforts fronted by area police and the CUE Center for Missing Persons, each search effort has fallen short.Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Drexel is urged to contact the agency at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

'Disappeared' is back on Investigation Discovery at 10 p.m. tonight, and the second season premiere is this desperately harrowing story about a New York teenager who went missing during spring break. Brittanee Drexel was just 17 when she went missing on April 25th 2009. She'd gone to Myrtle Beach with her friends to celebrate spring break, but as her parents had forbidden the trip, she'd gone without their knowledge. So having told her parents she was staying with friends just a few miles away from her home in Rochester, she made the journey to Myrtle Beach to start her vacation. Only her boyfriend knew where she really was. As the days went on, Brittanee stayed in contact with her family and boyfriend by text, and on the last night of her vacation, she was going to visit with some other friends from back home who coincidentally were vacationing in the same area. She borrowed a pair of shorts from one of her roommates at her hotel and set off to meet Peter – the friend from back home – at his hotel. However, the girl she'd borrowed the shorts from wanted them back, so Brittanee had to turn round and walk the mile or so back to her hotel to return the shorts. But she never made it.

Investigators release new information in Drexel disappearance
Posted:

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Oct 27, 2010 7:21 PM CDT Updated:

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Oct 28, 2010 5:30 PM CDT


MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Myrtle Beach Police investigators are releasing new information in the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel, saying that they are looking at even more people who may have been involved.

Captain of Investigations, Joe Vella, says the number keeps growing.

"There's a couple more we're looking at now," Captain Vella explained. "One will lead to another to another to another, so we know that during the experiences of investigations, it's going to lead to you know, several more at some point, and they'll be people that will be questioned."

Captain Vella says they are just one good lead away from making an arrest.

"One more [person of interest] could break the case," Captain Vella explained.

A team of investigators has been working on this case, some of them even wear "Help Find Brittanee" bracelets. They say they have to be tight-lipped about it all, because it is an active investigation, but Detective Vincent Dorio says they are getting closer.

"I think in the end, they'll be several arrests, but it's going to start with one, and then the domino effect will occur and one right after another, people will start talking," Detective Dorio said.

However, there could be yet another part to this story - an attempted abduction in the same area of Ocean Boulevard where Drexel was last seen.

In July, 20 year old Randa Massey was walking alone along Ocean Boulevard, when police say men in a blue van pulled up, grabbed her, and tried to take her.

Days later, Shaun Taylor of McClellanville turned himself in to police.

Taylor is facing attempted kidnapping charges and is out on bond. Investigators say they've compared this case and the Drexel case closely - to see if there are any similarities.

For the first time, investigators are revealing that Taylor is also a person of interest in the Drexel disappearance.

Captain Vella says even though Taylor is a person of interest in the case, it doesn't mean the cases are directly related.

"We have no idea what happened to Brittanee so we can't connect that to say that's how it happened to say that somebody, you know, jumped out of a van and grabbed her, we don't have anything that says that, in this case we know what happened," Captain Vella explained.

A task force has now been formed across several law enforcement agencies to work to solve this case.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-888-CRIME-SC.

Copyright 2010 WMBF News. All rights reserved.

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/13400141/investigators-release-new-information-in-drexel-disappearance

Another search was held Sunday in Charleston county for missing teen Brittanee Drexel.17-year-old Brittanee Drexel disappeared while she was in Myrtle Beach on spring break with friends, April 25th 2009.Around 50 people from the CUE Center for Missing Persons and members of law enforcement searched in McClellanville. CUE Center founder Monica Caison says they searched an estimated two mile area near Rutledge Road, off of Highway 17. She says the search lasted from 8 a.m. to around 6 p.m.Britannee's mom, Dawn Drexel was also a part of the search. Caison says they did not find anything, and she's not sure if they will be coming back. She says there have been nearly 50 search efforts so far.

Myrtle Beach police have asked a specialized team of law
enforcement professionals to review the case of a New York teen last
seen in Myrtle Beach on Spring Break in 2009.Members of Project
Alert, a group of retired law enforcement professionals who are trained
by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, will arrive
Monday to review the case with Myrtle Beach police investigators.Brittanee
Drexel, whose 19th birthday was Oct. 5, was last seen on April 25,
2009, on video surveillance leaving the Blue Water Hotel at 2001 S.
Ocean Blvd., police said. She was 17 at the time and had come to Myrtle
Beach with some friends and without the consent of her parents.
Brittanee Drexel profile to air on TV; Teen last seen in Myrtle Beach


A television show will air a profile tonight of the case of a New York
teen who was last seen in Myrtle Beach during spring break last year.


Brittanee Drexel, whose 19th birthday is Thursday, was last seen on
April 25, 2009, on video surveillance leaving the Blue Water Hotel at
2001 S. Ocean Blvd., police said. She was 17 at the time and had come to
Myrtle Beach with some friends and without the consent of her parents.


The show will join dozens that have profiled Drexel. Her family, friends
and those who have searched for her have made many appearances on
various national television shows seeking information about her.

More than 170 people from across the nation are Project Alert
members, according to the center’s website. The group will go over the
entire Drexel case with investigators next week and then provide
suggestions about the case to local authorities.“Their expertise
is in so many different areas with them being retired law enforcement
that we thought we should take advantage of this system,” Myrtle Beach
police Capt. Joe Vella said of the group. “Our chief is focused on it . .
. they will assist us and give us ideas and suggestions. We’ll use
their expertise along with ours to continue to work the case.”The consultation by Project Alert members is funded through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.Drexel
has been profiled on dozens of local and national television shows,
billboards and websites. Authorities say they will continue to profile
her case with the hope that someone with information regarding her
whereabouts will come forward with details.Dozens of searchers
have scoured Myrtle Beach and wooded areas in Georgetown and Charleston
counties looking for clues in Drexel's disappearance, police said.Searches
began in Georgetown and Charleston counties after officials learned
Drexel's cell phone gave off its last known signal on April 26, 2009,
around U.S. 17 Bypass and the South Santee River in Georgetown County.Various rewards are available from law enforcement and a New York based church for information about Drexel.Anyone
with information regarding Drexel are asked to call Myrtle Beach police
at 918-1382 or they can submit information online at
http://helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com.


Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/01/07/1908109/missing-children-investigators.html#ixzz1ANFtKJpV