Deceiving her mother to go out, 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel couldn’t have imagined that it would be her last trip in her life. It also made her mother search for 13 years to finally know the truth about what happened to her daughter.
The lie of the high school girl
Brittanee Drexel was described by relatives as a beautiful, cheerful girl who was dearly loved by everyone. In 2009, Brittanee was in her senior year of high school in Rochester City (New York, USA) and was in a romantic relationship with her classmate John Grieco. The high school girl wished that one day she would leave this suburban town in New York to pursue her dream in the field of fashion design.
But 2009 was also a challenging year for the 17-year-old girl as her parents decided to divorce. That year, Brittanee’s academic performance began to decline. That’s why on April 22, 2009, Brittanee’s mother refused to let her go on a trip to South Carolina during spring break.
Despite her daughter’s constant requests to go out, Dawn Pleckan – Brittanee’s mother – disagreed because she wanted her daughter to catch up on her schoolwork. Dawn also worried about the trip lacking parental supervision and didn’t know much about Brittanee’s accompanying friends.
This caused disagreement between the mother and daughter. About an hour later, Dawn agreed to let her daughter stay overnight at a friend’s house without knowing it was just a lie.
Brittanee quickly left without telling her family that she and two other girlfriends would drive to Myrtle Beach, nearly 1,300km away from home. The group arrived safely in Myrtle Beach on the morning of April 23, 2009.
The last message
John Grieco knew that Brittanee had run away from home to hang out in the beach town. At that time, this young man was still in Rochester working and regularly keeping in touch with his girlfriend through text messages.
On April 25, 2009, Brittanee texted her boyfriend saying that the vacation didn’t go as planned. She felt strange, and lonely, and wanted to go back home. At this point, the family still didn’t know about Brittanee’s trip.
Brittanee also told John that she coincidentally met a former classmate named Peter Brozowitz in Myrtle Beach. She planned to meet Peter at the resort where he was staying nearby.
Around 9 p.m. on April 25, Brittanee suddenly stopped texting, making John worried. After many failed attempts to contact his girlfriend, John had to confess to Brittanee’s mother about this unauthorized trip.
Although the mother was very angry, she immediately called the authorities in Myrtle Beach. Since there was no evidence indicating Brittanee was in danger, the authorities couldn’t do much to help. Dawn decided to search for her daughter herself, driving for 13 hours to Myrtle Beach.
Dawn contacted the media, urging the public to provide clues about her daughter’s whereabouts. Initially, local authorities considered this a case of running away from home, but by now they were actively involved in the investigation.
Immediately after that, they questioned Peter Brozowitz, who was believed to be the last person to see Brittanee. Peter said he went out with friends after Brittanee left the resort. Peter’s alibi was confirmed. Police also clarified that the two girlfriends accompanying Brittanee had no involvement.
Last Images
Checking the surveillance cameras at the resort in Myrtle Beach, the police discovered images showing Brittanee arriving there at 8:33 PM, wearing a black and white tank top and shorts, and flip-flops. Fifteen minutes later, she left the hotel alone. Brittanee was walking quite fast and no one was following behind her. That was also the last image of the 17-year-old girl.
Brittanee’s last text message was sent to her boyfriend at 8:58 PM, just a few minutes after leaving the hotel. From then on, she seemed to disappear into thin air.
Searching for clues from the mobile phone records, investigators found that Brittanee’s phone signaled at 11:57 PM on the night she disappeared. The location indicated it had moved near the northern area of the Santee River in McClellanville, a small town about 100km north of Myrtle Beach.
Experts narrowed down the area with dense vegetation and initiated a large-scale search with the assistance of modern equipment and vehicles.
Additionally, they informed Dawn Pleckan – Brittanee’s mother – that if her daughter was indeed taken to this forested area, she might perish within six hours due to wild boars, alligators, or other wild animals. Nevertheless, Dawn was always encouraged to maintain hope and belief.
Fragile Hope
Over the next 1.5 months, Dawn closely followed the search efforts but to no avail. At that time, the grieving mother didn’t know that it would take several more years until crucial leads of the case emerged.
On August 1, 2011, more than two years after Brittanee disappeared, a young woman called the Myrtle Beach Police Department. She suspected her father, Raymond Moody, was involved in Brittanee’s disappearance.
This suspicion stemmed from the words of Angel, Raymond’s girlfriend. Angel had previously called her home and insinuated that “Raymond would lock them all up for what he did to that girl.” However, Angel refused to cooperate with authorities and protected Raymond.
Subsequently, law enforcement applied for a search warrant for the apartment located between Myrtle Beach and McClellanville, where Raymond and Angel stayed for vacation at the end of April 2009, the time when Brittanee vanished. They also approached Raymond at his store.
This man denied any involvement in the disappearance. With no significant findings by the police and Raymond’s denial, the investigation stalled.
In August 2016, seven years after Brittanee mysteriously disappeared, Dawn Pleckan received an unexpected call from the FBI, informing her that a prisoner named Taquan Brown claimed to have information about her daughter’s case.
At that time, Taquan was serving a 25-year sentence for manslaughter and hoped to provide information to authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Fabricated story
Taquan testified that he witnessed an acquaintance named Timothy Da’Shaun Taylor rape Brittanee at his home in McClellanville. At this time, Timothy is in prison on robbery charges.
According to Taquan, Brittanee escaped through the back door but was quickly recaptured and then shot dead by Taylor. Taquan then helped Timothy dispose of the female student’s body in an alligator-infested area in neighboring Berkeley County.
However, authorities doubt the testimony of Taquan, who wants to shorten his prison sentence. The McClellanville area that Taquan spoke about has been mentioned many times by the media in previous searches.
Ultimately, Taquan admitted to making up this story based on what he learned about the disappearance through the media. The investigation returned to the starting line and the case once again fell into a deadlock.
In May 2022, 13 years after Brittanee disappeared, a lawyer called Horry County, South Carolina prosecutors claiming that his client had information about the case. However, he refused to talk to the police and would only work with the state government.
The truth after 13 years
This man is Raymond Moody, 62 years old, who was on the radar of the investigation agency in 2011 but escaped because the police could not find evidence.
Raymond has a history of sex crimes, serving 21 years in prison following the 1983 kidnapping and rape involving a 9-year-old girl in California. After serving his sentence, he returned to his hometown of Georgetown in 2004.
According to the prosecutor, Raymond knew he would have to spend the rest of his life in prison and wanted to be close to his family, so he chose to turn himself in to South Carolina state authorities.
In his confession, Raymond said he discovered Brittanee leaving the hotel while driving with Angel.
In his cold confession, Raymond said that on the evening of September 25, 2009, he was driving his girlfriend Angel in Myrtle Beach when he saw the schoolgirl Brittanee leaving the hotel.
The couple stopped and asked the young woman if she wanted to party with them. The three then returned to the couple’s campsite in McClellanville. Here, they talked happily and smoked marijuana together.
While Angel was leaving, Raymond said he wanted to have sex with Brittanee. When he refused, he raped her. Raymond at that time felt worried that he might get into big trouble with this behavior, so he decided to strangle Brittanee to death. He then wrapped the body in a blanket and hid the body in a nearby forest.
When Angel returned, Raymond said Brittanee had been picked up by a friend. The next day, Raymond returned to the campsite, moved Brittanee’s body, and buried it under a tree in another location. During his confession, Raymond showed no remorse.
On May 11, 2022, Raymond took the authorities to the forest. Here, they found remains along with a contact lens and a nose ring. Dental records and DNA results confirmed it was Brittanee.
On October 19, 2022, Raymond pleaded guilty to murder, kidnapping and sexual abuse. He was sentenced to life in prison plus two consecutive 30-year sentences. Angel’s girlfriend was not charged in connection with the murder.
