Found Deceased SC - Brittanee Drexel, 17, Myrtle Beach, 25 April 2009 - #12

[MBLover]

The room with 15 people was some poor reporting...

There were 2 groups that co-mingled - the group of 4 (BD, AL, PO, JO) who stayed at the BH and then the group that stayed at the Boardwalk (UO, NC, LD, KS, AH, VN). Which doesn't add up to 15... I don't know if the reporter was trying to add in PB's group, or the other group of girls from ROC who were also there, but staying elsewhere and didn't seem to really be involved with either group - with the exception of some of them knowing each other.

ETA: I have stayed at the BH - in what they call a 2 room suite...and there's no way 15 people could stay in a single room there...much less a 2 room suite. It's way too small

 

[MBLover]

respectfully snipped

I've never been able to wrap my brain around WHY those girls just took off and moved to another hotel and just left Britt's stuff behind!!!!! How did they expect her to find them when she returned? This still upsets me! Perhaps Britt already knew and they thought she would pick up her stuff later and join them but this has always puzzled me...

MOO.....

wm

That's another thing that was kind of poor reporting. Apparently those that BD came with were 'visiting' their other friends at the Boardwalk. It appears that when they 'received' news about BD missing they just stayed there in the other friend's room.

BD, JO, PO, & AL weren't scheduled to leave the BH until the next morning and were not moving until check out time to the next hotel (which seems to be the Boardwalk).

So they hadn't actually checked out yet and hadn't left BD's clothes behind. Their clothes and other items were there as well.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

Thanks for clearing this up MBLover! I didn't follow Britt's case closely in the beginning so there's alot of info that I don't know about. I appreciate you and others here who are more 'in the know' than myself for answering all of my questions.

wm

 

[LLLindsayy]

I, too, thought 15 sounded like a drastically high number regarding the people in the hotel room. I didn't remember there being that many people. It sounds like sloppy reporting right off the bat.

But, then I wondered if the other people in the room had just been unknown to us prior to this? I guess it is possible... when I stayed in MB our room was a suite and we had more than one room within ours. What if there were 4 rooms in their suite? They could keep 4 in each room... just throwing ideas out there.

 

[nosysw]

:laughbounce: Bump...

 

[Rochestergirl]

How can we not be hearing anything? arrgh frustrating I hope DD keeps the heat on MB LE

 

[ndskies]

LLLindsay Thank You for bringing up Brandy to the forum on page 7 # 165. Notice any Similarities . There are several . Even in the case of Crystal Soles . These girls all disappeared with out a trace no one seeing anything. There was a Van parked in front of Brandy's apartment that night . What if ....these guys got all of these girls , they are all so similar. They were all involved with Shannon McConaughey. One of them Harry James Rivers lived in the area at one time 3 Blocks from where Brandy lived at 2050 PINE FIELD CT 615 N CHAS , SC 29405 . If One of them lived there i'm sure they were all familiar with the area. Brandy has been brought up along with Brittinee since ST has been arrested . I think they need to take some dogs out there to the Francis Marion Forest where they all live and then maybe we all shall have some answers. I've been reading these post for a while not sure if i intruded but thanks for listening .

 

[SeaNymph]

I recall hearing there was another group, not really close friends but acquaintances from Roc, staying at a house or perhaps what they call a 'unit' at one of the campgrounds...Ocean Lakes I think. This was not from a printed report or anything, so I have to honestly categorize it as a rumor. Ocean Lakes is right on the edge of Myrtle Beach, south possibly just within the limits of the town of Surfside beach/Garden City limits. Again, IIRC, these were not people we have all heard mentioned like JO, PO and the PB group at BH.

 

[MBLover]

Yes - you are correct, it was a group of girls and it does appear that they were staying in a house at OL. That is the other group I was referencing in my post.

ETA: OL Campground is a considerable way from OB (main drag)

 

[RoseC]

Hello all,
Been away all day, in storming weather but cooled temp down that was so goodddd ,,,,, I seen that DD got a tatto of BD on her back (looks like on shoulder /back area, and it is so pretty, looks like bd other pic,,,,,she truly loves her daughter

 

[LLLindsayy]

morning bumps <3

 

[waltzingmatilda]

LLLindsay Thank You for bringing up Brandy to the forum on page 7 # 165. Notice any Similarities . There are several . Even in the case of Crystal Soles . These girls all disappeared with out a trace no one seeing anything. There was a Van parked in front of Brandy's apartment that night . What if ....these guys got all of these girls , they are all so similar. They were all involved with Shannon McConaughey. One of them Harry James Rivers lived in the area at one time 3 Blocks from where Brandy lived at 2050 PINE FIELD CT 615 N CHAS , SC 29405 . If One of them lived there i'm sure they were all familiar with the area. Brandy has been brought up along with Brittinee since ST has been arrested . I think they need to take some dogs out there to the Francis Marion Forest where they all live and then maybe we all shall have some answers. I've been reading these post for a while not sure if i intruded but thanks for listening .

ndskies,

:Welcome-12-june: to WS!

You are not intruding at all. Please continue to contribute to the thread.

I am also glad that LLLindsayyyy brought Brandy's case to our attention as I was not aware of her case at all. My prayers go out to her family.

Do you sleuths here feel we should begin a separate thread for all these young women who are missing/murdered in the coastal SC area? Just an idea because I would like to learn more similarities of the cases of the missing women. Moo.

wm

 

[Strawberry Fields]

WM,

There is a small thread for Brandy on Ws http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26002&page=3&highlight=brandy+hanna

I am not sure about all of the others but I do think each missing person deserves attention that we can give.

Thanks,
SF

 

[waltzingmatilda]

Strawberry, Thank you for your direction. I wasn't aware Brandy had a thread here.

wm

 

[Strawberry Fields]

Strawberry, Thank you for your direction. I wasn't aware Brandy had a thread here.

wm

Have to admit I was not aware either until I tried searching the name. It surprises me how long WS has been around and it is really an eye opener when you can go back and look at some of these missing people from the date of their disappearance. Takes me back to when I first started to follow the thread for Brittanee, making me realize there were "others before us" who felt obviously as strongly about those missing as we do about the ones we follow today and pray for ALL of them.

 

[RoseC]

****** Bumping For Britt*******
Holding to faith and hope to see her home******

 

[SeaNymph]

Have to admit I was not aware either until I tried searching the name. It surprises me how long WS has been around and it is really an eye opener when you can go back and look at some of these missing people from the date of their disappearance. Takes me back to when I first started to follow the thread for Brittanee, making me realize there were "others before us" who felt obviously as strongly about those missing as we do about the ones we follow today and pray for ALL of them.

Is Brittanee's the first case you've followed this closely, Strawberry? Like message boards, etc?

I've always been interested in true crime...first true crime book I read was Helter Skelter, about 10 years old (! - yikes, I know), and I've always been intrigued by the criminal mind and of course interested in the personal stories of these people, the victims as well as the perpetrators. I guess the first one that really got me as far as non-stop media coverage was OJ, of course, but I think the one to most affect me so far has been Laci Peterson. I could relate to her on so many levels and I think most could because just about everyone has a sister, daughter, aunt, or friend she reminded people of. Now with Brittanee it is a matter of the proximity that plays into it certainly, how someone can just vanish like she seemingly did, and again, I have a niece her age that puts her story in that perspective for me too, to say I would go to the end of the earth to find her if I had to.

You feel like you know these people...it's strange, isn't it? I remember thinking with Laci, number one, she was gone before any of us ever heard her name, and two, and this may sound wierd, but I felt really funny during the trial when photos of her home were being shown, and there was a photo of a drawer in her bathroom, curling iron, make-up in it, etcetera, and just thought how bizarre it was this complete stranger, here I was peeking so intimately into her life - imagining if any one ever got a glimpse of things that innocent yet so intimate in my own life. One day you're just an average person and suddenly your most personal belongings splashed across national media. I just can't imagine what that puts a family through, the little things like that.

Actually, when I was maybe 5 or so, I met one of SC's most prolific serial killers, "Pee Wee" Gaskins. It was the summer before he was arrested, I think that was 1975. He had a 'reputation' for years, and came to my dad's boat shop, driving his hearse, I distinctly remember, and asked my dad to build him a boat without a deposit. My dad said no, and that was that, but after he was arrested my dear old half-senile great aunt went on for years that "Its a wonder he didnt kill your daddy right then and there!".

 

[RoseC]

Is Brittanee's the first case you've followed this closely, Strawberry? Like message boards, etc?

I've always been interested in true crime...first true crime book I read was Helter Skelter, about 10 years old (! - yikes, I know), and I've always been intrigued by the criminal mind and of course interested in the personal stories of these people, the victims as well as the perpetrators. I guess the first one that really got me as far as non-stop media coverage was OJ, of course, but I think the one to most affect me so far has been Laci Peterson. I could relate to her on so many levels and I think most could because just about everyone has a sister, daughter, aunt, or friend she reminded people of. Now with Brittanee it is a matter of the proximity that plays into it certainly, how someone can just vanish like she seemingly did, and again, I have a niece her age that puts her story in that perspective for me too, to say I would go to the end of the earth to find her if I had to.

You feel like you know these people...it's strange, isn't it? I remember thinking with Laci, number one, she was gone before any of us ever heard her name, and two, and this may sound wierd, but I felt really funny during the trial when photos of her home were being shown, and there was a photo of a drawer in her bathroom, curling iron, make-up in it, etcetera, and just thought how bizarre it was this complete stranger, here I was peeking so intimately into her life - imagining if any one ever got a glimpse of things that innocent yet so intimate in my own life. One day you're just an average person and suddenly your most personal belongings splashed across national media. I just can't imagine what that puts a family through, the little things like that.

Actually, when I was maybe 5 or so, I met one of SC's most prolific serial killers, "Pee Wee" Gaskins. It was the summer before he was arrested, I think that was 1975. He had a 'reputation' for years, and came to my dad's boat shop, driving his hearse, I distinctly remember, and asked my dad to build him a boat without a deposit. My dad said no, and that was that, but after he was arrested my dear old half-senile great aunt went on for years that "Its a wonder he didnt kill your daddy right then and there!".

Oh Lord i remember Pee WEE that was one crazy weird guy, so many lifes he took,but at the end he lost his on,,that had our areas in alot of worrying till he was behind bars,,,,,where u at in sc?

 

[SeaNymph]

Oh Lord i remember Pee WEE that was one crazy weird guy, so many lifes he took,but at the end he lost his on,,that had our areas in alot of worrying till he was behind bars,,,,,where u at in sc?

The 'uptown girl' in me says Florence, Rose, but truth is I ran around barefoot 'n dirty in Evergreen.

We lived a few years at the beach, right there in the same area near where Britt went missing, and then a couple years in Charleston, but then I moved back to Florence with my mom in high school.

Know it is off topic, but I hope OK...Salem seems pretty giving with us as we wait for news here...for those not familiar with his story it is one of the interesting ones before these kind of stories made the media as they do now.

Pee Wee was only convicted on a few murders but he claimed many many more - truth will never be known how many he actually killed. When he was convicted for the initial 'serial' killings he was sentenced to die but later SC put a moratorium on the death penalty so his sentence was commuted to life in prison. What got him though was while in prison, a family member of a couple murdered (I think in Murrell's Inlet) befriended him to get to another convict serving time for his parents' murders. Pee Wee rigged up some device and told the other inmate it was a homemade radio....when the guy put the listening device to his ear and turned it on, it blew his head off.

By that time SC had reinstated the death penalty.

Pee Wee was put to death by electrocution only for the murder of the other inmate, but he didn't care until the very minute he died. He tried to slit his wrists the morning of his execution. Doctors stitched him up just in time to strap him in the chair.

http://crime.about.com/od/serial/p/gaskins.htm#


(P.S. My stepfather is distantly related to him, but we dont tell people that much!)

 

[Strawberry Fields]

Is Brittanee's the first case you've followed this closely, Strawberry? Like message boards, etc?

I've always been interested in true crime...first true crime book I read was Helter Skelter, about 10 years old (! - yikes, I know), and I've always been intrigued by the criminal mind and of course interested in the personal stories of these people, the victims as well as the perpetrators. I guess the first one that really got me as far as non-stop media coverage was OJ, of course, but I think the one to most affect me so far has been Laci Peterson. I could relate to her on so many levels and I think most could because just about everyone has a sister, daughter, aunt, or friend she reminded people of. Now with Brittanee it is a matter of the proximity that plays into it certainly, how someone can just vanish like she seemingly did, and again, I have a niece her age that puts her story in that perspective for me too, to say I would go to the end of the earth to find her if I had to.

You feel like you know these people...it's strange, isn't it? I remember thinking with Laci, number one, she was gone before any of us ever heard her name, and two, and this may sound wierd, but I felt really funny during the trial when photos of her home were being shown, and there was a photo of a drawer in her bathroom, curling iron, make-up in it, etcetera, and just thought how bizarre it was this complete stranger, here I was peeking so intimately into her life - imagining if any one ever got a glimpse of things that innocent yet so intimate in my own life. One day you're just an average person and suddenly your most personal belongings splashed across national media. I just can't imagine what that puts a family through, the little things like that.

Actually, when I was maybe 5 or so, I met one of SC's most prolific serial killers, "Pee Wee" Gaskins. It was the summer before he was arrested, I think that was 1975. He had a 'reputation' for years, and came to my dad's boat shop, driving his hearse, I distinctly remember, and asked my dad to build him a boat without a deposit. My dad said no, and that was that, but after he was arrested my dear old half-senile great aunt went on for years that "Its a wonder he didnt kill your daddy right then and there!".

Oh yes Brittanee's is the first case for me to follow so closely. Since hers though several others have caught my attention. Yes, it can happen in a heartbeat to anyone, being thrown out into the spotlight without a moment's notice. That is really something about you remembering about that serial killer coming to see your dad. And I can just hear your aunt now telling everyone about it. Bless her heart. You do get to feeling like you know these people and the case of Brittanee hit me so close because the first time I ever saw the ocean I was 14 and my best friend's parents took me with them for a "whole week" to MB. Incidentally, I went to my 40th high school reunion last night and that same BFF is coming here with her husband for the day today. They now live in FL. For years now me and my family vacationed there in MB, BUT for the first time in many years we have opted for VA Beach for the end of the summer beach trip this year.

Seems awfully quiet down there right now. Hope it is the calm before the storm and we hear something positive for a change in BD's and RM's cases.