Found Deceased SC - Brittanee Drexel, 17, Myrtle Beach, 25 April 2009 - #15

[mlatta]

Personally, I doubt this is related, but I thought I would share anyway

http://www.gtowntimes.com/local/Body-found-near-school-district-office

"...Few details are being released at this time but Police Capt. Nelson Brown says the body was found on or adjacent to the school district proeprty on a path between Legion and Church Streets.

He said foul play is suspected in the person’s death...."

 

[Steely Dan]

Personally, I doubt this is related, but I thought I would share anyway

http://www.gtowntimes.com/local/Body-found-near-school-district-office

"...Few details are being released at this time but Police Capt. Nelson Brown says the body was found on or adjacent to the school district proeprty on a path between Legion and Church Streets.

He said foul play is suspected in the person’s death...."

Britanee's body would be all bone now. :sigh:

 

[stillwatersc]

In 2003, a girl was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in my neck of the woods. Her name was Dru Sjodin. She was a college student at the University of North Dakota. A nephew of mine attended college with her. She was abducted during the day in a Mall parking lot in Grand Forks, ND taken into Minnesota and killed and nobody saw a thing. The person who committed the crime was 5'4" and weighed maybe 160 lbs. He was little dude not a imposing individual at all. I know because I've seen him in person. Of course I'm 6'1". The person of interest in this case looks like he lifts weights, works out, exercises by riding his bike, looks like a linebacker. He uses his hands all day in his work probably has strong hands, strong grip and forearms. My old man was a farm kid and he did manual labor his entire life. He wasn't a big guy but he had incredible hand and arm strength. He could literally bring you to your knees with his handshake if he wanted. He had what I often called Popeye forearms. I think this crime against BD could have easily have been done by one person. Ted Bundy was known to carry a kit with him when he committed his crimes which included duct tape, blindfolds, knives, handcuffs, rope, etc. You can buy a stun gun that fits in the palm of your hand at your local Sporting Goods store no questions asked for $50. A lot of the newer vehicles have child proof doors in which a latch is turned and you are unable to open passenger door from the inside. If a pickup was used it would have been close quarters. The person could have had a weapon. How would a person react when faced with this kind of violence? I don't know. People will react differently. Some would fight, some don't hoping they will escape, be let go or rescued. You have only a split second to decide.

I think the same thing happened to Brittanee - she was just snatched right off the street. The case that brought me here was Kelsie Smith who was abducted during the day from a Target parking lot. No one saw it but it was caught on video. Google for the video - it is absolutely chilling. I think it should be shown in ladies' self defence classes.

 

[nosysw]

Personally, I doubt this is related, but I thought I would share anyway

http://www.gtowntimes.com/local/Body-found-near-school-district-office

"...Few details are being released at this time but Police Capt. Nelson Brown says the body was found on or adjacent to the school district proeprty on a path between Legion and Church Streets.

He said foul play is suspected in the person’s death...."

Another thread suggests that this was a 25 y.o. man...

 

[seagull65]

Others probably posted this already, I have not caught up on the thread, please excuse me if I'm restating. I just wanted to post about the case in our area this week (was just reading about it the past couple days in the Post and Courier) in which two young women were killed and their bodies left off of two different highways in the Francis Marion National Forest. One was found off of the 17A between Moncks Corner and Jamestown, and the other was found between the 402 and 17A closer to Moncks Corner. (These highways are routes that cut across from Hwy 17 on the coast, thru the forest inland to Moncks Corner, Hwy 52 etc. Some people take this route coming back to the Charleston area from Myrtle Beach, rather than all the way down 17. Of course Brittanee's last ping was on the east side of the forest along Hwy17.) Maybe not related at all to Brittanee's case, but it did make me wonder. I always wondered why Brittanee's phone last pinged in that particular area (Poleyard Rd), i.e., why would the perp have tossed the phone out there, maybe before turning inland? Anyway, very sad crime about these two girls. These girls were from the Moncks Corner and St.Stephens area though, not Myrtle Beach. I hope I'm posting on the most recent Brittanee thread, I'm not sure if I'm on the right one. Best wishes to all of you

 

[seagull65]

Yes exactly. Next question. She was kidnapped around 9 PM. Does it take 27 minutes to get from area she was kidnapped to area of surfside cell tower ping? Do you know the location of the surfside cell tower? I thought surfside was only a couple of miles from Myrtle Beach? Do you think it would take 27 minutes to get there? It makes you wonder if something was happening for a few minutes first.

No it doesn't seem like it usually takes that long, only in a traffic jam. Jams do sometimes happen along 17 but I wouldn't think so at that time of day. Unless there was some special event going on at the time. Well then again I just looked on google maps and it gives a driving time of 22 minutes from Myrtle Beach to Surfside.

 

[seagull65]

On roads like i17 are there any cameras? Do you have number plate recognition cameras and traffic video cameras on those types of road?

I've never noticed any either, but now I wonder. It's such a country kind of highway, middle of nowhere feeling along much of it.

 

[seagull65]

Here's a link for the articles about the two girls whose bodies were found in the Francis Marion National Forest this week, (other side of forest from where Brittanee's phone last pinged, also along highways). They were 22 and 18. According to the map that was in the paper, one was found in the area not far from the junction of Hwy 45 and 17A and the other was found north of the 402 east of Moncks Corner. http://postandcourier.com/article/2...d-found-in-woods-near-alvin-was-shot-to-death. They were friends, they had been going somewhere in Dana's car, (the 18 yr old). From what I gather from the paper, Dana's car was found burned, and they found her body about 75 yds from the car (shot to death), then the next day (yesterday/Weds) they found June's body in another location in the forest, off another road. http://postandcourier.com/article/20120829/PC16/120829122 There was a nice map in the paper but I don't see it in the online version.

 

[seagull65]

I tried to create a map on googlemaps, hope it works (showing where these two young women were found, based on the map in the Post and Courier, compared to Brittanee's last phone ping area. I don't really know how to create maps, fingers crossed
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msi...ll=33.367237,-79.645386&spn=0.311962,0.682526 After you get to the map you might have to zoom in to see more detail, roads.

 

[Peekerfoo]

Here's a link for the articles about the two girls whose bodies were found in the Francis Marion National Forest this week, (other side of forest from where Brittanee's phone last pinged, also along highways). They were 22 and 18. According to the map that was in the paper, one was found in the area not far from the junction of Hwy 45 and 17A and the other was found north of the 402 east of Moncks Corner. http://postandcourier.com/article/2...d-found-in-woods-near-alvin-was-shot-to-death. They were friends, they had been going somewhere in Dana's car, (the 18 yr old). From what I gather from the paper, Dana's car was found burned, and they found her body about 75 yds from the car (shot to death), then the next day (yesterday/Weds) they found June's body in another location in the forest, off another road. http://postandcourier.com/article/20120829/PC16/120829122 There was a nice map in the paper but I don't see it in the online version.

The Francis Marion Forest has become a popular place to leave bodies. Although I don't think Brittanee's case and the latest murders are connected it sure seems that some perps find these woods convenient. IMO

(OT)I am new here and also in SC and have followed Britanee's case since day one. I finally registered to help find someone who is missing in my town.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Brittanee.

 

[seagull65]

I also suspect the cases are probably not related. But then again, I always wondered, why would her phone have been ditched in that particular spot. It seems that she always had her phone in hand, and that she was texting with her boyfriend as she was walking along Ocean Blvd right up until the disappearance. That's why John thought it was strange, because of the way her texts suddenly stopped. So it seems the perp would have seen her using the phone, would know she had it on her. So why not ditch it as soon as he/she grabbed her? Why take the phone along with them all the way down to Pole Yard Rd? Makes me wonder did the perp ditch the phone at that point because he was changing direction, for example going inland, in order not to reveal his true route or where he lives. Or was the perp trying to convince Brittanee everything was normal up to that point, i.e. they were just going somewhere together, so she was still in possession of her phone up til that point, but finally at that point near Pole Yard Rd that's where she was confronted, or realized what was happening, and her phone was tossed out the window by the perp? (Then again if she'd thought everything was fine up til then she would probably still have been texting the whole time, so rule that out.) Or was she on the back of a motorcycle and lost her phone or purse at that point? Probably couldn't text while on the back of a motorcycle if it was going fast. Or was she never taken down that direction and someone took her phone down there as a red herring. If someone did head inland roughly in that area, they could have been cutting across on those roads near where June and Dana were put. So it could be someone who uses those roads. But I know what you mean.

 

[seagull65]

I wonder too if they searched any other properties related to the Sunset Lodge suspect or his girlfriend. Seems like if they'd found any evidence there at the Sunset Lodge itself we would have heard by now or they might have brought some charges against him.

 

[seagull65]

The Francis Marion Forest has become a popular place to leave bodies. Although I don't think Brittanee's case and the latest murders are connected it sure seems that some perps find these woods convenient. IMO

(OT)I am new here and also in SC and have followed Britanee's case since day one. I finally registered to help find someone who is missing in my town.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Brittanee.

Me too, peekerfoo. The weird thing is, even though I live here, I didn't follow Brittanee's case in the beginning. All I can think is that maybe it was a year when I was out of town during Spring break, or for some other reason I didn't clue in for a long time. I heard about the case later but didn't really know the details. I only read up on the details in the last year or so. I feel so bad now that I didn't pay attention to the case right from the beginning. In fact, there is something that haunts me a little. When we got back from a trip, now looking back I always wonder if it was THAT spring break of course, but I have no idea if it was 2009 because this is all just in retrospect, could have been a completely different year. But anyway, I remember, it seems like we were just back from a trip and I was in a McDonald's playground on Hwy 52 in Goose Creek with my son, and a car pulled into the parking lot, and there was the sound of a woman screaming inside the car. I looked over there thinking, what in the world? It was puzzling because I didn't see any motion or struggle or argument inside the car, there were just some people sitting still in the back seat, and as I watched, a young man got out for a minute looking tired, looked at the McDonalds, but then decided not to enter, no sign of any struggle going on, just screams. He just saw me watching and then just got back in the car and they drove off. It all happened so fast I never thought to look at the tag, never even realized, could this be a crime, where is the screaming woman, etc. I was just going what? I think the reason it didn't occur to me it could potentially be a crime in progress was because the young man who got out didn't appear to be trying to hide anything, he just looked very tired/weary. Then years later after learning the details about this case, I just kept thinking, please don't let that have been related to Brittanee or any other crime. If it was a crime going on I think other people would have heard it all along the way too, surely someone would have called the police. But they left the scene so fast I didn't even have a chance to get any idea what was going on or think to look at the tag or anything else or even realize it could be a crime. For some reason at the time I wasn't thinking crime or kidnapping, I was thinking more along the lines of, is there a mentally ill person in that car, is it someone on drugs, is it a woman having a baby, etc. So I pray it wasn't any crime going on. But of course after reading about this case (much later) I always worried, what if? But it wasn't at night, it was more like lunchtime I think. All I remember was that it was a white car, and the young man had straight, light blond, tangled looking hair. Hopefully it was nothing (or if it was someone having a baby, hope they got that poor woman to the hospital!)

 

[Farmhand]

I also suspect the cases are probably not related. But then again, I always wondered, why would her phone have been ditched in that particular spot. It seems that she always had her phone in hand, and that she was texting with her boyfriend as she was walking along Ocean Blvd right up until the disappearance. That's why John thought it was strange, because of the way her texts suddenly stopped. So it seems the perp would have seen her using the phone, would know she had it on her. So why not ditch it as soon as he/she grabbed her? Why take the phone along with them all the way down to Pole Yard Rd? Makes me wonder did the perp ditch the phone at that point because he was changing direction, for example going inland, in order not to reveal his true route or where he lives. Or was the perp trying to convince Brittanee everything was normal up to that point, i.e. they were just going somewhere together, so she was still in possession of her phone up til that point, but finally at that point near Pole Yard Rd that's where she was confronted, or realized what was happening, and her phone was tossed out the window by the perp? (Then again if she'd thought everything was fine up til then she would probably still have been texting the whole time, so rule that out.) Or was she on the back of a motorcycle and lost her phone or purse at that point? Probably couldn't text while on the back of a motorcycle if it was going fast. Or was she never taken down that direction and someone took her phone down there as a red herring. If someone did head inland roughly in that area, they could have been cutting across on those roads near where June and Dana were put. So it could be someone who uses those roads. But I know what you mean.

I would think if BD had her cell phone in her possession she would have used it in some fashion. We know that she used it constantly. Even in the video from the night before she went missing she is sitting in a chair and on the bed texting. That is all she is doing in that video. If perp grabbed phone from her his fingerprints would have been on it and so maybe that is why he didn't discard it right away? Maybe BD was able to put phone into her purse and perp didn't see it but he grabbed her purse and tossed it into the back of the pickup or inside pickup. Maybe the ringer was off. My daughter never has the phone ringer on with her cell phone sometimes not even in vibrate mode. It's totally silent. Your cell phone at night will light up if you get a text or call maybe that is how BD had her cell phone set up. Maybe perp didn't even know she had a cell phone if it was in her purse with ringer off and vibrate mode off. Perp probably doesn't know you can track a cell phone by it's signal most people don't so maybe he wasn't worried about it. I toss all kinds of things into the back of my pickup and don't worry about it. I toss groceries, shoes, fishing poles, clothes, shopping bags, bikes, the kids school bags, dogs, guns, firewood, the wife (just joking), everything I can into the back of my pickup.

 

[fabgod]

Don't forget, the Investigation Discovery show mentioned that BD phone went to answer machine, so it must have been purposely turned off very early on in proceedings, if their information is correct?

 

[Peekerfoo]

Me too, peekerfoo. The weird thing is, even though I live here, I didn't follow Brittanee's case in the beginning. All I can think is that maybe it was a year when I was out of town during Spring break, or for some other reason I didn't clue in for a long time. I heard about the case later but didn't really know the details. I only read up on the details in the last year or so. I feel so bad now that I didn't pay attention to the case right from the beginning. In fact, there is something that haunts me a little. When we got back from a trip, now looking back I always wonder if it was THAT spring break of course, but I have no idea if it was 2009 because this is all just in retrospect, could have been a completely different year. But anyway, I remember, it seems like we were just back from a trip and I was in a McDonald's playground on Hwy 52 in Goose Creek with my son, and a car pulled into the parking lot, and there was the sound of a woman screaming inside the car. I looked over there thinking, what in the world? It was puzzling because I didn't see any motion or struggle or argument inside the car, there were just some people sitting still in the back seat, and as I watched, a young man got out for a minute looking tired, looked at the McDonalds, but then decided not to enter, no sign of any struggle going on, just screams. He just saw me watching and then just got back in the car and they drove off. It all happened so fast I never thought to look at the tag, never even realized, could this be a crime, where is the screaming woman, etc. I was just going what? I think the reason it didn't occur to me it could potentially be a crime in progress was because the young man who got out didn't appear to be trying to hide anything, he just looked very tired/weary. Then years later after learning the details about this case, I just kept thinking, please don't let that have been related to Brittanee or any other crime. If it was a crime going on I think other people would have heard it all along the way too, surely someone would have called the police. But they left the scene so fast I didn't even have a chance to get any idea what was going on or think to look at the tag or anything else or even realize it could be a crime. For some reason at the time I wasn't thinking crime or kidnapping, I was thinking more along the lines of, is there a mentally ill person in that car, is it someone on drugs, is it a woman having a baby, etc. So I pray it wasn't any crime going on. But of course after reading about this case (much later) I always worried, what if? But it wasn't at night, it was more like lunchtime I think. All I remember was that it was a white car, and the young man had straight, light blond, tangled looking hair. Hopefully it was nothing (or if it was someone having a baby, hope they got that poor woman to the hospital!)

Your story gave me chills! Don't beat yourself up over it because, as someone recently told me, hindsight is 20/20.

Regarding the Sunset Lodge guy--IMO he might be a red herring. He's a horrible person who has done horrible things, but I'm not so sure he's :the guy". I agree that if they found anything at the SL we would've heard about it by now.

I believe that the person(s) who took BD made her turn her phone off immediately. I also think that they live down that way and perhaps started tossing things before they got to their destination. I have always felt that it might be more than one person.

I traipsed through some of that area down by Poleyard, McClellanville, and even drove past the house where one of the earlier POI's lived. Finding any one down there is truly like finding a needle in a haystack. I always thought of Dawn when I was down there because she must see that,too.

I have never really thought that the kids from Rochester were involved (other than being self-centered and mean). JMO

 

[fabgod]

Your story gave me chills! Don't beat yourself up over it because, as someone recently told me, hindsight is 20/20.

Regarding the Sunset Lodge guy--IMO he might be a red herring. He's a horrible person who has done horrible things, but I'm not so sure he's :the guy". I agree that if they found anything at the SL we would've heard about it by now.

I believe that the person(s) who took BD made her turn her phone off immediately. I also think that they live down that way and perhaps started tossing things before they got to their destination. I have always felt that it might be more than one person.

I traipsed through some of that area down by Poleyard, McClellanville, and even drove past the house where one of the earlier POI's lived. Finding any one down there is truly like finding a needle in a haystack. I always thought of Dawn when I was down there because she must see that,too.

I have never really thought that the kids from Rochester were involved (other than being self-centered and mean). JMO

Hi peekerfoo
I have a feeling that the way LE has played this case, we might not find anything out publicly until hopefully, someone is finally charged.
I would say and its just opinion, that LE have been putting pressure on RM, bringing in the Crystal Soles angle, making him the main POI in an effort to get him to make some kind of move.

I would be surprised if LE didnt have quite a good idea who is or isnt in the picture but that they simply havent got enough of anything to bring charges, If the suspect wont talk then they need other evidence and that evidence is only going to be a body, personal belongings or some kind of forensic DNA.
We can pretty much take it that there was nothing linking BD to Sunset, but we dont know if he still had access to his previous address over the road and again, dont know if LE have searched there?

I asked this question before, but I read that our POI was working at the airport in April 2009 and that there were searches there can anyone confirm?

Re your other POI's, there has always been something odd about that group, but why incriminate yourself with the cellphone ping at your back door?
I would expect them to have been a bit too clever for that

great work on the Johnny Lamar Brown situation by the way, you are an absolute star!

 

[Farmhand]

Don't forget, the Investigation Discovery show mentioned that BD phone went to answer machine, so it must have been purposely turned off very early on in proceedings, if their information is correct?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW16G7fQ344&feature=related

In part 2 of the Investigation Discovery show (link above) at around 2:20 Dawn Drexel says initially the phone rang when they tried to call BD and then after a while when she tried to call BD it would go directly to voice mail. So I would guess that means it was on initially and then at some point it was off? She also says they began trying to call her right after her BD's boyfriend had called to tell her BD was missing. I think the boyfriend called Dawn Drexel around 9:30 pm maybe 10 pm? It would be a good thing to hear the timeline directly from Dawn Drexel.

 

[Peekerfoo]

Hi peekerfoo
I have a feeling that the way LE has played this case, we might not find anything out publicly until hopefully, someone is finally charged.
I would say and its just opinion, that LE have been putting pressure on RM, bringing in the Crystal Soles angle, making him the main POI in an effort to get him to make some kind of move.

I would be surprised if LE didnt have quite a good idea who is or isnt in the picture but that they simply havent got enough of anything to bring charges, If the suspect wont talk then they need other evidence and that evidence is only going to be a body, personal belongings or some kind of forensic DNA.
We can pretty much take it that there was nothing linking BD to Sunset, but we dont know if he still had access to his previous address over the road and again, dont know if LE have searched there?

I asked this question before, but I read that our POI was working at the airport in April 2009 and that there were searches there can anyone confirm?

Re your other POI's, there has always been something odd about that group, but why incriminate yourself with the cellphone ping at your back door?
I would expect them to have been a bit too clever for that

great work on the Johnny Lamar Brown situation by the way, you are an absolute star!

Thanks for the kind words.

I do remember them searching near the old Air Force base which is very near the airport.

Re: the cell phone. The home I'm speaking of is not really that close to where the phone last pinged. It's a little bit of drive from there. In other words , not in his backyard.

Sometimes I feel like RM is way too easy of a POI. It seems like whenever there's an anniversary of the kidnapping or Brittanee's birthday, we get some new nugget to chew on for awhile.JMO I often think how much Dawn must hate this place.

I will say this, very soon after Brittanne went missing there was talk here (and I mean people who might know such things) that "these bad guys who are brothers from Georgetown did it and it involved heroin". This was way before the former POI's were even mentioned. I know for a fact that this tip was called into LE early on. There might be plenty of other bad guys in Georgetown for all I know.

I believe whoever did this is a local who is familiar with the area (that would include RM). I've lived here 20 years and never noticed most of those places.I also believe there is a connection to Surfside that, if figured out, would help solve this. I have tried to find a connection with all of the POI;s named so far and have come up empty handed.

 

[fabgod]

Thanks for the kind words.

I do remember them searching near the old Air Force base which is very near the airport.

Re: the cell phone. The home I'm speaking of is not really that close to where the phone last pinged. It's a little bit of drive from there. In other words , not in his backyard.

Sometimes I feel like RM is way too easy of a POI. It seems like whenever there's an anniversary of the kidnapping or Brittanee's birthday, we get some new nugget to chew on for awhile.JMO I often think how much Dawn must hate this place.

I will say this, very soon after Brittanne went missing there was talk here (and I mean people who might know such things) that "these bad guys who are brothers from Georgetown did it and it involved heroin". This was way before the former POI's were even mentioned. I know for a fact that this tip was called into LE early on. There might be plenty of other bad guys in Georgetown for all I know.

I believe whoever did this is a local who is familiar with the area (that would include RM). I've lived here 20 years and never noticed most of those places.I also believe there is a connection to Surfside that, if figured out, would help solve this. I have tried to find a connection with all of the POI;s named so far and have come up empty handed.

Peekerfoo
Thanks for the info
i would be interested to hear your thoughts re Surfside, and totally agree about the Perp being local.