Found Deceased SC - Brittanee Drexel, 17, Myrtle Beach, 25 April 2009 - #8

[RocNYchick]

"We could use that one person -- or that one piece of evidence -- that comes forward and ties everything together to make a solid arrest which leads to a solid conviction," Dorio, the Myrtle Beach detective said.

This, along with the two polygraphs, MAY mean they now have two statements that are pointing to someone, and they need some physical evidence, or AT LEAST another coroborrating statement, before a judge or solicitor will sign an arrest warrant.

A solid arrest and conviction....but for what? Kidnapping/trafficking/drugs/murder?

 

[RocNYchick]

Something has struck me (not right) about this. Why would the police claim a homicide to the media and general public without first telling the family of it first? That just doesn't seem procedural for me. Hmmm. Or the family is playing like they didn't know for unknown reasons. I know that in some cases "information" is put out there for reasons only known by LE.[/QUOTE]



Me too! No, the family was blindsided by the homicide remark. I think that is why DD canx Roc event and decided to go to MB next week so people know to keep looking.

 

[mlatta]

A solid arrest and conviction....but for what? Kidnapping/trafficking/drugs/murder?

It depends on the statements they have. Sounds to me as though murder. It is virtually impossible to secure an arresst, much less a conviction based solely upon statements and testimony. The prosecutors will need a body, OR some physical evidence before they arrest someone.

 

[-Doc-]

This is a interesting thought/possibility that I had never even considered. It's probably a longshot, but is realistic. Could PB be part of something bigger? She could have been working for him just down there, or there could have been something going on. This could possibly give a reason/motive for BD bolting to Myrtle Beach despite her mom denying her permission.
Again, a longshot.

Well I mean working down there. I know for a fact she had very little money down there and ran out of it quickly. And members from ROC were helping her with her daily expenses after she ran out of money.

 

[SkewedView]

I should note that it is by no means a bad thing for this to be declared a homicide investigation - for a number of reasons.

1 - LE has been handling the searches as body recovery efforts almost the entire investigation, and has done only evidence searches for a good long while now, and CUE etc can search or investigate however they want regardless, so this has no effect on that.

2 - More importantly, homicide investigations are allowed resources that a missing persons investigation simply can't touch, and also allows LE to get warrants and such that they simply can't get approved on a 'mere' missing person. As much as we'd like all MP cases to have unlimited investigative tools available to them, that just isn't going to happen, so when a case like this goes on for a long enough time and LE can find enough reason to go homicide, it's a good thing.

3 - As much as it's good for the family to keep hope, this gives them a certain amount of warning to prepare themselves for when a body is found or definitive proof of death is made public.

I agree however that they should have briefed DD about that change in designation before it went public, especially since it would seem that they have been handling the case that way for a good long while now.

All JMO etc

 

[Debbie Miller]

#4 -
Just my two cents, sorry for rambling. Based on everything I have read so far, I believe the police know exactly who is responsible for the crime, how and where it happened and the area of where she is/was. Now they just need an actual confession, a body, or the murder weapon to tie it all together.

Bingo, and there is only one or two that can give this. So we wait.

 

[Hambone1480]

I read that LE said something along the lines of, "these people who claim to be men should just come forward and tell us what really happened......"

This statement got me thinking that this could have been some type of accident --- like a drugging in which Brit died even though the guys didn't plan on it. I was thinking that the guys may have thought to drug her to the point of a stupor and then rape her. Could the guys have not meant to kill her, but got really scared about what they did and decided to hide the body? Just a thought that came to mind when thinking about LE's statement on the persons of interst.

 

[Hambone1480]

Well I mean working down there. I know for a fact she had very little money down there and ran out of it quickly. And members from ROC were helping her with her daily expenses after she ran out of money.

I think that is a real possibility, especially for the reason you explained.

 

[mlatta]

I read that LE said something along the lines of, "these people who claim to be men should just come forward and tell us what really happened......"

This statement got me thinking that this could have been some type of accident --- like a drugging in which Brit died even though the guys didn't plan on it. I was thinking that the guys may have thought to drug her to the point of a stupor and then rape her. Could the guys have not meant to kill her, but got really scared about what they did and decided to hide the body? Just a thought that came to mind when thinking about LE's statement on the persons of interst.

"The Guys" - do you mean the Chili group?

I thought the same thing at first, but I don't think they're smart enough to pull of something like that without leaving some type of evidence, and allude LE for so long...

 

[-Doc-]

Bingo, and there is only one or two that can give this. So we wait.

I am sure the police also informed them that a trial by media is often not a fun trial as well.

 

[RocNYchick]

I agree. Especially because there were so many of them to keep quiet.

But, I keep going back to PB and his association with owner of Club K, and the fact that PB high-tailed it out of there and hired an attorney with a quickness.

 

[-Doc-]

I agree. Especially because there were so many of them to keep quiet.

But, I keep going back to PB and his association with owner of Club K, and the fact that PB high-tailed it out of there and hired an attorney with a quickness.

See post 448.

 

[mlatta]

This question to Mlatta,,,,,
i may not be understanding what you ask SLED for about sunglasses,i may misunderstand,but i took it that you applied to sled get info if any of the sunglasses? am i right? i truly belive (as you no im connected with few in GTPD) that sled will not give out any info on things thats dealing with murder/missing person case to the pulbic before law closes that case? i feel they gave you the run around etc due they dont no you (unless u working for LE)
you may get your answers after case is closed,,i know all records open to the public,but not if its involed in case thats not closed yet!!!

You are probably correct. It doesn' hurt to ask. It seems as if the examinations they performed concluded they have nothing to do with the case at all, they could tell me that.....

It also felt good to excercise my rights as a US citizen Appareantly, if they cannot give me the info, they have to tell me why they cannot provide me with this information, even if it is simply "This information is part of an ongoing investigation". And they have to do it within a certain timeframe. (If I recall, this time frame is pretty big though)

 

[RocNYchick]

See post 448.

Sorry, I was having a blonde moment! I wasn't understanding that you are thinking that BD might have been working for PB while she was there. Hmmmm. Interesting. I 'm thinking more along the lines that PB was working some kind of angle, but that BD didn't necessarily know it or figure it out. I'm stuck on the human trafficking theory.

 

[-Doc-]

Something has struck me (not right) about this. Why would the police claim a homicide to the media and general public without first telling the family of it first? That just doesn't seem procedural for me. Hmmm. Or the family is playing like they didn't know for unknown reasons. I know that in some cases "information" is put out there for reasons only known by LE.


QUOTE]

It's like Matt said when they label things certain ways, they have more resources/power available to them. Murder of course is the worst crime in our country. However, if police are saying they believe she's dead I would be shocked if there wrong. But by all means let me become shocked! A murder wouldn't explain what the cop mean't by "circumstances, he's never seen before." Then again we don't know how it happened yet.

 

[RocNYchick]

You are probably correct. It doesn' hurt to ask. It seems as if the examinations they performed concluded they have nothing to do with the case at all, they could tell me that.....

It also felt good to excercise my rights as a US citizen Appareantly, if they cannot give me the info, they have to tell me why they cannot provide me with this information, even if it is simply "This information is part of an ongoing investigation". And they have to do it within a certain timeframe. (If I recall, this time frame is pretty big though)

When I first saw your post about FOIL request to SLED I had a flashback moment to a show I saw on 48 Hrs/Dateline/20-20, one of those, about a college girl that died in a trailer fire and her brother was dogged about the investigation and SLED wasn't too happy about it and then they targeted him as being the one who killed his sister. (Maybe someone remembers....he made a movie about it and the director was a cop in MI?) I just remember that there was a lot of talk about SLED losing stuff or not turning over stuff, etc. It just clicked in my head when I read your post and I figured they won't turn it over or say its lost or something, which is what is happening, right?

 

[ella's mom]

One other thought I had which ties in with a lot of the thoughts already posted here is that LE is using the Media to weed someone out. "Shaking Apples from a tree." They keep saying 3 or 4 POIs. I am thinking the 4th person may be an accessory after the fact. Like may not have been directly involved, but knows information or helped hide evidence for the actual guilty person (s)and LE may have told him (or her) that he can be charged with a (the)crime if they don't come forward to help themselves and tell what they know. So the wording in the article may have been to scare that one person into coming forward. That key piece of information from him or her might be exactly whats needed to close the case.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[RocNYchick]

Something has struck me (not right) about this. Why would the police claim a homicide to the media and general public without first telling the family of it first? That just doesn't seem procedural for me. Hmmm. Or the family is playing like they didn't know for unknown reasons. I know that in some cases "information" is put out there for reasons only known by LE.


QUOTE]

It's like Matt said when they label things certain ways, they have more resources/power available to them. Murder of course is the worst crime in our country. However, if police are saying they believe she's dead I would be shocked if there wrong. But by all means let me become shocked! A murder wouldn't explain what the cop mean't by "circumstances, he's never seen before." Then again we don't know how it happened yet.

Matt/Doc I think you are right. In fact, didn't the expert commentator on JVM last night say that too? That treating it as homicide they have more resources available. I get that, but still think they were wrong in how they handled it with DD & CD. Also, DD did say that they told her in the very beginning that she should prepare herself that her daughter most likely was dead, due to the amount of time that had passed, but saying that its now a homicide investigation is not the same thing. That to me implies evidence of a homicide, and like DD said, there are no remains, no crime scene, so she still a missing person.

 

[mlatta]

I figured they won't turn it over or say its lost or something, which is what is happening, right?

I don't think so. The request is not real old. I think the first letter that was sent to me was because of a misspelling. I was contacted quickly with a response that they had found the error and corrected it. Now I guess we will see, I can only imagine they get these things all the time, mostly from reporters, though any citizen can submit one...

SLED is the state's authoritive law enforfcement. They are the ones with the laboratories, etc. I can't say I have heard anything good, or bad about them.

 

[MBLover]

I've been reading through all of my saved articles the biggest part of the day... I can't find what I was looking for regarding BD's movements upon exiting BWR. Nor can I find anything about the Surfside ping... Sorry!

Wow...you all sure have been busy since I've been away! Great job with the postings everyone!!!