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

[rachaellouise]

It's unfortunately something that happens a lot when teens vanish with a group of friends. I got my arm bitten off at Sierra Lamars thread when I mentioned that it's weird how her friends can just kind of move on as if nothing happened. I'm not expecting these teens to obsess over it at all, but it's literally like nothing ever happened.

 

[Christina691]

Interesting thoughts on her telling her sister she is at the beach. Maybe she was trying to tell her sister where she was at. I would guess her sister knew what happened when she asked her Mother about going to MB. It is too bad that during the last conversation BD had with her Mother that she didn't tell her the truth about where she was and decided to continue the charade. Obviously this trip didn't turn out to be the fun time BD thought it was going to be. I would agree about the peer pressure. It seems as if she was trying to make new friends with these people and was trying too hard to fit in and things fell apart while in MB. She realized while she was in MB that these aren't people I wanna be associated with and that is why she distanced herself from them. She had a epiphany so to speak. Did or does this PB have a Club in Rochester?

I don't know why, but I get the feeling that she was attempting to tell her sister she was in MB and somehow backed out mid conversation thinking "well, it's just one more night, everything will be better tomorrow" when in reality it wasn't going to be better at all. The only explanation IMO that she would have said she was at the beach would be perhaps if she had spoken with one of her friends back home and they had mentioned to her that they went to Charlot Beach because it was so warm, and then maybe she just relayed that story to her sister to cover her tracks for the MB trip.. But I just don't think that's the case. She could have easily just said she was at whatever friend's house watching a movie like she did in the beginning.

I could be wrong, but I'm almost positive PB doesn't own or manage any clubs. He just promotes them really. He knows so many people, so if there's an event going on at one of the clubs he may announce that event on his FB page or Twitter. In fact, one of the clubs just threw him like a complete blow-out party.. flyers were going around on FB and there was over like 500 people who RSVP'd on the event page..
I don't think he's even had a "real" job. He talks about working from home/online a lot, and a lot of kids from that area have complained about some website called ClickSure.. supposedly you get paid for working at home. He's got a few videos on YT about different companies that allow you to work from home reviewing certain products? I don't know, I don't really understand it because it's confusing.... Another thing that is confusing to me is the TV program stating that he's a local DJ for the Rochester area clubs. At first, I assumed that was probably how he knew all of these club owners, but I've never heard any other public source (news, radio, etc) mention that.. and these clubs don't have any pictures of him ever DJ-ing, so I'm unsure if that is correct information. He's got a lot of money to be as young as he is, and DJ-ing would make a lot of money if you're doing it often enough. However, I think his parents are probably footing the bill for his high-dollar lifestyle.

 

[Farmhand]

I suppose most people don't know the difference between a DJ and a promoter.

 

[Farmhand]

After reading up on this case over the past several weeks, two questions keep replaying in my head.
1) Why was she reported as "missing" so early? It appears to me that the family friend (the marine) was called in to report her as missing before the bars would even be closed for the night. Did the boyfriend assume she was missing just because she was not returning his texts? If that were the case we would have thousands of missing persons reports daily. For some reason the boyfriend was very concerned at this point...did he know something that he is keeping to himself or possibly told LE but they have not released that information? I cannot wrap my head around the reasons why. I feel that she was reported as missing very quickly.

2) Why was Peter B. singled out from the group of boys? What did he do differently than the other 4 or so boys that were there? We have heard nothing as to why he would be seen as a POI when the others weren't or at least they were not scrutized t the same extent.

There seems to be more chatter lately regarding this case... hopefully it means they are getting closer

I'm not sure why the term "missing" was used right away. I know the boyfriend wasn't able to contact her after being in touch with her constantly by texting. I suppose if you are in touch with someone all the time and then hear nothing for a half hour you might get concerned or start freaking out. Since the family was from Rochester and BD was in MB maybe they thought that was the best option they had was to file a missing persons report or maybe LE in Rochester told them to file a missing persons report. I don't know. Very interesting point though.

I don't know why PB was singled out. You don't hear a word about the other guys that were there. I'm not sure I've ever seen their names either. That's a good question. I honestly don't think they had anything to do with it.

 

[CoolJ]

I'm not sure why the term "missing" was used right away. I know the boyfriend wasn't able to contact her after being in touch with her constantly by texting. I suppose if you are in touch with someone all the time and then hear nothing for a half hour you might get concerned or start freaking out. Since the family was from Rochester and BD was in MB maybe they thought that was the best option they had was to file a missing persons report or maybe LE in Rochester told them to file a missing persons report. I don't know. Very interesting point though.

I don't know why PB was singled out. You don't hear a word about the other guys that were there. I'm not sure I've ever seen their names either. That's a good question. I honestly don't think they had anything to do with it.

Logic tells us that LE know the answer to the 2 questions above but have been keeping that info to themselves and possibly BD's family.... but why? Does the answer to the 2nd question(why was PB singled out) point us in the right direction for the answer to the 1st question(why she was reported missing right away)?

also. just wanted to point out something that i noticed. In one of the comments on the topix.com article a commenter seemed to be impersonating another commenter(using the same screen name but from a different locale). Can't remember the screen name off hand right now but this "impersonator" was from Caracas, Venezuala. I also noticed not too long ago a comment on a BD support group website from a person from Caracas, Venezuala leaving a message saying they can help or something to that effect. That person was also on DD's friends list. Could be nothing but a funny coincidence, could be more i suppose/

 

[Christina691]

These are fantastic points mentioned above. I've seen multiple interviews with PB questioning why he's singled out. Especially on the episode of dr Phil that covered Brittanees disappearance. It seems like he's constantly saying "I traveled with 4 other guys- the car we used wasn't mine & the hotel room wasn't even in my name. Maybe you guys should be talking to them & interviewing them". Way to throw your friends under the bus, huh? He said he felt like they singled him out due to the fact that he knew Brittanee personally from back home. MAYBE they singled you out because...hmm, I don't know, you lied about the spelling of your last name to LE & you booked it up to Rochester when you found out they wanted to speak with you?? Sounds like a pretty decent reason to me!

 

[Christina691]

& why wasn't an Amber Alert issued? She was 17. Not sure about other states, but here in GA that is still considered to be a minor. Even though the missing persons report wasn't filed until well over 2 AM, an Amber Alert could have potentially changed everything. If kidnapping charges were appropriate & met the criteria to be filed, I would do it in a heartbeat if I were Dawn. Again, I'm not familiar with the laws or regulations in NY or SC. Start talking about crossing state lines with a minor without parental consent and kidnapping charges & watch how fast these kids start rolling on each other and pointing fingers!

 

[Steely Dan]

& why wasn't an Amber Alert issued? She was 17. Not sure about other states, but here in GA that is still considered to be a minor. Even though the missing persons report wasn't filed until well over 2 AM, an Amber Alert could have potentially changed everything. If kidnapping charges were appropriate & met the criteria to be filed, I would do it in a heartbeat if I were Dawn. Again, I'm not familiar with the laws or regulations in NY or SC. Start talking about crossing state lines with a minor without parental consent and kidnapping charges & watch how fast these kids start rolling on each other and pointing fingers!

They didn't have a vehicle identification so there was no way to issue one. IIRC

 

[Farmhand]

& why wasn't an Amber Alert issued? She was 17. Not sure about other states, but here in GA that is still considered to be a minor. Even though the missing persons report wasn't filed until well over 2 AM, an Amber Alert could have potentially changed everything. If kidnapping charges were appropriate & met the criteria to be filed, I would do it in a heartbeat if I were Dawn. Again, I'm not familiar with the laws or regulations in NY or SC. Start talking about crossing state lines with a minor without parental consent and kidnapping charges & watch how fast these kids start rolling on each other and pointing fingers!

I don't know that much about Amber Alerts but found this via google. It looks like it's kind of a judgement call on LE if they issue one or not. Maybe MB LE didn't think there was enough evidence at that time of an abduction? You got me.


http://www.amberalert.gov/guidelines.htm

 

[Passin' Me By]

Brittanee's disappearance owns many puzzling questions that have gone unanswered. A lot of focus has centered on the group of friends. IMHO, the two females she traveled with brought Brittanee for her looks and wallet contribution. I think they needed another person to pay for gas and the hotel room. Very selfish ladies and it's the reason they didn't care when she vanished; the bills had already been paid. PB and his group of friends sound like a group of rich boneheads. (Could replace clothes and deposit). IMO, PB hired an attorney because he was 20 years old and working in clubs (he wanted to avoid legal repercussions from his activities). IMO, both group of friends are guilty of being users/selfish people.. nothing else. The attention given to these people (connected to BD's disappearance) gives them ammo for their egos. Really sad and pathetic group of human beings aka "the cool kids".

The location her cell phone last pinged at is highly suspicious. Pole Yard Landing is a location which mirrors Whiskey Bay (MS case). IMO, I believe this is where her beige bag/pink cell phone were thrown into the water. This theory explains why the cell phone signal ended after the last tower ping. It also gives explanation as to why her bag/cell phone never turned up (but why her sunglasses have). The sunglasses found months later in December, look like the pair she was wearing at MB. The sunglasses were found on the muddy banks of the Santee River (after a tip was phoned into the police department from a couple collecting firewood). The lack of DNA on the glasses leads me to think the glasses were in the water for a while. I don't think the sunglasses were placed on the banks on purpose. It's a piece of evidence that should be investigated further.

LE seemed to have viable suspects after the attempted kidnapping (in MB) in 2010. IMHO, I believe BD was grabbed while walking by RSO's known to police. Hopefully, the police will make an arrest and bring justice for Brittanee.

 

[Christina691]

Brittanee's disappearance owns many puzzling questions that have gone unanswered. A lot of focus has centered on the group of friends. IMHO, the two females she traveled with brought Brittanee for her looks and wallet contribution. I think they needed another person to pay for gas and the hotel room. Very selfish ladies and it's the reason they didn't care when she vanished; the bills had already been paid. PB and his group of friends sound like a group of rich boneheads. (Could replace clothes and deposit). IMO, PB hired an attorney because he was 20 years old and working in clubs (he wanted to avoid legal repercussions from his activities). IMO, both group of friends are guilty of being users/selfish people.. nothing else. The attention given to these people (connected to BD's disappearance) gives them ammo for their egos. Really sad and pathetic group of human beings aka "the cool kids".

The location her cell phone last pinged at is highly suspicious. Pole Yard Landing is a location which mirrors Whiskey Bay (MS case). IMO, I believe this is where her beige bag/pink cell phone were thrown into the water. This theory explains why the cell phone signal ended after the last tower ping. It also gives explanation as to why her bag/cell phone never turned up (but why her sunglasses have). The sunglasses found months later in December, look like the pair she was wearing at MB. The sunglasses were found on the muddy banks of the Santee River (after a tip was phoned into the police department from a couple collecting firewood). The lack of DNA on the glasses leads me to think the glasses were in the water for a while. I don't think the sunglasses were placed on the banks on purpose. It's a piece of evidence that should be investigated further.

LE seemed to have viable suspects after the attempted kidnapping (in MB) in 2010. IMHO, I believe BD was grabbed while walking by RSO's known to police. Hopefully, the police will make an arrest and bring justice for Brittanee.

I'm torn on the glasses subject.. On one hand, they've never publicly confirmed that they're hers; of course, I'm sure that is a difficult task to complete without any DNA/fingerprint evidence. We've all agreed they look strikingly similar to the ones she's wearing in the pictures from the beach, but without any DNA or anything I don't think it could be investigated further until they have a solid idea on who they believe is responsible for her disappearance.
& as you mentioned with the purse/cell phone that has yet to be recovered. If whoever dumped the bag, cell phone & sunglasses in that area in the water, there still should have been mud, or a cracked lense.. Something. The photos taken of the glasses after collected by LE make the glasses look practically brand new.. No rust from the mud/water. The phone & bag are obviously long gone, so I would think the sunglasses wouldn't have been found if they were disposed of with the other items. Dawn seems set on the fact those glasses are hers, yet other people say they don't recognize them as Brittanees.

HOWEVER, I'm not sure who else other than teenage girls wear Prada sunglasses!

 

[Steely Dan]

I'm torn on the glasses subject.. On one hand, they've never publicly confirmed that they're hers; of course, I'm sure that is a difficult task to complete without any DNA/fingerprint evidence. We've all agreed they look strikingly similar to the ones she's wearing in the pictures from the beach, but without any DNA or anything I don't think it could be investigated further until they have a solid idea on who they believe is responsible for her disappearance.
& as you mentioned with the purse/cell phone that has yet to be recovered. If whoever dumped the bag, cell phone & sunglasses in that area in the water, there still should have been mud, or a cracked lense.. Something. The photos taken of the glasses after collected by LE make the glasses look practically brand new.. No rust from the mud/water. The phone & bag are obviously long gone, so I would think the sunglasses wouldn't have been found if they were disposed of with the other items. Dawn seems set on the fact those glasses are hers, yet other people say they don't recognize them as Brittanees.

HOWEVER, I'm not sure who else other than teenage girls wear Prada sunglasses!

IIRC, somebody up thread debunked that they were the same glasses after comparing them to the beach photo.

 

[Farmhand]

I decided after looking at the photos of post #510 and #518 to try and compare the sunglasses as best as I could. I zoomed in on the photo of BD at the beach and noticed on the left arm of the sunglasses there appears a oval shaped marking. When I saw that to me it looks like the marking of the brand called Oakley. Of course with the pictures above I'm comparing sunglasses from 2009 to sunglasses from 2012. I realize over time designs and such change and so they are not an exact match. It took me a while to figure out what I was looking at when I looked at the sunglasses in the evidence bag. We are looking at the back of the glasses with the arms folded in which the right arm shows the word Prada. I have seen the other photos of BD on the beach and in only 1 photo is she wearing sunglasses. In the other 2 photos I don't see them at all. I wonder if the person who took the photos gave them to her to wear for the one photo as I can see she is squinting in one photo in which she isn't wearing sunglasses. If this is the case maybe she did buy a pair of sunglasses while in Myrtle Beach. A pair of knockoff Prada sunglasses costs about $10-$15 (I checked on the internet).

IIRC, somebody up thread debunked that they were the same glasses after comparing them to the beach photo.

I am not sure Steely if you are talking about this post or if someone debunked it previously in a different thread. It took me a while to find it again. The original is post #586 on page 24. The top photo is of the sunglasses found on the riverbank, then 2 pictures of BD on the beach, and then examples of Oakley sunglasses and Prada sunglasses I found on the internet. You will notice that BD is wearing sunglasses in only 1 of the photos. I've seen some of the beach photos but maybe I haven't seen them all and maybe she is wearing them in other photos. I've often wondered if someone didn't borrow her the sunglasses for just this one photo (maybe one of the gals?) because I don't see them again. I don't see her holding them, on the ground, on her head or anything. You can see in the one photo she is looking into the sun and squinting. The 2 photos are almost exactly alike except BD is wearing sunglasses in one of the pictures. It appears one photo was taken right after the other. This is one of those questions which would easily be answered by members of this group. Did they borrow her these sunglasses for this photo? If they did maybe she did buy a pair of knockoff Prada sunglasses while in MB and these are the sunglasses that were found on the riverbank.

 

[Steely Dan]

i am not sure if you are talking about this post or if someone mentioned this previously. It took me a while to find it again.

I don't think that's it. I thought somebody went deeper.

 

[Christina691]

Do you guys think it's possible that maybe she borrowed sunglasses from one of the other girls? I mean, if she borrowed the shorts then I'm sure it's possible she could have borrowed a pair of sunglasses for a day or two if they agreed to loan them to her. Just a thought.. and yes, the girls could have been a great help when it comes to this subject. Girls pay attention to things like that, all they would have to say is "Yes, those do look like the ones she was wearing", or "no, we've never seen her wear those".

Since all of her belongings (clothes, accessories, etc) were left behind at the hotel, I'm assuming Dawn probably searched through her luggage and didn't find a pair of sunglasses at all? This picture above proves that at one point on this trip, she was wearing sunglasses- if there were no sunglasses left in her luggage, there could be multiple scenarios to explain what happened to the glasses:

1. She borrowed a pair of sunglasses from one of the girls and was photographed wearing them (the girls talking and clarifying if they recognize the glasses as their own, or Brittanees, could potentially cancel this theory out completely) It's possible that she did not have the chance to return the glasses and the girls aren't willing to come forward and say they loaned them to her because of the timing/area that the glasses were found in the same general location as the last cell phone ping.

2. Those are actually her sunglasses- it's possible that she could have bought them while she was there, or just packed them with her from back home.

3. Either someone tossed out the purse/cell phone along with the glasses expecting them not to be found, come to find out a few months down the road they've been discovered.

4. Someone may have tossed out the purse and cell phone and kept the glasses in their possession and placed them there in the area searched to throw LE off, or they could have kept the bag, cell phone and glasses all along to ensure none of those items would be found.

When she enters the BW resort, she isn't wearing sunglasses. At that specific time of the day, the sun would have been setting and probably shining directly in her face. That was over a mile walk to get to Peter's hotel. That's a long time of having the sun beam directly in your eyes. This is one factor that leads me to believe she may have just borrowed those glasses she's wearing on the beach. Of course, I could be completely off. The glasses could very well be hers and maybe she had them in her purse, or just took them off before entering the BW resort.

 

[CoolJ]

Just an observation, but it looks to me that in the picture of her NOT wearing the sunglasses that the sunglasses are laying on top of the yellow shirt ? Does anyone else notice that?

 

[Farmhand]

Just an observation, but it looks to me that in the picture of her NOT wearing the sunglasses that the sunglasses are laying on top of the yellow shirt ? Does anyone else notice that?

Good eyes and good find. I never noticed that. It does look like sunglasses on the clothing next to the girls. I wish I had a better quality photo. Maybe somebody else does? When I try to zoom in on it it just gets blurry. I also noticed the other girl not in this photo but in other Facebook photos has on a yellow bikini (JO?) with a yellow top and maybe the clothes are hers? The yellow top she is wearing over her bikini though doesn't look like it is as bright a yellow as the clothes on the beach. They probably are BD's clothes. I think DD says the BD got a new pair of sunglasses for Easter of that year which would have been a couple of weeks prior to the trip to MB. I wonder if DD knows what brand they were or if the boyfriend knows what brand they were. You would have to deduce that they are sunglasses since in one photo BD doesn't have sunglasses on and then in the next she does, then in the photos the object is laying on the clothes and in the other photo the object is gone. The glasses found on the riverbank to me don't look like the sunglasses she is wearing on the beach. They look similar sort of but not a obvious exact match. The sunglasses found on the riverbank look like they are brown in color and these sunglasses (Oakley's?) are black in color. Now that doesn't mean BD didn't buy another pair while at MB. If she spent as much time on her own as I have read she probably did some shopping and could have bought another pair of knockoff Prada sunglasses pretty cheap in MB.

 

[fabgod]

Can I just say regarding the sunglasses, LE stated that there were no fingerprints or DNA on the ones found up by the river, surely if they were BD's, they would have had some trace of her on them?
What would the reasons for the glasses having nothing on them? Even if they didnt belong to BD surely there would have been some trace of something there? unless they were wiped deliberately and placed there?

 

[JustCryssy]

I made my god daughter and her friends watch the Disappeared episode about Brittanee when they were planning a trip to Miami. (a warning if you will) The group opted to take a parent with after seeing what can happen.

I've always thought her "friends" were responsible.
Myrtle Beach is a BUSY BUSY place during Spring Break. If Brittanee was "snatched" off the street, someone would have seen it occur.
She got in on her own accord.
Sadly, I believe she died over a pair of shorts.

JUST MY OPINION.

 

[Christina691]

I was on the official Brittanee Drexel website looking at old articles & news broadcasts. I'm now learning that LE received an anonymous tip in December 2009 which led them back to the Santee riverbank area to execute another search. On the second day of that search, the backpackers discovered the glasses and called LE because of the news story they had seen the night before talking about the new tip & new search efforts. It has always been my understanding that the glasses were found initially & that is what led them to search the area again??!!
The backpackers confirmed the story about the new search had been recently broadcasted on the news- so, if someone felt as if LE was starting to look at them more and more as a suspect, they could have easily called that tip in themselves & then simply wiped the glasses clean of any evidence & placed them in that open area knowing searchers would find them, therefore directing any negative attention away from themselves (temporarily, that is).

With that being said, I definitely don't believe it's just a coincidence.... It's way too ironic. If Dawn had bought just a normal pair of glasses for Brittanee that Easter, it may have been difficult to confirm those glasses as Brittanees. Easter was just like two weeks prior to her disappearance. If Dawn specifically bought Prada knockoffs, I think she would definitely be able to tell if they're the same ones Brittanee received for Easter. She's never said what type of glasses she purchased, brand name or not.. But finding those glasses less than 24 hours after a new search is announced? Sorry, that's not a coincidence. & I would be willing to bet that if in fact someone did deliberately place those glasses there, they probably have her purse & cell phone too.