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

[Peekerfoo]

Thanks Peekerfoo
Georgetown is where he is from originally apparently, his parents lived here and he came back when he was released from prison.
I read somewhere else that Sunset is a government paid for apartment, so maybe he couldnt afford to move or maybe thought if he left it would look even more suspicious.
Plus, who knows? maybe he gets off on the notoriety?
He lives a bit further out now doesnt he?
I find it more than odd that he can enrol at college, that amazes me

COLLEGE?? :what: That's scary!

 

[Farmhand]

I wonder what the reason was for them to focus on RM in the first place? There was the traffic ticket in Surfside, but that wasn't that night. Did they take all the camera footage they could get from Ocean Blvd and match a vehicle to him? I mean, besides him being a sorry SOB and RSO, why did they focus on him when they previously focused on another crew? Do POIs 1
know POI 2? Or are they totally unrelated?

I believe if they found one speck of BD's DNA at the Sunset Lodge RM would be in jail NOW. They had to have had some other link to him to search his place. What or who was that link?

From what I've read someone contacted LE and told them RM made some comments about BD to them. Then they searched the Sunset Apartments (August, 2011). 6 months later RM was named Primary POI in BD case. That was February of 2012. They must have found something from Crystal Soles at the sunset apartments because out of nowhere she was brought into the mix at that time. I would also guess they found something from BD. I also read on another forum that more than one apartment was possibly searched (apartment #22 and #25). I am not totally positive if that happened or not. RM had lived in this apartment complex several different times. Below is a photo from the search on apartment #22. You can see the number 22 on the door. It would also be interesting to know if they found anything with all the luminol that was sprayed in the room.

 

[seagull65]

I know I'm repeating myself, but I do also think if LE had found any evidence connected to Brittanee in their searches it would have been in the headlines and there would have been an arrest. I don't see how it would have been kept quiet all this time or why it would have.

I agree about the jurisidiction issues. I always wished LE had called in federal investigators up front on this case, since the case spans so many jurisdictions and the witnesses took off home several states away, etc. No criticism of the MB police, but how could they investigate all the people and locations adequately or quickly enough to preserve any evidence that might be found? If it had been my kid I sure would have wanted fed authorities called in right away to investigate all the young people's pings, and every location where my daughter and/or her phone pings had been. Or was the FBI called in?

I never heard about any investigation of the young people or their pings, etc, also never heard about tracking dogs even being used, or any forensics being done anywhere other than the Sunset Lodge, did you guys?

 

[seagull65]

p.s. I imagine someone posted this already, but regarding the two young women who were found shot in the Francis Marion forest earlier this week, an arrest has been made of two young men (acquaintances of one of the girls). Very sad, can't imagine what happened there. http://postandcourier.com/article/2...ling-for-answers-after-first-court-appearance

 

[seagull65]

It's just my feeling. There have been searches near Surfside, too.

I would get physically ill when I saw some of the swamps and alligators down by Poleyard and beyond. I once saw a huge flock(?) of buzzards and found a dead goat. I walked around places where I probably shouldn't have been... My point with this is I know how daunting a task it has been to try and find Brittanee. It's all swamps, woods, wild boar, etc. I have been there during every season and not once did I get a good feeling about the area. It's creepy. I had a severe panic attack on one road onece and I have never been back to search. I get queasy just driving that stretch to visit Charleston.

One thing I wish I knew was if they ever searched the woods next to the Sunset Lodge or the woods near the nature place near Powell Rd (I can't remember the name of it right now). It was maybe Gun Club Road.

I so hope that one day they will find Brittanee, but believe me, it truly is some rough terrain down there. I give CUE a lot of credit for searching where they did---they are fearless.

Thanks for all your great posts, Peekafoo.
I totally agree with your descriptions of the terrain there, it is a very remote rural area, and dangerous terrain. I always feel the same way driving that stretch of road. Definitely don't go searching alone anyone. That is sad about the goat, I wonder how he wound up out on his own there? Poor thing.
A lot of times people from other parts of the country don't realize it, but all our bodies of fresh water here are alligator infested. You don't get in them, and you don't stand at the edge of them. I remember when I first moved here and I walked up to the edge of a pond at a golf course to take a picture of a beautiful egret once, and my husband was like "what are you doing?!!" (And I, a person from the midwest, was clueless, I was like "taking a picture?") He explained to me that you never stand by the edge of any body of fresh water here in the lowcountry, in that very body of water there was a very big alligator known to everyone. Even in very developed areas we get alligators in all our little neighborhood ponds eventually (which eventually have to be removed), etc. When you go into the more country areas and large swamps/creeks/rivers you see such such big alligators it's truly scary. But an alligator doesn't have to be very big to be dangerous.

 

[seagull65]

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

thank you. I feel better having told you guys.

I'm sorry I was calling you Peekafoo, now I see it's Peekerfoo

 

[fabgod]

I know I'm repeating myself, but I do also think if LE had found any evidence connected to Brittanee in their searches it would have been in the headlines and there would have been an arrest. I don't see how it would have been kept quiet all this time or why it would have.

I agree about the jurisidiction issues. I always wished LE had called in federal investigators up front on this case, since the case spans so many jurisdictions and the witnesses took off home several states away, etc. No criticism of the MB police, but how could they investigate all the people and locations adequately or quickly enough to preserve any evidence that might be found? If it had been my kid I sure would have wanted fed authorities called in right away to investigate all the young people's pings, and every location where my daughter and/or her phone pings had been. Or was the FBI called in?

I never heard about any investigation of the young people or their pings, etc, also never heard about tracking dogs even being used, or any forensics being done anywhere other than the Sunset Lodge, did you guys?

It would have made so much sense to have checked the "friends" (hate using that word on them), we just dont know what was done do we?
It would have been an obvious choice to have checked the cars they travelled down in for evidence, again we dont know if they did test them.

It just seems that LE kind of missed the window of opportunity with Brittanee, its easy with hindsight, but they must have been thinking for quite a while that she was a runaway and by the time it became clear that it was much worse than that, the crucial times had gone

 

[fabgod]

Thanks for all your great posts, Peekafoo.
I totally agree with your descriptions of the terrain there, it is a very remote rural area, and dangerous terrain. I always feel the same way driving that stretch of road. Definitely don't go searching alone anyone. That is sad about the goat, I wonder how he wound up out on his own there? Poor thing.
A lot of times people from other parts of the country don't realize it, but all our bodies of fresh water here are alligator infested. You don't get in them, and you don't stand at the edge of them. I remember when I first moved here and I walked up to the edge of a pond at a golf course to take a picture of a beautiful egret once, and my husband was like "what are you doing?!!" (And I, a person from the midwest, was clueless, I was like "taking a picture?") He explained to me that you never stand by the edge of any body of fresh water here in the lowcountry, in that very body of water there was a very big alligator known to everyone. Even in very developed areas we get alligators in all our little neighborhood ponds eventually (which eventually have to be removed), etc. When you go into the more country areas and large swamps/creeks/rivers you see such such big alligators it's truly scary. But an alligator doesn't have to be very big to be dangerous.

Its like a different world out there!
I'm sort of laughing to myself here in England, it really doesnt seem real.
We only see Alligators or Crocodiles in zoos and on TV, hats off to you all and especially to the searchers who put themselves on the line.

 

[seagull65]

I've always feared the exact same thing, fabgod. Sad if she was put in the category of runaway and crucial time lost. Of course easy for me to say and in retrospect, but when a 17 yr old disappears while on vacation with a bunch of young people who are older than she is, and she has no vehicle of her own there, and they go back to their home state very quickly afterward despite the fact that she has no way to get home....I would want it investigated as a potential crime right from the start just in case. In a case like that who would jump to the conclusion "runaway". Runaway to where? How, in what vehicle? From what? Why run away from a vacation? etc I would have been wanting to know, who were all the people she'd been with, where were their phones pinging, who were they in contact with, what connections do they have in the area....etc. Just to err on the side of safety.

 

[fabgod]

I've always feared the exact same thing, fabgod. Sad if she was put in the category of runaway and crucial time lost. Of course easy for me to say and in retrospect, but when a 17 yr old disappears while on vacation with a bunch of young people who are older than she is, and she has no vehicle of her own there, and they go back to their home state very quickly afterward despite the fact that she has no way to get home....I would want it investigated as a potential crime right from the start just in case. In a case like that who would jump to the conclusion "runaway". Runaway to where? How, in what vehicle? From what? Why run away from a vacation? etc I would have been wanting to know, who were all the people she'd been with, where were their phones pinging, who were they in contact with, what connections do they have in the area....etc. Just to err on the side of safety.

Seagull65
You are right in everything you say,
In defence of LE though, it was a strange set of circumstances.
There was the fact that the Parents did not know BD had gone to Myrtle Beach which possibly gave LE the impression that she was a bit of a rebel and there was the likelihood that she was using Myrtle as a staging post to get away.
If the parents made LE aware that BD had been depressed and that they were going through a break up, that would also have affected their thinking.
The people she was with could have painted whatever picture of Brittanee that they wanted, because there would be no alternate voice to speak in BD's defence and so on.

The main point is it could have been almost the perfect crime and unknown to whoever the Perp was, everything else as to LE thinking, "friends" not helping, possible runaway, all fell perfectly to buy some time and allowed the trail to go cold somewhat.

having said that, the vehicle BD was taken in must have gone through some traffic cameras or CCTV, was that all lost due to the delays?
Phone records would have shed light on the "friends" activities and involvement/non involvement, their cars could have been eliminated, maybe this was all done, but if it was, why not release that information to the family and stop the doubt in that direction from an understandably concerned family?

 

[seagull65]

exactly, what was actually ruled out, that's what we're left wondering. Because we haven't heard of anything really being investigated and ruled out. I.e. parking garages, no video from any of the nearby garages? What other video in the area? Did they ever take dogs to hotels, garages, dumpsters in the area? Why no forensics in the friends' vehicles, no investigation of anyone etc. Pings to verify where people went, checking out the others they were calling during that timeframe, etc.

I know the boyfriend says that any depression she'd had was over her parents' divorce. But I always wondered how much the on-again/off-again relationship with him (he seems older than her and it appeared that she'd been with him from a really young age) took a toll on her. He says he wanted her to go on the MB trip without him, was happy for her to hang out with guys there, etc. Is all that true? He seems extremely nice, but even him, did they check his pings, etc.

About the delays, I agree, I always wondered, was it just a tragic misunderstanding on LE's part, i.e. did they hear the parents saying she had gone to MB without permission, and took that to mean she was thought to be a runaway in the area, parents trying to find her, but not that urgent. Not realizing that this was a case of a girl who had gone missing FROM a trip in MB, no means of transportation of her own, everything left behind, disappeared in the middle of a text conversation, dropped off the radar.

 

[seagull65]

Its like a different world out there!
I'm sort of laughing to myself here in England, it really doesnt seem real.
We only see Alligators or Crocodiles in zoos and on TV, hats off to you all and especially to the searchers who put themselves on the line.

definitely hats off to the searchers.

p.s. I didn't know you were in England, fabgod. That is SUCH a beautiful country. I lived in London (in 1987) and Oxfordshire ('96-'98). So beautiful, would love to live there again sometime. South Carolina is beautiful, don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic place to live. But the terrain is like a different world for me, too, all the swamps, marshes, peninsulas, islands, rivers, etc. Actually very beautiful scenery, but difficult terrain. Beautiful beaches.

 

[seagull65]

thanks for the pictures etc Farmhand

 

[seagull65]

(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.

who is the person who's missing from your town, Peekerfoo? I am sorry to hear about that.

 

[seagull65]

I still think that the group with previous in something similar could well be involved but I also think RM is very much in the frame just from location history and his refusal to speak to LE

which group? thanks in advance for info

 

[seagull65]

if anyone has any links handy for pertinent info like video, official documents, case facts, the cell phone data, etc, could you post them again so we have them handy again in one place? Very much appreciated if you do! Do we have a page for these links or something, I can't find one. It would be nice to have all links together in one place

 

[fabgod]

which group? thanks in advance for info

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=488808

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...nxJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jQsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2169,3607023

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=441801



the above links will give you the idea on the previous POI

Shannon McConaughy was murdered in 1998, worth a look at her story and how it links to the area

We have used the Investigation Discovery show "disappeared - the secret journey. you can find it here

Disappeared - The Secret Journey (Part 1/3) - YouTube

Hope all this helps

 

[Farmhand]

if anyone has any links handy for pertinent info like video, official documents, case facts, the cell phone data, etc, could you post them again so we have them handy again in one place? Very much appreciated if you do! Do we have a page for these links or something, I can't find one. It would be nice to have all links together in one place

http://helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com



A lot of stuff at her website in the news archives section. I would love to see the cell phone data if someone could get a hold of it.

 

[LLLindsayy]

It's been a few years since LE questioned people at Georgetown High School. Does anyone have any ideas as to what this was all about? Any connections to any current theories floating around?

 

[fabgod]

It's been a few years since LE questioned people at Georgetown High School. Does anyone have any ideas as to what this was all about? Any connections to any current theories floating around?

The only thing I ever read about GHS was that some of the group that seagull65 asked about earlier were rumoured to have family that attended that High school, I dont know if that is the link or just a coincidence.

Incidentally, while I was reading last night, I came across Peter Brozowitz lawyer who stated to the press that the boys car had been searched by LE

I also found an interview with one of the lead detectives in the BD case who said that polygraphs had been carried out on several people including the previous POI TST.