Chilling update in murder of Brittanee Drexel, 17, who was feared to have been thrown into alligator pit on Spring Break
A CHILLING update on the murder of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel, who was feared to have been thrown into an alligator pit on Spring Break, has been revealed.
Brittanee‘s remains were discovered last week, more than 13 years after she vanished in South Carolina during spring break with her friends.
Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver confirmed in a Monday press conference that Brittanee’s remains were found, an ABC affiliate reported.
Additionally, authorities revealed that 62-year-old Raymond Moody, the man accused of raping, murdering, and burying Brittanee’s body, has been arrested.
Officials said Moody was charged with rape, murder, and kidnapping after Brittanee’s remains were discovered on his property.
Authorities were able to positively ID Brittanee through dental records and DNA, however, her cause of death was not revealed.
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“This is truly a mother’s worst nightmare. I am mourning my beautiful daughter today, as I have for the last 13 years,” Brittanee’s mom said after the news was announced, according to PEOPLE.
“We are much closer to the peace that I have been hoping for.”
Years before Brittanee’s remains were discovered, a few claims were made in regards to her missing case.
Alligator pit
In a 2016 court hearing about an unrelated robbery case, Derrick Munoz testified and revealed that witnesses told police that Brittanee’s body was placed in an alligator pit, PEOPLE revealed that same year.
But, cops and FBI agents combed up to as many as 40 alligator ponds but didn’t find any remains.
Munoz told the court that there may have been 30 or 40 places Brittanee could have been taken to.
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Investigators said that the search for her body was “difficult.”
Human trafficking
Another inmate alleged Brittanee was picked up in Myrtle Beach and taken to McClellanville.
Munoz said it was in the area where her phone signal last pinged.
He told the court: “They ended up tricking her out with some of their friends, offering her to them and getting a human trafficking situation.”
Gang rape
Brittanee was last seen on April 25, 2009 and CCTV footage captured the moment she left the Blue Water Resort.
Her last text was to her boyfriend, who was in New York. He responded to the message.
But, she failed to reply and 10 minutes later her partner called Brittanee’s mom Dawn Pleckan who reported the case to the police.
A pair of sunglasses similar to ones belonging to Brittanee was found but the accessory couldn’t be linked to the teen.
Jimmy Richardson, the 15th Circuit Solicitor, said: “We continuously have people tell us certain things about the case. Sometimes there’s nothing to it. Sometimes, it’s the holy grail.”
The case seemed to go cold until 2016.
Years after Brittanee first disappeared, FBI agents believe that she was held against her will and murdered.
When Munoz testified in court, he said that inmate Taquan Brown claimed he saw Brittanee at a house in McClellanville – located around 60 miles from the hotel – days after the teen vanished.
Brown later told News10NBC that Brittanee had a “black eye.”
He also alleged that she was being sexually assaulted.
Brown claimed he saw Brittanee get “pistol-whipped” and taken back into the home, according to Munoz’s testimony.
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He revealed he heard gunshots moments later.
Brown revealed the next time he saw Brittanee her body was being wrapped up and removed from the home.
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