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Missing teenager Brittanee Drexel’s human remains were discovered in South Carolina, nearly 13 years after her disappearance. Raymond Douglas Moody, a 62-year-old offender, was then charged with allegations of murder, kidnapping and assault in connection to the former’s death.
As per NBC News, County Sheriff Carter Weaver reported that Moody’s arrest was based on the same undisclosed evidence that led to authorities finding Drexel’s remains:
“Charges against Raymond Moody were made possible through investigating findings and evidence that led us to a possible site where Raymond Moody buried a deceased Brittanee Drexel on or about April the 26th of 2009.”
Drexel was last seen at Myrtle Beach during her spring break on April 25, 2009. She was reported missing after she stopped replying to her boyfriend’s text messages. On Monday, Weaver confirmed that Moody allegedly kidnapped the 17-year-old that night and strangled her to death after assaulting her.
He reportedly buried Drexel’s body in the woods the next day, which was finally found last Wednesday, May 11, in Georgetown County, about 35 miles away from the coast where she disappeared. The teenager’s identity was backed by dental records and DNA testing.
Everything to know about Raymond Douglas Moody
Raymond Douglas Moody is a 62-year-old offender from Georgetown, South Carolina, who was recently arrested on alleged charges of assault and murder in relation to the death of Brittanee Drexel.
He was first named a person of interest in the case in 2012 but could only be arrested now after evidence against him was recently found. State Law Enforcement Division Records reveal that Moody previously spent 21 years in prison for a 1983 abduction and assault of a minor.
After being released from prison in 2004, Moody reportedly returned to his hometown and started living at a roadside motel or apartment called the Sunset Lodge. In 2008, Moody was charged with indecent exposure, which was later reduced to public disorderly conduct.
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office also charged him in February 2009 for failing to register as an offender and fined him $250.
On May 4, 2022, Moody was arrested on an obstruction charge and detained in custody on $100,000 bail. Following the latest findings, his previous bond was revoked and he is currently being detained without bail.
What happened to Brittanee Drexel?
Brittanee Drexel, a 17-year-old girl from New York, was reportedly visiting South Carolina's Myrtle Beach on spring break nearly 13 years ago. She left for the vacation with her friends and was also reportedly set to visit some relatives despite her parents being unaware that she was traveling far away.
The teenager’s mother Dawn previously told People that her daughter was angry with her the day she left for the holiday:
“I didn't know she was going. The day she left she was angry with me because she asked me if she could go and I told her no. I said, 'There's no adults going and I have no idea who these kids are and I don't feel comfortable with it.' I told her I just felt something was going to happen to her. I just felt it.”
Drexel was last seen leaving a beachfront hotel in Myrtle Beach on April 25, 2009. She eventually stopped answering texts, leaving her boyfriend, who was at home in New York at the time, very worried. The teenager was reported missing shortly after.
The disappearance of Brittanee Drexel soon made national headlines and led to an extensive search investigation. Officials reported that Drexel’s phone pinged for the last time near the Charleston and Georgetown County line on the day of her disappearance.
After several years of investigation, authorities named Raymond Douglas Moody as a person of interest in the case after searching his Georgetown hotel room. However, no arrests were made in connection with the case.
In June 2016, the FBI held a press conference saying that officials believed that the teenager was dead. They also assumed that she was possibly a victim of trafficking and was being held at a stash house in McClellanville after being kidnapped.
Officials alleged that Drexel was murdered and her body fed to the alligators. Authorities even offered a $25,000 reward for more information leading to an arrest. The FBI also said that jailhouse informants told them about father-son duo Shaun and Timothy Taylor’s involvement in Drexel’s kidnapping and murder.
However, rumors related to Drexel’s disappearance and death were eventually shot down, and all previous accounts were deemed untrue except for the connection with Moody.
In 2017, authorities reportedly searched a wooded area along a dirt road in Georgetown called Foxfire Court in relation to the case, but no information was made available to the public.
On May 16, 2022, authorities finally announced that they had found Brittanee Drexel’s human remains in a wooded area nearly 2.5 miles away from where Moody had been living during the teen’s disappearance.
Moody was then charged with kidnapping, assaulting and murdering Drexel. The teenager’s remains have finally been returned to her family.
