Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - MORE HEARTACHE FOR MOM OF BRITTANEE DREXEL MURDERED ON SPRING BREAK

Episode Date: June 6, 2026

It's been more than 26 years since a 17-year-old New York girl disappears during a spontaneous Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Ultimately, Brittanee Drexel 's remains were  found and her killer  confessed.  Drexel was last seen on video after she walked out the Bar Harbor hotel near downtown. She texted her boyfriend that she was returning to her hotel and was never seen again.  Convicted sex offender Raymond Moody was first questioned about the girl's disappearance when Drexel when missing.  Police searched Moody's residence but found nothing to link him to the crime.  Technology advance in the years since rekindled suspicions that Moody was the killer and he has pleaded guilty to the charges of murder and first-degree sexual misconduct. He has been sentenced to life in prison.     Dawn Conley, mother of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel, filed a wrongful death and emotional distress lawsuit and was awarded $700 million in damages.  Raymond Moody has not paid the judgment.  Joining Nancy Grace Today: Dawn Drexel - Victim's Mother  Jarrett Ferentino - Pennsylvania Attorney/Homicide Prosecutor, Attorney to Dawn Drexel Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA www.angelaarnoldmd.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital Sheryl McCollum - Forensic Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Twitter: @ColdCaseTips  Dr. Michelle DuPre - Former Forensic Pathologist, Medical Examiner and Detective: Lexington County Sheriff's Department, Author: "Homicide Investigation Field Guide" & "Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide", Forensic Consultant DMichelleDupreMD.com  Nicole Boone - Special Events Anchor, WBTW (Myrtle Beach), Host and Producer: "Conversations with Nicole" podcast, www.wbtw.com, Facebook.com/Conversations.Nicole.Boone, Instagram: @nicoletvnews, Twitter: @WBTW_NicoleB, Youtube: "Conversations with Nicole"  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Well, it's Saturday night, and I've got something special. You know, you never know the depths of evil. You don't. So often I say, well, I've seen it all. And then something else happens.

And then I say, I've seen it all. tonight heartache for the mother of a beautiful young girl murdered on spring break i'm nancy grace this is crime stories i want to thank you for being with us the mom finds out her daughter snuck off to go to spring break but that wasn't the end of her shock she then discovers her 17-year-old daughter who would snuck off to myrtle beach south carolina faced every parent just worst nightmare possible. Her daughter, Brittany, last seen on security video from Blue Water Resort. After that, she was kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered.

But tonight, believe it or not, it can get worse. For years, the case goes unsolved and then amazingly, Britney's killer, Raymond Moody, is brought to justice. After she watches Moody be sentenced to life behind bars, she files a lawsuit, accusing Moody and the Blue Water Resort, where Brittany stayed, of wrongful conduct leading to Britney's death. And I've got to tell you, this is one of the worst cases I've ever seen what was done to Brittany. Just one year ago, a jury says Moody intentionally caused Britney's family great emotional distress.

But in the last hours, we learn the killer. Moody has blocked the mom's payout after years of suffering. Oh, I mean, knows no

depth, has no remorse, no sympathy, nothing after what he did to this girl. What happened to Brittany Drexel? First of all, take a listen. WBTW in Myrtle Beach. Authorities now say Raymond Moody confessed to killing 17-year-old Brittany Drexel 13 years ago

and then led investigators to her body down in Georgetown County. Back in April of 09, Drexel visited Myrtle Beach for spring break. She was with friends from New York State. Investigators think that Moody kidnapped her, assaulted her, and then strangled her to death. Joining me, Nicole Boone, special events, anchor WBTW. Brittany's remains found where? Well, they were found in a wooded area near the Harmony Township subdivision. And it had been gone, investigators, police had gone to the site a few days before when they had gotten information,

dug on this site in a remote area of Georgetown County, you know, a very wooded rural area, very remote, off the beaten path. And once they got this tip, I spoke with Solicitor Jimmy Richardson. came about getting some really good information and went to this site and did the excavation and that's where her remains were found. Bear rural area of Georgetown County, South Carolina, along the coast, but inland in a remote area. To special guests joining us, this is Dawn Jaxel. This is Brittany's mother.

Ms. Jaxel, when did you learn that Britney's remains had been found? I had spoken with the FBI. They were pretty much updating me like every day. I knew when they were starting to search, but on Wednesday, probably about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, they had called me and told me that they had found human remains. When you were told that human remains had been found, what went through your mind?

I was kind of, I mean, you know, with me, I mean, fighting for as long as I have for Brittany, I was really upset when they told me they had found her. But I can tell you that it was a huge relief to me because now I can bring Britney home. Did you harbor over the years any secret belief that Brittany was still alive somewhere? No. Early on in her case, they had told us that they believed that this was going to be a homicide investigation. and I mean, I was pretty much set up for it. I think I just, you know, you go back to the numbness

and everything from the beginning. Also with me, Jared Ferentino, Pennsylvania high profile, a lawyer, homicide prosecutor. Jared, thank you for being with us. Pleasure to be with you, Nancy. Thank you for having us. Jared, I cannot even imagine what Brittany's mother has. gone through and it has dragged out for so long. I mean, that was years ago when I first learned

that a girl named Brittany Drexel had disappeared on a Myrtle Beach vacation and we were trying to find her and we were sending out her picture and the tip line and just constantly trying to find Brittany. That was a long time ago in 2009, as I recall. The suffering her family has been through is really unimaginable. No one can know unless you go through it yourself. Absolutely, Nancy. First of all, thank you for the coverage you've provided and the attention you brought to

Brittany's case. Certainly that has inspired people to continue her search and the quest for answers in the case. In addition to the 13 years, the investigation itself, had taken some twist and turns. In 2016, there were suspects named. There were certainly rumors and information that came out of what may have happened to Brittany. So Don has been so up and down on this roller coaster of an investigation,

but the past several weeks, as we came to learn that things were coming to an end in this phase. Don Drexel is with me. This is Brittany's mother. You know, Don, we have been looking. for Brittany for so long. And I've got to tell you, when I learned that her remains had been found, I felt like I got punched in the stomach. I guess somewhere deep inside, I had always hoped that somehow someone had taken her and she had, I don't know what I was thinking in my head, maybe she was afraid to leave or she had been a Stockholm syndrome.

She had been brainwashed and she she wouldn't tell anybody. I always come up with these scenarios in the back of my mind. And then the finality of saying, we found her remains. I'm just trying to imagine you in that moment. Where were you when they told you? I was actually at home when they had called. we had met with the FBI probably two weeks prior and you know at that point things were moving pretty fast and so I knew they were you know they were searching for Brittany but it's just I don't know at that

moment when they when they had recovered you know or had found the human remains I just, it was like, I don't know, I was just in, it's kind of like in disbelief. Like, I never knew that we were going to get there. Like 13 years is a long time. I never thought that, that Brittany was going to be found. Take a listen to hour. A, this is from W.H.A.M. Brittany was 17, a junior at Gates Chilai, when she left without her mom's permission for spring break in Myrtle Beach.

She was last seen alone, leaving a motel on the strip. In 2010, 13 Wham had this exclusive video of the site along a river in South Carolina, where Brittany's body was believed to have been left. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To Cheryl McCollum joining me, for an expert, founder and director of the Cold Case Research Institute, a hotel security camera actually captured one of the last known images of teen girl Brittany Drexel. It was just before 9 p.m. And she was leaving a friend's room, a friend girl's room, at the, I think it was the Blue Water Resort.

We see her later walking through the lobby. I don't know how many times you've looked at that video, Cheryl McCollum. I have studied it. I have slow-moted it. I have looked at it screen by screen to see if I saw anybody watching her in the background.

You know, the case of Kelsey Smith, who went to a Target to pick out her boyfriend, an anniversary gift. And when you look back at the video at Target, she doesn't see this guy, but in every still,

you see a white male not far from her. He may be on the aisle behind her, you know, looking over. He could be at the end of the aisle looking around at her. He's always right around her, but he never speaks to her.

And as Kelsey heads to the checkout at Target, you see him walk past her and leave, only to ambush her and kidnap her in the garage of the Target. I remember slow-moeing Britney's video. And just seeing who was walking by, what can I see, what can I notice? And nothing was really revealed in that video except the time and the date stamp. Right, which was crucial because it gave us a location, a date, a time, and what she was wearing and the direction she went.

So when she left Bar Harbor Hotel headed to Blue Water, then, you know, we knew you've only got a mile and a half. and she should have been there. And she texted her boyfriend, hey, I'm walking back, you know, to my hotel. So she should have been back there within a half hour. And it was that critical moment, a half an hour. You know, a half an hour. And the whole world changed to Gerrit Farentino,

joining us high-profile lawyer out of Pennsylvania, who is Don Drexel's lawyer, a half an hour. I remember Carly Bruchia in Florida, and I'm sure you remember her as well. She had to spend the night with a friend girl and was walking home the following morning. I think it was a Saturday or Sunday morning, and she cut catty cornered instead of following the street. And in the 15 minutes, it would have taken her to walk. She encountered her killer. In 15 minutes, the world turned.

upside down for Carly's family. And in Brittany Drexel's case, in that 30-minute segment that Cheryl McCollum just identified, Brittany was taken, walking from one hotel to the next. And Nancy, that examination of that time frame, the surgical precision that the investigator's laser-beam-focused analysis is really what had to be done, what had to be done in a Brushia case. That's the kind of investigation. What can be green from the Bar Harbor Hotel to the blue water that we can learn. We knew when. We knew what Brittany was wearing. We knew what direction she was heading. So the investigators over the past 13 years and very recently had to examine that

footage, that time frame and the technological advances that have been made in the interim certainly aided in their investigation as time went on. Take a listen to our Cut five our friends at WCIV. Officials say the teenager was on spring break in April 2009. Surveillance video shows her leaving the Blue Water Resort in Myrtle Beach. And for the first time, officials are giving details of what happened next. We believe she traveled to this area around McClellanville and the North Charleston, South Georgetown area. And we believe she was killed after that.

And we do know that Brittany was in this community for several days. We think she was held here against her will, at least for a portion of the time that she was here. You know, why were they so convinced that she was held against her will in that area for several days, Jared Farentino? Nancy, that's a great question. They were convinced that she was definitely in that area based on some cell phone technology, where her phone was pinging from in the remote area, some 50. miles away from the Myrtle Beach area. So whether or not she was being held against her will,

that was a little bit of conjecture on the part of investigators. And certainly some information that came out later may have suggested that. But I'm not sure why at that point they felt she was being held against her will for an extended period of time. What about it, Cheryl McCollum? I have no idea why they would say it. I have no idea why they would bring up even the gator pit. There were several things said in that first press conference that Dawn and I talked about that I thought was just way over the top and almost sensationalized. And I thought maybe they were trying to beat the bushes to bring other people out to say, hey, that's not what happened.

You're making it worse. That's what I believe they were doing was trying to look for other witnesses to come forward. Or maybe they just had it bass backwards. Now, you brought up my next topic, and that was how in the world did a gator slugher. lither into this fact scenario who had nothing, it had nothing to do with this disappearance. And yet somehow that became the centerpiece of so much of the coverage of Britney's disappearance, Cheryl McCollum. Well, Nancy, I remember years ago, you and I were investigating the case and we had to go talk to some nair the whales.

And you said to me, swans don't swim in a sewer. In other words, who do you think I've got to go to to find out about this criminal? other criminals. So they were getting information from jailhouse informants, criminals, liars. So they have to run that down. If they get information, if they get a tip, they've got to run with it and make sure this is either credible or not credible.

But either way, they got to work that tip. Well, you know, another thing, as tough as it is to believe, I have actually had a case where a child was killed and left in a swap infested with gaiters. So it has happened. But in this case, it just seems so far-fetched the whole, the scenario that was being asserted to you, Don Drexel, Brittany's mother. Can you believe it's 2022 and where you're just solving the mystery?

Yes. I know. this case, I can tell you, I believe this case should have been solved a long time ago. But, you know, that's for another day. Well, you're absolutely right about that. To Nicole Boone joining me from WBTW. Nicole, again, thank you for being with us. Could you please describe the area where Brittany's remains were found and how far away Is that from where she went missing at the Blue Water Resort in Myrtle Beach?

Yes, Nancy. It was a very remote area, a wooded area along Old Town Avenue and Harmony Township in Georgetown County. Georgetown County is along South Carolina's coast, and Georgetown itself, the city would be about 54 miles from Myrtle Beach, if you, the drive time from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Georgetown. maybe not quite that far, maybe 40, but still a decent distance. And once she went missing in Myrtle Beach, immediately once the cell phone started pinging from the cell phone towers, she ended more in that remote area of Georgetown County. And to the fact about the talk of an alligator pit and all of that that was brought up years after she went missing,

it's very much an alligator infested area and some of those things start to come up that may not have merit but when I spoke with solicitor Jimmy Richardson he told me there were so many tentacles in this investigation you have to keep checking things out and to the point that when it came up out of speaking with people that were actually jailhouse snitches you are dealing with criminals themselves so a lot of tentacles in this investigation, but the area where Brittany's remains were found very remote in Georgetown County, 40 miles or so from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, up the coast where she went missing along the boulevard. Pride is like love.

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Canada. Stream us on your phone. Or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Hey Ontario, come on down to BetMGM Casino and check out our newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. Don't miss out. Play exciting casino games based on the iconic game show. Only at BetMGM.

Access to the Price is right Fortune Pick is only available at BetMGM Casino. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager, Ontario only, please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connix Ontario at 1866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BenMGGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Tonight we learn more heartache for the mother of a beautiful young girl, Brittany Drexel, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered.

at Myrtle Beach Spring Break. She snuck out to have a good time with her friends on spring break. She and all of her little friend girls and ends up dead. Tonight, the killer is blocking mom's civil payout. It just seems to never end for this mom. Dawn recently filed a petition saying the money remains unpaid, and Moody has assets he's never turned over. It just sounds so much like O.J. Simpson refusing.

to pay the Goldman's and the Browns for years and years and years until he died laughing he never paid them back. Don's lawyer there at the Hirshan Law Firm says Moody has properties including a home. He's never

disclosed. I mean I don't get it. That said, what do we know about why the mom filed this lawsuit to start with? Brace yourselves. The search focuses there at Georgetown County, about 50 miles away from where she was last seen alive.

Now take a listen to our cut three, our friends at WHAM. A hotel security camera captured one of the last known images of Brittany. It was just before 9 p.m. she was leaving a friend's room at the Blue Water Resort to walk back to the hotel where she was staying. We know that Brittany Drexel made it here to 11th Avenue and Ocean Boulevard. How do we know? Well, one of the few working cameras at the time captured this image of her. She was about halfway through that mile and a half walk back to her hotel when Brittany disappeared. The next clue appears 50 miles away in Georgetown County, where Brittany's cell phone gave off its last signal.

That's about eight miles from the Sunset Lodge where Raymond Moody had moved in the day before. Moody was stopped for speeding and nearby Surfside the day after Brittany disappeared. To Dr. Angela Arnold joining me, psychiatrist, renowned psychiatrist from the Atlanta jurisdiction. I don't know if you recall the name Timothy McVeigh, he was the Oklahoma City bomber that claimed the lives of so many, including children that were in a daycare at the Alfred Murrah Federal Building that was bombed. He was pulled over because of a time.

tail light, as I recall. And when his car was searched, there was evidence that he may have been involved in the bombing. In this case, Moody was stopped for speeding and surfside the day after Brittany disappeared. But I think that it's too far-fetched to expect the cops to put two and two together based on a speeding ticket. I can't fault them on that. Well, I do think, Nancy, that, I mean, let's say that, I think that these things have to be taken very seriously, just knowing, I think that we never can let our guard down. Well, I agree with that. I mean, Cheryl McCollum, you pull a guy over for speeding. So the day after Brittany disappears, there were rumblings even then, whereas Brittany Drexel, they don't run his rap sheet when they pull him over.

I mean, when I get pulled over for anything, I said there for. I don't know what they're running. But you've got a guy who has done hard jail time for raping a little girl in the vicinity where Brittany Drexel goes missing. Another reason that is so important, Nancy, because when he's questioned later about Britney, he says, oh, I was out of town. They got proof he was not out of town. He was eight miles away the day after she was kidnapped.

To Dr. Michelle Dupree joining us, former forensic pathologist, medical examiner, detective, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide, Dr. Dupree, the moment the remains were found, police immediately identified it, identified them as human remains. How could they do that immediately upon sight? Nancy, most often it's with a skull, because obviously, you know, humans have a very distinctive skull shape. It can also be by other means. Other bones in the body can tell whether it's human or not. Don Drexel is with me. This is Brittany's mother who has been through pure hell since 2009. And I can remember the very first time we spoke searching for Brittany, and you would beg and you would cry in commercial breaks.

when I was at HLN and I could hear you. And then somehow when we came back on the air, you were crystal clear and razor focused on trying to find your daughter. Dawn, what a long, long road this has been and I just, I hate it so much for you. Raymond Moody is a sex offender, okay? And I don't, I don't care what anybody thinks.

You cannot rehabilitate a sex offender. You know what? That's what I've been saying since day one, when I first started prosecuting, I do not believe child molesters, rapists, sex offenders in general, can be rehabilitated. I agree. Nancy, this is Dr. Arnold, this is not a matter of believing it or not. It is, that is the truth. They can be watched.

And when I was working with sex offenders earlier in my career, we would keep an eye on them very closely. I can tell you about it sometime. But they cannot be rehabilitated. Dawn, I'm just thinking back on the very beginning. And I mean, you see a lot of crime shows on TV and in movies. Real life isn't like that. cops are not tarot card readers or soothsayers. They can't look into a crystal ball.

They can't figure out, oh, I stop this guy speeding. I wonder if he took Brittany. But they had a bead on him from the beginning. Take a listen to Our Cut 13. This is the Georgetown County Sheriff. The Y may never be known or understood, but today this task force can confidently and without hesitation answer the rest of those questions. along with the who is responsible. The who is Raymond Douglas Moody,

who lives at 5502 Rose Hill Road in Georgetown, South Carolina. His date of birth is May the 9th of 1960, and he is a white male with an extensive sex offender criminal history. The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office charges against Mr. Raymond Moody are murder, kidnapping, criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, all of these charges occurring within the jurisdictional limits of Georgetown County, all of which occurred on April the 25th of 2009, and all of which detail Brittany Drexel as the victim.

Cheryl McCollum, weigh in. I agree with Dawn. They not only had a beat on him. they named him in 2012. As a person of interest, they certainly did. Yeah. And he has hurt six young women and children. And it is baffling to me that anybody can rape and harm six young people.

And walk free. And walk free to be out there to take Brittany, put her through, God knows what, before he killed her. You're absolutely right. Take a listen to Our Cut, Six, our friends from WHAM. Raymond Moody was first named a person of interest in Brittany Drexel's disappearance in 2012, but was never charged. In the 1980s, Moody was charged with kidnapping and raping a child in California

and as a registered sex offender. Joining me, Nicole Boone, special events, anchor WBTW in Myrtle Beach, Nicole. It was around 2011, I believe, just before Moody was named a P-O-I person of interest. And one of WBTW's reporters questioned Moody. What happened? It was an interesting confrontation is how I would have described it. He was very much pushing back. Our reporter at the time, Mason Snyder went to speak with him.

And this was after they had searched a hotel room where Moody had been living. And our reporter goes up to Raymond Moody, talks to him, said, what do you know about Brittany Drexel? Do you know anything about her? He said, I know nothing about this. Where were you the night, the day that she went missing? He doesn't answer. He just tells them, you need to get out of here.

You need to leave. And if you don't, I'm calling the police. Do you know anything about the missing teenager? No, I do not. Can you tell us where you were back in April of 2009? Here's former News 13 reporter Mason Snyder, confronting now confessed Britney Drexel killer Raymond Moody, August 1st, 2011. Snyder and a photographer tracked Moody down at work. The same day, investigators searched Moody's Georgetown County apartment.

You know what? I'm going to call the police in the second. You better split. Can you just tell us four in April? I got nothing to say. Do you understand that? Do you know? Moody wasn't charged a decade ago because of a lack of evidence.

But in the short time, Snyder was in his grill. Snyder describes his presence as chilling. And the second I started peppering him with questions, and the second he started getting frustrated with the fact that we were there and that we were asking him questions and that we essentially stormed him. You know, we didn't, you know, set up this interview ahead of time. It made me want to get out of there as quickly as possible. Wow, that's a nerve for him to suggest he's going to call police. Exactly. Because he's having a problem.

Very interesting. He was very, in my opinion, belligerent with our reporter and adamant that he leave and adamant that he knew. knew nothing and for basically to leave or he was calling police. You know, 13 years, this guy has walked free after murdering a teen girl on spring break. Just beautiful girl scrubbed in sunshine on the inside and the out. I want to go back to Gerrit Farentino, high profile Pennsylvania lawyer that is working with Don Drexel, Britney's mom. Jump in. Well, Nancy, I have to say you talk about capturing

Timothy McVeigh with a business stop. If we remember the son of Sam, he got captured with a parking ticket. Moody was a fish out of water. He was 15 miles away from his home. He had rented an apartment in Myrtle Beach the day before April 25th, when Brittany went missing. That was suspicious to the officers immediately as well. You have this individual with a record,

and these downright dangerous homicidal sexual proclivities in town when a young, beautiful girl disappears. He was on their radar, and the focus has since, as we discussed, gone on to him in great detail leading to these charges. I mean, the coincidence that he shows up and then suddenly she goes missing, I mean, Cheryl McCollum, he just got there and suddenly a young girl is kidnapped. You said that there were six victims of his that we know of. Explain. That we know of. And that's the big question, Nancy, in the past 13 years, how many more are there?

He hasn't just been sitting in that trailer. He hasn't just gone dormant. He's been out free to stalk, harass, harm. Rape, kill. I would be on it comparing his MO and him to, every single disappearance or rape or sex attack in the area and beyond another issue. Take a listen to our cut number nine from WPDE. Carrie Harding was only eight years old when she was abducted by Raymond Moody.

Just as I passed, he grabbed me from behind with his hand over my mouth and around my waist and put me in the passenger seat in the car. And he drove from there, some two or three miles away to an undeveloped. up housing track. Get in the backseat and take off your clothes. And when I said, why, he said, because we're going to screw, which, you know, you don't tell an eight-year-old child that we don't even know what the hell that means. Moody served 21 years of a 40-year prison sentence after admitting to sexually assaulting Harding and six other girls. He relocated to Georgetown after his release from California State Prison in 2004. Nobody should get a second chance to hurt a child.

Police suspect Drexel was kidnapped as she walked along Ocean Boulevard and driven to Georgetown County. Her cell phone signal was last detected in a remote boat landing area near the South Santee River. Pride is like love. You feel it in your heart. IR. Radio. Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts, including IHart Pride Canada, your favorite hits and must have party bangers, plus personalized and curated playlists like back in the day pride. Come together, celebrate love.

Take pride with you anytime, anywhere. Just ask your smart speaker to play. Play IHeart Pride Canada. Stream us on your phone. Or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Hey, Ontario. Come on down to BedMGM Casino and check out our newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick.

Don't miss out. Play exciting casino games based on the iconic game show. Only at BetMGM. Access to the Price is right fortune pick is only available at BedMGM Casino. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager, Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connix Ontario at 1-866-5-3. 21, 2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BEDMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A mom's broken heart after her daughter is murdered on spring break, Myrtle Beach, and now her killer, Moody, twists the knife. What happened to Brittany?

The Drexel girl working and walking along on the sidewalk and smoking pot. She noticed that, walked over through the door and said something about this, and I was like, could we say, yeah, you want something? Sure. Get in. She hopped right in the back about a problem. When she got a vehicle, did you know it was for a bad purpose? No, not at all.

I didn't even cross my mind. Don Drexel with me. This is Brittany's mother, and this has been a very love. road for her. And she never gave up, ever in her search for her daughter. You were telling me, Dawn, that it was early on that you believed that Brittany had been killed. What led you to believe or think or feel that?

Well, shortly after Brittany went missing, the Myrtle Beach Police Department had told us, that they believed that they were dealing with a homicide investigation. At that point, from there, you know, and then what came out in 2016 with the FBI, I mean, we pretty much knew that, you know, it was 13 years. We pretty much knew that Brittany was most likely deceased. Things got out of hand, and I panicked, and she panicked, and I struggled her. Guys, take a listen to Our Cut 15. This is Solicitor Richardson in Georgetown County.

Justice is never going to be good enough. That's the fallacy in all of this, that somehow we're going to do our very best to see that Raymond Moody pays for what he's done here. but that is not going to replace Brittany. But what we have been able to do is to return a body to Chad and Dome and hopefully start the process of closure. And again, closure is not nearly as good as justice, and justice isn't nearly as good as just having it not happen. But that's all we have to offer. So again, to repeat, Raymond Moody is in custody, is being held. He does not have a bond.

That original bond was on obstruction of justice charge. That's another charge that I failed to mention, but he remains in custody. Moody confessed that he took her to a campsite in Georgetown County, raped her, killed her, and left her there. He said he choked her because he started to worry after he raped her. Raymond Moody, he sat through investigators or prosecutors, I should say, explaining the 13, a timeline that led up to today, and he also heard from Brittany Drexel's family. He walked in first without showing emotion, but that changed as the hearing went on. It was about an hour and 15 minutes long, and in that hearing, Moody confessed to kidnapping,

rape and murder of Brittany Drexel, and he also did in a May 5th interview with investigators. The case against him stalled more than a decade ago after a search warrant didn't yield any results. He was named a person of interest but was never charged. I was sentenced four years. in four months and i did 20 years and eight months and i thought that was enough but it wasn't i was a moxster i was a monster and i was a monster and i took brittany greggs with life and i don't have the words to express how horrible i feel and i felt ever since that day very

very sorry do dawns rexel this is brittany's mother i know it's hard to think about it right now because since 2009 your goal has been to bring brittany home

now brittany has been found does this all sing so surreal to it does it happens so fast, you know, and it just, you kind of go back to like the numbness and, you know, like, those surreal moments when she first went missing. I'll always remember Britney's last words to me. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. Listen. Now, I know that you told your daughter, no, you cannot go to

Myrtle Beach. So she went to Myrtle Beach. That's not the worst thing in the world. Many a 17-year-old has gone off on spring break without telling their parents. But she stayed in contact with you. She stayed in touch with you for many, many days until when? Until Saturday. Saturday afternoon was the last time I spoke with Brittany. And take a listen to cut to where we hear what Brittany told her mom. What can you tell me about the last time you heard from her? What did she say? What did she text? When I spoke with Brittany, I asked her what she was doing and she says, oh, mom, I'm at the beach. and it was an 80 degree day in Rochester so of course you know I thought that maybe she was at the beach in Rochester with one of her girlfriends that she had said that it was staying she was staying overnight

and then I said well what do you plan on doing later she said oh I'm just going to hang off my farm we're going to watch a movie and I told her I said well please give me a call later and she said, okay, mom. And then, you know, I told her, I said, I love you, Brittany. And she says, I love you, mom. And then we hung up the phone. You were hearing me speaking to Brittany's mother when Brittany first went missing. Right now, I feel the same way.

I feel like it's so surreal. Like, you know, is this really true, you know? And it just, I don't know. I've always, you know, fought for Brittany and I've always wanted to bring her home. Dawn, I'm curious. What is your most vivid memory of Brittany? Just her laugh, her smile. Britney, she just was, she was just full of life. Her person, she had a great personality. She had a lot of friends. And just watching her play soccer on that soccer field, she was just amazing.

She was amazing at the game. She loved the game. And Brittany made like 26 goals within her season, which was pretty awesome. And she was just so full of life. You know, and for somebody to take that away from us is just, it's undescribable. It really is. We live in an evil world, Nancy. as we wait for the registered sex offender Raymond Douglas Moody and for justice to unfold

WBTW in Myrtle Beat. Well, Moody will get 30 years on kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct in the first degree because he pleaded guilty to all three of the charges against him, including murder, in which he will face life in prison without parole. The judge sentenced him to that this morning, and the state recounted 13 years of an investigation in about 25 minutes. And deputy solicitor for the 15th Circuit, Scott Hickson, said in court that the passage of time, unlike most cold cases, actually helped out this case because of the fact that there were advancements in cell phone tracking technology that allowed investigators to pinpoint Brittany Drexel's phone from Myrtle Beach on its way south into Georgetown County. When I look at photos of Brittany Drexel, just 17 when she disappears in South Carolina's

Myrtle Beach, she looks so alive, so happy. What she endured was horrendous, and now the mother's suffering goes on as her daughter's killer blocks her civil payout. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace. Crime stories. Nancy Grace. Signing off.

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