Brittanee Drexel: Police Suspect Sex Offender of Capturing Missing Girl
Police say that missing New York teen Brittanee Drexel may have been captured by a known sex offender in Myrtle Beach. Drexel disappeared on a vacation with friends from the popular South Carolina vacation spot, and has not been seen since.
The high school junior from Rochester, N.Y., vanished after leaving the Blue Water Resort, where she was visiting friends, around 9:00 p.m. on April 25, 2009. The teenager headed back on the one mile walk to the Bar Harbor Hotel where she was staying, but never arrived.
Police are now considering convicted rapist Raymond Moody, who served a 21 year sentence for the 1983 abduction and rape of a California girl, to be the prime "person of interest" in her disappearance.
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The last signal from Drexel's phone was detected in a remote boat landing, 8 miles from Moody's home in Georgetown County. Police have searched the rugged terrain between Myrtle Beach and Moody's home, which is 50 miles south of where Drexel was last seen, but have not found any evidence.
Detectives revealed to FoxNews.com, that Moody, who is a registered Level 3 sex offender, was in the area of Myrtle Beach the same weekend Drexel disappeared. Capt. Joe Vella of the Myrtle Beach Police Department revealed that Moody was also caught speeding in Surfside on April 26, the day after Drexel's disappearance.
Drexel's disappearance is now being classified as a "cold case," but according to reports the case is now being reviewed due to new information.
According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division website, Moody's has also been convicted of three counts of violent rape, one count of assault with intent to commit mayhem, and two counts of lewd behavior on a minor under 14.
Moody has been living in Georgetown, South Carolina since his 2004 release from the California State Prison in Solano in 2004.
