Drexel case heats up as persons of interest identified
Published Friday, April 09, 2010 7:25 PM
Investigators from three counties who have been working to find a missing New York teenager say they now have “persons of interest” in the case.
Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Neil Johnson said “based on information that has been collected” investigators feel Brittanee Drexel — who was 17 years old when she disappeared from Myrtle Beach last year — is no longer alive.
Johnson said investigators have “three and possibly four” persons of interest in the case. He said no other details about the persons of interest is being released at this time.
Johnson said there is
no reason to believe the persons of interest knew Drexel directly.
He said lie detector tests have been administered to two of them.
Investigators from Horry and Charleston Counties are also involved in the case because Drexel’s last known whereabouts was at a Myrtle Beach hotel.
Signals from her cell phone were detected in the North Santee area along the Georgetown County - Charleston County border on April 26 of last year,
one night after she went missing from Myrtle Beach. Several searches have been conducted in the North Santee area as well as in northern Charleston County for any evidence that may lead to Drexel.
Johnson said the case “got hot” in December when Georgetown County Investigator Chris Bailey “received information” about Drexel’s disappearance.
It was in December that searchers found a pair of sunglasses near the river in North Santee.
“Everything we know is leading to this area,” Johnson said. “At this point, based on everything we know, we feel she is not alive.”
Johnson said the evidence continues to point to southern Georgetown County as the place something may have happened to Drexel. He said that is based on the amount of text messages she sent in the days before her disappearance.
“She was constantly on the phone texting. Then it all stopped when she went missing,” he said. “
It was like someone took the phone.”
He said a private investigation service from Maine has been hired to help in the case because they have a lot of resources such as cadaver dogs to assist local authorities.
When asked if having persons of interest will lead to charges in the case, Johnson said that is not currently known.
“We could make an
arrest next week or next year, we just do not know,” he said.
By Scott Harper
sharper@gtowntimes.com
