Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

The Disappearance of Brittanee Drexel

On the night of April 25, 2009,17-year-old Brittanee Drexel of Chili, New York, left the BarHarbor Hotel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she had beenstaying with friends on a spring break trip that she had takenwithout her mother's knowledge or permission. She walked to anotherhotel a short distance away, and from there, texted her boyfriend tosay that she was going to see another friend at another hotel. Shehas not been seen since.

Police had no leads until 2016, when itwas announced that a prison inmate had told them that Drexel had beenabducted and killed. The man accused by the informant deniedknowledge of any alleged crime. Based on that information, the FBIconsiders the case a homicide, although it has not identified anysuspect.

Background

Brittanee Drexel was born in theRochester, New York, area in 1991, to her mother Dawn and a man ofTurkish descent. Shortly after Brittanee was born, Dawn married ChadDrexel, who adopted Brittanee at that time. After Chad's militaryservice ended, the family lived in the suburb of Chili. Drexel tookan early liking to soccer. Friends and family recall her as beingparticularly fast with the ball despite her small stature.

Drexel aspired to a career in nursingor cosmetology, or even modeling. She had been born with persistenthyperplastic primary vitreous in her right eye, which requiredseveral surgeries, and was blind in that eye. To cover the eye'stendency to wander, she wore contact lenses that gave her adistinctive appearance.

Dawn and Chad Drexel separated in 2008,a development that was not easy for Brittanee, adversely affectingher academic performance; Chad says that it also aggravated thedepression from which she had long suffered. She remained with hermother but kept in close contact with Chad. In April 2009, she askedDawn if she could go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, over springbreak with her boyfriend and some girlfriends. Her mother refused,since she did not know the other teenagers and there were noaccompanying adults on the trip; she also had a premonition thatsomething bad would happen. This led to arguments between the twofor several days until April 22, when Brittanee asked if she could goto a friend's house for a day or two to calm down, to which Dawnagreed. That day, Brittanee left for South Carolina with the otherstudents without telling her mother.

Three days later, Brittanee called hermother once during the daytime after having arrived in Myrtle Beach,where the group stayed at the Bar Harbor Hotel, telling her motherthat she was at the beach. Dawn was not alarmed, as she assumed thatBrittanee had been referring to a beach along the Lake Ontarioshoreline. A trip there seemed plausible to her since the temperaturehad reached a high of 83 °F (28 °C) in the area that day.

Disappearance

That night, around 8 p.m., Drexel lefther friends at the Bar Harbor Hotel on the beachfront to walk 1.5miles (2.4 km) south down South Ocean Boulevard to another hotel, theBlue Water Resort, to visit a longtime friend who was staying there.Security cameras at the Blue Water Resort showed her arriving,wearing a black-and-white tank top, flip-flops and shorts, carrying abeige purse and then leaving around 8:45.

Drexel continued texting her boyfriend,John Grieco, who had stayed in the Rochester area because of workcommitments. At around 9:15 her texts suddenly stopped, and Griecobegan calling her friends in Myrtle Beach to see if they knew whereshe was or what had happened. When those efforts failed, he calledBrittanee's mother.