NY Teen Missing For 13 Years Found Dead In South Carolina

ROCHESTER, NY — Brittanee Drexel, a 17-year-old New York teenager who disappeared while on a 2009 spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was found dead last week just miles from where she was last seen, according to police.

South Carolina authorities announced the discovery of her body Monday. Authorities have arrested Raymond Douglas Moody, 62, of Georgetown, South Carolina, in connection with her death, Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver said at a news conference.

Moody has been charged with murder, kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual misconduct, Weaver said.

Drexel was last seen on April 25, 2009, when she was walking back to her hotel in Myrtle Beach, according to The Associated Press. Her boyfriend, who stayed home in Rochester, became concerned when she stopped answering texts.

Drexel was kidnapped that night by Moody, who raped and killed her before burying her body in the woods the next day, Weaver said at Monday's news conference.

Her body was found in Georgetown County, about 35 miles south of where she disappeared. Authorities said her remains were identified on May 11.

Authorities did not comment on what helped them crack the case and locate Drexel's body.

Moody, whose arrest warrant indicated that he allegedly killed Drexel by strangling her, has an "extensive sex offender history," Weaver said. Moody is on South Carolina’s sex offender registry for convictions in California for sodomy by force of someone under 14 and kidnapping, the AP reported.

Moody was identified as a person of interest in Drexel's disappearance in 2012, USA Today reported. At the time, authorities searched his hotel room located near where Drexel's cell phone was last detected.

Drexel's mother, Dawn Drexel, spoke during Monday's news conference, calling the discovery "a mother's worst nightmare."

"But today, it's bittersweet," Dawn Drexel said. "We are much closer to the closure and the peace that we have been desperately hoping for."