Myrtle Beach deputies investigate "person of interest" in Drexel case | News

There's a possible break in the case of missing Chili teenager Brittanee Drexel.

It will be three years in April that the 17-year-old student disappeared. But now authorities say a convicted child rapist in South Carolina named Raymond Moody is now a "person of interest" in her disappearance.

Brittanee's mother, Dawn Drexel, is as resilient as ever. She says this new development could be the most significant lead since Brittanee disappeared. But she says it's too soon to get excited.

"I'd like to hear something," she says. "I don't know if I'm ready to hear the worst."

Drexel says she was caught off-guard today by the news police are now calling this man a person of interest. Last August, police went through the hotel room where he lives with a fine tooth comb, taking out bags of items. But it took another six months for them to call Raymond Moody a person of interest in Brittanee Drexel's disappearance.

"They have named him as a person of interest, but they also have other persons of interest in Britanee's case," Drexel says.

She's not sure how to react, she's been here before.

"I don't think I'm ever ready to find out what may have happened to my daughter," Drexel says. "I want to find her and we haev hope that she's still out there. But from what they stated in the media today, it is....it is a roller coaster ride."

Brittanee went missing three years ago April 25 while on spring break in Myrtle Beach. Drawn Drexel spent months searching for her oldest daughter. Now, police are looking to see if there is a connection between Britanee's disappearance and another missing woman, Crystal Soles who was 28 at the time, missing for seven years.

Drexel says she knows Crystal's mother, Gail, and she knows both are hoping to hear something soon. They talk often.

Police say Moody served 21 years for the rape of a young California girl and that he was in South Carolina the weekend Brittanee disappeared.

This could be the break Dawn Drexel has been hoping for, but perhaps not prepared for.

"We had to come to terms that Brit may not be alive, but I don't think a parent is ever ready to hear that."

Drexel says police are actually looking at possibly two other persons of interest in South Carolina. Moody is a level three registered sex offender. Police say they are just now calling him a person of interest, because of new information received last week.

As for Dawn, she takes it one day at a time. She says she's supporting other families whose loved ones are missing. She says she meets with the family members of Alonozo Williams and Dominique Grissom weekly, two young men who've gone missing.