A FAMILY was left looking for answers when their teenage daughter disappeared during a spring break trip.
A breakthrough in Brittanee Drexel’s cold case was made with the arrest of Raymond Moody.
Who was Brittanee Drexel?
Born on October 7, 1991, Brittanee Drexel was a teenage resident of Rochester, New York.
Brittanee was a junior who attended Gates Chili High School.
She had aspirations of becoming an OB nurse and a model.
Her family and loved ones remember her as “a bright and spirited young woman with a heart of gold.”
“Brittanee has been and will continue to be deeply missed by everyone who knew her.
“Her bright smile and infectious laughter will live on in the memories of all who had the honor of knowing her.”
Brittanee is survived by her mother Dawn Pleckan, her father John Kahyaoglu, and her stepfather Chad Drexel.
She is also survived by her siblings; Camdyn, Myrissa, John, and Selin.
When did Brittanee go missing?
On April 25, 2009, 17-year-old Brittanee went missing after taking a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
When she vanished, Brittanee was leaving from Blue Water Resort; where some of her friends were staying.
She was texting her boyfriend John Grieco when suddenly, Brittanee stopped responding.
After Brittanee failed to return a series of text messages, Grieco reached out to her mother Dawn.
Dawn contacted Brittanee’s stepfather and the Rochester Police Department, who launched a missing persons investigation.
On May 15, 2022, a breakthrough was made when Brittanee’s remains were recovered from a wooded area in Georgetown County.
Following the identification of her remains, investigators ruled her cause of death as manual strangulation.
Who killed Brittanee?
On May 4, 2022, Raymond Moody was arrested in connection to Brittanee’s disappearance and homicide.
Since 2012, law enforcement considered him a person of interest in the investigation.
Moody was charged with obstruction of justice, as well as first-degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual misconduct.
He confessed to sexually assaulting and killing Brittanee.
Following his confession, he led police to the abovementioned area where he buried Brittanee.
On October 19, 2022, Moody pleaded guilty to all charges.
The sex offender was sentenced to life in prison with two additional 30-year sentences.
At his sentencing hearing, Moody told the court: “I don’t have the words to express how horrible I feel and I have felt ever since that day.
“I’m very sorry. I was a monster then, and I was a monster when I took Brittanee Drexel’s life.”
In her victim impact statement, Dawn Pleckan addressed her daughter’s killer and said: “You are a serial rapist and a child predator, and you should be ashamed of your actions.
“I am so glad my daughter was feisty and fought back. She fought for her life.
“We know now she scratched the hell out of your face, head, and neck.
“You will forever carry the scars of what my daughter did to you and I hope you are haunted by her.”
On December 9, 2022, Brittanee’s case was revisited in an episode of Dateline NBC titled The Last Walk.
On March 8, 2024, the investigation into her homicide was also the subject of the ABC 20/20 episode Into the Darkness.