The Kidnapping of Brittanee Drexel

Brittanee Drexel was a 17-year-old Rochester, New York student who disappeared on April 25, 2009, while on an unsanctioned spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She was last captured on security camera footage leaving a hotel on Ocean Boulevard and was never seen again. Her mother had not known she was going to Myrtle Beach. The disappearance of a young white woman at a popular spring break destination received significant national media attention.

The case remained unsolved for over a decade. In 2016, a convicted sex offender named Timothy Da'Shaun Taylor, already serving a lengthy sentence, gave investigators information about Brittanee's fate. According to his account — and the subsequent federal investigation — Brittanee had been lured to a motel room, raped, and then taken to a rural property where she was shot when she attempted to escape. Her body was allegedly fed to alligators at a pond on the property.

In 2022, Raymond Moody, a convicted sex offender from Georgetown, South Carolina, was arrested and charged with Brittanee's kidnapping and murder based on evidence including Taylor's account and additional corroboration. Moody was convicted in 2023 and sentenced to life in prison plus 60 years. Brittanee's remains were never recovered, given the alleged disposal method.

The resolution of the Drexel case after thirteen years demonstrated both the persistence of federal investigators and the role that cooperation from other convicted criminals can play in cold case resolution. The absence of remains prevented a complete physical accounting of what happened. Her case prompted discussion about the dangers young people face during unsupervised travel and the vulnerabilities that can be exploited by predators in tourist areas.