Brittanee Drexel Murder: Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Killing South Carolina Teen Who Disappeared in 2009

For more than a decade, the family of Brittanee Drexel has wondered what happened to her. The 17-year-old disappeared walking to a motel during spring break in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 2009.

Now they have the harrowing answer, after Brittanee’s killer pleaded guilty to her murder.

Police focused their attention on Raymond Moody, a 62-year-old convicted sex offender, after advanced cellphone technology placed Brittanee inside of his car. 

Moody “came clean” in a police interview, prosecutor Scott Hixon said in court. The killer led investigators to the spot where he buried Brittanee's body after raping and strangling her.

At a court hearing earlier this week, Moody pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping.

“I don't have the words to express how horrible I feel, and I've felt ever since that day. I'm very, very sorry,” Moody said.

Brittanee’s mother, Dawn Pleckan, blasted Moody at the hearing. “I hope you suffer in prison for the rest of your useless life,” she said.

Her tearful father, Chad Drexel, also spoke. “The defendant was, and is, and I’m sorry, a perverted, sick monster,” he said.

Moody was sentenced to life in prison.

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