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The 2009 disappearance and murder of Brittanee Drexel will be the focus of an upcoming episode of Fatal Destination, airing Tuesday, June 17 at 10 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery. The episode, titled Missing in Myrtle Beach, revisits the case of the 17-year-old New York high school student who vanished during an unauthorized spring break trip to South Carolina.
As per a Court TV report dated October 19, 2022, Raymond Moody, a convicted s*x offender, later confessed to abducting, rap*ng, and killing Drexel before burying her body in Georgetown County.
According to a Justice.gov press release dated February 13, 2025, his girlfriend Angel Vause was also sentenced to 18 years for lying to the FBI about her role in the case. Fatal Destination includes new interviews and investigative insights on the search for Brittanee Drexel.
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Brittanee Drexel’s path from disappearance to justice -tracing the investigation, the crime, and the courtroom reckoning
Seventeen-year-old Brittanee Drexel vanished on April 25, 2009, while walking between hotels during a spring break trip in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Initially taken without her parents’ knowledge, the trip marked the beginning of a case that remained unsolved for over 13 years.
As detailed in the upcoming Fatal Destination episode Missing in Myrtle Beach, which airs Tuesday, June 17 at 10 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery, Brittanee Drexel was last seen entering the Blue Water Resort. Her phone activity abruptly ceased later that night, with cell tower data suggesting movement toward Georgetown County.
Convicted s*x offender Raymond Moody was questioned in the early stages of the investigation but was not charged due to insufficient evidence. That changed in 2022 when technological advancements allowed investigators to link Brittanee’s phone location with Moody’s vehicle.
As per a Court TV report dated October 19, 2022, Moody eventually confessed to abducting Drexel, taking her to a remote campsite, and murdering her after she refused sexual advances. He led police to her buried remains roughly 35 miles from where she was last seen.
How Angel Vause became part of the investigation
Angel Vause, Moody’s then-girlfriend, played a concealed yet active role in Brittanee Drexel’s disappearance. Justice.gov’s release of February 13, 2025, notes that Angel Vause drew an 18-year federal sentence for giving false statements to FBI investigators during their 2022 probe.
She initially claimed Drexel willingly accompanied them to consume drugs. Still, later evidence confirmed she helped lure the teenager into Moody’s vehicle and left her at the site of the assault with no means of escape.
U.S. Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs remarked in the Justice.gov release dated February 13, 2025,
“For more than a decade, Brittanee’s loved ones were left to imagine the worst possible scenario in Brittanee’s disappearance while Vause withheld the truth”
Civil lawsuit and renewed legal outcomes
Dawn Pleckan took her fight beyond the criminal courtroom. She launched a civil lawsuit in January 2023 and told the judge that endless searches and buried truths had shattered her life. Spectrum News reported on February 25, 2025, that a South Carolina jury answered her plea with a seven-hundred-million-dollar verdict.
Two hundred million covered actual damage, while five hundred million stood as punishment meant to sting. Raymond Moody now sits in prison for life plus sixty years. He faced the civil court, too. Fox News, relayed in a New York Post story on March 16 2025, captured his apology as he admitted his regret would never balance the scales. He stated,
“I’ve realized it doesn’t matter how sincere I am about how I feel about things I’ve done. It’s just not enough.”
The upcoming Fatal Destination episode includes interviews with Brittanee Drexel’s family, law enforcement officials, and prosecutors.
Stay tuned for more updates.
