BRITTANEE DREXEL - 17 yo (2009) - Rochester NY / Myrtle Beach SC

Two months since her 17-year-old daughter went missing in a South
Carolina beach town, Dawn Drexel cautiously holds on to hope. But each
day it gets harder.There
have been few leads in the disappearnce of Brittanee Drexel, 17, who
was last seen April 25 while on spring break in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Her
family and friends say they fear the worst.
(Courtesy National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

"This is a nightmare, and you don't wake up out of it," said the
Rochester, N.Y., mother who has lived in a donated condo in Myrtle
Beach, S.C., since her daughter Brittanee disappeared April 25.
Brittanee Drexel was last seen
on a surveillance video leaving the Bluewater Resort where she had gone
on spring break with friends, against her mother's will, friends she
later left.
"I will never stop looking for my daughter," said Drexel. "So many children go missing each day. This is part of my life now. I am not going to quit."
Parents of missing children
say that the pain is excruciating, and psychologists confirm that the
loss can be even greater than when a child dies. Deciding when to give
up the search is different for each.
"For those of us who will never experience such a horrible crime, it's
hard to imagine how they get up every day, go to jobs, get their other
children ready for school," said Marsha Gilmer-Tullis, director of its
family advocacy division for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
But
Drexel has set a deadline for herself -- the end of June -- when she
will return home to her husband, from who she recently divorced, and
her two other children.
"It's been very difficult," she told ABCNews.com. "I wake up in
the morning, and I think about Brittanee. At this point, I just want
some closure. I need to know where she is -- and if she's not alive, I
need to know."
"But I am missing my other children," she said of her
12-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, whom she talks to daily. "My
daughter Marissa says she wants her Mommy home."
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that 797,500 children
under the age of 18 were reported missing in 2008. An average of 2,185
children are reported missing each day. Most are family, not stranger,
abductions.
Coping with a missing child -- be it months or years -- is an
excruciating ordeal for families. Many couples split apart, commit
suicide or suffer physical or mental health consequences. Some turn to
drug and alcohol.
Siblings, in particular, are affected by the unresolved loss. Drexel's
daughter doesn't want to sleep in her own bed because her sister's room
empty room is next door.
"She needs to feel safe," said Drexel. "She says, 'Mommy, you need to come home.'"
At the same time, her daughter says, "You can't leave without Brittanee," said Drexel.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel, please contact the Myrtle Beach Police Department at (843) 918-1000.

The mother of a missing Chili teenager is pointing fingers.
Brittanee Drexel has been missing for nearly two months. Her mother has
some harsh words for her daughter's friends.
Dawn Drexel is, once again, in Myrtle Beach searching for Brittanee.
However, the family is running out of time and money. Dawn Drexel
plans to return home at the end of the month.
Drexel says she is certain there are several people who know exactly
what happened to Brittanee. "Since Brittanee disappeared, I have felt
that her friends know something. I know they know something!" said
Drexel. Police interviewed the girls who went on spring break with
Brittanee, but they are not suspects.

Brittanee was last
seen leaving a hotel in Myrtle Beach. Police believe she disappeared
within 7 minutes of leaving that hotel. There were several cameras
along the route she was walking, but Brittanee never went by.
Dawn Drexel believes the most important clues could come from her
daughter's friends. "The other day I broke down you know I just can't
do this anymore," sad Drexel. " I have to keep Brittanee's name out
there, keep her face out there, somebody needs to talk."
Police have few leads in this case.

The mother of a missing teen from Rochester, N.Y has spent the weekend trying to raise money to search for her daughter. Dawn
Drexel spent Saturday and Sunday outside of a Wal-mart in Surfside
Beach collecting donations and giving bracelets to donors who gave $5
or more. The bracelets say "We love you Brittanee ''. It's been about
eight weeks since Brittanee Drexel disappeared."I need
closure,'' said Dawn Drexel, who arrived in the area Tuesday. "You have
to hope for the best, but you have to consider the worst case scenario.
It's hard to leave without knowing."
The teen from Rochester, N.Y. was last seen leaving the Blue Water
Hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach on April 25. A family friend
from Camp Lejeune, N.C., reported Drexel missing around 5 a.m. April 26.The
money that was collected will go towards helping to print fliers,
hotel, gas and meal expenses for the team of people searching for
Drexel. Anyone with information is asked to call the Myrtle Beach Police Department at 918-1382 or 918-1952. Crime
Stoppers of the Lowcountry is also offering a reward for information
that leads to finding Brittanee Drexel. You can call Crime Stoppers at
1-888-274-6372 or 1-888-CRIME-SC.

It's been eight weeks since Brittanee Drexel of Chili was reported
missing in Myrtle Beach. Her mother Dawn Drexel has been in South
Carolina ever since searching for her.
Over the weekend, Drexel pointed the finger at the friends who were
with Brittanee. She thinks they know what happened to her daughter.
Reached by phone again today, Dawn repeated her theory that the friends
that Brittanee was hanging out with in Myrtle Beach have information
they are withholding from police.
Myrtle Beach Police say they have questioned all of the people that
were with Brittanee. News 10NBC is told none of them have been cleared
nor have they been charged.
Drexel is referring to the two young women Brittanee was staying
with. Allana Lippa, an 18-year-old from Rochester and Jennifer Oberer,
who is 20 and lives in Chili.
Drexel says she has no evidence of wrong doing and is basing her
theory on the way these people have behaved since Brittanee’s
disappearance.
She says not one of them has called or offered to help in any way
not even to express their sorrow. Drexel is also talking about a group
of young men Brittanee partied with. Including Webster resident Peter
Brozowitz who a month ago defended his actions on the Dr. Phil Show.
Brozowitz said, “I can't comment on her feelings, her motherly
feelings. That can be a gut instinct that she has and she's more than
entitled to have those feelings, but as of right now from a police
stand point we don't have anything that shows anybody is involved or
anybody is being deceptive to us.”
Dawn Drexel said, “Since day one, since Brittanee disappeared, I
have felt her friends know something. I know they know something.”
Reporter Lynette Adams spoke with Lippa by phone, she refused to
talk with us. Another man interviewed by police - Anthony Schimizzi –
also refused an interview. The 22-year-old said he's only going to talk
with the police and has since moved from the Rochester area.

In the hours following her daughter's
disappearance, Dawn Drexel said she wanted answers to several
questions, most importantly "Where is Brittanee?" and "Who is searching
for her?"When 17-year-old Brittanee Marie Drexel disappeared
April 25, many of her family members and friends made the 800-mile trip
from Rochester, N.Y., to Myrtle Beach to learn those answers from
police."They were working on tips and leads," Dawn Drexel said. "They were doing what their protocol follows."
While the search for Brittanee Drexel was widely publicized, even
drawing national media attention, her disappearance is just one of the
141 cases of missing persons between the ages of 15 and 25 reported so
far this year in Horry County. Thirty-nine cases have been reported
this year in Georgetown County and 55 in Brunswick County N.C.,
according to the FBI National Crime Information Center.None
of the disappearances is considered suspicious, and many of the cases
are now considered closed because the people were located, officials
said. The numbers demonstrate the fine line investigators must tread
when called on to find older teens and young adults. Those cases can be
the most challenging because it can be time consuming to determine if
the missing person has simply run away from home, investigators said.For law enforcement officials, each case is unique but their response must follow specific guidelines."Each
case deserves its own special treatment," said Capt. David Knipes,
spokesman for the Myrtle Beach Police Department. "Every situation is
different because you are dealing with different circumstances and
different individuals."The first 24 to 48 hours are crucial in a search for a missing person, Knipes said.Officers
try to interview witnesses who last spoke to the missing person while
the memories are fresh in their minds. Authorities gather a photo of
the person and obtain any security videos of where he or she was last
seen.Officers must quickly determine the person's mental status,
health issues, and recent relationships with friends and family members
to determine what route to take."It's not like the old days when
you had to wait for 24 hours before police would go looking," Knipes
said. "Those first 48 hours are a crucial time to get out there before
the case goes cold."When a case is considered suspicious, the subject's name immediately is placed into an FBI missing persons database.Family
members or police officials can also notify the CUE Center for Missing
Persons in Wilmington, N.C., which has 1,852 open cases across the
country as of June 17."With Brittanee, we hit the ground running
because there was hope, and there still is, that she could be alive,"
said Monica Caison, founder of CUE. "Finding her was vital immediately."Police
and CUE officials said it can be difficult to deal with friends and
family members of a missing person in the hours following a
disappearance."You just try to tell family members that there
are people out there looking for them," Caison said. "They need to know
that they are not alone, that there are people looking for them."Myrtle
Beach police detective Vincent Dorio said the hours following Brittanee
Drexel's disappearance were "overwhelming" because officers were trying
to interview people at the scene, and others who had left Myrtle Beach
to return to New York.In Drexel's case, police were able to quickly determine that the teen was not a runaway, Dorio said.Plus, officers learned that Drexel was dealing with depression, which added to the urgency of locating her."It
only took a few hours to change from 'This is a missing persons case
and we have to hunt her down pretty quick' to 'This is serious,'" Dorio
said. "This is not a kid hiding at the beach to stay away from mom. She
just stopped all communication immediately, which wasn't the norm for
her."Police often receive calls about missing children who turn
up at a friend's or neighbor's house the next day, said Sgt. Robert
Kegler, spokesman for Horry County police."A lot of times
parents will come out and tell you the child has left without
permission," Kegler said. "If that happens, they are a runaway. But you
are likely to get as much [police] response to a recovery of a
5-year-old who went missing from a backyard as you would a 16-year-old
who snuck out to see his girlfriend. No two incidents are the same."Law
enforcement officials also said they must balance the priority of
finding a missing person with giving up patrols in other areas, Knipes
said."It can also depend on the time of year," Knipes said. "If
it's December and nothing is going on, you can devote more resources to
handle one case."Dawn Drexel said local police made her feel
like Brittanee's case was important and that officials were "very
supportive" in the hours after her daughter's disappearance."They
had police looking on Ocean Boulevard right away," Dawn Drexel said.
"In Brittanee's case, they had quite a few people working on it."Three officers in Myrtle Beach are continuing to monitor the case and follow up any potential leads they receive."We talk to the police every day, or every other day," Dawn Drexel said.The
family is also still searching and placing signs in the area. They held
a fundraiser in Mount Pleasant last weekend. The money collected will
go toward helping to print fliers and paying for hotel, gas and meal
expenses for the team of people searching for Drexel.Anyone with information is asked to call the Myrtle Beach Police Department at 918-1382 or 918-1952.Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward for anyone with information leading to finding Drexel. Call 888-274-6372.

(Chili, N.Y.) -- The search for Brittanee Drexel is entering a new
phase. After spending eight weeks in Myrtle Beach looking for her
daughter, Dawn Drexel is back home.The teenager from Chili
disappeared two months ago on April 25, while on vacation with friends
and has not been seen or heard from since. With help from fundraisers, her family is continuing their own search.Dawn
Drexel said, "Chad and I have a private investigator helping us in the
search in the South Carolina. He's also helping with fundraising for
the Brittanee Drexel Foundation."On Friday night, there will be
a fundraiser at the Dome Arena in Henrietta for the foundation
including a battle of the bands and some celebrity appearances.

It is a bittersweet homecoming for Dawn Drexel. She says life wasn't the same without her two youngest children, Myrissa a 12-year-old and
Camdyn who' is five years old. She only wishes she could have come home
with a gift for them. “I'm home with my kids, which I couldn't wait to
see. I feel horrible because I don't have Brittanee with me but I had
to come home.”
Drexel has been in South Carolina for the past two months living out
of a suitcase. She's been talking to people, passing out flyers, doing
whatever she could to find her oldest daughter Brittanee who went
missing April 25.
She says she had to get back to her life here. “I have to go back to
the norm. It's very difficult to do that, the kids miss their sister. I
come home and she's not with us, it’s hard on all of us.”
Brittanee went to Myrtle Beach on spring break without her parents’
permission. Dawn says this experience is teaching her family many
lessons. “Watch who your kids are hanging out with. Make sure you're
always with them, by them, anybody could take then. You just don't
know.”
What they do know is that for now, they have go on without Brittanee. “I just need her. It's gonna be tough if she's not here.”

It has been more than two months since Gates Chili junior Brittanee Drexel disappeared while on spring break in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and her family continues to search for the 17-year-old.
Tonight there will be a fundraiser, “Fill the Dome to Bring
Brittanee Home,” at the Dome Arena in Henrietta. The event starts at 7
p.m., and tickets cost $15 at the door, $20 for VIP. There will be
three parties in the Dome, and proceeds will go to the Brittanee Drexel
Foundation, to help fund the family’s private investigator who is
looking for Drexel. Selected reality show celebrities from shows such as Big Brother, Rock of Love, America’s Top Model and Survivor
will be on hand. Chuck Lamagra, the event’s organizer, plans on having
food and entertainment, including a laser light show, battle of the
bands and a live DJ. Drexel has been missing since April 25 when she went to Myrtle Beach. She was last seen near the Blue Water Resort, where she was on spring break without her parents’ permission.

Friends and family of a missing Chili Teenager say they're doing everything they can to bring her home. Brittanee Drexel was last seen on April 25th at a resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since then there have been no new leads, the family hopes a new approach will pay off.

"I still hope she's alive, I do," said Brittanee’s Mother Dawn Drexel.

For the last two months hope has kept Drexel going. After two months of searching for her missing daughter in South Carolina Drexel is trying something new.
"I'm staying home. If
something happens, I'll head back down there but it's only going to be
for a couple of days," Drexel said.

But Drexel and hundreds of others aren't giving up; they're reminding everyone Brittanee's still out there.

“Just
getting the word out there letting more people know what's going on and
what they can do," said Brittanee’s friend Lacey Inzana.

More
than a hundred people came out to "Fill the Dome to Bring Brittanee
Home" Friday night in Henrietta. An organizer said what was originally
a teen battle of the bands needed a greater purpose.

"Two
months ago my daughters came to me and said ‘daddy with all the people
you know can't you do something.’ And since then, I've been something.
I haven't done anything else but eat and sleep this event," said Event
Coordinator Chuck Lamagra.

Tee-shirts and
bracelets were sold to help keep Brittanee's image and name out there,
but the real goal was to raise money to help the help the family hire a
private investigator to keep this search going.

"We're hoping to make a donation that's a couple of decimal points the right way. As much as we can," Lamagra said.

Drexel said once Brittanee is found all the money raised will be used to help others families with missing children.

"It's just horrible not knowing you know," said Drexel.

So
far raising money appears to be raising spirits. Drexel said after two
months of searching any sign of optimism is a good thing.

"We as a family still hope she's alive. I mean it doesn't look good," Drexel added.

News 10NBC has learned that there could be a break in the search for
missing teen, Brittanee Drexel. Her mother, Dawn Drexel told us today
that police in South Carolina "do have some leads they're working on right now. But that's all I can disclose."
"I think we're very close," Drexel said.
Click here to watch full interview with Dawn Drexel.
Dawnrexel still agonizes over her missing daughter and it gets worse over holidays.
"Yesterday was really hard because Brittanee was usually with us on the 4th of July and the fireworks and all that and she's not here," Drexel said.
Brittanee Drexel disappeared over spring break in Myrtle Beach, S.C. She's been missing for 10
weeks. Today, her soccer team, the Churchville Razz, held a fundraising
soccer game at Marina Auto Stadium.Brittanee's sister wore her number 2 and the players literally had it in their hearts.
"It's just really hard to believe she's gone," Erin Skelly, a teammate said. "And we think, oh no, she's not gone. she'll be back and then you look down at your shirt where the heart is, and it's like, yeah, she's really gone."The girls on our team, it's the same. They think about her everyday and hope that she gets back here," Assistant Coach Sabrina Veltre said. "We just, we miss her.
Dawn Drexel says she appreciates the support.It helps her fight on to find her daughter.
"I'm not giving up on my daughter. I love her way too much to give up on her," Drexel said.
Dawn Drexel says she still has a private investigator working in South Carolina. Drexel has returned home to start working again. She says she has no immediate plans to go back south unless her
daughter is found. But again, Drexel says police are working on new
leads.

Rochester, NY - There is new information out of South Carolina on
Brittanee Drexel, the missing Chili teenager. Our affiliate in Myrtle
Beach is reporting Drexel's grandparents say there was a possible
sighting of Drexel a few days ago near Wilmington, North Carolina.
Drexel’s grandparents are continuing the family's search in the southern states. They believe the 17-year-old is still alive.

It's been close to ten weeks since Drexel disappeared while on spring break.
Myrtle Beach Police say they have nothing substantial to go on at this
time. The report also says Dawn Drexel, Brittanee's mom, has gone to a
psychic to find out clues about her daughter's disappearance.

A multi-jurisdictional meeting will take place
Friday concerning the disappearance of a New York teenager who vanished
from Myrtle Beach.Officials with Myrtle Beach and Georgetown and Charleston Counties will come together.Officials will put together and rehash all the information everyone has and go from there.17-year-old Brittanee Drexel was last seen in April on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. Brittanee's mother Dawn has conducted numerous searches for her daughter spanning all over the area.
* * * *
MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Officials in Myrtle Beach and Georgetown
and Charleston counties are meeting Friday to help in the search for a
17-year-old New Yorker who disappeared in April. Brittanee
Drexel, of Rochester, NY, was last seen April 25. Investigators
searched throughout Myrtle Beach and south into Charleston County along
the Santee River and Coastal Reserve. The meeting will be at 1
p.m. at the Myrtle Beach Police Department Annex near the old Air Force
Base. Officials say the meeting is to share thoughts and get
investigators from each jurisdiction on the same page. A
benefit for the missing teen is planned for 1-6 p.m. Saturday at the
Beaver Bar in Murrells Inlet. Brittanee's grandparents, Al and Carol
Wagner, are trying to keep the girl in the public eye after there was a
possible sighting last week near Wilmington, NC. "It's been
close to 10 weeks now," Carol said. "It seems like an eternity, but I
know Brittanee's out there, and I hope she hears that Grandma and
Grandpa are still waiting for her." Drexel was last seen in the
area of 11th Avenue South and 20th Avenue South in Myrtle Beach after
meeting up with friends from her hometown. Drexel was in Myrtle Beach
on spring break, against the will of her mother. Contact was lost with Drexel and family in New York on Saturday evening, when authorities say she disappeared. Police say a number of leads surface on her whereabouts, but have led to a dead end. CrimeStoppers
is encouraging anyone with information regarding the disappearance of
Drexel to contact the agency at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

The grandparents of a New York teen,
who disappeared in April while visiting Myrtle Beach, held a fundraiser
Saturday night at the Beaver Bar on U.S.17 Business in Georgetown
County.Carol and Alan Wagner plan to use the funds raised to
hire a private investigator, and for gas and food while they stay in
the Myrtle Beach area, Carol Wagner said Sunday.She said that she has hope that her 17-year-old granddaughter, Brittanee Drexel, will be found.
"And I hope whoever has her out there will return her safely," Carol Wagner said.She said she is not sure how long they will stay in the area.Drexel, who disappeared April 25, was last seen leaving the Blue Water Hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.Saturday's
fundraiser comes a day after officers with Myrtle Beach police met with
investigators from Georgetown and Charleston counties on Friday to
discuss Drexel's case, which has drawn national attention.Myrtle
Beach police Sgt. Joey Crosby said there is still hope that Drexel is
alive, and that officials will continue to treat her disappearance as a
missing person case until they have exhausted all leads or have nowhere
else to turn in their investigation. In the meantime, the
family is doing what all they can to keep the search going and to
continue to raise awareness of Drexel's disappearance.On Sunday,
Carol and Alan Wagner passed out fliers at the homeless shelter, Street
Reach, and in the Oak Street area, Carol Wagner said. She said they
will continue to pass out fliers in the Myrtle Beach area.