Brittanee Drexel’s family names Myrtle Beach hotel in suit for teen’s murder, kidnapping

The mother of Brittanee Drexel has filed a lawsuit against the Myrtle Beach area hotel where the teen was staying before she was kidnapped and later murdered.

Dawn Pleckan, along with her attorneys with Poulin, Willey and Anastopoulo Law Firm, announced the lawsuit regarding Drexel’s disappearance and death during a press conference Thursday at the Georgetown County Courthouse.

Roy Willey said the lawsuit names not only Drexel’s killer, Raymond Moody, but also Bar Harbor Resort, located on South Ocean Boulevard, and Smith Family Partners.

A person who answered the phone at Bar Harbor said he was unaware of a lawsuit and did not believe that Drexel was a registered guest at the hotel at the time of her disappearance. The person declined to provide their name. A phone number for Smith Family Partners could not be located.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Richland County, which is close to Kirkland Correctional Institution, where Moody is in prison.

Moody was sentenced in October 2022 to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to the murder of the 17-year-old. Moody, 62 at the time, was charged with murder, kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct.

Willey said the hotel is named in the suit because Drexel was an unaccompanied minor and the hotel had an obligation to make sure protocols were in place for minors who are not authorized to be there.

According to Willey, Drexel was with adults at the hotel who were not her legal guardians. Pleckan said she did not know that her daughter was in Myrtle Beach and did not give her permission to be at the hotel or in the city.

“...The hotel and its operating group had no policies in place to detect and alert law enforcement to the presence of unaccompanied minors traveling without their parents and/or legal guardians,” according to the suit. “To the extent policies were in place they did not do so, which would have prevented the rape and murder of Brittanee that was to follow.”

Drexel went missing from Myrtle Beach in April 2009 while visiting the area for spring break with some of her friends.

Drexel’s family searched for 13 years for the missing teen. But it wasn’t until May 2022 when her remains were found in Georgetown County after Moody admitted to killing Drexel and led investigators to where he dumped her body. The Rochester, New York, native was identified using dental records and DNA testing.

The story captivated the attention of local, state and national press and became the subject of crime documentaries, including NBC’s “Dateline.”

“We have been living a nightmare,” Pleckan said, adding that she has been fighting for Brittanee for almost 15 years.

‘Maybe we can save another child’

Willey said the lawsuit is a longtime coming, citing there are “gaps” between Drexel’s disappearance and eventual murder.

He said hotels, such as Bar Harbor, are a breeding ground for sexual predators like Moody, allowing unaccompanied minors to stay there, and “hotels profit off of it.”

The hotel is accused of negligence and wrongful death. The suit claims that the hotel “created a foreseeable zone of risk by creating, fostering, maintaining and profiting from an environment where minors, including (Drexel) could stay on their premises unaccompanied.

“Despite knowing of significant risks to unaccompanied minors in the area, including but not limited to kidnapping, child human trafficking, illicit drug use, and alcohol use, the hotel defendants continued to enable unaccompanied minors at their hotels.”

The family hopes that lawsuit will bring changes with hotels, where they will be held responsible for the protection of unaccompanied minors like Brittanee Drexel.

Pleckan said she is making it her mission to fight human trafficking.

“It’s huge, “ Pleckan said. “It’s not only here, it’s everywhere.”

The family is continuing to push for information on what happened between her kidnapping and when she was found.

“Maybe we can save another child ... save another Brittanee,” Pleckan said.

This is second lawsuit against daughter’s killer

Pleckan also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Moody on Jan. 3.

Pleckan is seeking compensation, including damages, suffering and medical bills, in the amount determined by the jury, according to the suit.

“There is likely no greater sense of loss than that of a parent who has lost a child, such that the murder of a child is such extreme and outrageous conduct that it exceeds all bounds of decency,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that Moody knew he was a suspect in the case and was active in concealing his crimes, which include lying about his whereabouts the night Drexel went missing.

Willey said this lawsuit is in addition to the one that was announced Thursday.

Pecklan, of Florida, continues to suffer from emotional distress after losing a child, according to the suit. It says Moody is responsible for her pain, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life.

Here’s what happened

Drexel was last seen alone leaving the Blue Water Resort on Ocean Boulevard the night of April 25, according to previous reporting. Investigators relied on advancements to technology to pinpoint the location of Drexel’s phone as it traveled around Georgetown County.

Officials said during a court hearing that agencies were able to determine when Drexel was no longer walking but traveling by vehicle because her phone was moving about 60 mph. Officials were able to identify the vehicle Drexel had been in and the vehicle was linked to Moody.

Moody told investigators that he and his girlfriend at the time, Angel Voss, had went to Myrtle Beach to party when they saw Drexel walking by herself down the street.

Moody alleges Brittanee Drexel willingly got in the car with them to smoke marijuana, and that’s when they headed to Moody’s campground in Georgetown. Moody said he had hoped under the influence of marijuana, Drexel would have consensual sex with him. But, when that didn’t happen, he forced her to take off her clothes and proceeded to rape her before strangling her and wrapping up her body in a blanket.

Voss wasn’t around when the crimes were committed, officials said.

Moody later came back to the site, where he disposed of her body, and buried it in a wooded area.

Moody has seven prior convictions from 1983 for kidnapping and raping a minor. He served a little over 20 years, but he was sentenced to 40 years.

Pleckan in previous reporting pointed out how her daughter had to pay for the justice system’s mistake of allowing Moody to get out early for his past crimes. If Moody served his full time, he would’ve been locked up until 2023.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5:22 p.m. to include information from the lawsuit.