Weekend search for clues in missing teen case comes up empty

A team of searchers scoured woodlands near McClellanville during the weekend for clues in the disappearance of Brittanee Marie Drexel but came up empty-handed.

“There was nothing related to the case located,” said Lt. Mark Fields of the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

Searchers were hoping to find her cell phone, clothing or anythin

g else that would be helpful in solving the case, Fields said.

Brittanee, 17, of Rochester, N.Y., was last seen in Myrtle Beach in April wearing a white, black, teal and gray top, black shorts and white flip-flops. She is 4 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs 103 pounds and has blue eyes and blond hair with highlights. Her ears and nose are pierced.

The searchers revisited a wooded area in the vicinity of Healing Farm Ministries where her cell phone gave off a signal in May, Fields said.

The Sheriff’s Office, the Myrtle Beach Police Department and the Centers For Missing Persons participated in the search. In all, 85 people hunted for clues to Brittanee’s disappearance, including 26 on horseback and five canine teams. Officials from Missouri, Florida and North Carolina participated along with sheriff’s officers from Richland, Kershaw, Darlington and Georgetown counties, Fields said.

The search was a continuation of the previous searches, and there was no new information on Drexel’s disappearance that prompted the new searches, Fields said.

To provide information on the Drexel case call the the Myrtle Beach Police Department tip line at 843-918-1963.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.