Searching for Brittanee

Since April I have not been able to get Brittanee Drexal off my mind. Could this be some dreadful obsession I should seek help for? I'm sure there are plenty who would say so. I had taken such advice before concerning wanting to do a website about Debbie Key, and found a pretty good therapist I got along with. It may not surprise you to know I was told I was already doing something positive to help me deal with it, and should keep it up. Doing a website is better than shooting people or jumping off a bridge, and it actually does some good.

I tried to explain to some well-intentioned friends that when you actually know someone who goes missing, it tends to change your perspective a whole lot. Alas, I find that only a person who has been there has any idea what it's like. So I now have some new friends who deal with the same thing.

One could very easily get overwhelmed with so many missing persons out there, no matter how devoted one is to the cause, and so I tend to pick "favorites" to focus attention on.

Why Brittanne Drexal? Good question. I've been asking myself that a lot. Is it because she's so young and pretty? Don't think so. There are many who fit that description

The answer I came up with was Myrtle Beach, SC. A familiar place, and one not so far away from here. That's where Brittanee went missing. Anyone who has ever been there tends to go back again. It's a very groovy place.

When I think about Natalee Holloway, I wonder why an Alabama high school would choose a spot so far away to celebrate graduation, when we have so many good beaches here on the Atlantic coast. (Especially the Carolinas and Virginia) But unlike Aruba, Myrtle Beach didn't try to cover up the fact that  a teenage girl went missing there, but have been very supportive of the efforts to find her. Perhaps they have no need to fear a loss of tourists, as it continues to be the favorite vacation spot it's always been. A neighbor of mine has already been there half a dozen times before summer officially began.

Nor has Myrtle Beach ever tried to exploit the tragedy. You won't find any vendors there pushing Brittanee souvenirs. If you want a copy of the poster, you can download it for free off of her website.

http://helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com/print-a-poster/

Heading south from Myrtle Beach on 17 brings you to Charleston, SC, where Brandy Hanna went missing, and north on the same highway takes you to Wilmington, NC, home of the CUE Center for Missing Persons.
What to do for summer vacation this year?  You can look for missing persons, and take in our beautiful Carolina coast at the same time. Does that sound like a good plan?

Not Brittanee's Bones

Sometime around the anniversary of when Brittanee Drexal went missing in SC, some bones were found that were thought to be hers. A link was sent out, but the link was dead, so we had to wait awhile to find out what was up with that. Then we learned the bones were not human.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/brittanee-drexel-update_n_1389322.html

It appears the first news story got pulled. Perhaps out of embarrassment? You would think it wouldn't take a professional to tell human bones from deer bones. But before we start making fun of the examiner, let me share a story with you.

Once upon a time, in Orange County, NC, there was a group of friends who went searching for the remains of a missing friend. These people weren't professional searchers, they were just concerned friends. One of these friends found some bones and some brown hair, and called out to the other friends to see what he had found. With hearts pounding and adrenaline rushing, the rest of the skeleton was quickly uncovered to reveal it was a skeleton of a deer. There was a mixture of relief and disappointment. Once the whole skeleton was seen, there was no question it was that of a deer. No official report was ever made of this find.
By now you've probably guessed who I'm talking about.

I know very well the excitement that comes from a discovery like this, as do some of my friends here in NC, so we may not be so inclined to make fun of anyone in this situation. (except to say we did know it was a deer) We should assume it wasn't the whole skeleton they found in SC.

But since then there was more news about the Brittanee Drexal case, that is probably more important. (But I couldn't resist throwing in a personal account.) It seems we now have a POI.
http://helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com/three-years-after-brittanee-drexels-disappearance-a-victim-of-person-of-interest-speaks-out/

Which brings me to another subject, a personal issue, if you will.
This is just my opinion, mind you, but I believe that any person who would rape a child should NEVER be released! Not for any reason!
There, I said it.

Ordinary, everyday people searching the woods for human remains, just outside of Chapel Hill, NC?
Yep. It happens.