A photo of a New York teen last seen in Myrtle Beach nearly a year ago was flagged on a social networking site earlier this week, according to authorities.
Myrtle Beach police received a tip from America's Most Wanted that someone had Brittanee Drexel's photo posted on Facebook as their profile picture, Capt. David Knipes said Wednesday. The photo was one that police initially used when the teen from Rochester, N.Y., disappeared last April.
The tip is among many police routinely check out about Drexel, who was 17 when she was last seen April 25 leaving the Blue Water Hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.
"There are very little restrictions or regulations as to who can put what on the Internet," Knipes said. "We're aware of it. The information was sent to us earlier this week through a tipster who contacted America's Most Wanted."
Volunteers and law enforcement authorities have focused their searches around U.S. 17 Bypass and the South Santee River in the Georgetown County area where Drexel's cell phone gave off its last known signal on April 26, police said.
Officials also are using the Internet to solicit information about the teen. An official Web site for the missing teen was launched earlier this year after officials and family members learned about several people posing as Drexel on the Internet, according to Monica Caison, director of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons based in Wilmington, N.C. The organization conducts nationwide searches for missing individuals.
Anyone with information about Drexel's disappearance can call Myrtle Beach police at 918-1300 or go to the Web site at www.helpfindbrittaneedrexel.com.
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