Murderer Raymond Moody to face Brittanee Drexel’s mom in court. Here are 3 things to know
Raymond Moody is set to appear in court this week for a civil suit filed by the mother of Brittanee Drexel, the teenager he is accused of kidnapping and then murdering.
Drexel disappeared from Myrtle Beach while on vacation in April 2009 after Moody abducted her, and then later raped and murdered her in Georgetown County. Her case went unsolved until 2022 when Moody confessed to his crimes. He’s now serving a life sentence plus 60 years in prison for murder, criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping, The Sun News previously reported.
Dawn Pleckan, Drexel’s mother, filed a personal injury lawsuit against Moody in 2023, alleging he inflicted emotional distress upon her. The civil court case began Monday with jury selection.
Moody was brought to Georgetown County from Kirkland Correctional Institution, where he is in prison.
Here’s what to know before the civil trial begins.
What happened to Brittanee Drexel?
Drexel was a 17-year-old girl who snuck away from her New York home and came on a trip to Myrtle Beach with her friends in 2009. She left the Blue Water Resort around 9 p.m. on April 25, 2009, and was never seen again. Data from her cell phone showed she traveled in a car from Myrtle Beach to Georgetown County.
This remained a cold case until Moody came forward in 2022. He said he and his girlfriend, Angel Vause, abducted Drexel and brought her to a campsite near Moody’s Georgetown County home. Vause left and Moody attempted to have sex with Drexel, according to court records.
When Drexel didn’t consent, Moody raped the teenager before strangling her and disposing of her body in the woods.
Why is Pleckan suing?
Pleckan sued Moody for infliction of emotional distress on Jan. 3, 2023. She filed the civil suit through Georgetown County common pleas court.
“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,” the lawsuit states.
Pleckan is seeking actual damages, special damages, consequential damages and punitive damages in an amount determined by the jury.
Who else was involved?
Vause, Moody’s girlfriend at the time, helped conceal Drexel’s murder for over a decade. She is currently serving 18 years in federal prison for lying to federal investigators about the night Drexel was murdered, The Sun News previously reported.
When the FBI was investigating in 2022, she told officials that Drexel willingly got into Moody’s vehicle and ingested marijuana, which was false. Vause also said while Moody was raping and murdering Drexel, Vause had gone home to grab her keys when she was actually driving the opposite direction with a different purpose, according to The Sun News.
Police arrested Vause on March 26, 2024, and she pleaded guilty on July 24 2024.
