Was Brittanee Drexel Sold Into Human Trafficking?

It has been 5 years since the world heard about Brittanee Drexel vanishing in South Carolina.

The New York teenager went on a trip to Myrtle Beach with friends, against her mother’s permission, and has not been seen or heard from ever since.

Unpromising lead after unpromising lead was showcased all over the news for 2009, in hopes of finding out what happened to the then 17 year old.

Her mother, Dawn Drexel, believes her daughter is still alive but in a very horrible place. According to My Horry News, Drexel said her daughter may have been forced into prostitution.

“Trafficked,” was all Mrs. Drexel said about the whereabouts of her now 22 year old child.

Brittanee spent only 60 hours in Myrtle Beach before she vanished.

One April 24, 2009, Drexel and three friends left Rochester, N.Y. for South Carolina.

Drexel did not have permission from her mother to make the trip.

Drexel and the friends stayed at the Bar Harbor Resort. The following day, April 25, she was last seen with a group of men she met in a night club in their hotel room at Bluewater Resort. Drexel left the Bluewater Resort the evening of April 26.

She has not been seen since.

A man Drexel met in the club, Peter Brozowitz, had been a very high person of interest, as he was one of the last people to see her. Brozowitz appeared on television, including the Dr. Phil show to clear up his name.

Dawn Drexel has since relocated to Myrtle Beach to continue the search for her daughter.

Drexel was not by far the only suspicious person who vanished in thin air in the Myrtle Beach area. South Carolina and North Carolina has had issues with human trafficking in the past several years.

Heather Elvis disappeared from the Myrtle Beach area back in December. It was later determined Elvis was murdered by Tammy and Sidney Moorer, who are currently locked up.

Lindsay Allison, a young woman from the Charlotte area, vanished in a party area of the city in August.

Cheryl Williams and Stephanie Haynes vanished while in North Carolina as well. Both cases remained unsolved.

Back in June, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson put in place a task force dealing with trafficking. According to his official website, although solid stats on trafficking in South Carolina are not completely available, this task force was put in place for a reason.

“Statistics and data are presently scarce for human trafficking in South Carolina on the state level, due in large part to the underground nature of the crime. With the new South Carolina statute in place, investigators and prosecutors will be better able to bring human trafficking in South Carolina to light, and traffickers to justice.”

HD News 12 stated that, according to the Associated Press, The Human Trafficking Task Force is asking the state to establish a hotline, a website, more effective data collecting practices, training and funding into preventing trafficking and giving help to victims.

This task force, and others like it, gives hope that victims like Britannee Drexel will eventually be located and brought home.

[Image via The Huffington Post]