MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.— A new civil lawsuit filed addresses the death and disappearance of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel.

Dawn Pleckan, Brittanee’s mother, filed a new lawsuit on behalf of her daughter’s estate in South Carolina Thursday.

As you may recall, Brittanee disappeared while visiting Myrtle Beach back in April of 2009. Her body was found 13 years later after longtime suspect Raymond Moody confessed to killing her. 

Dawn Pleckan is already suing her daughter’s killer. Now she is going after Bar Harbor Resort where Brittanee was staying, and the Smith family partnership that owns the hotel.

“This has been a long time coming. I’m exhausted and this needs to come full circle. Brittanee needs full justice,” says Pleckan.

Standing with her attorneys by her side, Dawn Pleckan said Thursday she and her family are still living a nightmare. In April 2009, Brittanee left her home in Chili to vacation with friends. 

“I did not know she was in Myrtle Beach,” explains Pleckan. “I did not give her permission to come to Myrtle Beach.”

For 13 years, Brittanee’s loved ones had no idea what had happened to her. In early 2022, Raymond Moody confessed to killing her and told police where they could find her body. Pleckan’s attorney says many unanswered questions still remain.

“What exactly happened between the time she was kidnapped and the time her body was found? And so those are some of the gaps we are looking to fill. We have filled some of those over the course of the last year,” says Pleckan’s attorney, Roy Wiley.

Pleckan and the estate of Brittanee Drexel are also suing both the hotel and the owners of the resort where Pleckan and her attorney say she was staying as an unaccompanied minor. Her family says they are still living a nightmare.

“It’s like living in hell. I’m tired. I’ve been doing this and fighting for Brittanee for 13 years, and now almost going 15, and you know I believe that, you know, people need to be held accountable,” says Pleckan.

Moving forward, Pleckan and her attorneys are desperate to hear from anyone with information.

“There are individuals and entities that know something more about what happened,” says Wiley “The work of law enforcement continues, and we’re asking today that members of this community who have stood by this family so long if you know anything and you have not spoken up, and spoken out, please call our office.”

Raymond Moody was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Brittanee Drexel.