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The girlfriend of Raymond Moody, the convicted murderer of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel, has admitted to lying to federal investigators about her involvement in the Spring Break killer case.

Drexel disappeared in 2009 while on a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

 For 13 years, her family sought answers, and in 2022, her remains were finally discovered, leading to the arrest and conviction of Moody. 

Now, Moody’s former girlfriend, Angel Vause, has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI in 2022.

Brittanee Drexel,17, from Rochester, New York, went missing in April 2009 during a spring break vacation.

 Surveillance footage captured her last known whereabouts, leaving a hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach to meet a friend at another nearby resort. It would be the last time she was seen alive by anyone other than Moody.

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Spring Break Killer Disposed of Drexel’s Phone

Court documents revealed that Vause, now 56, admitted to lying about key details in the investigation. She had previously told federal agents that Drexel still had her cell phone after her disappearance. 

In reality, Vause had taken Drexel's phone and traveled away from the scene. According to a complaint filed in March, Moody disposed of the phone by throwing it into the North Santee River, between Georgetown and Charleston, South Carolina.

Additionally, Vause falsely claimed that Drexel voluntarily joined her and Moody to “consume marijuana and cocaine.” 

Actually, Drexel had been abducted by Moody under false pretenses. Moody kidnapped Drexel while driving a Ford Explorer and took her to a remote campsite near his home in Georgetown. 

Then he tortured, raped, and murdered the teenager before burying her body in a shallow grave.

Legal Battles and Lawsuits

In January 2023, Brittanee Drexel’s mother, Dawn Pleckman, filed a lawsuit against Moody and several businesses, including Bar Harbor Resort, Inc. and Smith Family Partners, LLC. 

Pleckman accused them of “wrongful conduct” that contributed to her daughter’s murder. The lawsuit claimed that Drexel was not a registered guest at the Bar Harbor Hotel but may have been with a friend staying there. However, the hotel has denied any responsibility for monitoring the minor.

The lawsuit continues to make its way through the courts as Drexel’s family seeks justice for the tragic loss of their daughter.

Family Finally Gets Some “Happiness”

The discovery of Drexel’s remains in 2022 brought a bittersweet sense of closure to her family after years of searching for answers. 

Now, with Vause’s guilty plea, they are seeing delayed justice. Drexel’s mother, Dawn Pleckman, said the plea offers “a resolution to what happened” and expressed her belief that Vause will face consequences for her actions.

Drexel’s father, John Kahyaoglu, shared similar sentiments. “I got a lot of happiness out of it, that she’s not just going to walk out of here,” Kahyaoglu told reporters.

 “A lot of people have been working on this and been waiting for this day. I can’t wait until sentencing, of course, but it’s been a long journey.”

Moody’s Confession and Sentencing

Raymond Moody, now 64, pleaded guilty in October 2022 to kidnapping, raping, and murdering Brittanee Drexel.

 At the time of his confession, Moody admitted to being the Spring Break killer.  “I served 20 years, and I thought it was enough, but it wasn’t. I was a monster then, and I was a monster when I took Brittanee Drexel’s life,” Moody confessed in the Georgetown County courthouse.

Vause pleaded guilty as part of a deal with federal prosecutors and now faces up to five years in prison for each of her three charges. As the sentencing phase approaches, Brittanee Drexel’s family continues to seek justice and closure for the loss of their beloved daughter.