With Less and Less Police on Patrol
Crime keeps going up.
-Shootings
-Murder
-Rape
-ect.,
Something is very wrong in this case. The Police have names, suspects,
witnesses, but get pulled??
It's like some Senator or Senator son is involved.
FBI took over the Case and it went stone cold. ( ?? )
Why can't the Family have Closure??
MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - It's now been more than two years since New York teen Brittanee Drexel vanished along the Grand Strand.
The Drexel disappearance is a very complicated case. Drexel went missing back in April of 2009 in Myrtle Beach, but searches have taken the case as far as Georgetown and Charleston counties.
Now a group of people very close to this investigation is coming forward for the first time, to talk about what they say could be holding this case back.
Because this was such a huge case, back in 2009 each law enforcement agency assigned a lead investigator to be in charge of it, and to communicate with the other departments.
For Myrtle Beach Police, it was Vincent Dorio. For the Charleston County Sheriff's office Rocky Burke, and for the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, the lead was Chris Bailey.
Several months later, a private group called Merrill's Investigations was brought in to help.
Steve Pickering of Merrill's, says they had additional resources that law enforcement needed, and they were volunteering those resources and time.
"Merrill's had started working down here with their canine team, and while they were down here working, they were presented with a unique opportunity to work hand in hand with the Georgetown Sheriff's Department to try to work this case," explained Pickering.
They say things were going great. Chris Bailey describes the momentum and chemistry they had from the very beginning.
"You took strangers," said Bailey, "I had never met Rocky before, never met Vincent before, and never met Steve or anybody else from Merrill's before the case, and in a short time, they were able to build a bond and trust."
With the help of Merrill's Investigations, Chris and Rocky say all the agencies were working side-by-side, gaining ground. They lived and breathed this case, working and developing new leads and getting very close to making some arrests.
In the summer of 2010, however, they say that all changed.
In June, Bailey was taken off the case completely for the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office. Just a few months later, the same thing happened to Burke at the Charleston County Sheriff's Office.
"Some new task forces were formed and my role was diminished," said Burke.
Around that same time, Merrill's Investigations was told, their services were no longer needed, says Pickering.
"I was told, our involvement had run its course, thank you very much, and if we need you, we'll call," Pickering explained. "No one's called me."
That's where they say the problem now lies. These guys who have been with the case from the beginning say they have now been shut out of the investigation.
"Compared to where this case was at the end of April, last year, I feel bad it hasn't progressed beyond that. We were going. We had a focus. We had a direction. We had everybody on board," said Pickering. "Everybody was in it because they could see the end, and then, it ended."
Bailey says he wishes there could be more communication between the old and new set of eyes on the case.
"The biggest problem that I see is when you do bring in a new set of eyes, you still should have some contact with the ones that was from the start, that has the knowledge of what's going on in the case," said Bailey. "The more information you have, the better off you are, in the long run of it."
Shortly after Bailey and Burke were taken off the case, they both retired, and are now employed by Merrill's Investigations.
This interview is the first time this group is coming forward to talk about it all. They say they are serious about solving this case - so serious that Pickering flew in from Maine, just to talk with WMBF News.
"We were invited to help, we wanted to help, and now we're vested in it," said Pickering. "We don't want to walk away from something. We don't want to leave it undone."
They don't want to point fingers, or place blame on anyone, but they want everyone involved to know – they're available, and willing to give of their time, their resources, and their knowledge of the case.
"You've got to at least be able to communicate with the other people that have done it for so many months prior to you even coming into it," said Bailey. "I mean when you look back to a year ago, they were a year behind already when they got reassigned to the case, so they're already trying to play catch-up now. Here we are another year later, and they're still playing catch up. It's there, it's right there."
Pickering agrees, saying more communication between Merrill's and other agencies could help solve it.
"Rocky and Chris probably know more about this case than anybody, and for them not to be a resource does hurt the case," said Pickering.
They say that if more would be done, the family might already have those answers. Bailey says an arrest in the Drexel case is possible.
"When you lay it out and you start looking at things, it's a lot easier to start connecting dots, and you just got to make the final connection on it," said Bailey," but everything is there."
Merrill's Investigations says they are still working this case and anything they find out they will pass along to law enforcement.
They wish everyone could work together, to gain back that momentum that they say was there during the early days of this investigation.
Myrtle Beach Police say they are working the case as hard as ever, and say they've never been shy about asking for help, if they were to need it.
The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office says they still have an investigator assigned to the case, and are still working very diligently on it.
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office says they no longer have a lead investigator in charge of the Drexel case.
Persons of Interest in the Brittanee Drexel case .. ( ask yourself what happened?? detectives so close. all pulled off the case?? threatened with arrest if they arrested the suspects or continue to even investigate. ) ( look at the date!!!! )
Tue, 13 Apr 2010 - Investigators in the case of missing spring breaker Brittanee Drexel say they've developed three, possibly four, persons of interest in connection to the teen's disappearance.
"The people we're looking at, I feel really good about because all of our little pieces of evidence ... they're all pointing in the same direction towards certain people," Myrtle Beach Detective Vincent Dorio said Friday.
Drexel, 17 at the time of her disappearance and from Rochester, NY, vanished April 25, 2009, from Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.
In the first few days following her disappearance, investigators tracked Drexel's cell phone signals to an area near the South Santee Community in Georgetown County.
Dozens of searches over the past year provided no substantial evidence, and at one point last fall, detectives described the case as becoming cold.
But Georgetown County Investigator Chris Bailey says that all changed during the holidays.
"I think the tip I received in the first part of December was the big turn around," Bailey said Friday afternoon during an interview.
Bailey, Dorio and Charleston County Detective Rocky Burke formed a task force soon after the December discovery and have spent most of this year developing additional leads.
The trio, along with an outside group, Merrill's Investigations, have concentrated their efforts in an area along the Georgetown/Charleston County line.
They're describing that area as the "location of interest," and they say it's where the persons of interest live. However, detectives wouldn't provide specific details for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.
Bailey said the new information has recently provided enough probable cause for search warrants and even lie detector tests that have been given to the persons of interest.
"There have been some polygraphs, but again, we can't discuss that," Bailey said. "But we're real comfortable with our (persons of interest.)"
The persons of interest, Bailey said, know what happened to Drexel.
"They're suspected of being present with Brittanee, knowing her whereabouts or possible whereabouts," Bailey said.
The investigators, while confident in their persons of interest, say they still need the final clue to establish that a crime occurred.
"We could use that one person -- or that one piece of evidence -- that comes forward and ties everything together to make a solid arrest which leads to a solid conviction," Dorio, the Myrtle Beach detective said.
When asked whether they thought if Drexel is still alive, both Dorio and Bailey said no.
"Things that we are hearing, and I'm speaking for myself, leads to believe that she is not," Bailey said.
"In the beginning, it was a missing persons case, but everything we've looked at, I'm confident foul play was involved, and this is probably going to be a homicide investigation," added Dorio.
When reached Friday afternoon and asked about the new developments, Brittanee's mother, Dawn Drexel, said she was reeling from all sorts of emotion.
Dawn said it she could be close to finding closure based on the news, but "are you ready to hear what you're about to hear?" she asked.
She said it's tough adjusting to a possible turn of events, "knowing it is going to be a whole different story."
"I may have to accept I'm never going to see my daughter again."
Investigators ask that anyone with information call their tipline at the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office. The number is 843-436-6058, and you can remain anonymous.
(Story courtesy WPDE and CarolinaLive.com)
With less and less Police presence more of this will occur sad to say.
Crime is already soaring. With so few Police Officers left.
Great job News Media, Biden, Harris, Demonizing all Police Officers????
Innocent people are dying because of you all over the US. ( idiots )
9 people are dead in Vegas. Driver going 3 times the speed limit. Over 100 mph.
4 children were among the nine people killed when a car traveling triple the speed limit hit a minivan in the Las Vegas area, authorities said Sunday.
The Clark County Office of the Medical Examiner said Sunday that Fernando Yeshua Mejia, 5; Adrian Zacarias, 10; Lluvia Daylenn Zacarias, 13; Bryan Axel Zacarias, 15; Gabriel Mejia-Barrera, 23; David Mejia-Barrera, 25; and Jose Zacarias-Caldera, 35, all died of blunt force trauma and that the manner of death was an accident.
Those seven victims, all from North Las Vegas, were all traveling together in a Toyota Sienna, the coroner’s office said. Alexander Cuevas, a North Las Vegas police spokesperson, said Monday that the seven were related but not part of the same immediate family.
The driver of a Dodge Challenger, identified as Gary Dean Robinson, 59, of North Las Vegas, was driving more than 100 mph when he ran a red light on a road where the speed limit is 35 mph, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
His passenger, Tanaga Ravel Miller, 46, of North Las Vegas, was also pronounced dead at the scene, Coroner Melanie Rouse said Monday.
Six cars and 15 people were involved in the crash, police added. The surviving six victims suffered minor and non-life-threatening to serious injuries.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday that it was “launching a go-team to investigate.”
North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee said: “There was an unprecedented loss of life that occurred in our community yesterday afternoon. The people who were lost were parents, children, neighbors, friends and loved ones, who touched a tremendous number of people alongside whom we now grieve.”
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak wrote on Twitter: "Our hearts ache for the families & loved ones of the 9 people killed in this senseless act."
This funeral was so heartbreaking. Bless all law enforcement, they are our hero’s.
Enough is enough let’s all stand up and protect these brave men and women!
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/nyregion/nypd-jason-rivera-funeral.html