Former resident, police won't comment on apartment search

A Georgetown County man would not say this week why he believes police searched his previous residence at Sunset Lodge apartments for signs of a missing New York teenager.
Raymond Moody, whose previous address is listed as Apartment 22 at the Sunset Lodge, was contacted about the fact that investigators combed through his former apartment last week, looking for clues to the Brittanee Drexel’s case.
Moody, however, hung up the phone before talking about the search and said that was his “only reaction” to the recent events surrounding the Drexel investigation.
Meanwhile, evidence taken last week from Apartment 22 in the Sunset Lodge near Georgetown, in connection with the search for a missing New York teenager, has been sent away for testing.
The Georgetown Times has requested more information about a list of items that were being sought at the apartment.
Apartment 22 was combed over for several hours, and numerous boxes of evidence were removed from the location during the most recent search.
Myrtle Beach Police, however, declined Monday to say where the evidence was being tested or how long it would take to receive any results.
“It depends on the backlog,” said Myrtle Beach Police Capt. David Knipes.
The department would not comment on the previous tenant of Apartment 22.
“We’re not releasing any names of anybody,” said Myrtle Beach Police Captain David Knipes.
“We’re not associating any names in our search.”

Previous tenant

State investigators said, however, that the previous tenant in the apartment was Raymond Moody, a registered sexual offender living in Georgetown County.
Moody had a previous address of Apartment 22 in the Sunset Lodge, said SLED spokesperson Kathryn Richardson.
She had no further information on the case, she said.
Moody refused to comment on the search when contacted Monday afternoon.
Moody is now listed as having an address of Browns Ferry Road.
 “I can’t go into any other details at this time,” Richardson said. “One of his previous addresses was apartment 22 of the Sunset Lodge.”

“Mr. Clean”

Residents who live in the area said they knew the resident who lived in the apartment only as “Mr. Clean.”
He was known as Mr. Clean because of his appearance, according to one resident of the Sunset Lodge.
“He’s lived here three or four times,” said a man who identified himself as the apartment complex property owner. “The police just told me they wanted to look in that room.”
Residents and the Sunset Lodge property owner said Moody moved in a day before Drexel vanished and stayed there for about six months.
For more than two years, the search for Drexel has stretched from Myrtle Beach — where she was last seen in April 2009 — to Charleston.
The main focus has been in the  North Santee Community along the Georgetown-Charleston County border.
The remote area is where her cell phone last gave a signal the night she vanished, investigators said.
Investigators and numerous search teams have also combed the area surrounding Old Georgetown Road, but have found few clues to her whereabouts.
The searches have taken place by water and on land, with people on foot, four-wheeled, all terrain vehicles and on horseback.
A Web site dedicated to the search for Drexel has also been established by her family. Drexel’s mother and other relatives have helped search Georgetown County and Myrtle Beach, looking for the missing teenager.
A large billboard was put up in Georgetown as part of the search efforts for Drexel. Posters with her name and picture have also been distributed throughout the county.

By Kelly Marshall Fuller
Kfuller@gtowntimes.com