Teen's 2009 spring break disappearance now probed as murder

MCCLELLANVILLE, S.C. -- Authorities in South Carolina say the case of a New York teen who disappeared during a 2009 spring break trip to Myrtle Beach is now officially considered a homicide.

The FBI announced Wednesday it's offering a $25,000 award for information on Brittanee Drexel.

The Rochester, New York, teen was 17 when she was last seen leaving a hotel on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach in April 2009.

South Carolina Special Agent in Charge David Thomas says Drexel was likely held against her will and killed in the McClellanville area. Thomas says investigators believe Drexel was near McClellanville for several days before she was murdered, reports CBS affiliate WBTW.

He says the announcement comes after talking to Drexel's family about what had been considered a missing-person investigation.

Drexel's cellphone transmitted its last known signal the day after she disappeared near the South Santee River, between McClellanville and Georgetown.

Officials and the young woman's family appealed to the public to come forward with tips.

"Please help us to bring these killers to justice. Help us to put them in prison where they belong for the rest of their lives," Brittanee Drexel's mother Dawn said Wednesday.

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