Brittanee Drexel’s mother responds to jailhouse informant interview

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – The mother of a teenager who vanished while on vacation in Myrtle Beach nearly 10 years ago is responding to an interview with a jailhouse informant who told investigators he witnessed her murder.

In a recorded conversation with NBC affiliate WHEC in Rochester, NY, Tequan L. Brown said he saw Brittanee Drexel at an abandoned house McClellanville.

Brown is in prison in South Carolina serving a 25-year sentence for an unrelated manslaughter conviction.

Brown said he told the FBI he saw Drexel on four separate occasions in April and May of 2009. Brown said he first saw Drexel at the abandoned house, two days after the teenager disappeared.

Brown: “On this Monday, April 27th, I saw the girl”

Reporter: “In the stash house?”

Brown: “Yeah. There was about 8 to 12 guys in there.”

Brown believes Drexel was being sexually assaulted and went on to say he heard a gunshot and thought she was killed.

“As I get in my car, I see two gentleman come out the house with a rug and they put it in the back of his truck, and I left,” Brown said.

Brown told WHEC he later saw Drexel alive five days later at his cousin’s house.

Drexel’s mother, Dawn Pleckan, who now lives in North Carolina, spoke to WHEC after listening to the jailhouse interview and said she has more questions now.

“We’re not sure what we should believe… I mean, we don’t know what he has to gain from this,” Pleckan said.

In the interview, Brown mentioned that Drexel was seen with a group of men, including a man he only identified as Nate. Brown claimed that Nate shot Drexel with a double-barrel shotgun.

“I have never heard the name Nate before,” Pleckan told WHEC. “Makes want to question who is this person. I mean, there’s a lot of questions that I would love to ask him face-to-face.”

Brown first met with investigators two years ago.

WHEC contacted the FBI to find out if they still believe he’s a credible witness. A spokesperson wouldn’t say, but acknowledged they recently met with Brown.

Pleckan hopes the newly-released information brings about new leads.

“I hope it will turn up some heat,” Pleckan said. “We’re just fighting for justice for Brittanee.”

Brown has also linked a man named Timothy Taylor to the Drexel case. The FBI has said it believes Taylor had direct involvement in Drexel’s kidnapping, but he has not been charged in the case.

His attorney had no comment.