‘This is one that I’ll never forget:’ Myrtle Beach Police Chief gives 1-on-1 interview on Brittanee Drexel case

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - For over half of the roughly two decades Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock has been in law enforcement, Brittanee Drexel’s case has existed.

Prock was assigned to the case in 2013, four years after Drexel went missing, and one year after Raymond Moody, Drexel’s killer was named a person of interest.

Prock still remembers the initial phone calls she had with Dawn Pleckan, Brittanee’s mom.

“Introduced myself as a new supervisor in the unit and she had a lot of questions, like ‘What’s happening now,’ those sorts of things. I also contacted Chad as well, Brittanee’s adoptive father, and just introduced myself, let him know who I was and my expectations of our team,” said Prock.

Throughout the years, there were changes to Prock’s team but she stayed. While there weren’t daily breakthroughs, there were leads to follow.

“We were constantly getting hundreds of tips and needed to clear those, which is why we had someone assigned to that case and needed to clear them,” said Prock.

WMBF News asked Prock how many of the tips included Raymond Moody’s name.

“I couldn’t give you a number off the top of my head, but we continued to work on those, including the hundreds of other tips all in different directions,” said Prock.

Each tip was vetted, according to Prock, until it had to be put to rest, but the case as a whole never closed.

During Moody’s plea hearing Wednesday, deputy solicitor Scott Hixson filled in some answers to the dozens of questions that have come up throughout the years.

A big question was about the timeline of the events that occurred the day Brittanee went missing. In court, Hixson referenced the timeline as “the events according to Moody.”

RELATED COVERAGE: TIMELINE: A look back on the major developments in the Brittanee Drexel case

WMBF News asked Prock if she believed what Moody told investigators.

“I believe parts of it. I will definitely tell you this: I think it’s important as law enforcement to try to do as much as we can to vet what we can, and that’s what we will continue to do,” said Prock.

Prock knows she and other law enforcement officials may not ever know everything that happened between April 25 and April 26 of 2009.

WMBF News asked Prock if she felt more closure in May when Brittanee’s body was found, or more closure during the plea hearing.

“Being able to see Brittanee’s family and know that they could take her home, was definitely helpful because I know that just in conversations with Brittanee’s family, that was something they desperately wanted, so that was helpful for me,” said Prock.

But the closure piece is not what Prock said matters to her the most.

She was one of the closest people in court to Moody outside his lawyers. She looked right at him several times. Moody would still be in a California prison if he served his full 40-year sentence back in 1983. He served less than half.

“It frustrates me that he was let out early, more than anything as a parent, as a mom, as an aunt, as a daughter, I would never want that to happen to anyone and it frustrates me he was let out early. Is there frustration? Absolutely. But not everything is perfect in the criminal justice system, we have areas that we need to work on and I know that from being in it for 26 years,” said Prock.

In 26 years, Prock has seen a lot of cases open and close. While this case moves to the closed pile it’s one Prock said will stay with her, for the rest of her life.

“When you have a case like this, and many others, but this is one that I’ll never forget,” said Prock.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

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