Missing NY teen remembered in SC with planted tree

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — The memory of a missing teenager from upstate New York is being preserved three years after she disappeared while on spring break in South Carolina.

Family and friends of Brittanee Drexel gathered Saturday to honor her by planting a tree in a Myrtle Beach park. The 17-year-old from Rochester, N.Y., was last seen leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel in April 2009.

A donated stone marker with Drexel’s name and the date she went missing was placed at the base of the donated tree as nearly three dozen people observed.

Drexel family friend Robin Holley organized the event because she believes the teen is still out there. Holley says anyone who knows something about what happened to the girl should come forward.