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'WE NEED CLOSURE'
Mystery of missing mom Crystal Soles who vanished in 2005 may be cracked after Brittanee Drexel update, family hopes
FAMILY members of a mother who vanished without a trace 17 years ago are hoping the breakthrough in the Brittanee Drexel murder investigation will help to finally solve the mystery of her disappearance.
Crystal Soles was 28 years old when she disappeared in Andrews, South Carolina, on January 24, 2005, shortly after calling her parents to tell them she was on her way home.
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No trace of Crystal has been found since, leaving her family with no answers and only an abundance of questions as to what happened to the mom-of-one in the moments after the call - and whether or not she's still alive.
"We really want to find closure," Crystal's son Mitchell Soles, 22, who was just five years old when she vanished, told The US Sun.
"We won't rest until we find out what happened and why it happened," he added. "And we would like for the person responsible to get what they deserve."
Mitchell and the rest of his family are hoping that a breakthrough in the investigation into another local missing persons case may help them finally find answers about what happened to Crystal.
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'STRONG CHANCE'
Just over four years after Crystal disappeared, 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel vanished under similar circumstances around 20 miles away in Myrtle Beach during an impromptu and ill-fated spring break trip with a group of friends.
The two mysterious cases have long been linked in the local press and among residents of Georgetown County.
Those links were fortified in 2012 after convicted child sex offender Raymond Moody was named as a person of interest in both cases just weeks apart.
In a dramatic update on Monday, investigators announced that Moody had been charged with Brittanee's murder after reportedly confessing to kidnapping, raping, and strangling her to death in April 2009.
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Last week, Moody led investigators to the site where he allegedly buried her after carrying out the sickening killing, a wooded area on Old Town Avenue around 2.5 miles away from where he was living at the time.
Moody, while considered a person of interest, has never been charged in relation to Crystal's disappearance. However, Mitchell said it's his belief that there's a "good possibility" he was either involved or knows something.
"It's a good possibility with his background, and what's coming to light now with what's being said," Mitchell claimed.
"So I'm thinking there is a strong chance he could have had something to do with it."
GONE WITHOUT A TRACE
Mitchell said his family and the Drexels have grown close over the last 13 years. His grandmother, Gail Soles, assisted Brittanee's family in numerous searches around South Carolina in the years since.
"I was really happy for the Drexel family that they were finally able to get closure on Brittanee," Mitchell said of learning the moment the missing teen's remains had been identified by investigators.
"But with [Raymond Moody] also being a person of interest in my mom's case, I'm hoping maybe now he's spoken up - and other people are also talking - that someone speaks up about my mother so we can finally get closure as well."
Crystal Soles was last seen at Shaw’s Corner Store in Andrews, South Carolina, on January 24, 2005.
According to Mitchell, she had called home moments earlier to ask one of her parents to come and pick her up.
Crystal's mom Gail was at work at the time and her father, who was battling cancer, was unable to drive to get her.
She then insisted she was going to make the short walk home but she never made it back.
"It was during that walk home that she vanished, or was kidnapped, or whatever happened to her," Mitchell said.
LAST MEMORIES
Crystal, while a doting mother, was struggling with drug addiction at the time of her disappearance.
Gail has revealed in previous interviews that it wasn't uncommon for Crystal to disappear for days on end when she was abusing substances.
But though she would typically leave unannounced, she would always make an effort to call home to speak with Mitchell on the phone, which she failed to do in the wake of her final disappearance.
"My understanding is that she got involved in the wrong crowd," Mitchell said. "At that age, obviously I wasn't really able to tell, and I guess my grandparents didn't want me to know what was going on.
"But I do remember her quite well ... she was definitely a great mother who took care of me in any way she could.
"I always enjoyed being around her and spending time with her. We were really, really close."
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Mitchell said he can remember his mom calling home for the final time before her disappearance.
Though he found it "upsetting" when she failed to return home, Mitchell said the reality of his mom's disappearance - and the likelihood that he'd never see her again - would take several weeks to sink in.
"The last time I saw her, I remember we were laying in a bed and The Smurfs cartoon was playing on the TV," Mitchell recounted.
"She then told me she would be coming back and that she loved me, and that's when she left.
"It was kind of upsetting at that time, but it didn’t hit me straight away. I really noticed that she was gone and probably wouldn’t be coming back a couple of weeks later - that’s when it actually registered.
"I was too young to understand it, but as the years went by, my family and friends have all been a great support system for me."
A 'DIFFERENT TOLL'
As the days turned into months, and the months into years without any concrete clues to suggest where his mom might be, Mitchell told The US Sun the "not knowing" is the hardest part of it all.
"Over the years I’ve learned to cope with [not having my mom around], I guess," he said.
"It’s never going to be 100% right with her being gone but as far as knowing what happened I think that’s one of the biggest concerns because losing a parent is hard, but not knowing why they’re gone and how they’re gone that takes a different toll as well."
The last lead in Crystal's disappearance came in August 2013 when investigators received new information they hoped would lead to her whereabouts.
Investigators and a group of volunteers searched a wooded area in Andrews and recovered remains. However, those remains were later found to be from an animal rather than a human, and Crystal's trail went cold once more.
In the wake of Moody's arrest for Brittannee's murder, Mitchell said he hopes the media attention gives the investigation into his mother's disappearance a second wind.
"I haven't been contacted by the police since Moody was charged ... but I hope that changes," he said.
"We need closure. We need to know what happened so the thought of not knowing can finally be over with - the who, the what, the why, the how.
"It would allow us all to finally find peace."
BRITTANEE DREXEL: CASE CLOSED?
The discovery of Brittannee Drexel's remains last week brought an end to a 13-year investigation.
The 17-year-old, originally from Rochester, New York, was last seen alive on April 25, 2009, on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.
She was on her way to meet friends and a nearby hotel when she vanished.
Her mother, Dawn Drexel, had forbidden Brittnee to travel to Myrtle Beach but she ignored her mother's instructions and traveled to the popular spring break destination with a group of friends without her knowing.
More than a decade on, her body was found in Georgetown County, around 20 miles from where Crystal Soles' cellphone last pinged.
"This is truly a mother's nightmare," Dawn Drexel said at a news conference on Monday. "I am mourning my beautiful daughter Brittanee as I have been for 13 years. But today it's bittersweet. We are much closer to the closure and the peace that we have been desperately hoping for."
Raymond Moody, 62, has been charged with murder, obstructing justice, kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.
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Police claim he confessed to kidnapping and fatally strangling the teen on the same day she disappeared.
"Today marks the beginning of a new chapter," Dawn Drexel declared. "The search for Brittanee is now a pursuit of Brittanee's justice."
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