Thread by @ijbailey

A story that's not getting enough national attention: Here in the Myrtle Beach, S.C. area for the past 13 years, the FBI and local law enforcement officials left the impression that a white girl on vacation was abducted by a 16-year-old black dude who did evil things to her. 1/

They began spreading a story about him - a boy who lost one of his arms in an accident at the age of 4 - and a group of other black dudes about supposedly kidnapping Brittanee Drexel gang raping her and...it's even worse than than. 2/

They claimed they used her for human trafficking. They said the 16-year-old boy's father was involved. They said they beat her, murdered her and threw her body in a gator-infested lake. 3/

They used the local media to pressure that 16-year-old boy into confessing to the crime. They based it all on a jailhouse informant. And it was all a lie - which is typical of jailhouse informants, if you don't know. 4/

Just recently, they found Drexel's remains and charged an old white dude who has an extensive criminal sexual record. And when they announced it during a press conference held by officials from every law enforcement agency, they didn't mention the 16-year-old boy's name once. 5/

Here is the family's press conference from a few days ago. And as you can see, there are no law enforcement officials around. This is (still) America, 2022. 6/

I frequently jog by the makeshift memorial dedicated to the girl. And every time, I have given a quick-silent prayer. I'm a parent; I understand that pain the Drexels have endured these past 13 years not knowing. But they aren't the only ones hurting. 7/

They devastated the family of that then-16-year-old black boy. They never directly charged him in her case but used his past mistakes to try and pressure him to confess. On national TV, he was called an animal. His mug shot is everywhere. 8/

Despite all of that, not once at the press conference announcing that they had finally found the right person, saying this time it's based on DNA evidence, did they apologize or give any kind of nod to that boy's family, as though they didn't exist. 8/

Here's the press conference during which law enforcement officials announced the big arrest in the case. They repeatedly talked about how professional and dogged they were for 13 years. 9/

If they cannot stand up and say something about the devastation they caused that boy's family - without being forced to - that's gonna boil my blood even more than it already is. 10

As a journalist at the time at the only daily newspaper in the area, I have never stopped thinking about this case, even after I left the paper. I've covered different cases like these, and I understand the complexity at play. I truly do. 11/

Some reporting I did helped led to the uncovering of remains of a different woman who was raped/kidnapped. Can't tell you how often I felt like I let the Drexel family down because my reporting was of no use to them all this time. I get we can't solve everything. But still. 12/

I don't even really blame them for saying the awful things they said about that black boy and his family, because they were hurting and grieving and believing what the FBI was telling them. 13/

It's just that there's no way all the folks involved should just be able to walk away without grappling with how this happened - and that must include media who helped the FBI push the narrative about that boy despite no charges and zero evidence. 14/

There's some reckoning that must happen in our industry as well on cases such as these. 15/

This is some background about how this rolled out after the FBI began circulating that false story they got from a jailhouse informant.
syracuse.com/state/2016/10/…

That boy always declared his innocence. He never wavered no matter what was being said, when or why.

Every journalist should heed this call from that boy's mom: "I call for law enforcement to halt the practice of disclosing unfounded leads and names of potential suspects without credible evidence. Doing this has real-life consequences and a lasting disparaging effect."

More context on how this family was treated by media and law enforcement. Father and son were accused in horrific crimes for which they did not commit. But their arrests led to this type of framing in media: people.com/crime/brittane…

Listening back to some of the podcasts that dealt with this case is painful. This one includes Drexel’s father. While I empathize with him, it’s still hard to hear him describe the Taylor family in such ugly ways. Listen to the final 22 minutes.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pau…