Still hope for Drexel

It's an amazing story. Eighteen years after being kidnapped, a California girl is found safe. The return of Jayce Lee Dugard, while rare, gives extra motivation to the family of Brittanee Drexel to continue their search.

The 17-year-old disappeared in April while on spring break in Myrtle Beach. Her mother, Dawn Drexel, is back in South Carolina, where she is renewing the search.

"You just hope and pray that they're okay and they'll come home," Drexel said.

In Myrtle Beach, S.C., there are three billboards with Brittanee Drexel's photo and information, donated by local business leaders to help in the search.

"The billboards are wonderful," Dawn Drexel said. "It keeps her face out there. It keeps people looking for her."

Drexel says at this point, there are no new leads in the investigation. While in South Carolina, she is working with the Cue Center for Missing Persons, stopping at three towns to remind people that Brittanee is still missing. The three stops are actually part of a larger cross-country tour by the Cue Center called the "On the Road to Remember" tour. It focuses on more than a hundred missing persons cases in which the investigations have run out of leads. The goal is to get photos and information out there to generate new leads for police.

Drexel says there is always hope. On Thursday, she heard the news that Jayce Lee Duguard was found alive.

"I'm very happy that they found this girl, you know," she said. "Especially for her parents and their families because they've been through such torment. When your child goes missing, it's the worst thing you could ever go through. I mean, you wouldn't wish that on your worst enemy. It's horrible."

For Drexel, the news is also proof that Brittanee could still be out there.

"We hold out hope and hope that she would come walking through the door or call us and say, 'Hey Mom, come pick me up,'" Drexel said.

The Executive Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said of the news, "This really is why we never stop looking and why we encourage families to never give up hope...because you just never know, when a child goes missing, how long it's going to take to bring them home."

Drexel says she'll keep searching for however long it takes.

"I just want my baby back," she said.

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