Newport police update investigation on teen missing for year

Apr 26, 2010

NEWPORT (WATE) - There's still no sign of Newport teen Megan Maxwell since she disappeared one year ago.

Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults gave an update on the investigation on Monday.

"Our hope every day is to find Megan, but we're realistic and at this point we're assuming we may have to find Megan's remains," Chief Shults said.

The community has spent time looking for Maxwell. Her burned out car was found near the French Broad River and that's where crews searched for days.

A billboard still stands on Highway 70 asking motorists for any information about Maxwell. For tips that lead to her whereabouts, there's even a $10,000 reward.

Chief Shults says they've had leads, but he won't name a suspect. The burning of Maxwell's car was detrimental to the case because it destroyed evidence.

Officers would like to hear more from Jeffrey Stock. He was at Megan's father's house the morning she went missing.

Stock is in prison now for six years on unrelated charges of failing to register as a sex offender in Tennessee.

"Each little ingredient makes this thing come together," Chief Shults says. He asks anyone with information about what may have happened to Maxwell to please contact the police department.

Officers also regularly update Maxwell's mother, Lisa, on the investigation. She took the day off from work Monday to spend time at home thinking about her daughter.

One year later, still no clues in disappearance of Megan Maxwell

Lisa Maxwell says she refuses to believe her teenage daughter's disappearance will remain an unsolved mystery.

NEWPORT, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Lisa Maxwell says she refuses to believe her teenage daughter's disappearance will remain an unsolved mystery.

It was a year ago Monday that 19-year-old Megan Maxwell never made it home.

Investigators say they work on this case every day and meet every week to discuss it.

Tips are always coming in: some legitimate, some don't pan out.

Megan was last seen leaving her father's house.

Deputies found her car torched a few hours later.

"It was nice and warm. It was a beautiful day," Lisa Maxwell recalled. "We'd planned to cook out. And, later that day our lives had been turned upside down."

On April 26th 2009, Megan Maxwell never came home.

A year later, the sunshine is replaced with gray skies. And Lisa Maxwell still doesn't know what happened to Megan.

"I've felt it from the very start that Megan isn't with us anymore. But now we need her. We need closure," Maxwell cried.

Investigators believe Jeffery Lee Stock has something to do with the teen's disappearance.

He's a registered sex offender. He's now in jail on charges unrelated to Megan's case.

"He has definitely done something with Megan," Maxwell told Volunteer TV. "I just wish he'd tell us where."

The Maxwell family would love to add to his prison sentence, but they don't have the evidence.

They don't know for sure if Megan's been harmed.

"I would have never thought it'd be this long. I figured we'd find her the first week," Maxwell said, crying again.

The sheriff, meanwhile, says he still expects a break in the case.

"There may be some news coming out shortly we'll have to wait to see. Some leads came in this past week," Cocke County Sheriff Claude Strange said.

As mom waits, she admits she battles her heart and her head.

"Certain days I have a lot of hope. Other days I have none."
"What about today?" WVLT asked.
"Today I have a little bit," Lisa Maxwell said.

Megan's mom says that Megan was acquainted with Jeffery Stock through her father.

She had told her mom she didn't like Stock.

Witnesses say they saw Stock driving Megan's car just before she disappeared.

There is still a $15,000 reward up for grabs for the person who has information that will lead to an arrest.

Top Story on Americas Most Wanted Website- 04/26/10

Tenn. Cops Need Help Finding Teen

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Megan's car was found on fire hours after she went missing.

Tennessee teenager Megan Maxwell called a friend at 4:27 a.m. on April 26, 2009, to say she would be home soon, but she never made it.

Less than two hours later, at 6:10 a.m, an off-duty police officer discovered Megan's red 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse engulfed in flames.The car was totally destroyed.

Megan's friends describe her as a social butterfly. Her family and friends have teamed up with law enforcement in several search efforts near where Megan was last seen, and where her car was found near the French Broad River in Newport, Tenn. The searches have turned up nothing.

Police are desperate to find Megan and are asking the public for any clues that could lead to her whereabouts before it's too late.

Megan was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt and blue jeans with holes in the fabric.

If you know anything about the whereabouts of Megan Maxwell please call us at 1-800-CRIME-TV. Remember: You can remain anonymous.

Families of missing teen Brittanee Drexel gather for support

Apr. 24, 2010

Chad Drexel walked down Ocean Boulevard on Saturday night and pointed across the street, angling his Blackberry to take a picture.

"That's the camera over the visitors center board that got Brittanee," Chad Drexel said.

The camera produced some of the last pictures of Brittanee Drexel, Chad's daughter, before the New York teen disappeared on April 25, 2009.

One year later to the day, the Drexels and a crowd of supporters gathered to march the same length of road where Brittanee was last seen in an event to both remember and raise awareness of missing persons. They marched on Ocean Boulevard from Bar Harbor Motor Inn, where Drexel was staying on a trip to Myrtle Beach, to a candlelight vigil next to the Blue Water Hotel, where she was last seen leaving.

Although one year has passed, the Drexels still speak of Brittanee as if the disappearance was yesterday.

"I drive down the street sometimes and I just start crying," Chad Drexel said. "Because I hear a song or something that just pops in, and 'Oh my God, me and Brittanee used to laugh to this,' or, 'I remember what Brittanee said when this song came on.'"

The family said the march drummed up mixed feelings. Chad Drexel alternately joked about working off their dinner by walking and speculated whether she was snatched while walking the same path he was on.

"Being in this environment makes me feel closer, but it also makes me in pieces," Chad said.

Several other families of missing people joined the march. Signs told of the missing: Megan Maxwell, Brandy Hanna, Bryce Tartar, Jamie Fraley, Crystal Soles and Drexel.

The Drexels have found some solace in joining with these other families, they said. Dawn Drexel, Brittanee's mother, said it helps to talk to people who know what it's like.

"They all have the same hope as the family, as me. Support, love and care," Chad Drexel said.

Gail Soles, the mother of an Andrews woman who went missing, said she has become close with the Drexels. Crystal Soles went missing in 2005 when she was 28, and her mother continues to organize searches for her five years later.

Gail Soles said it helps to talk to people who have experienced the same pain, so she and Dawn talk sometimes. The Soles family also offers simple support, for example, if one of the Drexels' two children, ages 6 and 12, need a place to stay for the night.

Another mother, Christy Davis, had her 26-year-old son Mike Davis go missing in Florida in 2007. Davis befriended the Drexels not long after Brittanee's disappearance. The most important thing is to not give up hope, she said.

"There's always a hole in your heart until you know what happens. It's always my hope to bring him home, alive ... or his remains," Davis said. "Every time you find out remains have been found, you hold your breath."

Davis founded the nonprofit organization Finder's Hope to offer support to families. If she can't bring her child home, she said she hopes she can help bring others home.

The Drexels have also found support from Amber Ready, a company that makes systems to speed police response to missing children. The company also takes on individual cases, offering private investigators and support for events like vigils, said Chief Executive Frank Del Vecchio, who attended the event. The Drexels must keep searching because that's their only hope of moving on, he said.

"When we talk about bringing a resolution, it can either be a happy return of the family member (or) a family member could have had a tragic outcome ... but the family could move on," he said.

Until the family knows what happened, they have to hope she'll be found because that's all they've got, he said.

Dawn Drexel said she thinks of new possibilities every day, she said, from human traffickers to predators. Not knowing what has happened to her daughter has begun to take its toll, she said.

"Emotionally, I mean, we were very upset when she became missing," she said. "I guess you become numb to it."

Chad Drexel said the family continues to experience an emotional roller coaster every day.

"Every day is a nightmare. When I wake up, I don't want to wake up not knowing where my daughter is," Chad Drexel said. "I pray a lot more now, not just because my daughter is missing, but who else am I going to turn to?"

Family to mark one-year anniversary of Megan Maxwell's disappearance

April 26, 2010

Author: Nelson Morais
Source: The Newport Plain Talk

NEWPORT-Tomorrow, April 26, will mark the one-year anniversary of the day that Newport teenager Megan Maxwell disappeared.

Megan Maxwell, 19, disappeared last year on an early Sunday morning, on April 26. Her 2001 Mitsubishi was found burned later that morning.

Her mother, Lisa Maxwell; sister, Stephanie; and grandmother, Judy O'Neil, will mark the solemn anniversary by planting a Bradford Pear tree in memory of Megan, in the front yard of O'Neil's home at 859 Brookside Drive in Newport. Megan lived with her grandmother several months prior to disappearing.

Mother dreading one-year anniversary

Megan Maxwell's mother, Lisa Maxwell, said Friday she feels "awful" about, and is "really, really dreading," the arrival of Monday and the one-year anniversary.

Lisa Maxwell flew to South Carolina on Saturday, April 24, to comfort the family of Britanee Drixille, who disappeared in Myrtle Beach on almost the same day last year that Megan Maxwell did. Megan and Britanee were also the same age at the time they disappeared, according to Lisa Maxwell.

"We're going to rally for Britanee, Megan, and others, with banners, posters, and a walk," Lisa Maxwell said.

Lisa Maxwell said of her trip to Myrtle Beach that she plans to comfort others, and hopefully be comforted herself in return.

"There are no words to describe" what she is going through because of Megan Maxwell's disappearance, Lisa Maxwell said.

She said people are simply incapable of understanding what she has gone through, and is going through, unless they have experienced a similar tragedy in their lives.

"I'm hoping it (the trip) will help Lisa to go and talk to some people in the same situation we are in," O'Neil said.

Grandmother describes 'long, rough year'

"It's been a long, rough year," O'Neil recalled. She added, "We never dreamed when she disappeared that it would be a year and we still hadn't found her."

Lisa Maxwell said, 'I'm trying to be as positive as I can, but dreading it (the one-year anniversary). I can't believe it's been this long. It seems like it's been 10 years to me" that her daughter has been gone.

When asked if the longer Megan Maxwell is missing, the harder it becomes on her emotionally, Lisa Maxwell answered "yes".

Lisa Maxwell said there will more searches for Megan Maxwell's body, and more candlelight vigils once Lisa is off for the summer from her job at Douglas Cherokee Head Start.

No helpful leads so far

Of the past year's attempts to find Megan, Lisa Maxwell said, "We thought if we could find some clothes (of Megan's) -- but we haven't found anything."

Lisa Maxwell also said, "We're just going to keep on" searching for Megan Maxwell, possibly conducting more searches of areas that were searched last year. "You never know. We may have overlooked something," she said.

Megan Maxwell was last heard from at 4:27 a.m. on that fateful Sunday morning.

Hollie Lane, a very close friend of Megan Maxwell, was to spend the night with her at the house of Megan Maxwell's grandmother. While driving back to the house, she passed by the Mineral Street residence of Steve Maxwell, Megan Maxwell's father, saw police were there, and called to inform Megan Maxwell, who had gone to bed. It was sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.

Megan Maxwell readied herself, got in her Mitsubishi Eclipse, and was about to drive to her father's house, located in front of Union Cemetery, around the time Lane arrived to Megan Maxwell's and her grandmother's home.

Megan drove to her father's house

The two talked briefly in the driveway before Megan Maxwell drove away to her father's house.

Lane said Megan Maxwell called her at 4:27 a.m. and told her "everything was fine and that she was going to smoke a cigarette and would be right home," according to a report with the Cocke County Sheriff's Department.

Megan Maxwell never made it home.

Her mother later stated that she spoke with her ex-husband, Steve Maxwell, and that he told her he had been drinking and remembered their daughter being at his residence, but did not remember her leaving.

Law enforcement officials keep quiet

Law enforcement officials are understandably reluctant to discuss any possible connection between Megan Maxwell's disappearance and Jeffrey Lee Stock, 42, of Del Rio, who was at Megan Maxwell's father's house when she was last heard from that Sunday morning.

Stock has officially been labeled by law enforcement officials as simply "a person of interest," but not a suspect, in the case.

Cocke County Sheriff's Department Detective Derrick Woods arrested Stock, at 3:40 a.m., on Monday, April 27, almost 24 hours after Megan Maxwell was last heard from, for violating the Sex Offender Registry.

Stock was charged with failing to register with the Cocke County Sheriff's Department as required to do so annually on or about his birthday, which is April 7. That is a violation of the Sex Offender Registry.

Stock plead guilty on Sept. 21, 2009, to a federal grand jury indictment charging him with being a convicted sex offender who traveled in interstate commerce without registering.

Jeffrey Stock sentenced on unrelated charge

Last month, Stock was sentenced on that charge to six years in prison by Judge Ronnie Greer, United States District Court Judge, in federal court in Greeneville.

Stock, who has been in federal custody since June 18, 2009, was also ordered to remain on federal supervised release for the remainder of his life.

Lisa Maxwell said she thinks it is very possible that no one other than Stock knows what happened to Megan Maxwell.

Lisa Maxwell said there was a time she wanted to talk to Stock, but not any more. "It would just tear me up" to talk to him, she said.

Even so, Lisa Maxwell said, "Anytime he (Stock) is in a courtroom, I'll be there."

Stock has not been charged in connection with Megan Maxwell's disappearance.

Mother remembers Megan as 'happy'

Lisa Maxwell has described Megan Maxwell as "always happy and always smiling, with a joke to tell you."

Megan Maxwell was "really involved" with cheerleading at Edgemont Elementary School and played tennis three years at Cocke County High School, Lisa Maxwell recalled.

Megan Maxwell said, "She was always a happy girl. She didn't like conflict of any kind and would let people walk all over her."

Megan Maxwell quit CCHS when she was a junior, but had returned to Newport and taken day classes to study for her GED exam. Her mother said she was scheduled to take a GED exam on the Thursday following her disappearance, and planned to graduate soon thereafter with her former classmates in the Class of 2009.

O'Neil, Megan Maxwell's grandmother, said Megan moved to Morristown after she quit high school, returned to Newport for two or three months, where she stayed with O'Neil, then went to Indiana about two or three months with her boyfriend before returning to Newport.

Megan Maxwell had again been living with her grandmother, this time for about six months, up to the day she disappeared.

Investigation continues

District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn said Friday afternoon "even as we speak, investigators are working on that particular case," referring to Megan Maxwell's disappearance.

Leads have come in and not panned out, but Dunn said his office, Det. Derrick Woods, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continue to diligently work on the case.

"We just keep plugging away," Dunn said.

Det. Woods said Friday, "We are continuously (and) aggressively investigating the case" of Megan Maxwell's disappearance. He said he could not provide any further details than what has already been disseminated.

Anyone with information about Megan Maxwell's disappearance and whereabouts can call the Newport Police Department at (423) 623-5556, or the office of District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn at (423) 623-1285.

Lisa Maxwell said Friday, "Megan was a sociable, happy kid who knew no strangers. I can't think of one person who would hurt her. She has so many friends," including people much older than her.

O'Neil said of Megan Maxwell's family, "We're just looking for closure. We do that every day."

Family of missing Cocke Co. girl marks Crime Victim Rights Week

04/21/10
As the one-year anniversary of her daughter's disappearance closes in, Lisa Maxwell found comfort inside the Cocke County courthouse Wednesday. Maxwell's daughter, Megan, has been missing since April 26, 2009.

Her family was among dozens taking part in an event through National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

"We invite them to come together for encouragement and support and to let them know that we have not forgotten them," District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn said.

"At times, especially when a lot of time goes by, you tend to think that you're forgotten or the person is forgotten, but this right here lets you know that they're not," Maxwell said.

While the Maxwells have a lot in common with others at the event, they are still looking for answers.

A suspect has been identified in Megan's disappearance, but no one has been charged. Still, Wednesday's event came with good news.

"Last week and even this week, we've gotten some good intelligence that we're following up on. I'm encouraged and believe that we will bring some closure to that matter," Dunn said.

"It lets me know that they're working on this. It's easy to feel like 'Well, they're not doing anything,' when I know they are," Maxwell said.

While investigators pursue new leads, Maxwell plans to continue the search for her daughter.

"We're going to be starting searching again. We're just going to start over again. It will be another summer like last summer. We're not going to stop until we find her," she said.

Maxwell said she plans to mark Monday's anniversary by spending the day with family and planting a tree in honor of Megan.