The suit alleges if the hotel had had proper protocols in place preventing minors from staying who were not accompanied by parents or legal guardians, it “would have prevented the rape and murder of Brittanee that was to follow.” The hotel filed its answer to the lawsuit December 21. While the answer states Drexel was not a registered guest at the hotel, it acknowledges she “may have been friends with Bar Harbor Hotel guest Jennifer Oberer.”
Reports published through the years state Oberer is one of the people who Drexel travelled to Myrtle Beach with during spring break without her mother’s permission. The hotel, in its answer, denies the allegations that there were no policies in place preventing minors from staying with people who are not their parents or guardians.
The suit states Bar Harbor Hotel “created a foreseeable zone of risk by creating, fostering, and maintaining an environment where minors, including Decedent, could stay on their premises unaccompanied by their legal guardians.” These allegations are denied by the hotel.
The lawsuit also alleges that “despite knowing of significant risks to unaccompanied minors in the area, including but not limited to kidnapping, child human trafficking, illicit drug use, and alcohol use, the Hotel Defendants continued to enable unaccompanied minors at their hotels.” The hotel denies these allegations.
The hotel denies “all allegations of wrongful conduct and proximate cause,” the answer states. In the answer, the hotel also states its policies are “compliant with state and local laws.” The answer states it is not the hotel to blame but “the sole negligence, gross negligence, willfulness and wantonness of a third party, in failing to exercise due care, which was the direct and proximate cause of injuries or losses suffered by the Plaintiffs.”
The answer states the lawsuit “should be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the South Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure.” This is a motion “to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”