ROCHESTER, N.Y. — When a 13-year-old kidnapping and murder investigation resulted in charges this week for a South Carolina man, it brought a sense of relief to those who knew and loved Chili teenager Brittanee Drexel.

One of Drexel’s closest friends says she never gave up hope that justice would someday be served.

Some friendships were meant to last a lifetime. Tarah Friedman and Brittanee Drexel grew up together.

“It was a great friendship from the very beginning,” said Friedman. “Everyone loved her when they met her, immediately. She could get along with anyone, and that’s how our friendship began to grow.”

The two did everything together. On April 26, 2009, Friedman accompanied Drexel’s family to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to pick Brittanee up from a spring break vacation. But the 17-year-old Drexel had disappeared and was last seen leaving a hotel there. Friends and family stayed in South Carolina for weeks to search. But the case hit a dead end.

“With each passing year, you don't know if you're going to get answers,” said Friedman. “You stay hopeful. That's all you can do is stay hopeful. You can't give up.”

When Friedman saw the mugshot of Raymond Moody, the man who police say kidnapped, raped and killed her friend — she sees a man with no soul. Police in South Carolina this week announced his arrest and the discovery of Brittanee’s remains. According to police, Moody admitted to raping and killing Drexel. The sheriff's office said Moody led them to Drexel's body buried on the property of his Georgetown home. Her remains were positively identified using dental records and DNA.

“It’s so difficult to think that you're going to go, and you're going to bring her home,” she said. “And now, 13 years later, we finally have her. We finally are going to bring her home. But 13 years is a very, very long time.”

At a tree planted in Brittanee’s memory at Davis Park in Chili, Friedman reflects on the loss — one which affected so many people, and one which reminds her of what should have been.

“We planned on just going through all the milestones of life together,” she said. “You really look forward to that, and you want to be able to grow up with your best friend. You want to keep that friendship for the rest of your life. And having that robbed from you is what really hurts."

Friedman takes comfort in knowing there will be justice for her friend. It’s a friendship will stay in her heart — always.

“I want everyone to remember that she was this absolute beautiful bright soul, and not just not just the victim,” she said. “She was so much more. And she would have been so much more if her life hadn't been taken from her.”