Brittanee Drexel's ashes are coming home to Rochester on Wednesday, according to a report on Good Morning America.
Drexel's mother, Dawn Drexel, appeared on the show Wednesday morning to talk about the major breakthrough in the case.
"I've been waiting for this day for 13 years, ever since the day Brittanee disappeared," Drexel told ABC News.
On Monday, the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina announced that Brittanee's remains had been found and positively identified. They also said a person of interest early in the case, Raymond Moody, had been arrested and charged with her death.
According to the sheriff's office, Moody confessed to raping and murdering Brittanee after he was arrested on an obstruction of justice charge. Investigators say Moody buried her body on his property in Georgetown, about 30 miles south of where the Chili teen disappeared from a hotel in Myrtle Beach in 2009.
Brittanee was just 17 years old when she traveled to South Carolina against her mother's wishes to celebrate spring break with friends.
Thirteen years after her disappearance, her family mourned at a private South Carolina ceremony on Tuesday. There is expected to be a remembrance ceremony in Rochester soon.
"I never thought we'd get to this place," Drexel said in the ABC News interview. "We're finally here and I can get Brittanee back and lay her to rest."
Moody, a convicted sex offender, is charged with murder, kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct, according to the sheriff's office. He is currently being held in a South Carolina jail but police say he has yet to enter a plea in the case.
"I'm glad he's behind bars so that he can't hurt anyone else's child," Drexel told ABC.