The family and friends of Sarm Heslop, a 41-year-old British woman who disappeared from a boat in the US Virgin Islands nearly two weeks ago, are working for the authorities to investigate a 47-foot catamaran.
The request comes after it was revealed that her American boyfriend, Ryan Bane, had acquired a lawyer and did not answer questions or make the boat available to investigators.
‘Since they lived on the boat and that she went missing on the boat, it’s a natural place for the police to search, and I just do not understand why Ryan does not allow it to find Sarm. “Don’t get it,” Andrew Baldwin, a good friend of Heslop’s, told Fox News on Saturday. “It’s the frustration more than anything else.”
Heslop’s family said they “want the assurance” that authorities are “doing everything possible to locate her”, including a comprehensive search for the boat.
Sarm Heslop was last seen on the night of March 7 on Ryan Bane’s boat on the US Virgin Islands.
Bane and Heslop returned to the boat after dinner around 10pm on March 7th. Bane discovered she went missing at about 2:30 a.m. on March 8, and then called 911 and “traveled to meet with VIPD members to make a statement about Sarm,” according to his attorney, David Cattie.
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Bane was instructed by VIPD officials to call the U.S. Coast Guard, which he did shortly before noon on March 8.
According to Bane’s lawyer, ‘several USCG officers boarded the vessel and conducted an interview with Mr. Tracks lined up on the vessel. ‘ According to the VIPD, the “Coast Guard conducted a search for Ms. Heslop later that morning.”
Baldwin noted that it is unclear whether the Coast Guard is’ just ‘looking around in the boat’ or conducting a full ‘fingertip police investigation’.
Coast Guard responds
After Fox News contacted him, a Coast Guard spokesman issued the following statement confirming that the Coast Guard personnel were on board:
“On March 8, the Coast Guard received a report of a possible person in the water from the sailing ship Siren Song,” reads the statement from lt.kmd. Jason Neiman, public affairs officer of the Seventh Coast Guard District.
“As part of the search and rescue effort, the Coast Guard went on board the vessel to conduct interviews and gather information from the reporting source. Later, the Coast Guard returned to the vessel to perform a standard safety check of the vessel to ensure proper equipment and compliance with applicable vessel type and operation rules and regulations.
“After an extensive search, no sign of distress reported by aviation or marine units, no response to the urgent transmission of marine information, and no additional or related information to support further surface search efforts, the Coast Guard has the active search suspended. “
The VIPD now says that Bane does not answer questions and that authorities are not allowed to search the boat.
“Shortly after Mrs Heslop was reported missing, Mr. Jobs obtained the services of a lawyer, ‘a VIPD spokesman said on Friday. “On the advice of his lawyer, Mr Bane denied his constitutional right to remain silent and denied the officers’ requests to search the vessel.”
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Bane handed over Heslop’s belongings, including her telephone and passport, to the Coast Guard.
“We heard that Sarm’s phone, passport and all belongings were left on the boat where she lived with Mr Bane,” Baldwin said on Saturday. “She will not just disappear, leaving no trace. She is smart and sensible, it’s not like her at all, it just does not add up.”
The boat was anchored in Frank Bay at the time of Heslop’s disappearance about 15 meters from the sea.
Drone footage of the boat shows it in relatively shallow water, which according to Baldwin was about 11 feet.
Baldwin also noted that Heslop was used to boats, after he ventured into the Atlantic Ocean in January 2020 and sailed around the Caribbean for six months.
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The VIPD continues its search for Heslop as the time after two has disappeared.
“VIPD continues efforts to locate Ms. Heslop, conduct multiple searches daily, talk to potential witnesses and search through hours of surveillance videos,” the department said Friday.