A British woman who was last seen aboard her boyfriend’s yacht on the US Virgin Islands is missing almost two weeks later – and now police say her beau will not have the boat searched.
Ryan Bane, the owner of the 47-meter-long luxury catamaran, reported his girlfriend Sarm Heslop (41) missing on March 8, but then immediately condemned, Virgin Islands police told the British Telegram on Friday night.
The boat ran aground on the coast of St. John remained moored – and out of bounds for the police – while a massive search for the waters continued.
‘Mr. Shortly afterwards, Bane had Ms. Heslop was reported missing, ‘police said in a statement to Telegram.
“On the advice of his lawyer, Mr. Bane exercised his constitutional right of silence and refused the requests of the officers to search the vessel. ‘
Authorities need a warrant to search the boat. But they can not get one because Heslop’s disappearance was not decided as a criminal case.
“We thought we could just ask Mr Bane to search the boat and he would say yes,” police spokesperson Toby Derima told the British newspaper.
“But he did not.”
The couple went to eat on the beach and then returned to the hunt at 22:00 on Sunday, March 7, authorities said.
Ryan called the local police at 02:30 the next morning and said that he had just woken up and realized that Heslop was no longer on board, although her passport, wallet and telephone had been left behind.
Police told Ryan to call the U.S. Coast Guard immediately. But Ryan allegedly waited until almost noon the next day to report Heslop’s disappearance at the U.S. Coast Guard’s San Juan station.
The family of the missing woman asked the British authorities on Friday to step in and help.
“We want the assurance that the authorities in the Virgin Islands are doing everything possible to locate her and that the investigation into the disappearance of our beautiful and cherished daughter includes a comprehensive search for the boat,” family members said in a statement. statement said.
“We will never stop looking for Sarm, and we still hope to find her safe.”