The Daily Beast
A British woman has disappeared in the US Virgin Islands. Her American boyfriend stopped working together.
Police in the US Virgin Islands For almost two weeks, police have been desperately searching for Sarm Heslop, a British flight attendant who disappeared from a boat off the coast of the US Virgin Islands. However, the search became increasingly difficult after her American boyfriend, 44-year-old Ryan Bane, stopped cooperating with the police and forbade them to search the vessel. To make matters worse, Bane appears to have a history of domestic violence, his ex-wife said in a new interview. Now Heslop’s friends and family are fed up. “We are shocked and upset that Sarm is missing. “We want to give 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,” her family said in a statement said on Saturday. ” Our daughter is a British citizen and we ask for all the support the British authorities provide. We will never stop looking for Sarm, and we still have the hope of finding her safe. Police in the Virgin Islands say Heslop (41) was last seen on March 7 on the vessel Siren Song – which is owned by Bane – after the couple went out. after dinner. Hours later, around 2:30 a.m., Bane called the authorities to report her missing. When officers arrived at the boat, moored in Frank Bay, St. John, Bane said that the pair from St. Thomas sailed off and went to bed. Around 10 p.m., Bane explained that he woke up about four hours later from the ship’s anchor alarm, and he noticed that his girlfriend was gone. ex-native from Michigan barred and banned police from his boat. The U.S. Coast Guard said it was first notified of the incident at about 11:46 a.m. on March 8 – when Bane called to say his girlfriend may have fallen off the 47-foot catamaran. # USVI: Ryan Bane (44), the boyfriend of a British woman who is missing, told officers his girlfriend Sarm Heslop (41) may have fallen overboard from their catamaran after waking up around 2am on Monday and ‘ realized she was not on board ‘. pic.twitter.com/VNY6XCNRqf— CaribbeanNewsNetwork (@caribbeannewsuk) March 14, 2021 ‘Mr. Shortly afterwards, Bane reported that Mrs. Heslop was missing, seeking the services of a lawyer, ‘a police spokesman said in a statement. “On the advice of his lawyer, Mr Bane denied his constitutional right to remain silent and denied the officers’ requests to search the vessel.” Heslop’s friends and family are furious about Bane’s decision not to cooperate with the authorities. Andrew Baldwin, who has known Heslop for more than 25 years, said in a statement that the “timeline” of the disappearance of his best friend “does not make sense.” ‘We know they ate at a local restaurant and left at 10pm. What we do not know is what happened. in the meantime, ”the 41-year-old said in a statement, noting that it took Bane almost ten hours to call the Coast Guard that night. Baldwin added that Heslop’s “phone, passport and all the [her] belongings were left on the boat ”and insisted that“ she would not just disappear without leaving any trace. “She’s smart and sensible, it’s not like her at all, it just does not matter,” he said, adding that he found it highly suspicious that Bane’s lawyer was soliciting requests from local officials to search the boat. refused. ‘Since Sarm with mr. Lanes lived on the boat and he claims she went missing from the boat, it is natural that this is the first place where the police search. “We are struggling to understand why he, as we hear, would not allow this to happen, and we continue to demand a thorough investigation into Siren Song, as Sarm has been missing for almost two weeks,” Baldwin added. ” We ask for an urgent and immediate investigation into this incident because her friends here at home have been devastated and just need her disappearance to be given a critical priority, as there also seem to be many differences in the timeline from what we heard. But Bane’s lawyer, David Cattie, insisted that Bane’s timeline was not suspicious – and that he ‘after contacting on March 8, 911,’ traveled to meet members of the [Virgin Islands Police Department] To give a statement regarding Sarm. “Later that morning, at the request of Mr. Bane na mnr. Bane’s vessel (Siren Song) has arrived, ‘Cattie said in a statement to Fox News. ‘Several USCG officers went on board and interviewed Mr. Lanes lined up on the vessel. Mr. Bane transferred her personal belongings at the request of Sarm’s family [the Virgin Islands Police Department], including her cell phone, iPad, passport, etc. ” However, the lawyer did not want to comment on why his client was no longer talking to the police. Cattie did not immediately respond to a request from The Daily Beast for comment. For Cori Stevenson, her ex-husband’s decision not to cooperate is suspicious – but not all that surprising, given his alleged violent past. In an interview with CrimeOnline, Stevenson said Bane was allegedly abusive during their six-year relationship that ended in 2014. The alleged abuse caused at least one police report in 2011 and Bane was charged with simple assault against Stevenson. Stevenson told CrimeOnline that she had been communicating with Virgin Islands police about her ex-husband’s past. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Daily Animal Membership: Beast Inside delves deeper into the stories that matter to you. Learn more.