The mother of Sarm Heslop, who vanished from a yacht in the US Virgin Islands three years ago, says she believed her daughter was murdered.
Sarm Heslop, an air hostess from Southampton, was last seen as she left a bar on St John, the smallest of the Caribbean Sea islands, on March 7, 2021.
The then 41-year-old was spotted with US citizen and boyfriend Ryan Bane who reported her missing from his catamaran, the Siren Song, at 2.30am local time the following day.
Nearly three years since, mum Brenda Street is still searching for answers.
Brenda, 67, told The Sunday People: ‘I don’t believe Sarm just went missing. I believe she was murdered. I want justice for her.
‘I want to bring her home so I know where she is – she deserves that.’
For Street, of Ongar, Essex, the investigation into Heslop’s disappearance has been hindered by police inaction.
Among them, police officials didn’t record Bane’s 911 call and a forensic search of the boat was never conducted.
The family have hired a private detective, a former homicide commander for London’s Metropolitan Police, to search for their daughter.
‘There’s too many things that don’t make sense and don’t add up,’ Street said.
A Facebook group set up to help in the search called on the Virgin Islands Police Department today to ‘reclassify Sarm’s case from missing person to murder and get on with a proper investigation so we can finally have #JusticeForSarm’.
Bane, a Michigan native who worked as a chef in the luxury yacht business, left a restaurant at 10pm with Heslop and returned to the yacht moored at Cruz Bay.
But it’s the gap between 2.30am – when Bane reported her missing to island police – and 11.45am when he rang the coastguard that has long been the focus of investigators and Heslop’s family alike.
Friends have described Heslop as a keen swimmer in response to theories she may have gone out for a swim during these hours or fallen overboard.
Bane, who met Heslop on Tinder, has never been charged with wrongdoing and is considered a ‘person of interest’.
His lawyer David Cattie said in a statement to People: ‘Mr Bane is heartbroken over Sarm’s disappearance. We certainly understand and empathise with her mother’s pain and frustration.
‘Mr Bane called 911 immediately upon waking and finding Sarm was not on board. He took his dinghy to shore to meet with VIPD (Virgin Islands Police Department) that night and called the USCG (US Coast Guard) the next day when no-one appeared at his boat. He also had the USCG on his vessel twice following Sarm’s disappearance.
‘Later Mr Bane and I personally took all of Sarm’s belongings to the police, including all of her electronic devices.’
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