The best friend of a British woman who was last seen on her boyfriend’s luxury catamaran in the US Virgin Islands two weeks ago says the timing of her disappearance “makes no sense”.
Sarm Heslop, 41, of Southampton, was last seen on the night of March 7 aboard the 47-meter Siren Song, which was anchored in Frank Bay, St. Petersburg. John, officials said.
Her boyfriend Ryan Bane, 44, woke up at 2 a.m. the next day, when he was awakened by the anchor alarm of his charter ship, which was about 100 feet offshore.
He reportedly alerted the US Coast Guard about 10 hours after noticing that the former flight attendant was disappearing.
Bane, an American citizen, was allegedly a lawyer and refuses to allow the authorities to investigate his boat.
“This timeline just doesn’t make sense to us,” Andrew Baldwin, 41, a friend of the 25-year-old woman, told Mirror.
“We know that Mr. Bane called the local police at 2:30 and was told to call the Coast Guard,” he said. “The Coast Guard was reported to have been alerted to her disappearance by Mr Bane at 11:46 a.m. Monday.
“We know they had dinner at a local restaurant and left at 10pm. What we don’t know is what happened in those intervening hours,” Baldwin added.
A passenger dog on the island reportedly heard a scream as Heslop disappeared, The Sun reported.
Friends said she did not point to Bane, whom Heslop had met on Tinder, but just wanted her found.
“It simply wouldn’t go away without a trace. She’s skilled and sensitive, she’s not like her at all, she just doesn’t add up, “Baldwin told Mirror.
Local police said Bane was not talking to them.
“Shortly after reporting Ms. Heslop’s disappearance, Mr. Bane hired the services of a lawyer,” the Virgin Islands Police Department said in a statement.
“On the advice of his lawyer, Mr Bane exercised his constitutional right to remain silent and rejected the requests of the officers to search the ship.
“VIPD continues its efforts to locate Ms. Heslop, conducting several daily searches, talking to potential witnesses and combing hours of video surveillance,” she added.
Bane’s lawyer, David Cattie, said his client immediately called 911 when he realized his girlfriend was missing.
“Later that morning, the U.S. Coast Guard came to Mr. Bane’s ship (Siren Song) at Mr. Bane’s request,” Cattie told Fox News. “Several USCG officers boarded the ship and interviewed Mr. Bane on the ship.
“Mr. Bane, at the request of Sarm’s family, then handed over his personal belongings [Virgin Islands Police Department], including her mobile phone, iPad, passport, etc. ”
Heslop’s family said she was “shocked and disturbed” by her disappearance, adding: “We will never give up looking for Sarm and we still hope to find her safe.”