Boyfriend of missing yacht Briton takes it easy as FBI move in
POLICE searching for a British woman who vanished from a yacht in the Caribbean called in the FBI yesterday as her boyfriend was seen for the first time since her disappearance.
Enjoying a drink on the deck of his luxury catamaran, Ryan Bane broke cover to take a dinghy ashore to shop for supplies including a sixpack of beer before returning to his boat in the late afternoon.
He has stopped cooperating with police in the US Virgin Islands who are hunting for Sarm Heslop, 41, after she went missing without a trace more than two weeks ago. Mr Bane, who is neither a suspect nor a ‘person of interest’ in the case, has refused a police request and family plea, to have the 47ft yacht searched on the advice of his lawyer.
Local officers are keeping an open mind on what has happened to the former Flybe stewardess from Southampton, including a theory she may have made it to the island of St Thomas six miles away.
But they have asked for the help of specialist FBI investigators as they try to provide answers for Miss Heslop’s friends and family.
An FBI spokesman said the agency was ‘supporting local law enforcement in their investigative efforts’.
Miss Heslop’s friend Vicki MogridgePercy said she was delighted ‘ the bureau’ were involved. ‘We’re hearing more from the press than from the police,’ she added.
‘Nothing makes sense – there’s more questions than answers. She wouldn’t
‘More questions than answers’
have gone for a drunken swim and, if there had been some sort of accident, she should have washed up in the bay. It’s great the FBI are now involved. They need to search that boat.’
US Virgin Islands police spokesman Toby Derima said: ‘We are working with our federal partners, including the FBI. I cannot comment on the search of the vessel, that information is part of the active investigation.
‘Mr Bane retained counsel, and upon his attorney’s advice, he exercised his 4th and 5th Amendment rights as a US citizen. Exercising those rights does not mean that you are guilty.’
Mr Bane was pictured for the first time as he enjoyed the tropical sun on board the Siren Song off the coast of St John.
As the sun went down, he sat barechested on deck, speaking on the phone and sipping a drink with just his pet labrador Hunter for company.
He has told the police that Miss Heslop had gone missing while he slept at 2.30am on March 7. He was told to alert the US coastguard to a woman overboard but waited nine hours before making the call.
Officers are unable to get a warrant to search the boat, because Miss Heslop’s disappearance is a missing persons, not a criminal, inquiry. She left her purse, passport and phone on the boat anchored 120ft out in Frank Bay, off St John, in shallow water.
A close friend said Mr Bane was not in hiding but was refusing to speak to the island’s police because he does not trust them. ‘I think he’s scared, I think he’s totally spun out,’ they added. ‘He is definitely bereaved. He’d finally found a girl he was in love with.
‘I think his concern is that the Virgin Islands police department is not real well known for conducting any sort of investigation with clarity. He’s concerned something could be spun the wrong way, or that they’re going to be looking for something to implicate him.’
Miss Heslop met Mr Bane in nearby Grenada last year and joined him on his vessel, which tourists charter for £1,500 a day.
The Mail revealed this week he has a history of domestic violence, having been jailed a decade ago over an attack on his then-wife at their home in Michigan.
Mr Bane’s attorney David Cattie said US coast guard officers had been aboard the yacht and interviewed Mr Bane. He added: ‘Mr Bane, at the request of Sarm’s family, then turned over her personal belongings to VIPD.
‘Ryan’s thoughts are with Sarm and her family at this time, and he is praying for her safe return.’