FBI investigates Briton over missing wife
A BRITISH man being investigated by the FBI over the disappearance of his wife was arguing with her before she vanished, her friends have claimed.
Friends of Isabella Hellman, 41, said that her marriage to Lewis Bennett had been strained since the birth of their daughter, Emelia, 10 months ago.
Ms Hellman, a Colombian property broker based in Delray Beach, Florida, disappeared on the night of May 14.
She was sailing with her 38-year-old husband, whom she married in February. Their daughter was left with Ms Hellman’s relations. Mr Bennett, thought to be a yacht captain, said that while he was asleep their catamaran hit an object in the Florida Straits, 30 miles west of Cay Sal in the Bahamas.
The coastguard was called after the catamaran capsized. Ms Hellman has not been seen since.
The couple had lived in Florida for about a year, buying an apartment in January, according to the Palm Beach Post. Social media shows the pair to have known each other since at least 2014, visiting Japan and the UK.
Ms Hellman’s friend Lesmar Muller claimed that “everything changed” when Emelia arrived and that Mr Bennett wanted them to move abroad.
The FBI has refused to say if Mr Bennett is a person of interest or a suspect.
Speaking to Florida TV station WPTV, Miss Muller said that Mr Bennett, a Dorset mining engineer who owns a solar power company, wanted Ms Hellman to move to Australia, as he has dual Uk-australian citizenship.
“They were arguing a lot, and she told me he asked her that she had to move there because it would be a better future for the baby girl Emelia,” said Miss Muller.
“And she told me she wasn’t planning on going anywhere. Her family lives here and she didn’t like Australia.
“She did tell me that everything changed after the baby was here. They argued a lot about basically everything that had to do with the baby girl.”
Miss Muller said that she resents Mr Bennett because he has now left the US – and taken Emelia with him.
Mr Bennett denied that he had done anything wrong and said that he had not formally been accused of anything. “Nobody has put that allegation directly against me. But I understand why they have to investigate and that is fair enough. I have got nothing to hide.”