Missing yacht woman’s family makes birthday appeal
THE family of a British woman missing in the Caribbean have issued a moving birthday appeal urging police to do more to solve the mystery of her disappearance.
On the eve of Sarm Heslop’s 42nd birthday today her parents have told of the agony of facing this time of year without her.
The 41-year-old former flight attendant from Southampton went missing from her boyfriend’s yacht while it was anchored off St John, in the US Virgin Islands, in the early hours of March 8.
But US Virgin Islands police took no steps to search Ryan Bane’s yacht, the Siren Song, for clues in the days and weeks following her disappearance.
Mr Bane put the Siren Song up for sale for $229,000 (£172,000) in October, having removed its name from the vessel’s exterior, after leaving the islands and sailing to Grenada before travelling on to Barbados last month.
Now Ms Heslop’s mother and father, Brenda Street and Peter Heslop, have called for US Virgin Islands police to step up their investigation after nine months of apparent lack of progress.
They have also urged the British Government to maintain pressure on the US Virgin Island authorities not to simply shelve the investigation.
Mr Heslop and Ms Street, who have released a series of touching photographs of their daughter celebrating her fourth, 18th and 40th birthdays in the hope of prompting potential new witnesses to come forward, said: “This is the first time in 42 years that we are unable to look forward to Sarm’s birthday. How can we celebrate whilst she is still missing? Nothing makes sense anymore.”
Ms Heslop’s family and friends are angry that no warrant has been granted by US authorities for a full forensic search of Siren Song, which they point out is a potential crime scene as the last place she was seen.
Mr Bane, who was the last person to see Ms Heslop, was allowed to leave the US Virgin Islands and has yet to come forward to offer police any assistance in their investigation .
A spokesman for the US Virgin Islands Police Department said: “We have been made aware that the vessel is up for sale, however the situation remains the same. Until the sale is final, the vessel still belongs to Mr Bane, and we would still need his permission to search, absent a warrant. We would also require the permission of the new owner when the sale is complete.”
Mr Bane’s lawyers said that he was “devastated” by the disappearance of his girlfriend.