Husband wants missing wife declared dead
She disappeared at sea. He’s in jail on unrelated charges. And he wants a Palm Beach County court to have her declared dead, even while the investigation continues.
Even though her body was never found Isabella Hellman’s husband is now asking the court to declare her dead.
She went missing at sea in May while the couple sailed on a belated honeymoon trip. A hearing before a Palm Beach County judge is scheduled for Oct. 19.
Hellmann’s husband, Lewis Bennett, 40, is currently in Broward jail on federal charges related to stolen gold and silver coins. He is not charged in connection with his wife’s disappearance, which the FBI is investigating.
According to Bennett’s account to authorities, Hellmann was last seen during an at sea excursion on May 14 about 26 miles west of the Bahamas. Their catamaran struck something while Bennett slept below deck. He emerged to find the 37-foot vessel capsizing and could not find Hellmann, he told investigators. Bennett’s petition for a presumptive death certificate filed in probate court Sept. 20 states Hellmann “is presumed to have died at sea, off a private vessel that she was traveling in” alongside Bennett.
Under Florida law, Hellmann would have to be missing for five years before she would be legally presumed dead. However, the law allows for a
court to make a ruling prior to the five-year mark if the person “was exposed to a specific peril of death,” the petition states.
Court documents show Hellmann’s assets include her West Delray condo and a 2006 Mercedes-Benz C230, totaling about $125,000 in value. The couple also have a 14-month-old daughter who is believed to be with Bennett’s family in England.
Unsuccessful attempts at locating Hellmann, 41, are outlined in court records. The four-day search effort spanned across 4,980 nautical miles and included U.S. Coast Guard crews and a Cuban search and rescue patrol craft. According to the documents, Bennett also searched hospitals in Cuba.
A day after authorities called off the search, Bennett requested the Coast Guard offer him a letter of his wife’s presumed death. But the agency said it wasn’t authorized to do so.
In June, one of Hellmann’s sisters, Adriana Difeo, asked the court to grant her legal control of her missing sister’s estate. Bennett opposed the move, court records show, and Difeo later dropped her petition.
Attorneys for Bennett and Difeo could not be reached for comment Friday.
Late last month, Bennett pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of transporting stolen coins, which were snatched from a sailing vessel in the Caribbean island of St. Maarten in 2016. Bennett was a crew member on that vessel, the “Kitty R.”
The coins were discovered in May when rescuers plucked Bennett from a life raft after he abandoned the sinking catamaran, “Surf Into Summer.” They noticed an unusually heavy backpack that he managed to save and place on the raft.
Marc Freeman contributed to this report.