Sarm cops: We’ve lost her lover
Islands police admit Bane and catamaran have disappeared
POLICE searching for Sarm Heslop admit they have lost track of her wealthy American lover – the “only person of interest” in the case.
US detectives say Ryan Bane has sailed away from the US Virgin Islands in his catamaran, which he says is where the ex-air hostess was last seen.
Bane, 44, claimed he last saw Sarm, 41, from Southampton, on his boat after a night out with her on March 8. But he refused to let police search it. Police spokesman Toby Derima told the Sunday Mirror: “We have been keeping track of Ryan Bane, but we don’t know where he is. We believe he has left US Virgin Islands territory and is at another Caribbean island.
“We still want to speak to him. I want to appeal to his conscience.
“He is the only one who knows what happened the night Sarm disappeared.”
Sarm and Bane, who is from Michigan, were last seen leaving a bar and restaurant on the island of St John at around 10pm on March 7, heading to his £500,000 catamaran Siren Song.
At 2.30am, Bane – who has a conviction for assaulting his ex-wife in 2011 – called 911 to report her missing.
But police have not found any evidence that she ever returned to the 47-foot catamaran moored in Frank Bay.
Bane was charged by the US Coast Guard with obstructing law enforcement agents who boarded his boat after Sarm’s disappearance.
HAMPERED
He is believed to have stood blocking a doorway and told officers they could not go inside. He has also rejected all police requests to speak to him.
The police investigation has also been hampered by CCTV being knocked out through a freak power outage in the venue where they were last seen.
Mr Derima said: “He is a person of interest to us and he is the only person of interest. We are not looking for anyone else. We have been considering different scenarios as to what may have happened to Sarm but for us to find out 100 % what happened, we need to speak to Mr Bane. The Police Commissioner has been in contact with the family, but I do not know how recently that was.
“We want more than anything to find out what happened to Sarm and to help her family.”
In May, friends of Sarm launched a £10,000 Gofundme appeal to put up a reward for information about her disappearance. It was also to help pay for Sarm’s parents’ travel to the islands. Peter Heslop and Brenda Street, of Hertfordshire, have said they still have “hope of finding her alive” and will “never give up” looking for her. Last month Sarm’s best friend Kate Owen, 41, said: “It just didn’t add up that she would disappear like that. “Sarm has such a lust for life. She’s open, funny, loving, adventurous and the best friend I could have wished for. It’s a natural reaction when grieving to want to blame someone and that’s the hardest part. “Should we be grieving when we don’t know where she is? “I only know I want to hear her laugh again. “All I can do is hope that we get answers. We all miss her so much.”
We’ve been keeping track of him but don’t know where he is. We want to speak to him TOBY DERIMA US VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE SPOKESMAN