Months after a British woman vanished while vacationing with a Michigan man on his luxury catamaran in the the U.S. Virgin Islands, police appear to be no closer to solving her disappearance.
Sarm Heslop, 41, was reported missing on March 8 about 10 hours after her boyfriend, 44-year-old Ryan Bane, noticed she was no longer aboard his 47-foot boat, which was moored in St. John. He told the U.S. Coast Guard that Heslop may have fallen overboard. Her belongings, cellphone and passport were left on the boat and the catamaran’s dinghy was still tied up, the Virgin Island Daily News reported.
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The Coast Guard launched a search but found no signs of Heslop, or any evidence that indicated she entered the water.
Shortly after reporting Heslop missing, Bane hired a lawyer, refused police requests for interviews and denied a forensic search of his boat, the New York Post reported. Authorities need a warrant to search the craft, but have not yet obtained one because the disappearance is not classified as a "criminal inquiry."
Adding another wrinkle to the mystery, police issued a statement in April saying investigators were unsure if Heslop ever returned aboard the catamaran after the couple dined at a restaurant in St. John on the evening of March 7, according to BBC News.
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Bane, a Lake Orion, Michigan native, has not been charged with any crime in connection with Heslop’s disappearance, though he's recently been described by police as a person of interest in statements to the media.
"He is the only person of interest,” police spokesperson Toby Derima told The Mirror. "We are not looking for anyone else."
Meanwhile, Heslop's parents feel like they are in a "living nightmare." In an interview with BBC Breakfast, the couple said they “still have hope" she will be found alive – and are urging Bane to cooperate with police.
"Any person would surely do anything they could to help find somebody that he was supposed to love," said mother Brenda Street. "What sort of human being wouldn't be there to help? He should just come forth and cooperate."
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In early July, police renewed an appeal to Bane, who has left the islands, to explain what happened the night Heslop disappeared. In response to police publicly asking Bane to contact investigators, his attorney issued a statement to Fox News, pushing back.
"I personally advised law enforcement of Mr. Bane’s movements while in the Territory and about his departure from the U.S. Virgin Islands," attorney David Cattie said. "I further advised law enforcement that if Mr. Bane’s presence is legally required in the Territory, he will return upon such a demand."
Cattie added that Bane "had nothing to do with Sarm's disappearance and remains heartbroken that she is missing." He said Bane answered all questions from the Coast Guard and allowed them "unfettered access to the vessel."
Police in the Virgin Islands are continuing their search for Heslop, a native of the UK and a former flight attendant. She was working as a chef when she met Bane, reportedly on Tinder. The FBI and UK police are assisting in the investigation.
Anyone with information on Heslop's whereabouts is urged to call: 911; the Criminal Investigation Bureau at (340) 774-2211; or Crime Stoppers USVI at (800) 222-TIPS.
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