A British woman who was last seen aboard her boyfriend’s yacht in the U.S. Virgin Islands is still missing almost two weeks later – and now the police say her boyfriend won’t let them search the boat.
Ryan Bane, owner of the 47-foot luxury catamaran, reported the disappearance of his girlfriend Sarm Heslop, 41, on March 8, but immediately defended him, the Virgin Islands Police told the UK Telegram Friday night. market.
The boat remained moored – and out of reach of the police – off the coast of St. John while a massive search of the waters continues.
“Shortly after reporting Ms. Heslop’s disappearance, Mr. Bane hired the services of a lawyer,” the police told Telegram in a statement.
“Following the advice of his lawyer, Mr. Bane exercised his constitutional right to remain silent and denied the officers’ requests to search the ship.”
The authorities would need a warrant to search the boat. But they can’t get one because Heslop’s disappearance was not considered a criminal case.
“We thought we could just ask Mr Bane to search the boat and he would say yes,” police spokesman Toby Derima told the UK newspaper.
“But he didn’t do that.”
The couple went to dinner on land and returned to the yacht at 10 pm on Sunday, March 7, officials said.
Ryan called the local police at 2:30 am the next morning, saying he had just woken up and realized that Heslop was no longer on board, although his passport, purse and phone remained behind.
The officers told Ryan to call the US Coast Guard immediately. But Ryan reportedly waited until almost noon the next day to report Heslop’s disappearance at the United States Coast Guard’s San Juan station.
The family of the woman who disappeared on Friday asked the British authorities to intervene and help.
“We would like to make sure that the authorities in the Virgin Islands are doing everything possible to find her and that the investigation into the disappearance of our beautiful and beloved daughter includes a comprehensive fingertip search of the boat,” said family members. in a statement.
“We will never give up looking for Sarm and we still hope to find her safe.”