Sarm Heslop’s parents ‘dream’ of hugging their missing ‘darling daughter’ as cops push to search boyfriend’s boat
THE parents of a British woman who vanished on board her boyfriend’s yacht say they “dream” of hugging their “darling daughter” again. Sarm Heslop, 41, from Southampton, was last seen on Ryan Bane’s catamaran last month when it was moored off St John in the US Virgin Islands. Local police say they may demand a […]
THE parents of a British woman who vanished on board her boyfriend’s yacht say they “dream” of hugging their “darling daughter” again.
Sarm Heslop, 41, from Southampton, was last seen on Ryan Bane’s catamaran last month when it was moored off St John in the US Virgin Islands.
Local police say they may demand a judge issue a search warrant for the boat as “Mr Bane hasn’t co-operated yet.”
The former air steward’s distraught mum and dad, Brenda and Peter, from Hertfordshire, say they can’t fly out to the Caribbean due to Covid restrictions.
They told the Mirror: “If we could travel we would. We want to be helping with the search and we dream of being able to wrap our arms round our darling daughter.
“It is now over three weeks since Sarm went missing. We know that the Virgin Islands Police Department is doing as much as possible.”
Sarm, who previously worked for defunct airline Flybe, quit the UK more than a year ago and met Bane, 44, on Tinder last July.
Speaking about Mr Bane, police spokesman Toby Derima told the Sunday People: “He’s still refusing us boarding the boat and we are still working to see what angles we can use.”
He added: “We could get a search warrant so he won’t be able to say no, but would need to have probable cause.”
Asked what would be needed to show probable cause, he said: “That I won’t get into – if we give that out people could take steps to make sure we don’t get it.”
Cops have spoken to Sarm’s loved ones in the UK as well as in the US Virgin Islands.
American Bane, 44, reportedly sailed off on his £500,000 yacht Siren Song on March 25 after spending weeks anchored at St John.
Bane — a convicted wife-beater — did not speak when The Sun invited him to comment further on Sarm’s disappearance.
Cops stress he is not a suspect in Sarm’s disappearance, but island police and the FBI still want to speak to him in detail about her.
According to Bane, on the night in question the couple had dined in a local restaurant until 10pm, before taking their dinghy back to his yacht.
Bane has said they watched a film and went to sleep, before he was woken at 2am by his boat’s anchor alarm and found that Sarm was missing.
A huge search involving divers and a helicopter, which lasted into the evening, found no trace of her.
Sea conditions were described as “perfect” and the Brit is known to be a strong swimmer.
Police said Bane called them at 2.30am on the night Sarm went missing and they told him to ring the US Coast Guard.
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But apparently that call was not made until 11.46am the next morning.
Mr Bane’s lawyer previously released a statement to US media, saying: “Mr Bane’s only hope is that Sarm is found alive and well. His thoughts and prayers are with Sarm and her family during this difficult time.
“Mr Bane has spent countless hours searching for Sarm and will continue to do so. Ryan is devastated that Sarm is missing.”