Disappearance of Sarm Heslop

Last updated

Sarm Heslop
Born (1979-12-19) 19 December 1979 (age 44)
Disappeared8 March 2021 (aged 41)
Saint John, US Virgin Islands
Status Missing for 3 years, 4 months and 19 days
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm) [1]
Website Find Sarm Heslop

Sarm Joan Lillian Heslop [2] (born 19 December 1979), [3] is a British woman who went missing from a catamaran, moored in a bay off the western coast of Saint John, one of the United States Virgin Islands, in March 2021. She was last seen by a third party at a restaurant on 7 March, and was believed to have taken a dinghy with her boyfriend back to the yacht she was staying on. He reported that she was missing sometime after 02:30 local time (UTC−04:00), on the following day (8 March 2021). Since that time, there have been multiple searches, but no indication of what happened, or why she went missing.

Contents

Disappearance

Heslop, originally from Southampton, and 41 at the time of her disappearance, was staying on the 47-foot (14 m) long catamaran, the Siren Song, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. [4] [5] Heslop was working with her boyfriend, Ryan Bane, a native of Michigan, on the catamaran as a chef in the luxury yacht business; they were available for private charters. [6] Previous to this, she had been a flight attendant for FlyBe, meeting her boyfriend sometime in 2020 on the dating app Tinder. [1] [2] Heslop and her boyfriend went to the island of Saint John for dinner on 7 March 2021. The couple aboard the boat Siren Song was observed earlier in the day by another couple on an adjacent boat, and they stated that all seemed to be calm. [7] They should have left the restaurant by 22:00 and returned to the Siren Song, as the island was under a COVID-19 curfew at that time. [8] The catamaran was moored in Cruz Bay, some 200 feet (61 m) distant from the shore, which would have meant the two taking a dinghy between the shore and the catamaran. [9] The last person to see Heslop before her disappearance was her boyfriend, who stated that she was asleep by 22:00 (on the 7 March), and gone by 02:30 (on 8 March 2021). [1] [note 1] [9] He took the dinghy out to the island to report her absence to the police, who advised him to call the coastguard, however, it was not until 11:45 that he called the coastguard, a gap of nine hours. [2] [10] The nine-hour wait between the initial police contact, and when Ryan Bane called the coastguard, has been questioned by Heslop's family and a fellow skipper of a boat moored nearby. [11] Heslop's father said "It just drives me nuts. What happened between 02:00 and 11:45 in the morning? He didn't shout and holler - he didn't ask for nobody, he just made a phone call to the police. There's just no answers." [12]

Despite the police being invited onto the boat, it was reported that the boat has never been searched, or its owner questioned about Heslop's disappearance. [13] The refusal to allow authorities to search the boat was on the advice of the boyfriend's attorney; however, local police did issue citations to Bane on account of not being allowed to search the boat, for not having registration documentation, and for safety equipment violations. The citations are all civil matters and do not contribute to a criminal charges. [14] [7] Heslop's phone, wallet and passport, which were left behind on the catamaran, were all passed to police. [15] Police on Saint John searched the coastline with drones, divers and sniffer dogs, but no evidence was found of Heslop. [16] Nine days after she went missing, a local dog walker on the island of Saint John came forward to say that they heard a scream out at sea (in the rough direction of where the catamaran was anchored) around the time that Heslop was stated to have gone missing. [1] Two weeks after her disappearance, the FBI were called in to assist with the investigation. [4] A family friend said that Heslop was "level-headed [and a] strong swimmer," adding that she couldn't understand why Heslop would "...get out of bed to go for a swim between the hours of 10:30 and one o'clock in the morning. I know she wouldn't." [9] Another friend said much the same about Heslop;

"She is one of the most organised people I know. This is someone who sailed across the Atlantic without incident, only to disappear 100-foot (30 m)[sic] [note 2] from shore. The pieces in the puzzle don't add up. [2]

The family of Heslop claimed in November 2022, that the Virgin Islands Police Department showed them CCTV footage of Bane and Heslop leaving the restaurant/bar complex. However the police stopped the video before the footage ended, refusing to show them the rest, and also refusing to release the tape in case it was prejudicial to a future court case. [17] Part of the complaint about this by Heslop's family was that in the footage she was not in what she had been described as wearing according to the last witness statement. It was stated that she was in a black dress with flowers upon it, however in the CCTV imagery, she was observed wearing a top with either shorts or a skirt. The black dress was also not among items returned to the family after her disappearance. [18]

In November 2021, the boat Siren Song was put up for sale at £167,800 ($229,000), with its name removed. Family and friends of Heslop were alerted to its sale by locals in Grenada where it was moored. They called for a full forensic search of the vessel, something which they claim has never been done. [19]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The anchor alarm had gone off around this time, wakening Heslop's boyfriend. It was around this time he stated that he found she was not on the boat. [1]
  2. ↑ Distances and timings vary between sources. Some state the Siren Song was moored 200-foot (61 m) from the shore, others state 50 yards (46 m), or 100-foot (30 m). Timings have been varied too, some state that Heslop's boyfriend woke "just after 02:00 (on the 8 March), others state 02:30. [12] [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghost ship</span> Ship with no living people onboard

A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship, is a vessel with no living crew aboard; it may be a fictional ghostly vessel, such as the Flying Dutchman, or a physical derelict found adrift with its crew missing or dead, like the Mary Celeste. The term is sometimes used for ships that have been decommissioned but not yet scrapped, as well as drifting boats that have been found after breaking loose of their ropes and being carried away by the wind or the waves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh</span> 1986 disappearance of woman in London

Susannah Jane Lamplugh was a British estate agent reported missing on 28 July 1986 in Fulham, London, England, United Kingdom. She was officially declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1993. The last clue to Lamplugh's whereabouts was an appointment to show a house in Shorrolds Road to someone she called Mr. Kipper. The case remains unsolved with Lamplugh still missing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley</span> Unsolved 1997 disappearance of 23-year-old American woman

Amy Lynn Bradley is an American woman who went missing during a Caribbean cruise on the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas in late March 1998 while en route to Curaçao. Her whereabouts remain unknown to this day. She was a 23-year-old Longwood University graduate at the time of her disappearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Jennifer Kesse</span> Florida disappearance case

Jennifer Joyce Kesse is an American woman from Orlando, Florida, who has been missing since January 23, 2006. Shortly after she vanished, Kesse's car was discovered parked around a mile from her home. Security footage recorded her kidnapper parking Kesse's car and walking away, but he could not be identified due to poor camera quality and the absence of any visible distinguishing physical features. The case received local and national press attention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Maura Murray</span> 2004 disappearance of American woman

Maura Murray is an American woman who disappeared on the evening of February 9, 2004, after a car crash on Route 112 near Woodsville, New Hampshire, a village in the town of Haverhill. Her whereabouts remain unknown. Murray was a 21-year-old nursing student completing her junior year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst at the time of her disappearance.

Kaz II, dubbed "the ghost yacht", is a 9.8-metre catamaran which was found drifting 88 nautical miles off the north-eastern coast of Australia on 20 April 2007. The fate of its three-man crew remains unknown, and the mysterious circumstances in which they disappeared have been compared to that of Mary Celeste in 1872.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Madeleine McCann</span> Unsolved 2007 missing-person case

Madeleine Beth McCann is a British missing person who, at the age of 3, disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007. The Daily Telegraph described her disappearance as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history". Madeleine's whereabouts remain unknown, although German prosecutors believe she is dead.

On 19 February 2008, nine-year-old Shannon Louise Matthews was reported missing in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. The search for her became a major missing person police operation which was compared to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Shannon was found alive and well on 14 March 2008 at a Batley Carr house belonging to 39-year-old Michael Donovan. Donovan was the uncle of Craig Meehan, the boyfriend of the kidnapped girl's mother, Karen Matthews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Melanie Hall</span> British hospital clerk who disappeared in 1996 at Bath, Somerset, later found murdered

Melanie Hall was a British hospital clerical officer from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, who disappeared following a night out at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath. She was declared dead in absentia in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Tobin</span> Scottish serial killer (1946–2022)

Peter Britton Tobin was a Scottish convicted serial killer and sex offender who served a whole life order at HM Prison Edinburgh for three murders committed between 1991 and 2006. Police also investigated Tobin over the deaths and disappearances of other young women and girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilgo Beach serial killings</span> American serial killer case

The Gilgo Beach serial killings were a series of murders spanning from the early 1990s until 2011. Many of the victims' remains were found over a period of months in 2010 and 2011 during a police search of the area along Ocean Parkway, near the remote beach towns of Gilgo and Oak Beach in Suffolk County, New York. The search was prompted by the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, who, like many of the known victims, was a sex worker who advertised on Craigslist. The perpetrator in the case is known as the Long Island Serial Killer, the Manorville Butcher, or the Craigslist Ripper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Sian O'Callaghan</span> 2011 murder in the United Kingdom

Sian Emma O'Callaghan was a 22-year-old British woman who disappeared from Swindon, Wiltshire, England, having last been seen at a nightclub in the town in the early hours of 19 March 2011. Her body was found on 24 March near Uffington in Oxfordshire. On 19 October 2012, at Bristol Crown Court, 48-year-old Christopher Halliwell pleaded guilty to O'Callaghan's murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Damien Nettles</span> Unsolved 1996 British missing person case

Damien Nettles disappeared from Cowes on the Isle of Wight on 2 November 1996 at the age of 16 during a night out with a friend. Nothing has been seen of him since. The investigation into his disappearance has been ongoing ever since, with five men arrested in 2011, although no charges have been brought.

The disappearance of Trevaline Evans is a missing persons case from 1990, concerning a 52-year-old woman who vanished without trace from her antiques shop in Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikki Henderson</span> British professional yachtswoman (born 1993)

Nicola Henderson is a British professional yachtswoman. In 2018, she became the youngest ever skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race at the age of 25.

Crystal Maria Rogers disappeared from her home in Bardstown, Kentucky, United States, on July 3, 2015. Her boyfriend at the time said she disappeared from their home overnight; her car was found on a nearby highway two days later. Rogers' family believes the boyfriend was involved in foul play; he was considered a suspect after he broke off an interview. Her family also believes the case is connected to the unsolved 2016 shooting death of Rogers' father while hunting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Georgina Gharsallah</span> Unsolved 2018 disappearance of 30 year-old British woman from Sussex

Georgina Gharsallah is an English woman who went missing after leaving her mother's house in Worthing, West Sussex, on 7 March 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Esther Dingley</span> Disappearance and death of a British hiker in the Pyrenees

Esther Dingley was a British woman who disappeared in November 2020 while hiking in the Pyrenees. On 23 July 2021, part of Dingley's skull was found near a track by mountain runners. On 9 August of that same year, her partner Daniel Colegate found her other remains.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sawer, Patrick; Carpani, Jessica; Sabur, Rozine (18 March 2021). "Scream heard on night British woman went missing from yacht". The Daily Telegraph. No. 51, 580. p. 17. ISSN   0307-1235.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Lambert, Victoria (25 July 2021). "We never discuss the idea that she is not alive". The Sunday Telegraph. No. 3, 136. p. 21. ISSN   0307-269X.
  3. ↑ Sawer, Patrick (19 December 2021). "Missing yacht woman's family makes birthday appeal". The Sunday Telegraph. No. 3, 157. p. 2. ISSN   0307-269X.
  4. 1 2 Sawer, Patrick; Carpani, Jessica; Sabur, Rozine (25 March 2021). "FBI called in to investigate moments before Briton vanished from yacht". The Daily Telegraph. No. 51, 586. p. 17. ISSN   0307-1235.
  5. ↑ "Parents of missing woman arrive in Caribbean". BBC News. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  6. ↑ Miami, Jacqui Goddard (4 April 2021). "Sarm Heslop's family tell of agony four weeks after she disappeared in US Virgin Islands" . The Times. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Miami, Jacqui Goddard (27 March 2021). "Boyfriend charged with blocking hunt for missing Briton Sarm Heslop" . The Times. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  8. ↑ "Sarm Heslop: Body found on island is not missing woman". BBC News. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 Sawer, Patrick; Carpani, Jessica (13 March 2021). "British woman disappears overnight from boyfriend's yacht in Caribbean". The Daily Telegraph. No. 51, 576. p. 16. ISSN   0307-1235.
  10. ↑ "Sarm Heslop: Plea to boyfriend to help in missing woman search". BBC News. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  11. ↑ Miami, Jacqui Goddard (31 March 2021). "Yachtsman partner of missing Briton Sarm Heslop 'was too calm'" . The Times. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  12. 1 2 Almroth-Wright, Indy; Satchell, Graham (23 July 2021). "Sarm Heslop: Missing woman's parents still have hope". BBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  13. ↑ "Missing Sarm Heslop: Parents head to Caribbean for answers". BBC News. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  14. ↑ Sawer, Patrick; Carpani, Jessica; Sabur, Rozine (21 March 2021). "Missing Briton's partner bars boat search". The Sunday Telegraph. No. 3, 118. p. 2. ISSN   0307-269X.
  15. ↑ Weaver, Matthew (19 March 2021). "Family plead for police to search yacht after British woman disappears in Virgin Islands". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "Sarm Heslop: Search continues six weeks after woman vanished". BBC News. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  17. ↑ Sawer, Patrick (6 November 2022). "Missing woman's parents say police withheld vital footage". The Sunday Telegraph. No. 3, 203. p. 12. ISSN   0307-269X.
  18. ↑ "Sarm Heslop: Caribbean island police criticised over CCTV". BBC News. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  19. ↑ "Sarm Heslop: Friends call for search of Caribbean yacht before sale". BBC News. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.