CRUZ BAY — Divers are searching for a British woman missing in St. John after her boyfriend said she might have fallen overboard from their catamaran.
The U.S. Coast Guard told local media it was alerted to Sarm Joan Lillian Heslop’s disappearance at 11:46 a.m. on Monday when her boyfriend said she was nowhere to be found on board the 47-foot luxury yacht the Siren Song.
The boyfriend said he had gone to sleep at around 10 p.m., and “at 2 a.m. he woke up and realized that she was not on board.”
Police searching for the missing 41-year-old from Southampton have been scouring land and water off of Frank Bay in St. John, where the yacht was moored.
“Her friends here at home are devastated and just need her disappearance to be made a critical priority,” a friend in the UK said.
The friend said they were told that Heslop’s phone, passport and belongings had all been left behind on the yacht.
“She would not just disappear, leaving no trace,” they said.
“We would like to thank all the local community for their support in searching for Sarm both on water and land,” another friend added. “They have been so amazing but we urge them not to give up until she is found or we have more information.”
Heslop is described as a slim 41-year-old woman with a southern English accent and a tattoo on her left shoulder.
She was last seen on board on Sunday before her boyfriend called the Coast Guard’s San Juan station reporting that “his girlfriend may have fallen” from the yacht.
The Leopard 4700 model catamaran was moored off the coast of St John, which has a population of 4,170 residents.
“Heslop was last seen on March 7 aboard the vessel Siren Song, that was moored off the coast of St. John,” Virgin Islands police spokesman Toby Derima said.
Divers from various law enforcement agencies have searched hundreds of square feet of water for Heslop.
Volunteers from the Virgin Islands have also scoured the area around Frank Bay during daylight hours, police said.
“Unfortunately, this effort proved unsuccessful,” said Derima, adding that the search continues today.
An island source in St. John, where the boat was last seen, said they are very worried about her current state.
“An Englishwoman has gone missing on our island and we are appealing for help in trying to locate her,” they said. “Every day that goes by and we don’t have any news about her is a major concern for us. We need to locate her as soon as possible.”