CRUZ BAY — Police are continuing to investigate the disappearance of Sarm Heslop after she went missing on St. John in March.
The 41-year-old British woman was living with her Michigan boyfriend Ryan Bane at the time she vanished.
Heslop was last seen having drinks at 420 To Center with Bane on March 7, hours before he claims he woke up on the luxury yacht they were sharing at 2 a.m. to find she was gone.
Police officers have since questioned Bane, with reports suggesting he was urged to cooperate fully with the investigation after he refused to allow U.S. Coast Guard officials to search his boat.
“We would like the boyfriend to cooperate with the police,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said. “We would like to ask him a few questions. We need his cooperation and for him to come forward so we can speak to him.”
It comes after a woman’s badly decomposed body was found on St Croix, which police confirmed was not that of Heslop.
Derima said the body was “not Caucasian, ruling out the remains are of Ms. Heslop.”
Bane reported his partner missing at around 2.30am on 8 March, but did not inform the coastguard until midday.
Coast Guard officials said that when they visited his boat that afternoon, during a search and rescue operation, they found him drunk and uncooperative. He refused to answer questions and physically prevented them from searching his boat.
The VIPD has been joined by FBI agents from the U.S. mainland to figure out what happened to Heslop. She had been living aboard Siren Song, a catamaran, with Bane, acting as a chef and hostess on charter cruises for private clients.
Detectives have said it is not certain Heslop ever made it back to the boat after she was last seen eating dinner. CCTV footage from a number of locations has been examined, but so far there has been no sign of her.
Bank cards and a cell phone belonging to Heslop were still on board the Siren Song when she vanished.
Bane has said he is “desperate” for her to be found while his attorney, David Cattie, said
“Ryan’s only hope is that Sarm is found alive and well.” he said. “Mr. Bane has spent countless hours searching for Sarm and will continue to do so. Ryan is devastated that Sarm is missing.”
Friends of Heslop have offered a reward of up to $14,200 for information and set up a Missing Sarm Heslop Facebook page to share information about her disappearance.
They posted last week: “It’s been 11 weeks since Sarm Heslop went. We are still pushing for news, asking questions and trying to keep Sarm in people’s hearts and minds and it’s intensely frustrating we don’t have any information to share.”