LONDON — The mother of a British woman who went missing three years ago when she vanished from a boat in St. John has appealed to President Joe Biden for help to find her.
Sarm Heslop was living and working on a catamaran belonging to her new boyfriend Ryan Bane after moving to the islands to start a new life with him.
The former air hostess, 41, from Southampton disappeared from the vessel overnight on March 8, 2021, and is still on the official missing list.
But her mother Brenda Street, who now lives in Essex, believes she was killed and has called for the president to intervene.
“There are places where people can be put in the ocean and never found,” Street told Sky News. “I believe that’s what happened. I’d like to just bring her home, I can grieve then. I haven’t grieved because I don’t have her, and I don’t know how to.”
“I emailed President Biden … but he didn’t reply. I’m asking for his assistance, for some department to help us.”
Heslop and Bane were spotted on a night out at a sports bar in Frank Bay, St John, before she went missing.
Her boyfriend reported her disappearance to the Virgin Islands police department at 2.30 a.m., saying he woke up only to find she had gone.
The police told him to report the incident to the Coast Guard, which he did not do until nine hours later. The coastguard report claimed he was “highly intoxicated” and refused a search of the cabin.
A forensic examination of the Siren Song was never carried out and Bane has not been interviewed by police.
The territory’s police department has also refused assistance offered by the FBI.
Street added: “They’ve not not done their job as police officers, not done their job as human beings.”
The family now have an investigator, a former Metropolitan Police (UK) commander of homicide and serious crime, who is helping them look into the case as they await updates from the force on the island.
Street, who has previously traveled to the island as part of the search for her daughter, told people: “There’s too many things that don’t make sense and don’t add up.
“When we went to the island, people wouldn’t speak to us about Sarm and on the posters asking for information someone had gone round and scrubbed out the number to call.”
She has called on Bane to provide the police with everything he knows about her daughter’s disappearance.
Under U.S. law, Bane – the last person known to have seen Miss Heslop and described as a “person of interest” by police – can stay silent and officers must show “probable cause” to get a search warrant.
His lawyer David Cattie said in a statement: “Mr. Bane is heartbroken over Sarm’s disappearance. We certainly understand and empathize with her mother’s pain and frustration.
“Bane called 911 immediately upon waking and finding Sarm was not on board. He took his dinghy to shore to meet with VIPD (Virgin Islands Police Department) that night and called the USCG (U.S. Coast Guard) the next day when no-one appeared at his boat. He also had the USCG on his vessel twice following Sarm’s disappearance.
“Later Bane and I personally took all of Sarm’s belongings to the police, including all of her electronic devices.”
By JOHN DUNNE/Sky News