The mother of a British flight attendant who went missing three years ago in the US Virgin Islands has pleaded with US President Joe Biden to help find her daughter while blasting local police for ‘not doing their work as human beings.”
Sarm Heslop, 41, from Southampton, was living in the idyllic US Virgin Islands – a group of tropical Caribbean islands – with her new boyfriend Ryan Bane, who she matched with on Tinder in 2020.
The couple lived and worked on Banes’ £500,000 yacht named Siren Song, but in the middle of the night on March 8, 2021, Heslop disappeared without a trace and is still officially missing.
Her mother, Brenda Street, now believes she was killed and has pleaded with President Biden to help finally find her.
Speaking from her home in Essex, the devastated mother revealed she had emailed the head of state asking for his help.
Sarm Heslop, 41, on board the Siren Song. Her boyfriend Ryan Bane didn’t call the Coast Guard to search for her until she had been missing from her catamaran for more than nine hours.
Heslop’s mother, Brenda Street, has written to US President Joe Biden asking for help in finding her daughter who has been missing for three years.
Ryan Bane reported his girlfriend missing to the Virgin Islands Police Department at 2:30 a.m. the next morning and claimed he woke up to find her gone.
Street told Sky News: “I emailed President Biden but he didn’t respond. I ask for his help, for one of his services to help us.
Heslop and Bane, from Michigan, were at a sports bar in Frank Bat, St John, the night before she disappeared.
Bane reported his girlfriend missing to the Virgin Islands Police Department at 2:30 a.m. the next morning and claimed he woke up to find her gone.
He was advised to contact the coastguard immediately, but did not do so until nine hours later.
When authorities finally boarded the catamaran, a Coast Guard report claimed Bane was “heavily intoxicated” and prevented a search of the cabin.
No suspects were being sought in connection with her disappearance and there appeared to be no explanation for how the strong swimmer disappeared.
Police on the island never questioned Bane or forensically tested the boat, and Bane refused help offered by the FBI, forcing Heslop’s mother to desperately seek help from Biden.
“They did not do their job as police officers, nor their job as human beings,” she said, calling on American authorities to take over from the Virgin Islands police.
A missing poster trying to help find Miss Heslop after she went missing on March 8, 2021
The former flight attendant disappeared from her wealthy partner Ryan Bane’s boat after being matched on dating app Tinder eight months earlier. Pictured: The song of the sirens in the US Virgin Islands
In a final update on the case, speaking to Fox News earlier this month, a private investigator hired by the Heslop family revealed that Bane replaced the freezer on their boat after he went missing.
David Johnston, who is working on the case on behalf of the Heslop family, said Bane changed parts of the boat after it went missing.
Johnston told the outlet: “We know he then went to Grenada and had the freezer on the boat replaced. For what? We know he had other parts of the forward cabin replaced. For what?’
This led Heslop’s parents to believe she had been murdered, saying their daughter had been the victim of foul play and was not a missing person.
“I believe she was murdered,” Street told Sky News.
“There are places where people can be thrown into the ocean and never be found. I believe that’s what happened.
The former Metropolitan Police homicide commander also contacted Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron to urge him to push US authorities to oversee the Virgin Islands Police’s current investigation.
He told Sky News: “I think what we really need now is for David Cameron, as Foreign Secretary, to hold up his American counterpart… to demand that the governor of the island gives clear and unambiguous answers to the family about what is happening.” what they did or what else could be done.
He also asked her to consider officially questioning Bane to find out what happened that night.
Bane was previously convicted in 2011 of domestic violence against his then-wife, Corie Stevenson.
In a statement, a lawyer for Mr. Bane said: “While we understand the frustration of Sarm’s family, Ryan Bane had nothing to do with Sarm’s disappearance.
“Ryan is heartbroken that Sarm is missing… The Coast Guard was on the ship twice, searching and questioning Ryan. They had unrestricted access to the ship and Ryan answered every question he asked. been asked.
Local police failed to obtain a search warrant for his catamaran, Siren Song, before Bane took it out of his jurisdiction and is now believed to have sold it.
Johnston added: “Sarm is likely dead, and her death was premature and could have been murder. It could have been an accident, but no one wants to talk to us.
According to the lead researcher, he first offered to help in this case 18 months ago and contacted the Virgin Islands governor and police commissioner.
Johnston claims he was unable to get any results and the two stopped responding to him and the family.
He added: “I’ve been coached over the last 15 months by the governor and (Police Commissioner) Ray Martinez, who said, ‘You’re welcome to come see the headquarters, but we’re not going to talk “. regarding the investigation. This is an active investigation, and we do not discuss active investigations.
Johnston added: “At a minimum, Bane should have been questioned carefully.
“In my experience of 30 years as a cop, he is a person of great interest and he has some questions that need to be answered.
“And until he does that, he should remain the most likely suspect in her disappearance and possible death.”
Under US law, Bane is classified as a “person of interest” because he was the last person to see Miss Heslop.
But he is not classified as a suspect and officers must show probable cause to obtain a search warrant.
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are assisting the family of a British woman who was reported missing in the US Virgin Islands and are in contact with US Virgin Islands Police and the US Coastguard . »