A British woman who was last seen aboard her boyfriend’s yacht in the U.S. Virgin Islands remains missing nearly two weeks later, and now police say her friend will not let them search the boat.
Ryan Bane, owner of the 47-meter luxury catamaran, had reported his girlfriend Sarm Heslop, 41, who disappeared on March 8 but was later a lawyer, UK police told Telegram on Friday night .
The boat has remained moored and out of police limits on the coast of San Juan while a massive search for water continues.
“Shortly after reporting Ms. Heslop’s disappearance, Mr. Bane acquired the services of a lawyer,” police told Telegram in a statement.
“On the advice of his lawyer, Mr Bane exercised his constitutional right to remain silent and rejected the officers’ requests to search the ship.”
Authorities would need an order to search the ship. But they can’t get it because Heslop’s disappearance hasn’t been considered a criminal case.
“We thought we could ask Mr Bane to search the ship and he would say yes,” police spokesman Toby Derima told the British newspaper.
“But he didn’t.”
The couple went to dinner on land and then returned to the yacht at 10pm on Sunday, March 7, authorities said.
Ryan called local police at 2:30 the next morning, saying he had just woken up and realized that Heslop was no longer on board, even though his passport, wallet and phone were left behind. back.
Police told Ryan to call the U.S. Coast Guard immediately. But allegedly, Ryan waited almost noon the next day to report Heslop’s disappearance to the U.S. Coast Guard’s San Juan station.
On Friday, the family of the missing woman urged British authorities to intervene and help.
“We would like to make sure that the Virgin Islands authorities are doing everything possible to find her and that the investigation into the disappearance of our beautiful and beloved daughter includes a thorough search at the fingertips of the ship,” they said. say family members in a statement.
“We will never stop looking for Sarm and we still have hopes of finding her safe.”