7 questions about missing Sarm Heslop a year on – from boyfriend refusing to speak to cops to boat going on sale
IT'S been a year since Brit Sarm Heslop was reported missing in the Caribbean - and her parents are still desperately searching for answers.
Ryan Bane reported his girlfriend Sarm, from Southampton, missing from his boat off St John on March 8, 2021.
The former flight attendant, who is now 42, had been staying and working with Ryan, a US citizen, on the catamaran.
The boat has never been searched and Ryan has not been questioned by police.
Yesterday it emerged Sarm's parents, Peter Heslop and Brenda Street, have now flown out to the island in the hope of piecing together the last known movements of their daughter.
And friends and family of Sarm are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information.
READ MORE IN NEWS
They said: "We are a whole year on from learning of her disappearance and yet we still only have the same handful of facts about what happened that night."
Here we examine the unanswered questions about Sarm’s case.
Why did Ryan wait 9 hours to alert coastguard?
At 2.30am, Virgin Islands police received a call from Ryan, telling them he’d been woken up by the sound of his boat’s anchor alarm, which is triggered when the vessel drifts.
He told them that Sarm wasn’t anywhere on board, but that her passport, wallet and mobile phone were still there.
He was instructed by the police to alert the US Coast Guard immediately, while they initiated a missing persons search – but he didn’t call them until 11.46am.
Once they had been notified - nine hours later - the US Coast Guard searched the water around and out to sea from Siren Song, as well as the nearby islands.
Police and local volunteers conducted a land search using dogs and drones, which continued throughout the day until police confirmed that they had checked everywhere on the 20-square-mile island. There was no sign of Sarm.
Why did police never search the boat?
According to the , he’s been seen trading occasional friendly words with female passers-by and meticulously cleaning his boat - the same vessel on which Sarm was last seen.
Ryan - who has a past conviction for domestic violence against his ex-wife Cori Stevenson - is said to be keeping fit by running up a steep hill every morning.
It costs £50 a night to moor a boat like Ryan's at the marina in the former British colony and he is said to have asked for his name be kept off the marina’s ledger.
"He eats breakfast and lunch and drinks a club soda or fruit juice, not alcohol. But he is enjoying the good life for sure – it’s a playboy lifestyle.
"This place is paradise. He has never mentioned Sarm. No one here has any idea about that.”
Has Ryan sold the boat?
In November, it emerged Ryan had put the boat, Siren Song, up for sale for $229,000 (£174,000).
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
He’d also removed its name, and changed it to Orion’s Belt.
It is not known if the yacht has yet been sold to new owners.