Sarm Heslop's boyfriend refusing to allow search of yacht from where she disappeared, police say

The boyfriend of a British woman who vanished without trace has refused to allow police to search the US Virgin Islands yacht where she was last seen alive, police have said.

A huge search has been underway for 41-year-old Sarm Heslop since she went missing from the 47ft luxury charter catamaran Siren Song on March 8, with coast guards, police and local volunteers scouring the beach and waters of St John island.

But police have now revealed that Ms Heslop’s boyfriend and owner of the boat, Ryan Bane, has refused to allow officers to search the vessel.

In a statement issued Friday evening Virgin Islands Police Department said: “Soon after reporting Ms. Heslop missing, Mr. Bane acquired the services of an attorney. Upon his attorney’s advice, Mr. Bane exercised his constitutional right to remain silent and denied officers’ requests to search the vessel.”

USVI police spokesman Toby Derima added: "We would need to get a warrant to search the boat. We would need to show the court that we had probable cause to search the boat, as this is not yet a criminal case.

"We thought we could just ask Mr Bane to search the boat and he would say yes and he didn't. That is his right. Getting the search warrant would be the next step, however we are still searching, doing regular inspections of the areas and speaking to potential witnesses."

Ms Helsop and Mr Ryan had gone for dinner on shore and returned to the yacht at 10pm on Sunday, March 7, due to the local coronavirus curfew.

Ms Heslop’s boyfriend told the US Coast Guard's San Juan station that “at 2am he woke up and realised that she was not on board” his catamaran.

The Coast Guard said it was only alerted to Ms Heslop’s disappearance by Mr Bane at 11.46am on Monday, at which point they searched the boat for her.

But Ms Heslop’s friends and family have called for an urgent fingertip search of the boat by trained forensics officers, in the hope it might reveal significant clues as to what happened to her.

Andrew Baldwin, 41, who has known Ms Heslop for more than 25 years, said: “We know that Mr Bane called the local police at 2.30am and was told to call the Coastguard. The Coastguard was reported as saying that it was alerted to her disappearance by Mr Bane at 11.46am on Monday. “This timeline just does not make sense to us. We also cannot understand why Mr Bane’s lawyer has denied officers’ requests to search the boat and exercised his constitutional rights to remain silent.”

Mr Baldwin added: “We know they had dinner in a local restaurant and left at 10pm. What we don’t know is what happened in those intervening hours.”

In a statement urging the UK authorities to help find their daughter, Ms Heslop’s family said: “We are shocked and distraught that Sarm is missing. We would like assurance that the authorities in the Virgin Islands are doing everything possible to find her and that the investigation into our beautiful and cherished daughter’s disappearance includes a comprehensive fingertip search of the boat. We will never give up looking for Sarm and we still have hope of finding her safe.”

Ms Heslop’s passport and phone remained on board the Siren Song when she disappeared, along with the small boat normally used to reach the shore.

Flora Pickard, a chef who has known the couple since they first met sailing in Grenada last year, said Mr Bane had been “a total mess” since Ms Heslop went missing and could remember little of the night she disappeared.

Ms Pickard told The Telegraph: “He can't even speak. He's like so, so sad. The worst part for him is he really doesn't remember because they were completely drunk. He's like, ‘all I know is I woke up and she's not there’.”

She added: “Ryan couldn't handle drink as well as she could. So he would quite often pass out first and she just carried on.”

USVI Police said: “Heslop was last seen on March 7 aboard the vessel Siren Song, that was moored off the coast of St. John.

“VIPD continues efforts to locate Ms. Heslop, conducting multiple searches daily, speaking to potential witnesses, and combing through hours of surveillance video.”