Friends of missing British sailor Sarm Heslop have new hope for answers after police resignation

The friends of missing British sailor Sarm Heslop have renewed hope that authorities in the Virgin Islands may now support their search following the resignation of its police commissioner.

Sarm Heslop, 41, vanished from her American boyfriend Ryan Bane’s 47-foot luxury catamaran in the Caribbean on 8 March 2021. He is believed to have been the last person to see her alive.

Friends behind the campaign #JusticeForSarm said police commissioner Ray Martinez previously “failed to engage” with the search for Ms Heslop - but he has now resigned amid separate allegations of corruption.

Campaigners have since written to island governor Albert Bryan asking him to demonstrate his commitment to anti-corruption and the US territory’s safety by agreeing to meet with their family advocate, former Met detective David Johnston, who was hired to help find out what happened to Ms Heslop.

A #JusticeForSarm spokesperson said: “We have been seeking this meeting for over 18 months and despite assurances from police commissioner Ray Martinez, he failed to engage with us.

“We see this as an opportunity for the governor to demonstrate his zero-tolerance stance and reassure not just us, but the wider island community that he supports openness, transparency and effective policing on the island.”

They added they were “shocked but not surprised” to hear Mr Martinez had quit.

Local reports suggest Mr Martinez is being investigated over misuse of funds relating to a security contract awarded to his force.

Government house communications director, Richard Motta Jr, said in a statement: “The administration has been informed that Ray Martinez, the commissioner of the Virgin Islands Police Department, is implicated in an ongoing federal investigation.

“Adhering to our zero-tolerance policy against corruption, the governor has accepted Mr Martinez’s resignation to ensure the integrity of our law enforcement efforts.”

Ms Heslop, a former flight attendant from Southampton in Hampshire, was last seen boarding Mr Bane’s boat where she had been working as a chef on Caribbean tours, after the couple matched on Tinder eight months earlier.

They had been out for dinner at the 420 to Center bar on St John, before returning to the £500,000 catamaran.

At the time of her disappearance, Mr Bane said the couple watched Netflix and fell asleep. He called 911 at about 2.35am the next morning, told police that he had been woken by the anchor alarm and went to investigate – and realised she was missing.

Ms Heslop’s wallet, passport and phone had been left on board, and he said she might have fallen overboard.

The sea captain waited until 11.46am the next day to call the coast guard – a nine-hour gap which her friends and now family want him to provide a timeline for.

Mr Bane has never been formally interviewed by police and no forensic search of the boat, Siren Song, was ever carried out.

In the days after Ms Heslop’s disappearance, Mr Bane told family he was searching for her as he reportedly hired an attorney and declined to be interviewed by Virgin Islands police.

He sailed away shortly after and was spotted in Caribbean islands before pictures recently emerged of him hitting the gym.

It is believed Mr Bane has returned to his family home in his home state of Michigan and is now training to be a pilot.

Ms Heslop’s mother Brenda Street told The Mirror recently that she believes police have been dragging their feet in the investigation.

She said: “I think corruption on the island has affected this case. There are 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.

“I know it could be to do with protecting tourism but listen – my beautiful daughter has gone missing and I don’t give a s*** about how it affects tourism.”

In a statement, a lawyer for Mr Bane said: “While we empathise with Sarm’s family’s frustration, Ryan Bane had nothing to do with Sarm’s disappearance. Ryan is heartbroken that Sarm went missing ... The coastguard was twice on the vessel conducting a search and questioning Ryan. They had unfettered access to the vessel and Ryan answered all questions posed to him.”

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are assisting the family of a British woman who has been reported missing in the US Virgin Islands and are in contact with the US Virgin Islands Police and the US coast guard.”