US Virgin Islands PD fall silent as family and friends of missing Sarm Heslop say “we know she isn’t going to be found alive” and Ryan Bane reappears in Michigan.
Brenda Street & Peter Heslop, the parents of missing woman Sarm Heslop, who vanished from her boyfriend’s catamaran in St John, USVI on Monday 8 March 2021, say they’re increasingly frustrated by the USVIPD’s refusal to meet with their chosen representative on the island. David Johnston QPM, former Commander of Homicide and Serious Crime at Metropolitan Police has been attempting to liaise with the USVIPD on behalf of Sarm’s family and friends for months. But despite initial support from the FCDO and the Governor of the US Virgin Islands, the USVIPD remain unresponsive.
As the family and friends of Sarm face the 3-year anniversary since she was reported missing, Mr Johnston has approached the USVIPD multiple times asking to discuss the case. David Johnston states: “The USVIPD claim that the case is open and ongoing and yet they are refusing to treat Sarm’s family with the dignity of even a response to our emails and letters. Meanwhile we understand that Ryan Bane has resurfaced in the US without ever being formally questioned by the police.”
Commenting on the current situation, the group of friends behind #FindSarm said “The US Virgin Islands Police have made so many mistakes during this investigation and now seem to be doing nothing at all. When we think of how differently the search would have been handled had she gone missing in the UK, our hearts break even more. She has parents, a niece and a whole load of friends who love her and have all had to come to the horrendous conclusion that she isn’t coming back, and she isn’t going to be found alive. We need to know what happened to her. We need justice for Sarm.”
Of particular importance is the CCTV footage that Sarm’s parents were shown during their 2022 trip to the island, allegedly showing Sarm and Ryan after they left the bar 420 to Center, where they’d had dinner the night she went missing. This CCTV footage has never been publicly released and Sarm’s Mother, Brenda Street, has stated that the footage was stopped by the US Virgin Islands Police before the end of the recording, meaning they did not see Sarm board the dinghy that would have taken them back to the catamaran, Siren Song.
In her letter to the USVIPD of November 2022 she questioned why this footage was not used to assist with the public search. “I wish for a copy and the release of the CCTV footage of what appears to be; Sarm and Bane, last seen, in the area of the dinghy dock. This crucial bit of footage displays surroundings, people, actions/behaviours and information that may have been missed.”
Police need to acknowledge the existence of this video and allow family, friends, and the public to view in order to identify this is in fact Sarm and piece together what happened her that night. Someone out there knows what happened to her.
The US Virgin Islands PD never responded to Brenda’s letter just as they are now not responding to Mr Johnston’s requests.
Commenting on the photographs that have recently appeared of Ryan Bane back in his home state of Michigan the #FindSarm group say,
It’s inconceivable that the last person to see Sarm alive is just getting on with his life whilst we continue to live with the torment of her disappearance. It’s unimaginable that the Police have never properly questioned Bane, especially given his violent history towards women. Bane is the only person that knows what really happened that night. Sarm is not coming back, and the Police need to start looking at reclassifying the case from missing person to murder.
At the time of her disappearance, Sarm was living and working on her boyfriend, Ryan Bane’s catamaran. Mr Bane was the last person to see Sarm before she vanished, leaving all her possessions including her phone, wallet and passport on board. Ryan Bane called the police at 2.30am the night that Sarm went missing but waited until 11.46am that day to call the Coast Guard. Mr Bane has never been formally interviewed by police and no forensic search of the boat, Siren Song, was ever carried out.
Sarm is described as 5 feet 8 Caucasian female of slim build. She has a bright coloured tattoo on her left shoulder featuring a seahorse, bird, butterfly and a pink flower.
A reward for anyone with information that leads to a significant breakthrough in the case is offered and anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Sarm is urged to call Crime Stoppers USVI at (800) 222-TIPS
Interview requests should be directed to [email protected]
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Sarm’s family: https://gofund.me/f25712dd
Further materials approved for use by the press: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GPu_weOA2TtOdDCLt_KCaJLU7Mniblbh?usp=sharing