Mother’s desperate plea for response from US Virgin Islands Police.
Brenda Street, the Mother of missing woman Sarm Heslop, who vanished from her boyfriend’s catamaran in St John, USVI on Monday 8 March 2021, says she’s devastated that the USVIPD have not responded to her recent request for more information on the ongoing investigation.
In her letter sent to the US Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Ray Martinez on 31 October 2021 she states “Myself and all of Sarm’s family and friends are suffering deeply, we all have so many unanswered questions. Constantly told ‘can’t reveal this, can’t reveal that’, because of the ongoing investigation… it is becoming more obvious the signs of sheer negligence in your failure to communicate with Sarm Heslop’s immediate family and the inconsistency of information provided to us.”
Over a year and a half has now passed since Sarm Heslop went missing. In March 2022 Sarm’s parents visited the US Virgin Islands, escorted by the British Consulate from Miami, and met with the USVI Police at a pre-arranged, organised meeting. During the meeting Sarm’s parents were shown CCTV footage of Sarm and Ryan after they left the bar 420 to Center, where they’d had dinner. Sarm’s Mother, Brenda Street, has stated that the footage was stopped by the US Virgin Islands Police before the end of the recording.
In her letter to the USVIPD she requests the release of this footage and questions why it was not used to assist with the public search all those months ago. “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 dingy dock. Why was the CCTV footage turned off before seeing Sarm and Bane board his dingy? I would like all of it, not a shortened version shown on the day I was there on the island. 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 not someone that looks like her.
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 Guards. Mr Bane has never been formally interviewed by police and no forensic search of the boat, Siren Song, was ever carried out.
In Brenda’s letter to the USVIPD she says “Why did Bane wait so long before he called the Coast Guards? Surely if your loved one is feared to have gone overboard immediate and urgent action is required? I questioned Ray Martinez why the VIPD hadn’t contacted the Coast Guard themselves? He replied that it was an oversight by themselves. This ‘oversight’ may have resulted in never finding my daughter again. Someone must start being held accountable.”
Bane told Peter, myself and several friends of Sarm, over the phone and WhatsApp messages that he had joined in the search for my daughter, yet we haven’t seen any footage of Bane with the search parties organised nor did any news reporters capture images of him in a search? It was reported he was on his vessel Siren Song, drinking Tequila alone until he passed out.
I was told, by USVIPD that Bane is now ‘THE person of interest’. Why did the VIPD not return with Bane…to search the vessel? Please list the reason’s a warrant wasn’t/couldn’t be issued?”
She concludes the letter by requesting that the USVIPD “Please confirm, in writing, that there is an active investigation in process and what that entails? Who is heading this investigation?”
A month later, there has been no response from the US Virgin Islands Police.
Commenting on the current situation, the group of friends behind #FindSarm said,
We implore the US Virgin Islands Police to publicly share the CCTV footage and to allow the Hampshire Constabulary’s Missing and Exploited Team to fully join the investigation. We understand that the UK authorities are ready and willing to assist but they cannot do so unless formally requested by the VIPD. We need the authorities to properly work together to find out what has happened to our friend.
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