Family and friends of missing Brit Sarm Heslop now have an understanding as to why their correspondence to the US Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Ray Martinez may have gone unanswered as news breaks that the USVI Police Commissioner has resigned ahead of a Grand Jury federal investigation into potential misuse of funds.
In March this year, US Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Ray Martinez was called out by Senator Franklin Johnson for failing to attend multiple hearings of the Committee on Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety on the island, “he cannot show up to listen to the residents of this territory when crime is rampant all over this place”. The Committee went on to vote to subpoena the Police Commissioner to force him to take the safety of the island residents seriously.
Island Governor Albert Bryan has confirmed this corruption and stated that he has a zero tolerance for corruption. In light of this clear statement, the team behind #JusticeForSarm have written to him asking him to demonstrate his commitment to this policy by agreeing to meet with the family advocate David Johnston. “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.”
The statement that Ray Martinez needs to be “forced to take the safety of the island more seriously” rings true to Sarm Heslop’s family & friends who, since Sarm went missing from her boyfriend’s catamaran in Frank’s Bay on the island of St John on 8th March 2021, have continuously fought for answers from the USVI Police Department but have repeatedly been met with vague, dismissive and deflective responses only highlighting their neglect and errors throughout their investigations.
In addition, according to VI Consortium, the investigation into Police Commissioner Ray Martinez focuses on a cybersecurity and surveillance contract awarded by VIPD to a company that allegedly provided Martinez with funding for a restaurant he is planning to open on St Thomas. Questions have been raised as to where the funding came from and whether the contract was awarded using federal ARPA funds.
Sarm’s parents appointed David Johnston QPM, former Commander of Homicide and Serious Crime at Metropolitan Police, as the family’s official liaison in hope that this would encourage the USVIPD to be more forthcoming with updates. At first acknowledgements and responses for meeting requests appeared to be more forthcoming however, what followed was last minute cancellations and even on occasion no one joining the scheduled meetings. Since 2022 all involved #JusticeForSarm have been requesting the release of the CCTV footage showing Sarm & her boyfriend Ryan Bane walking back to their dinghy hours before her disappearance but requests go ignored leading all to think that the footage has been destroyed.
It has been evident to all aware of Sarm’s story, the media, public and friends and family, that the USVIPD have no interest in addressing the crime on the island, they don’t want any outside agencies reviewing their investigations, they don’t want to release CCTV footage and are clearly not being held accountable for their actions, until now. We hope.
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