Four years after British woman Sarm Heslop vanished without a trace from a luxury catamaran in the dead of night, her American boyfriend, Ryan Bane, has broken his silence in an exclusive interview, revealing he initially refused to speak to protect her.
The 41-year-old former flight attendant from Southampton was last seen aboard the 47-foot catamaran 'Siren Song', moored in Cinnamon Bay, US Virgin Islands, on the night of March 7th, 2021. What transpired in the hours that followed remains one of the most perplexing maritime mysteries.
'I Wanted to Protect Her': A Boyfriend's Anguished Explanation
Ryan Bane, the vessel's captain and Heslop's partner, has faced intense scrutiny since reporting her missing. For years, he maintained a public silence, a decision he now explains was motivated by a desire to shield Heslop.
"My initial reaction was to protect Sarm," Bane stated. "I didn't want to say anything that could potentially harm her reputation or jeopardise the investigation in any way." His silence, however, fueled speculation and suspicion amongst Heslop's family and friends in the UK.
A Night of Confusion and a Delayed Alarm
The timeline of events remains hazy. Bane claims he awoke around 2 am to discover Heslop was not on the boat. He told authorities he initially believed she may have taken a dinghy to shore. It wasn't until several hours later, at approximately 5:30 am, that he officially alerted the Virgin Islands Police Department.
This delay has been a critical point of contention. A frantic 911 call from Bane reveals a panicked individual stating, "My girlfriend is missing. I don't know what to do." A subsequent search operation, involving the US Coast Guard covering over 1,300 square miles of ocean, failed to find any sign of her.
A Family's Frustration and an Unsolved Mystery
Heslop's family in England have expressed profound frustration with the investigation, criticising both Bane's account and the local authorities' handling of the case. They find it implausible that someone could simply disappear from a moored yacht.
Despite Bane being arrested on suspicion of giving false statements to the police, no charges were ever filed. The case remains open but stagnant, leaving Heslop's loved ones in a torturous limbo. The questions far outweigh the answers: Did she fall overboard? Was there an accident? Or was there something more sinister at play aboard the 'Siren Song'?
As the fourth anniversary of her disappearance approaches, Ryan Bane's decision to speak publicly reignites the search for truth, but for Sarm Heslop's family, the wait for answers continues.
