US Virgin Islands missing woman Sarm Heslop’s friends plead for boyfriend to help search
Sarm Heslop has been missing from the US Virgin Islands for more than 6 weeks
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sarm Heslop, a British woman who was last seen on March 7 leaving a U.S. Virgin Islands bar with her American boyfriend Ryan Bane, has now been missing for 46 days.
Her friends are calling on Bane to step up and help investigators find her – and allow police to search the cabin of his 47-foot catamaran, the Siren Song.
"The boat hasn’t been searched," Heslop’s friend Vicky Mogridge-Percy noted during an appearance on the BBC Friday morning. "And that, in line with U.S. laws, that can happen. We want the boat searched."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bane's mugshot after a 2011 domestic assault charge (Oakland County Sheriff's Office)
Bane reported the 41-year-old from Southampton, U.K., missing in the early morning hours of March 8.
He told police he awoke at about 2:30 a.m. and found her missing from his yacht. Authorities, however, have said they could not confirm whether she had actually returned to the boat after the couple left a bar together around 10 p.m. the prior night – and Bane waited about 10 hours before reporting she may have fallen overboard to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Bane has declined to speak with investigators and repeatedly blocked them from searching the vessel – prompting Heslop’s friends Mogridge-Percy and Andrew Baldwin to publicly plea on the BBC Friday for him to get more involved in the search effort.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We're really desperate to find her, and desperate to find answers and information," Baldwin told the broadcaster.
A search by land, air and sea has turned up nothing of the missing woman’s whereabouts.
Bane’s lawyer has said his client’s "only hope is that Sarm is found alive and well."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bane, who is from Michigan, was convicted there on domestic assault charges for beating his ex-wife, who told Fox News he had anger issues, especially around women, and was cruel to animals.
VIRGIN ISLANDS MISSING WOMAN HAD AMERICAN BOYFRIEND QUICK TO ANGER: EX-WIFE
It’s unclear why police have not obtained a search warrant for the Siren Song, and the department has declined to comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Several experts have told Fox News that they believe there is enough probable cause to convince a judge to grant a search warrant, as Heslop was purportedly last seen alive on the boat before going missing.
The Coast Guard boarded the vessel early in the search but said Bane refused to grant service members access to the yacht’s cabin. They issued him numerous citations for alleged safety violations and his refusal to comply.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VIPD spokesman Toby Derima told Fox News Thursday that authorities have "utilized various investigative efforts, to include land and water searches, aided by canine and unmanned aircraft systems."
A spokesperson for the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on any possible search of the Siren Song.
Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.