Sarm Heslop has a restless sense of adventure and works various jobs to fund her passion for travel and sailing.
Working as a flight attendant for Flybe in the UK, a waitress in Gibraltar and Malta, and even working in a call center to fund her exotic adventures.
Sarm meets Ryan Bane on Tinder and becomes close enough that she moves to the Virgin Islands and joins Bane onboard his 47-foot luxury catamaran, Siren Song, as a chef.
The “Siren Song” is a working charter yacht available for private charge and is moored in a bay off the western coast of Saint John, US Virgin Islands. Living on board the Siren Song, called the Virgin Islands Premier Luxury Sailing Charter, Sarm is living her best life.
On the evening of March 7, Sarm and Bane go to the Island of Saint John for dinner. Leaving the restaurant, they board a small dinghy for the 200-foot hop to where Siren Song is moored offshore. Bane says Sarm is asleep by 10 p.m.
Around 2:30 a.m., Bane awakens but can’t find Sarm.
He takes a dinghy to the shore to report her missing to island police, suggesting she may have fallen overboard. Police tell him to call the Coast Guard. Bane does not notify the coast guard immediately.
For reasons unknown, he waits until 11:45 a.m. to notify the Coast Guard that Sarm is missing.
When coast guard officials arrive, an intoxicated Bane refuses to allow them to board the catamaran to conduct a search.
Police not being allowed to search the boat leads them to issue citations to Bane on account of not being allowed to search the boat, not having registration documentation, and safety equipment violations.
The nine-hour time gap between when Bane contacts Island Police and the time he calls the coast guard has been questioned by Sarm’s family and even a fellow skipper on a boat moored nearby the Siren Song.
The skipper says he heard no shouts from the catamaran, nobody hollering for someone who might have fallen overboard. Sarm’s phone, wallet, and passport are left behind on the boat and are turned over to the police.
An intensive search of the coastline begins with dogs on shore, divers in the water, and drones overhead. As word spreads of the missing woman, a local dog walker on Saint John says they heard a scream out at sea, in the direction of where the catamaran is anchored, around the time of Sarm’s disappearance.
Jeff Jones, ASAR/Disaster Area Response Team A volunteer, tells Nancy Grace he spoke to the captain there the night she went missing.
He actually comes on base Sunday morning and drops anchor about one hundred twenty feet away from the Siren Song, and he is there overnight on the vessel.
He’s also a term charter captain with another catamaran for hire, and he saw nothing, heard nothing, and was unaware of any unusual foul play until the next day when the coast guard showed up.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Andrew Baldwin – Sarm Heslop’s Friend of 25 years; ‘Best Man’ at his Wedding
- Kate Vernalls – Former Roommate of Sarm Heslop
“Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” on Fox Nation is also a national radio show on SiriusXM channel 111, airing for two hours daily starting at 12 p.m. EST. You can also subscribe and download the daily podcasts at iHeart Podcasts.
[Feature Photo via Facebook]
