Police in the US Virgin Islands have released previously unseen CCTV footage of British expatriate Sarm Heslop’s final recorded movements on land and urged her former boyfriend to speak with detectives, as Heslop’s mother said she will “never give up” seeking answers four years after the 41‑year‑old disappeared.
Heslop, a former flight attendant who had been living and working in the islands, was last seen on March 7, 2021, after an evening out in Cruz Bay on the island of St. John. Authorities say she was later found missing from the 47‑foot catamaran Siren Song, owned by American boat captain Ryan Bane. The missing person investigation remains open but has been described by police as a cold case.
In the footage shown publicly for the first time this week, Heslop is seen walking with Bane along a pier near Cruz Bay’s dinghy dock. The video, which local police say they released to the public because the probe has reached a dead end, is timestamped about 8:45 p.m. Police officials and Heslop’s family have pointed to timing discrepancies between the clip and Bane’s initial account to investigators.
Bane told police at the time that the couple returned to the yacht at about 10 p.m., and he has said he discovered Heslop missing after being awoken by an anchor alarm around 2 a.m. the next morning. Based on the dock footage and the estimated ten‑minute dinghy ride to the vessel, the newly released images indicate the pair likely returned to the boat about 8:55 p.m., leaving more than an hour unaccounted for compared with Bane’s earlier statement, according to family members and media reports.
Commissioner Mario Brooks of the US Virgin Islands Police Department, appearing on a BBC programme with Heslop’s friends and family, urged Bane — described by investigators as the last person to see Heslop — to cooperate fully with detectives. "You were the last person to have contact with her," Brooks said. "What is so secretive that you can't tell us?"
Bane has not been charged in the case and has invoked his constitutional right to remain silent; police say he has never been formally questioned. His lawyer, David Cattie, said Bane has not been issued any warrants and would return to the islands voluntarily if required by investigators. Cattie and other representatives have earlier described Bane as "heartbroken" over Heslop’s disappearance.
Heslop’s mother, Brenda Street, and close friends have kept the case in the public eye and told BBC Breakfast that they will continue to press for information. Speaking in the documentary Missing in Paradise: Searching for Sarm, Street said she will do everything she can to find out what happened. "I will never give up," she said, adding that the long distance from the UK to a probe carried out more than 4,000 miles away has made the search "incredibly frustrating."
Family members and private investigators have criticised early aspects of the US Virgin Islands probe. Local police did not obtain a search warrant for Siren Song before Bane sailed the vessel out of their jurisdiction, and the Coast Guard’s attempts to board the boat on March 8, 2021, were hindered, authorities and investigators have said. Coast Guard personnel later reported that Bane had been heavily intoxicated and uncooperative; he was cited but not arrested.
A private investigator retained by Heslop’s family has said parts of the boat were replaced after the disappearance, including the vessel’s freezer, and has questioned why those repairs were carried out. Those claims have been reported by media outlets and attributed to the private investigator.
Chief of Police Stephen Philip told the BBC documentary that the department released the footage because investigators had reached a "dead end" and hoped someone would recognise something that could help the inquiry. The footage’s release follows years of requests from Heslop’s family and friends for the images to be made public.
Heslop, a native of Southampton, had left the U.K. in 2019 to pursue a life at sea. She had worked as a cook aboard Siren Song after meeting Bane on a dating app in 2020 and embarking on a long‑distance relationship.
Authorities say Heslop left behind her passport, phone and money; widespread searches after her disappearance did not recover her. Under U.S. law, Bane is classed as a person of interest because he was the last known person to see Heslop, but police say they require probable cause to obtain search warrants or pursue criminal charges.
The three‑part BBC Two documentary Missing in Paradise: Searching for Sarm airs on September 17, 18 and 19. Heslop’s family and friends say they will continue to publicise the case and seek any information that might lead to resolution, while police have urged anyone with knowledge to come forward.