Police in the US Virgin Islands have released previously unseen CCTV footage of British national Sarm Heslop walking with her boyfriend in Cruz Bay hours before she disappeared from his catamaran in March 2021, officials and a new BBC documentary said.
The grainy colour video, shown in the BBC Two documentary Missing in Paradise: Searching for Sarm, records Heslop and her boyfriend, identified by local authorities as Ryan Bane, walking along a jetty near the dinghy dock in Cruz Bay on the evening of March 7, 2021. The couple are seen boarding a small boat that would have taken them to Bane's 47-foot catamaran, Siren Song, anchored in Frank Bay.
Authorities said the video was released because the case had reached an impasse. "We are at a dead end road and we need help," Stephen Philip, chief of police for the U.S. Virgin Islands, says in the documentary. The missing-person file remains open but is now classified as a cold case.
Heslop, 41, a former flight attendant from Southampton who moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands to work and sail, vanished in the early hours of March 8, 2021. Her boyfriend reported her missing after he said an anchor alarm woke him at about 2 a.m., at which time he discovered she was not aboard Siren Song. Police say no body has been recovered and no suspects have been charged.
The newly released footage is timestamped at 8:45 p.m., a discrepancy the BBC documentary highlighted. Bane initially told police the couple returned to the catamaran at about 10 p.m. The dinghy journey from Cruz Bay to Frank Bay would have taken roughly 10 minutes, meaning — based on the CCTV time — the pair would have returned to the catamaran at about 8:55 p.m., leaving more than an hour unaccounted for under the earlier timeline provided to police.
Family members and friends have questioned the handling of the investigation. Heslop's mother, Brenda Street, and friends told the BBC they would continue pressing for answers. Friends who appeared on BBC Breakfast said it had taken too long for the footage to be released and that investigators initially told the family no CCTV existed.
Local and U.S. officials have been criticised for investigative decisions in the case. Coast Guard agents who arrived on March 8 asked to search Siren Song, authorities said, but police did not secure a warrant before the vessel left the territory. A police commissioner later acknowledged that key hours were lost because of delays. Officials said Bane declined to cooperate with some requests, invoking his rights under U.S. law. Police have described him as a person of interest because he was the last known person to see Heslop, but he has not been classified as a suspect and has not been formally charged.
A private investigator hired by Heslop's family told U.S. media that Bane had replaced the catamaran's freezer and changed parts of the forecabin after she disappeared. Bane's lawyer, David Cattie, who was appointed soon after the disappearance, said in statements that his client was "heartbroken" and that he understood the family's pain. Cattie is interviewed in the BBC documentary.
Inconsistencies in the early hours of the response have drawn scrutiny. Police said Bane reported Heslop missing shortly after the anchor alarm, but they also said his initial call to authorities was not recorded. Bane later met with police and was told to contact the Coast Guard; authorities say that call did not occur until about nine hours after the alarm sounded. Coast Guard officers reported that Bane, who they described as heavily intoxicated at the time, blocked access to parts of the vessel and was uncooperative when they sought to board.
Heslop, described by relatives and friends as adventurous and a strong swimmer, left her passport, phone and money aboard the catamaran, according to police reports. She had met Bane on a dating app in 2020 and worked as a cook on Siren Song after moving to the islands in 2019 to pursue a life at sea.
Heslop's mother told the documentary and previous interviews that she believes her daughter was murdered and has criticised local authorities for what she said were missed investigative opportunities. Friends said they have spent years keeping the case in the public eye and urged anyone with information to come forward.
The BBC documentary, presented by investigative journalist Tir Dhondy, airs over three nights and includes interviews with local police, coast guard members and Bane's lawyer. Police released the CCTV in the hope that public attention will produce new leads in a case that has remained unresolved for more than four years.