DATELINE Siren Song – Where is Sarm Heslop?
When was Sarm last seen?
Sarm was last seen outside of the boat by someone other than Ryan Bane on March 7, 2021, when they went ashore for dinner. Ryan reported her missing to the police at 2:30 a.m. the next day (March 8, 2021.) Police told him they would conduct a land search but told him to call the Coast Guard right away to search the waters. Ryan didn’t call right away, however, he waited for nine hours to call the Coast Guard.
The police used dogs to search the 20-square-mile island but were unable to find Sarm on land.
The boat was listed for sale in November
In November 2021, Ryan listed the 47 ft “Siren Song” catamaran for sale in Grenada for $229,000 without mentioning its name. At the time, Sarm’s friends tried to enlist help from the FBI and UK authorities to search the boat for clues before it could be sold to someone else. There may be evidence on the boat that points to what happened to Sarm. It’s unknown if the boat has been sold.
Before the tragedy, “Siren Song” had been available for charter with Ryan as a captain and Sarm, a former flight attendant, as the “first mate.”
Sarm’s parents have flown out to search for her
Last week Sarm’s parents, Peter Heslop and Brenda Street, flew from the U.K. to St. John to recreate her last moments before she went missing.
What hasn’t Sarm’s boyfriend been questioned?
Although Ryan Bane, a U.S. citizen who had been living with Sarm on the boat for some time, knows the most about what happened to Sarm before she disappeared, he has never been interviewed by the police because he has declined.
Police also weren’t allowed to search the boat without a warrant, and, again, Ryan did not allow them to search the boat on advice of his lawyer.
The US Coast Guard did, however, give Ryan multiple citations for denying them entrance into certain rooms on the boat while on their search and rescue mission. They also found several safety violations while they were on the boat.
“As part of the search and rescue effort, the Coast Guard went aboard the vessel to interview and gather information from the reporting source,” Lt. Cmdr. Jason Neiman, a USCG spokesman, said. “On a second occasion that afternoon, the Coast Guard went aboard the vessel to conduct a standard recreational vessel safety check to ensure proper equipment and compliance with applicable rules and regulations for vessel type and operation.”
What does Ryan say happened?
When Ryan first called the police he told them he had woken up from a boat alarm and found Sarm gone from the boat. All he could tell them at the time is that he thought she might have “fallen off” the boat. He did say that her phone, passport, and wallet were all still on the boat at that time.
The mystery of what happened to Sarm will be explored on tonight’s episode of Dateline. Why isn’t Ryan working harder to find Sarm and give authorities all the information he can?
