A TOURIST couple is feared dead after three escaped prisoners hijacked their yacht in the Caribbean.
Sailors Ralph Hendry and his wife Kathy Brandel were last spotted on Sunday afternoon by a boating neighbour as they were on their way to a restaurant on Grenada.
Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry have been missing since last weekJESSICA MAUSE/GOFUNDME
ROYAL GRENADA POLICE FORCEPolice have linked Ron Mitchell (L), Trevor Robertson (C) and Atiba Stanislaus (R) to the possible murders of the couple[/caption]
Suellen DesmaraisThe couple’s ransacked yacht, SV Simplicity, was found on Wednesday by a sailing captain[/caption]
The American couple had lived on their docked yacht, SV Simplicity, for a decade and were always in touch with their children back home.
They would usually stay over during winter and had arrived on the island two weeks prior.
Ralph and Kathy, from Virginia, were planning to stay for another week before vanishing.
They have followed the same path for the last few years, sailing from Virginia to Massachusetts before coming down to Florida to visit Ralph’s sister and then heading down to the Caribbean to island hop.
Suellen Desmarais, Ralph’s sister, told Fox 5 DC: “On Sunday, they went into the town around 3 o’clock because another boater saw them go into town.
“The other boater, when he went to bed, he noticed that they were there because you always look to see who is around you and in the morning, when the boater woke up, they were gone.”
The sailors went missing the same day that three fugitives, Ron Mitchell, 30, Trevon Robertson, 19, and Abita Stanislaus, 25, “escaped lawful custody”, the New York Post reported.
The Grenadian trio escaped the South St. George Police Station and headed to the marina, where they reportedly fled to another Caribbean island – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
A police statement read: “Preliminary information emanating from investigators in St Vincent suggests that the three men made their way to St Vincent via a yacht which was docked in the St. George area.”
On Wednesday, a sailing captain was paddle-boarding along the Saint Vincent shore when he noticed a ransacked yacht with a broken sail.
He immediately reported the SV Simplicity as “an unoccupied sailing vessel,” with “visible blood stains” on deck to the Coast Guard Service.
“The entire interior of the vessel and its decks were ransacked,” the commanding officer wrote, naming the missing couple.
Data collected by the US Coast Guard appeared to show SV Simplicity leaving a Grenada harbour around 10 pm on Sunday February 18 and arriving in Saint Vincent around 12pm the next day.
Cops are now linking the couple’s disappearance to the escape of three prisoners from their nearby holding cell on Sunday, alleging the men may have killed the couple.
A press release from the Royal Grenada Police Force did not name Ralph and Kathy, but added that “two Americans may have been killed in the process”.
Officers revealed that Robertson, Stanislaus, and Mitchell – a sailor – were previously arrested in December, charged jointly in a violent robbery case.
Mitchel was also charged with one count of rape, three counts of attempted rape, two counts of indecent assault, and causing harm, People reports.
Police caught the trio on Wednesday in St. Vincent and the Grenadines at around 4.35 pm.
Ralph and Kathy are yet to be located, but Suellen is hopeful her brother and sister-in-law are still alive.
She said: “Why would I presume anyone is dead with no body and DNA? I want to remain positive. I want to believe that they are alive.”
The couple’s children Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry headed to the Caribbean in search of their parents.
They told People they last heard of mum and dad on February 18, and said that the lack of contact was unusual.
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