By GINA KALSI, FEMAIL REPORTER and JOANNA TWEEDY, SENIOR JOURNALIST
A new BBC documentary shows the previously unseen last recorded sighting of missing British woman Sarm Heslop, hours before she vanished from the luxury catamaran owned by her boyfriend.
The grainy colour CCTV footage was filmed the evening before her disappearance in the early hours of March 8th 2021 and shows her walking along a jetty in Cruz Bay on the US Virgin Island of St. John with her boyfriend Ryan Bane.
Former flight attendant Heslop, 41, described as 'adventurous' and a 'free spirit' by those closest to her, has not been seen since Bane discovered her missing from his £500,000 catamaran Siren Song. She left her passport, phone and money behind.
The BBC2 documentary, Missing in Paradise: Searching for Sarm, which airs over three nights this week, sees investigative journalist Tir Dhondy travel to the Caribbean to examine Sarm's case, including interviewing Ryan Bane's lawyer David Cattie.
Her mother Brenda and Sarm's close friends say they won't stop shedding light on the case until they can 'lay her to rest' and find out the truth about what happened to her.
Sarm, who's described as a strong swimmer, had left her home in Southampton in 2019 to sail across the Atlantic and live her dream life in the US Virgin Islands.
In 2020, she matched with Bane, an American boat captain from Michigan, on a dating app and the pair embarked upon a long distance romance after she was offered work in Malta.
Upon her return to US Virgin Islands in 2021, she became a cook for guests onboard Siren Song. But things took a dark turn after the couple completed their first charter together.
The last recorded sighting of British woman Sarm Heslop, 41, who disappeared in the early hours of the morning of March 8th 2021 from her boyfriend Ryan Bane's £500,000 catamaran. The footage has been released by police on the US Virgin Island where she vanished, St. John, with police chief Stephen Phillip saying: 'We are at a dead end road and we need help'
A new BBC2 documentary, Missing in Paradise: Searching for Sarm, examines unanswered questions in the case. Despite a massive search operation, Sarm's body has never been recovered
American Ryan Bane, pictured walking his dog on the US Virgin Islands in 2021 after his girlfriend's disappearance. He has never been formally questioned by police after pleading his US amendment rights
Bane has said he was awoken up by the anchor alarm going off on Siren Song at 2am, at which point he first noticed his girlfriend was no longer onboard the vessel. He claimed to have reported her missing to the police just half an hour later.
No suspects are wanted in connection with her disappearance and Ryan Bane has never been questioned by police after he pleaded his US amendment rights.
The missing person case remains open but the police investigation is now filed as a 'cold case'.
Sarm's friends hope the previously unseen new footage will help finally solve what happened to her.
In the new documentary, Stephen Philip, Chief of Police for the US Virgin Islands, shows the missing Brit's last recorded moments on land, in the lively Caribbean town of Cruz Bay.
The CCTV video shows Sarm and Bane walking on a path near the town's dinghy dock, with Bane's arm on Sarm's lower back as the pair stroll along the pier.
The couple had spent the evening at a bar named '420 to Center', just a two-minute walk away.
Sarm is seen wearing what appears to be a monochrome patterned dress or a top with a matching skirt or short, whereas Bane appears to wear a short-sleeved patterned white shirt with shorts and flip flops.
Bane gets onto his dinghy first while Sarm waits on the wooden walkway, before following her boyfriend onto the small boat. They make the short journey from Cruz Bay back to Siren Song, which was anchored in the next bay along, Frank Bay.
The footage shows the couple walking towards the dinghy dock in Cruz Bay with Sarm wearing a dress and her boyfriend in shorts and a t-shirt
Hours before the 'strong swimmer' disappeared from Siren Song, she was seen walking towards the small boat owned by Bane that would transfer the couple to the luxury catamaran
The grainy footage shows Bane getting into the small boat first before his girlfriend follows
Sarm Heslop, 41, left her home in Southampton to sail across the Atlantic and live her dream life in the US Virgin Islands, where she met Ryan Bane
Sarm was described by police following her disappearance as a 5ft 8" Caucasian female of slim build. She has a bright coloured tattoo on her left shoulder featuring a seahorse, bird, butterfly and a pink flower.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast on Saturday, Sarm's close friends Kate Vernalls and Zan Lawther, told presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty that it had taken too long for the footage to come to light.
Lawther said: 'If she'd have gone missing here, the CCTV footage would have been released immediately as part of the search for her.'
Vernalls added: 'The family was told there wasn't any CCTV footage, right back in the early days - then, through the grapevine, you hear there was CCTV footage.'
She continued: 'You're almost blindfolded; you don’t know where to turn next. The last four-and-a-half years we’ve tried to open as many doors as possible and do our own research and investigation and keep the story out there in the hope that another door will open.
‘But ultimately more doors close than open so it is incredibly frustrating.’
When asked in the documentary why the islands' police department had finally decided to release the footage to the public, Chief of Police Philip said: 'We are at a dead end; if anybody could look at this video and see something and say something, it could help. We are at a dead end road and we need help.'
Bane originally told police at the time that the pair arrived back at the boat at 10pm; however, the CCTV footage of them leaving the area is timestamped at 8.45pm.
The trip back to Siren Song in the dinghy would have taken them approximately ten minutes, meaning the pair would've got back to the boat at 8.55pm, leaving an hour and five minutes unaccounted for, according to the BBC.
Widespread searches for the British citizen have turned up nothing in the past four-and-a-half years and despite the mysterious circumstances of her disappearance, police never searched Ryan's boat.
A private investigator hired by Sarm's family says her boyfriend replaced the freezer on their catamaran after she disappeared in 2021.
Speaking to Fox News last year, private investigator David Johnston, who is working the case on behalf of the Sarm's family, said Bane had parts of the boat changed out following her disappearance.
Sarm vanished after she completed her first charter as a chef onboard Ryan’s £500,000 catamaran Siren Song in 2021. The couple had been dating since 2020 after they met on a dating app
Sarm's mother Brenda tells the documentary that she won't stop fighting until her daughter's case is solved
Johnston told the outlet: 'We know he went to Grenada afterwards and had the freezer replaced on the boat. Why? We know he had other parts of the forecabin replaced. Why?'
Local police failed to get a search warrant for his catamaran, Siren Song, before Bane sailed it out of their jurisdiction.
In the early hours of March 8, Bane called police from his £500,000 yacht to report Heslop missing. The call was not recorded.
He then met with police who took a statement and told him to call the Coast Guard, but did not do so until nine hours later - a decision the police commissioner for the territory later said meant crucial hours were lost in their search.
Ryan has since refused requests to co-operate with authorities. Under US law Bane is classified as 'a person of interest' as he was the last person to see Sarm.
However, he is not classified as a suspect and officers need to show a 'probable cause' for a search warrant.
BBC investigative journalist Tir Dhondy travelled to the US Virgin Islands to speak to coastguards, police and Bane’s lawyer David Cattie
Lawyer David Cattie was appointed by Bane to represent him just hours after Sarm went missing
Ryan Bane is seen with his dog in March 2021, after Sarm vanished in the dead of night
Sarm Heslop - who was last seen on March 7, 2021 - is pictured with her father Peter Heslop and his partner Lynn
Brenda pictured with Sarm's friend Zan Lawther, who told the BBC documentary 'We want to bring her home'
Coast Guard officers asked if they could search the 47ft vessel when they arrived on March 8.
Ryan, who was heavily drunk according to agents, blocked the doorway and became uncooperative, invoking his right to silence after. He was handed a citation, which does not result in a criminal record.
Lawyers representing Bane had previously said he was 'devastated' over the disappearance of Heslop.
Brenda Street, the mother of Heslop, told The People newspaper earlier this week that she believes her daughter was murdered.
Speaking to the outlet, Street said: 'I don't believe Sarm just went missing. I believe she was murdered. I want justice for her.'
After three years without answers, Street says she feels 'let down' by police on the Caribbean tourist hotspot and 'hatred' for Bane, whom she accuses of not doing enough to help find her daughter.
Street, who has previously travelled to the island as part of the search for her daughter, told the paper: 'There's too many things that don't make sense and don't add up.'
'When we went to the island, people wouldn't speak to us about Sarm and on the posters asking for information someone had gone round and scrubbed out the number to call.'
She is calling on Ryan to provide the police with everything he knows about her daughter's disappearance.
In the new documentary, she is seen speaking about the loss of her daughter from her home in Hampshire. Breaking down, she says: 'What am I going to do without her? I am stronger now and I'm going to do everything I can. I'll never give up.'
His lawyer, David Cattie, said in a statement to the newspaper: 'Mr Bane is heartbroken over Sarm's disappearance.'
'We certainly understand and empathize with her mother's pain and frustration.'