Boyfriend of missing Brit Sarm Heslop breaks silence four years after she vanished from his yacht

Ryan Bane, 49, has penned an open letter claiming he has been placed under a “false sense of suspicion” ever since his partner Sarm Heslop, 41, went missing from his yacht in the US Virgin Islands in 2021.

In his first direct public remarks since her disappearance, he defended his decisions to hire a lawyer, turn down questioning, and prevent police from forensically searching his yacht Siren Song.

“The truth is simple: I wanted to protect myself and followed my attorney’s legal advice to safeguard my rights,” he wrote.

“My decision was framed as suspicious rather than prudent,” he added.

Ms Heslop, a former flight attendant, was known to have gone for dinner in St John with Mr Bane on 7 March, before he reported her missing to police at 2.30am the following day.

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Critics say his actions in the crucial hours following her disappearance are suspicious, with some speculating that he could have done something sinister.

His statement comes as a recent documentary aired CCTV footage showing the couple walking together just six hours before the 41-year-old disappeared - the last sighting of Ms Heslop alive.

It shows the pair making their way along the dockside in St John before boarding a dinghy and making their way back to Siren Song.

“The CCTV shows Sarm and me as a loving, caring couple on the night she disappeared. We are seen hand-in-hand, affectionate and relaxed,” Mr Bane wrote.

He added that the film also confirmed his earlier accounts of what she wore that day.

Mr Bane’s lawyer has suggested that she could have hit her head and fallen overboard, or drowned while swimming.

He accused those who have speculated about his guilt, including investigative journalists, of having ignored “crucial facts, presented misleading narratives and ignored court records that directly contradict the storyline advanced in the media”.

He also hit out at claims he was not involved in search efforts, arguing: “That is not true... no one observed signs of a fight, no evidence of an argument, and nothing on my person - such as scratches or marks - that would suggest a struggle.”

Mr Bane then blasted “serious gaps in the official handling of the case that should not be ignored”, such as the 911 call and the lack of an initial police report.

“This lack of timely reporting and the loss of crucial evidence created open holes in the official record - holes that have fuelled speculation ever since,” he wrote.

Following the third anniversary of Ms Heslop’s disappearance last year, her mother Brenda Street, told LBC she believes her daughter is dead.

“I know she's not coming home, but I don't know how to grieve.

“We don’t have the answers we need. I’m hoping one day we can bring her home and put her to rest.

“It's not just me and her father Peter, but all her friends have put their lives on hold for three years – they won’t stop until they get justice.”

Ms Street said her daughter, then aged 41, moved to St John after falling in love with Mr Bane who she met on a dating app.

The pair lived and worked on his catamaran The Siren Song, taking tourists on boat tours around the idyllic Caribbean island, for three weeks until Mr Bane called the police in the early hours of March 8, 2021, reporting that he had awoken to find her missing.

Police failed to search his boat, which the family say might have held vital clues about the former air hostess’ fate.

Mr Bane's lawyer said his client has been left heartbroken by Ms Heslop’s disappearance and that he fully cooperated with the authorities - including by allowing the coastguard “unfettered” access to his boat.

Mr Bane denies any involvement in Ms Heslop’s disappearance.