THIS haunting CCTV clip shows the last recorded sighting of Brit air hostess Sarm Heslop before her disappearance.
The bombshell footage has been released offering a fresh glimpse into her disappearance nearly five years since she vanished without a trace.
6
6
6
Sarm Heslop, then 41, went missing in 2021 after heading on board a boat moored off the US Virgin Islands.
She had spent an evening at a bar on the island of St John with her partner Ryan Bane ahead of her disappearance.
The case remains a mystery, and her body has never been found.
Bane, who has never been formally questioned by police, has said she likely fell overboard or drowned while swimming while he was asleep.
But a new BBC documentary titled “Missing in Paradise: Searching for Sarm”, set to air on Wednesday, aims to shed new light on the case.
The last known CCTV footage of Sarm shows the couple walking down the seafront while holding hands.
They then board a small dinghy before heading off into the dark waters.
It is six hours after this clip was captured that Sarm would be reported missing.
She was described by her friends as a “free spirit” and had left the UK in 2019 to sail across the Atlantic with friends.
Friend Zan told the documentary: “She was always up for a new challenge.
“Totally run-of-the-mill for Sarm to just be doing something bonkers.”
Sarm, originally from Southampton, met 49-year-old Bane seven months into the trip.
He is an American boat captain who chartered his vessel to wealthy tourists.
Soon, the couple were dating, and Sarm would end up staying on Bane’s yacht.
Her mum Brenda told the BBC she accepts that her daughter is now dead, but hopes investigators can get to the bottom of what happened.
“We still haven’t been able to grieve properly,” she said.
6
6
6
“We all deserve to know what happened to her and to bring her home. It’s just so, so unfair.”
Chief of Police, USVI, Steven Phillip explained the reason for releasing the CCTV footage now.
“We’re at a dead end,” he told the BBC.
“If anybody could look at this video and see something and say something it can help. That’s why now.”
Cops believe there could be an inconsistency with the timestamp on the CCTV.
US Coast Guard reports reveal Bane had said had gone back to their yacht at 10pm local time.
However, the CCTV shows them boarding the dinghy at 8.45pm, and investigators testing the route to their bay say it should only take five or 10 minutes, meaning there is a missing hour unaccounted for.
US Virgin Islands’ Police Commissioner Mario Brooks said. “The timeline is suspicious, and that’s one of the reasons why we need to talk to Ryan.”
Bane has not spoken publicly about the case, but his lawyer David Cattie now has for the first time.
Cattie said this characterisation of the timeline is “irresponsible” and that there is “no evidence” Bane had a role in her disappearance.
He added that the timeline inconsistency could be explained by an error in estimating the time while under the stress of trying to find her.
Bane has invoked the Fifth Amendment, a right not to give evidence that could self-incriminate, to avoid questioning by cops.
He left the US Virgin Islands five weeks after Sarm’s disappearance and has never returned.
