Police in Grenada say that prison escapees likely threw Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, seen in the inset, overboard. (Screenshot: GIS TV; image of the couple: GoFundMe campaign)
Police in the Caribbean nation of Granada released a grim update in the search for an American couple whose yacht was hijacked by escaped prisoners. Evidence suggests that the perpetrators “disposed of the occupants” while sailing to the nearby country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
In other words, the men likely threw Virginia residents Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel overboard. As Law&Crime has reported, authorities had said they feared that the missing couple had been killed.
Monday’s update sheds more light on what specifically might have happened last week.
Cops have said that three inmates, Ron Mitchell, 30, Trevon Robertson, 19, and Abita Stanislaus, 25, escaped the South St. George’s Police Station and fled on Feb. 18.
Commissioner of Police Don McKenzie said in a press conference on Monday that according to the preliminary information, the men hijacked the couple’s yacht, Simplicity, on Feb. 19.
Hendry and Brandel were longtime members of the Salty Dawg Sailing Association. According to the organization, a good Samaritan encountered Simplicity anchored and abandoned off a beach on the south coast of St. Vincent.
“The good Samaritan had boarded the boat and noted that the owners, Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, were not onboard and found evidence of apparent violence,” the organization said. “Contact information for the SDSA was posted and the skipper contacted the Association. The good Samaritan contacted the St. Vincent coast guard alerting them of the situation; they in turn notified the local police. The Coast Guard took possession of Simplicity and the St. Vincent police are currently investigating with the U.S Embassy and the Grenada police department.”
Granada police said that the escapees were arrested Wednesday and are being held in St. Vincent.
McKenzie was asked about “who is to be blamed” for the “massive failure” of the escape. He said there is an ongoing investigation into how the men managed to flee.
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