The sons of an American couple who vanished when their yacht was apparently hijacked in Grenada called the pair’s disappearance “the rarest of the rare occurrences” and are holding onto hope that they’re still alive.
Nick Buro, the son of Kathy Brandel, and Bryan Hendry, the son of Ralph Hendry, spoke to NBC Washington about their parents’ disappearance.
The sons first learned the couple was missing after U.S. consular officials in Barbados contacted them. A good Samaritan who found the pair’s abandoned boat, called Simplicity, contacted the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, whose flag was flying on the mast, and word made it to the two sons, too.
They said they were told the couple vanished after three men escaped police custody Feb. 18 and boarded the couple’s boat in Grenada the next day, Buro said.
Buro said they were told an “altercation of violence took place” on the boat, adding that there was evidence of the violence and the couple’s possessions were “strewn around all over.” Items had also been stolen.
The Royal Grenada Police Force said Thursday that leads suggest the two people on board may have been killed.
Buro said there is still no sign of the couple’s bodies but said there is an ongoing search for them “with the hope that they are alive. … Hopefully we can find them and bring them home and that’s still where we are.”
The escapees were caught by police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Wednesday, and are in custody there, according to Buro and officials.
Police told Buro that they have questioned the suspects multiple times, and he said the family is expecting charges soon.
Both Buro and Hendry are in the Caribbean and have been speaking with authorities, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines police and Coast Guard, and expressed their appreciation for them.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said it is aware of the reports involving two citizens, but did not identify the couple. The official added that U.S. authorities are coordinating with local law enforcement officials on this incident.
“We are monitoring the situation and seeking additional information,” the spokesperson said. “The Department of State has no higher priority than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad. We stand ready to provide appropriate assistance to U.S. citizens in need and to their families.”
The Royal Grenada Police Force, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment confirming the identities of the people on board.
Life on the water
The couple met in Virginia and have been married for 27 years. They raised the boys together in the state, where they lived until 2013, selling their Alexandria home to trade it in for Simplicity and life on the water.
“They wanted to see the world. They wanted to experience life. They wanted to see what the world had to offer outside of their small window of living in one place and being mobile and being able to have a different adventure every day, that’s like the definition of living,” Buro said.
Buro said the family has always been close and they talk often. He considers Ralph Hendry his father and Bryan Hendry his brother, and knows Hendry feels the same way about him and Brandel.
The couple “lived with a sense of wonder and love,” Hendry said.
“They loved immersing themselves in different cultures and meeting people and spreading their love wherever they could.”
Buro echoed his stepbrother’s sentiments.
“You’ll never meet more beautiful people than Kathy and Ralph,” Buro said. “They were there for people when they needed it most and I just, they’re my inspiration for everything and I can’t express how much I love them and I know everybody else who knows them feels the same way.”
The couple had been planning the trip down to Grenada — their first to the Caribbean island — for “years and years and years, training themselves, preparing the boat, preparing themselves … to make the trip,” Hendry said.
It was going to be a “very long trip, not to be taken lightly” and the couple felt they had “prepared themselves adequately,” Hendry said.
They made the voyage down with the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, and everyone arrived safely, Buro said.
Bob Osborn, the association’s president, said the situation was upsetting and tragic.
“In all my years of cruising the Caribbean, I have never heard of anything like this,” he said in a statement.
Sons think their parents may still be alive
Buro thinks his mother and stepfather could still be alive.
“We still think there’s a chance that they’re out there,” Buro said. Because the investigation is ongoing and St. Vincent and the Grenadines police were “quick to apprehend the suspects and are searching,” there is hope.
“We still hope that they are OK and that we can bring them back,” Buro said.
He said that the entire situation “is something that is completely unexpected” and they are trying to understand the “senseless act of violence against two people that were just living their lives in their home.”
Buro said the couple worked hard on their dream and had become seasoned sailors. Simplicity “was their home,” he said.
He said the couple’s top priority was always safety and security, “to make sure everything they did was safe and was going to keep them safe.”
“To have that turn out in a way where something out of their control took that away from them is what’s so horrific about this and so sad because they were just, this is just something that they’ve always wanted to do and they did it and it’s just, it breaks our hearts,” Buro said.
