FILE – This picture taken Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 exhibits part of Grenada’s western shoreline. Authorities within the jap Caribbean mentioned they have been making an attempt to find two folks believed to be U.S. residents who have been aboard a yacht that was hijacked by three escaped prisoners from Grenada. The Royal Grenada Police Drive mentioned in an announcement launched on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 that they have been engaged on leads “that recommend” the 2 occupants of the yacht could have been killed.(Colin Perkel/The Canadian Press by way of AP)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities within the jap Caribbean mentioned they have been making an attempt to find two folks believed to be U.S. residents who have been aboard a yacht that was hijacked by three escaped prisoners from Grenada.
The Royal Grenada Police Drive mentioned in an announcement launched on Friday that they have been engaged on leads “that recommend” the 2 occupants of the yacht could have been killed.
“This investigation is in its infancy stage,” police mentioned.
The nonprofit Salty Dawg Crusing Affiliation recognized the homeowners as Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel. It mentioned they’re “veteran cruisers” and longtime members of the affiliation, calling them “warmhearted and succesful.” A relative of Hendry didn’t instantly return a message looking for touch upon Saturday.
The affiliation mentioned {that a} cruising skipper had contacted the affiliation a couple of member’s yacht, Simplicity, that was discovered “anchored and deserted” off a seashore on the island of St. Vincent.
“The nice Samaritan had boarded the boat and famous that the homeowners … weren’t onboard and located proof of obvious violence,” the affiliation mentioned in an announcement Thursday.
The affiliation mentioned Hendry and Brandel had sailed the yacht in final 12 months’s Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua, and have been spending the winter cruising within the jap Caribbean.
“This can be a very upsetting occasion and particulars are nonetheless unconfirmed by the authorities, however this does seem like a tragic occasion,” mentioned Bob Osborn, the affiliation’s president. “In all my years of cruising the Caribbean, I’ve by no means heard of something like this.”
Authorities in Grenada mentioned they’ve dispatched senior investigators and a forensic specialist to the close by island of St. Vincent, the place the escaped prisoners have been arrested on Wednesday.
The prisoners, ages 19, 25 and 30, have been charged a few months in the past with one rely of theft with violence. The eldest inmate additionally was charged with one rely of rape, three counts of tried rape and two counts of indecent assault and inflicting hurt, police in Grenada mentioned.
The three males escaped from their holding cell on Feb. 18, in keeping with police.
Authorities mentioned a preliminary investigation means that the three males seized the yacht from Grenada’s capital, St. George’s, and traveled to St. Vincent. The homeowners of the yacht haven’t been recognized.
