(NEW YORK) — It’s been over one week since an American couple went missing from their yacht in the Caribbean after three escaped prisoners boarded their boat.
Police said Monday that Ralph Hendry and his wife, Kathy Brandel, are likely dead, however, their bodies have not been found.
Here’s how the case has unfolded:
Feb. 18
Hendry and Brandel, from Falls Church, Virginia, were last seen alive by their boating neighbor at the dock in Grenada on Feb. 18, according to Hendry’s sister, Suellen Desmarais.
The couple, married for 27 years, had been living on their yacht, Simplicity, since they sold their home in 2013.
Feb. 19
On the morning of Feb. 19, the neighbor said the couple and their boat were gone, according to Desmarais.
Three escaped prisoners allegedly stole the couple’s boat before heading to the nearby island of St. Vincent, where they arrived on the yacht on Feb. 19, police said.
Feb. 21
The three suspects were arrested on Feb. 21 and are cooperating with investigators, police said.
Feb. 26
On Feb. 26, Junior Simmons, head of the public relations and complaints department at Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, said investigators determined “the suspects committed several criminal acts, including bodily harm, to the couple.”
Police processed the scene on the yacht and found signs of violence, Simmons said.
“Several items were strewn on the deck,” Simmons said, and in the cabin was “a red substance that resembled blood.”
“Based on the investigation thus far it is presumed that Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel are deceased,” Simmons said.
Their bodies have not been found.
The three suspects have appeared in a St. Vincent court on immigration-related charges and pleaded guilty, police said. Sentencing was scheduled for March 4, police said.
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