Missing woman Sarm Heslop was not body found on Caribbean island, police say

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U.S. Virgin Islands police say a woman’s body recently found on a Caribbean island is not that of Sarm Heslop, a British woman who has been missing for more than two months. 

Police say the body was found on the island of St. Croix – about 40 miles from St. John, where Heslop’s American boyfriend, Ryan Bane, first reported her missing on March 8. 

Sarm Heslop

In a statement provided to Fox News, Toby Derima, a spokesman for Virgin Islands Police Department, confirmed that a woman’s body was found in Bugby Hole on May 19. 

Derima said that detectives cannot "presently identify the female found deceased" but "they can confirm that the remains are not Caucasian, effectively ruling out the remains are of Ms. Heslop." 

He said the VIPD is continuing to work on the case and looking for clues to determine what happened to Heslop. 

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Heslop was last seen at a bar with Bane on the evening of March 7. He reported her missing around 2:30 a.m. the following morning, according to police, and said she was no longer on his 47-foot catamaran, the Siren Song. 

They said they told him to contact the U.S. Coast Guard for a search and rescue mission – which he did about 10 hours later. Although he has not been named a suspect or person of interest, he retained a high-powered local lawyer and refused to allow police to search his boat.

Sarm Heslop

Heslop’s friends have asked Bane to explain what happened in the hours between his 2:30 a.m. 911 call and when he contacted the U.S. Coast Guard.

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Bane has repeatedly declined to comment on Heslop’s disappearance, and authorities have said they’re not even certain she even returned to the boat with him.

Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.