Dateline Unforgettable: What happened to Sarm Heslop?

Sarm Heslop, the 41-year-old cook on the private catamaran of Siren Song on the United States Virgin Islands, disappeared in the middle of the night on March 7, 2021, and has been missing ever since.

The resident of Southampton was known to be a level-headed and a strong swimmer by her friends and family making the circumstances all the more eerie. Heslop had been on the boat with her chef boyfriend, Ryan Bane, who reported her missing to the US Coast Guard after nine hours leading to unanswered questions that remain unsolved to this day.

The Dateline Unforgettable episode titled Siren Song aired on January 25, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST on Oxygen and showcased the mysterious disappearance of Sarm Heslop. The synopsis reads,

"A mystery in paradise unfolds when Sarm Heslop vanishes from her boyfriend's yacht; in a case that made international headlines, Andrea Canning recounts her memorable journey searching for a particular person of interest."

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What happened to Sarm Heslop? Details explored

Sarm Joan Lillian Heslop was working on a long catamaran named Siren Song with her American chef boyfriend, Ryan Bane. The former flight attendant, Sarm Heslop, was responsible for assisting Bane and hosting private guests on yachts. She had met Bane through the dating platform Tinder in 2020, after which the two started dating.

Sarm Heslop and Ryan Bane had been to the island of St. John for dinner at a restaurant-bar complex on March 7, 2021. The two had spent a usual day on their yacht, as observed by the couple on the adjacent boat. Bane and Heslop left the restaurant around 22:00, after which they reached Siren Song by dinghy as it was moored on Cruz Bay, 200 meters away from the shore.

According to Ryan Bane in his statements, Heslop had retired to bed by 22:00 local time, but by 02:30 she was nowhere on the boat. It was then that Bane took a dinghy to the shore to report her sudden absence to the Virgin Islands Police Department, who then asked him to call the US Coast Guard. However, the call to the coastguards was placed after nine hours, at 11:45.

According to a Fox News report, the call to the US Coast Guard was not recorded. The Virgin Islands police had declined to comment on why the first of the two calls placed was not recorded, while the US Coast Guard blamed a “fault in the system” for the error.

The Virgin Islands Police Department initially said that there was no surveillance footage available for Sarm Heslop at the restaurant bar but later showed a clip to her parents, Peter Heslop and Brenda Street. The clip showed Heslop and Bane heading towards a dinghy, but the video was cut off before they climbed into it. There were no confirmations regarding whether Heslop had ever reached Siren Song.

Additionally, the police confirmed that there had never been a full forensic search of Siren Song and neither had Ryan Bane been questioned about Sarm Heslop's disappearance. Bane had refused the authorities on his boat per his attorney's advice.

Brenda Street spoke to BBC News saying,

"They didn't go to the boat to check she was there. They didn't tell the coastguard. If she had fallen overboard, the coastguard would have been there immediately, not nine hours later. The FBI and Hampshire police have offered help but they have been turned down."

Sarm Heslop had left behind her belongings, which included her phone, wallet, and passport, which were handed over to the police.