The couple whose catamaran was hijacked last week by three escaped prisoners were presumed dead and likely had been thrown into the ocean, police said.
A U.S. couple whose catamaran was hijacked last week in the Caribbean by three escaped prisoners were presumed dead and likely had been thrown into the ocean, police said Monday.
The accounts by police in Grenada and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines were a blow to those who were independently helping search for Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel and had hoped they were alive.
Don McKenzie, commissioner of the Royal Grenada Police Force, said at a news conference that the three prisoners escaped on Feb. 18 from the South Saint George Police Station. They hijacked the catamaran Simplicity on the following day and then headed to St. Vincent, where they were arrested last Wednesday, he said.
„Information suggests that while traveling between Grenada and St. Vincent, they disposed of the occupants,“ McKenzie said.
McKenzie said he had no conclusive proof that the couple was dead but cited a „low probability“ they were alive.
Hours later, the main spokesman for the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force posted a video saying that while no bodies have been found, the couple is presumed dead based on the investigation so far.Police report signs of violence aboard the abandoned boat
The suspects were being investigated for several criminal acts, including „bodily harm to the couple,“ spokesman Junior Simmons said in the brief recorded statement.
