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Three escaped prisoners hijacked an American couple’s yacht and left a bloody trail after likely tossing the victims’ bodies overboard in the Caribbean, police revealed on Monday.
Local authorities said Ralph Hendry, 66, and his wife Kathy Brandel, 71, both of Virginia, are presumed dead after they were last seen on February 18 and the boat was found anchored and deserted days later, the New York Post reports.
Royal St. Vincent and Grenadines Police Force official Junior Simmons said during a press conference on Monday afternoon the officers who responded to the boat found a scene that was “consistent with signs of violence.”
“Several items were strewn on the deck and in the cabin and a red substance that resembled blood was seen on board,” Simmons said.
“There was no discovery of bodies on board the yacht.”
Evidence suggests the couple were killed on board, the Royal Grenada Police Force previously said last week.
Royal Grenada Police Force Commissioner Don McKenzie also said during a briefing that evidence indicates the bodies were “disposed of” while the boat was travelling by sea between Grenada and St. Vincent after they “commandeered” the yacht.
The trio of suspects, Ron Mitchell, 30, Trevon Robertson, 19, and Abita Stanislaus, 25, were arrested in St. Vincent hours after the boat was searched on Wednesday.
The three men escaped from police custody on February 18.
They appeared in court Sunday on four counts each of immigration-related charges and pleaded guilty, officials said.
The trio were then held in custody ahead of sentencing on those charges, set for next Monday, Simmons said.
Each were previously facing robbery charges, with Mitchell also hit with rape and attempted rape charges before their escape earlier this month.
They allegedly got on the boat called “Simplicity” while it was docked in the St. George part of Grenada, but have not yet been charged in the disappearance of Brandel and Hendry.
Officials are searching for the couple, but no bodies have been recovered.
The family of Brandel and Hendry were holding out hope over the weekend their loved ones would be found alive.
One of their sons, Nick Buro, said he and his brother, Bryan Hendry, are “doing our best to try and get answers to find out what is next in terms of hopefully finding them safely recovered somewhere on the islands.”
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and has been reproduced with permission.
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