[imagesource:gofundme]

An American couple who disappeared a week ago after three escaped convicts hijacked their catamaran while travelling between Grenada and St Vincent are likely dead, police have said.

The prisoners had escaped custody on the Caribbean island of Grenada on the 18 February and the following day commandeered a catamaran named Simplicity – with Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry on board. The boat was found anchored and deserted days later.

Junior Simmons, a Royal St. Vincent and Grenadines Police Force member, said in a press conference Monday afternoon that officers who arrived at the boat saw a scene “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 told reporters. “There was no discovery of bodies on board the yacht.”

Evidence indicates the bodies were “disposed of” while the boat was travelling by sea between Grenada and St. Vincent.

Police in St Vincent and the Grenadines apprehended the three fugitives on Wednesday, he said, adding that a Grenada team had been deployed to collaborate on “having a complete and thorough investigation of the matters at hand”.

Ron Mitchell, 30, Trevon Robertson, 19, and Abita Stanislaus, 25, were being held at the South Saint George Police Station on Grenada’s southwestern coast on charges of robbery with violence when they fled.

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.”

Kathy and Ralph are experienced adventurers who spent their retirement sailing aboard Simplicity, spending summers in New England and winters in the Caribbean.

[source:nypost]