SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (SONNA) — Authorities in the eastern Caribbean said they were trying to locate two people believed to be U.S. citizens who were aboard a yacht that was hijacked by three escaped prisoners from Grenada.
The Royal Grenada Police Force said in a statement released Friday that they were working on leads “that suggest” the two occupants of the yacht might have been killed.
“This investigation is in its infancy stage,” police said.
The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association identified the owners as Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel. It said they were “veteran cruisers” and longtime members of the association, calling them “warmhearted and capable.” A relative of Hendry didn’t return a message seeking comment Saturday.
The association said a cruising skipper had contacted the association about a member’s yacht, Simplicity, that was found “anchored and abandoned” off a beach on the island of St. Vincent.
“The good Samaritan had boarded the boat and noted that the owners … were not onboard and found evidence of apparent violence,” the association said in a statement Thursday.
The association said Hendry and Brandel had sailed the yacht in last year’s Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua, and were spending the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean.
Source: AP
