An American couple who went missing after their yacht was stolen in the Caribbean are now presumed dead; a trio of escaped inmates were charged with their deaths as well as raping the woman.
While the bodies of 71-year-old Kathy Brandel and 66-year-old Ralph Hendry have not yet been found, the Royal Grenada Police Force has announced capital murder charges for three men who allegedly broke out of a holding cell on February 18, the same day the couple was last seen near their docked boat on the island.
Ron Mitchell, 30, Atiba Stanisclaus, 25, and Trevon Robertson, 23, were all hit with additional charges for “escaping lawful custody, housebreaking, robbery and two counts of kidnapping,” the police force said in a Thursday press release.
Stanisclaus was also charged with raping Brandel before allegedly killing her, officials clarified to the Daily Mail. It is unclear whether the trio has confessed or if other evidence pointed police to these alleged crimes.
The retired couple, from Virginia, had docked their vessel, called Simplicity, in Grenada’s St. George before they went missing, Breitbart News reported.
The yacht “Simplicity,” which officials say was hijacked by three escaped prisoners with two people aboard, is docked at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coastguard Service Calliaqua Base, in Calliaqua, St. Vincent, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. Authorities in the eastern Caribbean said they were trying to locate two people believed to be U.S. citizens who were aboard the yacht that was hijacked by the three escaped prisoners from Grenada (AP Photo/Kenton X. Chance).
The Royal Grenada Police Force reported finding their boat ransacked and having blood spillage after it had been left deserted on the neighboring island country of St. Vincent a few days later. The three suspects were also found on the island and arrested on February 21.
“Police believe their killers threw their bodies overboard while sailing to St. Vincent,” the New York Post reported.
After being deported back to Grenada, it was revealed that the men were originally being held on robbery charges when they escaped, and Stanisclaus was also being investigated for a previous rape.
The trio are reportedly due back in court on March 27.
Brandel and Hendry were experienced sailors who were living on their boat when they were killed.
“Just really sad. They were thinking that this was gonna be the last grand trip along with this sailboat,” a friend told WUSA 9.
The couple’s children released a touching statement obtained by the Post:
“We live in a world that at times can be cruel, but it’s also a world of profound beauty, wonder, adventure, love, compassion, caring, and faith,” they wrote. “Our parents encompassed all those values and so much more. If we have learned anything from this tragic event, it’s that we know they left this world in a better place than it was before they were born.”