Missing American Sailing Couple Is 'Presumed' Dead After Boat Found Ransacked in Caribbean: Police

Mar. 15, 2025

Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry.Photo:Jessica Mause/GoFundMe

Jessica Mause/GoFundMe

AnAmerican couple who’d been sailing in the Caribbeanand have beenmissing for more than a weekare presumed dead, though their bodies have not been recovered, authorities said in a Mondaypress conference.

“Based on the investigation thus far it is presumed Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brendel are deceased," Junior Simmons of the Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said at the press conference.

Simmons also announced that three inmates who broke out of jail around the same time the couple vanished and allegedly made their getaway in their yacht have been re-arrested and are cooperating in the case, according to authorities.

Kathy Brandel – a retired real estate agent who would have turned 71 Wednesday – and her husband, Ralph Hendry – a 66-year-old financial advisor who worked from their yacht – had been cruising in Grenada when they suddenly stopped communicating with family on Feb. 18, according to their sons, who have been in touch with PEOPLE since before landing in the Caribbeanto search for their parents.

Investigators, pictured aboard SV Simplicity, say the yacht was hijacked last week.AP Photo/Kenton X. Chance

AP Photo/Kenton X. Chance

On Wednesday morning the couple’sSV Simplicitywas reported abandoned in St. Vincent — 80 miles from where the couple had last been spotted — and with blood visible on the deck.

Courtesy of Robert Osborn

Bob Osborn, the president of Salty Dawg Sailing Association, which included Brandel and Hendry among their members, said the couple’s disappearance was an anomaly.

“In all my years of cruising the Caribbean, I have never heard of anything like this,” Osborn previously told PEOPLE. “This is not common, but it’s also a very, very big deal.”

Grenada’s western coastline.Colin Perkel/The Canadian Press via AP

Colin Perkel/The Canadian Press via AP

An insider close to the investigation says Grenada – where the couple was last seen cruising – is typically safe but expressed concern that the public was not promptly notified about the Feb. 18 jailbreak. BothGrenadaandSt. Vincent and the Grenadineshave a Level 1 travel advisory, the safest level.

Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry.Courtesy Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry

Courtesy Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry

Those men – Trevon Robertson, 19, Abita Stanislaus, 25, and Ron Mitchell, 30 – who were re-arrested in Saint Vincent Wednesday have not been formally charged in the couple’s disappearance.

Ron Mitchell, Trevor Robertson and Atiba Stanislaus.Royal Grenada Police Force

Royal Grenada Police Force

The escapees had previously been arrested in connection with a violent robbery in December, Grenada’s police force said in apress releaselast week.

SV Simplicity, prior to the alleged hijacking.Courtesy Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry

Mitchell – who worked as a sailor – was also previously charged with one count of rape, three counts of attempted rape, two counts of indecent assault, and causing harm.

A source close to the investigation previously told PEOPLE Friday that two of the men had already confessed to killing the couple.

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A fourth prisoner escaped from the Grenville Magistrate Court last Wednesday, according to police.

Levon Date – charged in the killing of a Canadian citizen in 2023 – escaped the courthouse after pushing past police officers during a requested bathroom break, Grenada’s police force alleged at the press conference.

As of Monday morning, Date remains on the run. Police say the escapee should be considered armed and dangerous.

source: people.com