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For years, retired couple Ralph Hendry, 66, and Kathy Brandel, 71, had been planning their dream trip to the Caribbean.
Now their luxury yacht has been found abandoned on the island of Saint Vincent.
Three prisoners on the run are suspected of hijacking their boat and throwing them overboard while sailing from Grenada.
As retirees, Ralph Hendry and Kate Brandel had found their dream life.
Ten years ago they sold their home in the city of Alexandria in Virginia in the USA to live their life on the seas, aboard the catamaran “Simplicity”.
In the summers of New England – and now, in the winter, in the warm, tropical Caribbean.
According to the couple’s sons, Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry, their parents had been planning the voyage to the West Indies for years.
They participated in their sailing club’s “Caribbean Rally”, from Hampton, Virginia to the island of Antigua in the Caribbean, where they celebrated the New Year.
The plan was to sail around the West Indies for the rest of the winter.
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full screenRalph Hendry, 66, and Kathy Brandel, 71, have not been found. Photo: The Salty Dawg Sailing Association
Traces of blood
Three weeks ago they arrived on the island of Grenada and planned to stay another week.
But – on the morning of February 19, a boat neighbor in the port of Grenada noticed that the large catamaran “Simplicity”, which had been there the night before, had suddenly disappeared.
Two days later, a skipper found the luxury yacht anchored and abandoned off a beach on the south side of the island of Saint Vincent.
He boarded the boat and when he found no one on board he alerted the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard.
On board the catamaran there were traces of blood. The couple’s belongings were also torn out and were in a mess, scattered both out on deck and inside the cabin.
On the same day, three men were arrested; Trevon Robertson, 19, Abita Stanislaus, 25, and Ron Mitchell, 30.
They had recently been charged with a violent robbery in December. The oldest of them, Ron Mitchell, was also awaiting prosecution for, among other things, assault and multiple rapes.
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full screen The couple’s luxury yacht has been found abandoned on the island of Saint Vincent. Photo: The Salty Dawg Sailing Association
Still hoping
On Sunday, February 18, the three men escaped from prison at the South Saint George police station in Grenada and during the night they took everything to be seen aboard the couple’s catamaran and hijacked the boat.
According to the police in Grenada, everything indicates that the men, during the journey to Saint Vincent, threw the elderly couple overboard.
– The information we have indicates that during the journey between Grenada and Saint Vincent they got rid of the owner of the boat, says Don McKenzie, police chief in Grenada.
The hope of finding Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel alive is not great.
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full screen Three men have been arrested. Photo: Rsvg Police Force
A major search effort has lasted almost a week without the pair being found.
Nevertheless, the police chief says AP news agency:
– We still hope that, even though it is not very likely, they will turn up alive somewhere.
Appealing to the public
However, the couple’s two sons, who are now in the Caribbean, are appealing to the public to stop searching – so that no more are injured or put in danger.
However, they want the authorities and the police to continue the work and the search for their parents.
Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel were married for 27 years. When they met, they already had a son, Ralph’s son Bryan and Kathy’s son Nick, who grew up with them. Just recently, Kathy Brandel had also become a grandmother.
The family was very close, considering Kathy as their mother and Nick Ralph as their father.
Nick Buro speaks lovingly of his parents:
– They wanted to see the world. They wanted to discover life. They wanted to see what the world had to offer outside their small window at home, they wanted to move and have the opportunity for different adventures every day – simply the definition of living, he tells television channel NBC.
“Breaking Our Hearts”
According to the sailing society they belonged to, the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel were very experienced sailors and adventurers.
According to the sons, they also had a strong focus on safety – on all levels.
But it didn’t help when the violent men struck.
For the sons, what happened is still hard to take in:
– We still hope that they are ok and that we can get them back, says Nick Buro.
– This was something they always dreamed of doing and so they did it – and it breaks our hearts.