Nick Buro: Missing couple's son breaks silence after parents go missing while sailing in the Caribbean
SAINT GEORGE'S, CALIFORNIA: The family of an American couple who disappeared while sailing in the Caribbean has finally broken silence. On February 18, Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry went missing while sailing in Grenada.
In a press release, the Royal Grenada Police Force linked the couple's disappearance to three prisoners who escaped from their nearby holding cell. The police claimed the three men may have killed the couple.
What did Nick Buro say?
“The boat itself was ransacked and everything was strewn about in the entire cabin so clearly there was an altercation of some type that took place on the boat which does indicate that we are concerned for their safety overall because it does appear that they were likely injured,” Brandel’s son Nick Buro told CNN on Sunday, February 25.
“They were super careful to be safe all the time,” he added, saying “Everywhere they went everything they did, safety was their top, top concern so this unfortunate accident, I think, it came out of nowhere for them.”
“As far as we know three suspects are allegedly connected with this horrific event are in custody with the St. Vincent police and are being questioned,” Buro continued. “We 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,” he further explained.
Buro added that based on the evidence found on the boat his family “are concerned” about the possibility that Brandel and Hendry “aren’t with us.”
Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry sold their home to buy the boat and roam around the world
Buro explained that years ago his father and stepmother had sold their home to buy the boat and had been using it to travel the world. However, it was the first time the couple had sailed to the Caribbean, which they had planned to do for years.
“Preliminary information emanating from investigators in St Vincent suggests that the three men made their way to St. Vincent via a yacht which was docked in the St. George area,” police said in the release, adding that the two Americans "may have been killed in the process.”
Police identified the Grenadian prisoners as Trevon Robertson, 19, Abita Stanislaus, 25, and sailor Ron Mitchell, 30, who were re-apprehended on February 21. A source close to the investigation said that two of the men confessed to killing the couple, while the third was hospitalized for a gunshot wound to the leg.
