3 Men Suspected in the Disappearance of US Sailing Couple Ordered Deported From St. Vincent

3 Men Suspected in the Disappearance of US Sailing Couple Ordered Deported From St. Vincent
Escaped prisoner Ron Mitchell sits next to a police officer inside a police pickup as he waits to be taken back to prison, along with two other escapees, sitting in the truck bed, in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on March 4, 2024. (Kenton Chance/AP Photo)
The Associated Press
3/5/2024
Updated:
3/5/2024

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent—Three men from Grenada suspected in the disappearance of a U.S. couple whose catamaran was hijacked were ordered deported from St. Vincent on Monday.

The men, Trevon Robertson, a 19-year-old unemployed man; Abita Stanislaus, a 25-year-old farmer, and Ron Mitchell, a 30-year-old sailor, had pleaded guilty to immigration charges in a court in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent.

Senior Magistrate Colin John ordered that they be repatriated “as soon as practicable.”

The men had escaped from a police holding cell in Grenada on Feb. 18 and are suspected of hijacking the catamaran while Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel were aboard.

Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel (R) in a file photo. (Nick Buro via CNN Newsource)
Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel (R) in a file photo. (Nick Buro via CNN Newsource)

Police have said they believe the couple were thrown overboard as the suspects sailed to St. Vincent, where they were arrested on Feb. 21. They have not been charged in the case.

The investigation is ongoing, with authorities noting there were signs of violence aboard the couple’s boat found abandoned in St. Vincent.

The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association described Mr. Hendry and Ms. Brandel as “veteran cruisers” who participated in last year’s Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua, and had planned to spend the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean.

Investigators from Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines stand aboard the yacht "Simplicity," now anchored at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coastguard Service Calliaqua Base, in Calliaqua, St. Vincent, on Feb. 23, 2024. (Kenton X. Chance/AP Photo)
Investigators from Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines stand aboard the yacht "Simplicity," now anchored at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coastguard Service Calliaqua Base, in Calliaqua, St. Vincent, on Feb. 23, 2024. (Kenton X. Chance/AP Photo)