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Prison escapee captured after alleged role in killing Americans during boat hijacking in Caribbean
Police officers captured one of the three suspects who allegedly threw two Americans overboard after the trio escaped a Grenadian prison. (Credit: Mikey Hutchinson/Facebook)
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One of the Caribbean prison escapees who allegedly kidnapped an American couple during a violent yacht hijacking is seen in a video handcuffed and bloodied as law enforcement throws him in the back of a truck.
The suspect is one of three men who allegedly threw Ralph Hendry and his wife, Kathy Brandel, overboard after they allegedly took their catamaran by force during their escape from the tourist hot spot of Grand Anse Beach in Grenada, the Royal Grenada Police Force told Fox News Digital.
Blood was found among the tattered ruins of the Virginia couple’s prized possession, nicknamed “Simplicity,” which was abandoned about 70 miles off of the southern Caribbean nation of St. Vincent, where the suspects were ultimately arrested.
The video was shared with Fox News Digital by Mike Hutchinson, a 15-year veteran journalist in Grenada, and the Royal Grenada Police Force confirmed the suspect seen in the footage is connected to the hijacked vessel.
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The family thanked search and rescue crews for their efforts to find the couple. (Salty Dawg Sailing Association)
The suspects were identified as Ron Mitchell, 30, Trevon Robertson, 19, and Abita Stanislaus, 25, who escaped from South St. George Police Station on Feb. 18, according to officials.
They are being held on immigration-related criminal charges in St. Vincent, as authorities sort jurisdiction issues before pressing charges connected to the prison escape, hijacked yacht and presumed murders of Hendry and Brandel.
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One of the suspects is seen in a video shared by veteran Grenadian journalist Mike Hutchinson. The video shows one of the suspects being arrested on the island of St. Vincent. (Mikey Hutchinson/Facebook)
However, even before the trio allegedly seized the retired couple’s boat, Hutchinson told Fox News Digital that he had not seen a crime spree in Grenada like the one Mitchell, Robertson and Stanislaus were in jail for originally.
All three were charged with robbery with violence, and Mitchell was also charged with rape, three counts of attempted rape and two counts of indecent assault and causing harm.
“Grenada is safer now than it was weeks ago [when the trio escaped] now that they’re behind bars,” Hutchinson said during a phone interview. “This doesn’t normally happen here. There are homicides and crime in Grenada like everywhere else, but I’ve never covered anything like this.”
WATCH ARREST VIDEO
Couple’s sons say their parents ‘lived a full life’
The Caribbean islands are tourist hot spots, with 221,000 visitors in 2022, according to Statista, and attract avid boaters like Brandel and Hendry.
The Virginian couple sold most of their possessions to live off their boat after they retired, their sons Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry said in previous interviews.
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Buro and Bryan Hendry, like many other family members and friends of the beloved couple, held out hope they would be found alive, but local authorities said they are “presumed dead.”
The Royal Grenada Police Force said the couple were thrown overboard somewhere along the 70 miles of water between Grenada and St. Vincent.
Several local law enforcement agencies and the area coast guard continue to search for the bodies on Wednesday, according to the Royal Grenada Police Force.
A map pinpointing Grenada in the Caribbean where the couple are feared dead. (Google Maps)
A Virginia couple who were enjoying their retirement cruising the Caribbean on their yacht are feared dead after three escaped prisoners hijacked their vessel. (Salty Dawg Sailing Association)
“Ralph and Kathy lived a life that most of us can only dream of,” Buro and Bryan Hendry said in a heartfelt message released to news outlets on Tuesday.
They sailed off the eastern coast of the United States on their yacht and “made friends with everyone they encountered, singing, dancing and laughing with friends and family.”
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“That’s who Ralph and Kathy were and that’s how they will be remembered in our hearts,” they said. “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.
“Our parents encompassed all those values and so much more.”
Ralph Hendry, 66, and his wife, Kathy Brandel, 71, are “presumed dead” after prisoner escapees allegedly kidnapped them while fleeing authorities on the Caribbean island of Grenada. (Nick Buro)
How the prisoners escaped is still under investigation, according to law enforcement in the two Caribbean islands. Jurisdiction over criminal proceedings is a complex situation that essentially boils down to where the crimes occurred: in St. Vincent waters or Grenada waters?
Authorities do not have any updates on the internal probe into how the prisoners escaped or the criminal investigation.
However, Buro and Bryan Hendry’s message focused on their parents, as these issues unravel.
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“So many people have reached out with love and encouragement, sharing stories and anecdotes of their memories of Ralph and Kathy, and those stories are what we want them to be remembered by,” they said.
“While the end of their life may have been dark, they brought light, and that light will never be extinguished from the hearts and minds of the people who knew, loved and cared so deeply about them.”
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
Chris Eberhart is a crime and US news reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to [email protected] or on Twitter @ChrisEberhart48.