The three men who authorities believe hijacked a catamaran in the Caribbean and tossed the American passengers overboard will be deported from St. Vincent following a judge’s order Monday, The Associated Press reported.
Trevon Roberston, a 19-year-old unemployed man; Abita Stanislaus, a 25-year-old farmer; and Ron Mitchell, a 30-year-old sailor; appeared in a St. Vincent court Monday after the three pleaded guilty to immigration charges. The men will be sent back to Grenada “as soon as practicable,” Senior Magistrate Colin John ordered, according to the AP.
The three men had escaped from police custody in Grenada on Feb. 18 and are accused of hijacking Simplicity, a sailing catamaran owned by Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel. Authorities announced the couple is presumed dead.
The bodies of Hendry and Brandel haven’t been recovered. The men haven’t been charged in the couple’s deaths but instead faced immigration-related charges for illegally entering St. Vincent.
The couple, experienced sailors, were on their final voyage with the Salty Dawg Sailing Association when it “took an unthinkable turn as Simplicity was found abandoned in St. Vincent, bearing chilling evidence of a violent struggle,” said a GoFundMe created for the couple’s family.
Evidence discovered aboard Simplicity suggests there were “acts of violence,” police said. Investigators found what is believed to be blood on the boat.
The couple’s children, Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry, said in a statement they remain optimistic in the search for their parents, who “lived a life that most of us can only dream of, sailing the eastern coast of the United States, living on their home Simplicity, making friends with everyone they encountered, singing, dancing and laughing with friends and family.”
