Ryan Bane has been laying low in Grenada as he continues to try to sell the 47-foot catamaran that his girlfriend, Sarm Heslop, allegedly disappeared from in the U.S. Virgin Islands about eight months ago, a U.S. citizen who lives in Grenada tells Fox News.
The 44-year-old man was originally spotted last month around Le Phare Bleu Marina on the south coast of the Caribbean country, which is about 500 miles away from the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Bane's ex-wife, Cori Stevenson, said she believes a picture obtained by Fox News shows him in Grenada.
A forensic search of his catamaran has never been carried out. Bane refused to allow U.S. Virgin Islands police to search the vessel when Heslop first disappeared and authorities say that a warrant for the boat has repeatedly been denied by the courts.
Heslop, who is originally from the United Kingdom, was last seen alive at a bar in the U.S. Virgin Islands around 10 p.m. on March 8. Bane called U.S. Virgin Islands Police around 2:30 a.m. the next morning to report her missing and they advised him to contact the Coast Guard to report a person overboard, but he did not do so until around 11:45 a.m.
Bane has been keeping his catamaran, which he is trying to sell for $299,000, in the Le Phare Bleu Marina on Grenada, according to the U.S. citizen.
"I talked to Ryan Bane without realizing who he was. I love dogs and went to pet his dog and I asked him the dog's name," the U.S. citizen, who wishes to remain anonymous for her safety, told Fox News about their first encounter with Bane before they realized who he was.
"I remember in the moment feeling very uneasy about the man as he darted his eyes around and said 'Hunter' then walked away."
Heslop's friends have pleaded with authorities to make another push to search the boat before Bane sells it.
VIRGIN ISLANDS MISSING WOMAN HAD AMERICAN BOYFRIEND QUICK TO ANGER: EX-WIFE
"Once the boat is sold any evidence which could hold vital clues to Sarm’s disappearance will be lost forever and that would be devastating," Heslop's friends said earlier this month.
"The boat is the last place Sarm was seen so it is critical that, despite all the weeks which have passed, it is searched in order [to] progress the investigation," they continued. "The smallest clue could hold the key. This could have been a crime scene; without the search we will never know."
Bane has maintained through his attorney, David Cattie, that he doesn't know what happened to Heslop and that the ordeal has left him "devastated" and "heartbroken."
Cattie previously said that the Coast Guard did perform an "on-site inspection of the vessel and an on-sight interview without limitation," but Coast Guard officials said that they had been "denied full access" to the vessel.
Cattie did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
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Bane has a domestic violence conviction stemming from a 2011 assault on his then-wife, Corie Stevenson.
She told Fox News earlier this year that during that incident, Bane yanked her out of the car while her seatbelt was still buckled and slammed her face into the ground, chipping a tooth before rolling her over and clasping his hands around her throat.
"He’s very aggressive with girls, but he doesn’t really wanna get in fights with guys," she said in March.