Three prisoners escaped from custody in Grenada and allegedly hijacked an American couple’s yacht two days later, throwing the retired owners overboard and presumed dead.
Mike Hutchinson, a veteran journalist in Grenada said, “Grenada is safer now than it was weeks ago [when the trio escaped] now that they’re behind bars.”
He added, “This doesn’t normally happen here. There are homicides and crime in Grenada like everywhere else, but I’ve never covered anything like this.”
The suspects were later arrested in St. Vincent with the bloodied yacht abandoned nearby.
Video showed one suspect handcuffed and injured as police placed him in a truck.
The three faced charges in Grenada including robbery, rape and assault before the escape.
While authorities work out jurisdiction for new charges, the sons of the slain couple remembered them as bringing light to others through their adventurous retirement lifestyle of sailing the Caribbean.
Buro and Bryan Hendry wrote in a statement, “Ralph and Kathy lived a life that most of us can only dream of.”
The Hendry children said that Ralph and Kathy “made friends with everyone they encountered, singing, dancing and laughing with friends and family.”
“That’s who Ralph and Kathy were and that’s how they will be remembered in our hearts,” lamented the siblings.
Their statement continued, “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.”
They added, “Our parents encompassed all those values and so much more.”
Buro and Bryan said, “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 concluded, “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.”
Local media said crime like this is highly unusual in Grenada.
