Caribbean officials search for 2 people aboard a yacht they say was hijacked by 3 escaped prisoners
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities in the eastern Caribbean said they were trying to locate two people believed to be U.S. citizens who were aboard a yacht that was hijacked by three escaped prisoners from Grenada.
The Royal Grenada Police Force said in a statement released on Friday that they were working on leads “that suggest” that the two occupants of the yacht may have been killed.
“This investigation is in its infancy stage,” police said.
Authorities in Grenada said they dispatched senior investigators and a forensic specialist to the nearby island of St. Vincent, where the escaped prisoners were arrested on Wednesday.
The prisoners, ages 19, 25 and 30, were charged a couple of months ago with one count of robbery with violence. The eldest inmate also was charged with one count of rape, three counts of attempted rape and two counts of indecent assault and causing harm, police in Grenada said.
The three men escaped from their holding cell on Feb. 18, according to police.
Authorities said a preliminary investigation suggests that the three men seized the yacht from Grenada’s capital, St. George’s, and traveled to St. Vincent. The owners of the yacht haven’t been identified.
