The FBI and the Coast Guard are reportedly continuing to investigate Lewis Bennett in connection to the disappearance of his wife in an increasingly confounding case that has the woman’s family in public conflict with the father of Isabella’s infant girl.
As Crime Online previously reported, Bennett posted a lengthy Facebook message last week, admitting that he had left the country with the couple’s 11-month old daughter to be closer to supportive family and friends. Bennett has dual British and Australian citizenship, and said he went to the UK.
According to the Palm Beach Post, Bennett deleted the Facebook post sometime either Monday night or early Tuesday morning, after commenters reportedly questioned why he left Florida so quickly and some posted messages indicating they believe he was responsible for his wife’s disappearance.
Isabella vanished during a sailing trip with her new husband in May. Bennett told investigators that he was awoken by the sound of his catamaran hitting something in the ocean as the boat sailed near the Bahamas. When he went above deck, his wife was gone, and the boat was taking water, he said. Bennett escaped the catamaran on a lifeboat and sent an emergency call. The Coast Guard rescued him hours later. The boat has since gone missing, and is believed to have sank in the ocean.
Though Bennett’s Facebook post indicated he believes his wife is dead, Isabella’s family in Florida continues to search for her, and have recently launched a social media campaign to bring Isabella’s baby, Emilia, back home to Delray, Florida, where the couple lived before Isabella vanished.
Translated from Spanish, the flyer reads: “We need your mom and we need you! You are all that we have now.”
Isabella’s sister had previously told a local newspaper that she feared Bennett would leave the country with his daughter, against his in-laws’ wishes.
The FBI searched the couple’s Delray condominium in mid-June. Bennett has not been named a suspect and authorities have not publicly commented on his move back to the UK during the investigation.
Feature photo: Facebook
