Isabella Hellmann has been lost at sea for over two months, and little more is known now about her husband than in the immediate aftermath of her mysterious disappearance.
In fact, no one seems to know where he is. At least, those that might aren’t talking.
The Palm Beach Post has said it dispatched a British journalist to help track down Lewis Bennett at his parent’s home in Hythe, southwest of London.
Bennett’s parents confirmed he was their son, but admitted they had agreed not to talk about his whereabouts.
“We have been told not to say anything,” Bennett’s parents reportedly said.
“He lives here some of the time, because we are his parents, but not all the time.”
The Palm Beach Post has been unable to verify a permanent address or means of income for Bennett, who said in a Facebook post in June that he was heading back to the UK with his one-year-old daughter. In the same Facebook post he spoke of his wife as though he believes she is dead, but did not offer any further specifics about her disappearance than what had already been reported.
Days later, after the Facebook post attracted media attention, Bennett deleted it, and has since removed his Facebook page altogether.
As CrimeOnline earlier reported, Isabella Hellman, 41, vanished from Bennett’s catamaran on May 15 while the newlyweds of three months were on a belated sailing honeymoon in the Atlantic.
Bennett reportedly told investigators that he was woken in the middle of the night by the sound of the boat crashing into something, and when he went above deck he saw that his wife was missing, and that the boat was taking water. He made an emergency call and left the catamaran in a lifeboat; the Coast Guard rescued him hours later, and spent the next few days searching for Hellmann, without success.
The Palm Beach Post reports that it has attempted to probe the mysterious disappearance of the new mother, noting that even the agencies involved have provided little information. Hellmann’s disappearance is reportedly still being treated as a missing persons case. Investigators have not said whether foul play is suspected. The FBI reportedly questioned Bennett shortly after Hellmann’s disappearance, and a neighbor of the couple’s Delray, Florida, condo said they saw investigators with Bennett as they examined his car, wearing latex gloves.
And in June, the FBI raided the apartment, removing boxes of unknown items from the home. The Coast Guard and the FBI told the Palm Beach Post that they will provide documents of the investigation only after it is completed.
The newspaper has made several unsuccessful attempts to reach Hellmann’s’ family and Bennett, including through his lawyer. And this week’s report appears to question claims that the catamaran eventually sank, as Hellmann’s family was reportedly told. It is unclear if it was Bennett or someone else who said the boat sank, as the Coast Guard admitted in June that it had lost track of the vessel.
Hellmann’s family continues to campaign for Isabella’s safe return through social media, and has more recently launched a social media campaign called “Bring Emilia Back,” referring to the couple’s infant daughter who is believed to be overseas with Bennett.
