Pals sailing with Va. couple before yacht hijacked say they felt safer in Caribbean than US: ‘We’d leave the door unlocked’

Friends traveling with the American couple who vanished on their yacht said they felt safer in most of the Caribbean than in parts of the United States — and wondered if the four of them could’ve stopped the three escaped prisoners who hijacked the boat.

Pete and Tammy Sisson, of Rhode Island, said they felt so at ease during the trip with Ralph Hendry and his wife Kathy Brandel they never locked the door when they left the boat docked for the day, according to WAVY.

The pair sailed with the Virginia couple earlier this month before Hendry, 66, and Brandel, 71, were likely killed and tossed overboard, authorities have said.

“We would leave the boat for the day, and leave the door unlocked,” Pete Sisson told the station. “We felt safer in a lot of the Caribbean Islands than we did in parts of the United States, and they were the same way.”

The Sissons, along with one other friend, joined Hendry and Brandel on the catamaran, and gave thanks for their good fortune nightly, Pete said.

“We all sat down together and had dinner, and Ralph made sure we all joined hands and said a little prayer,” Pete added.

“We gave thanks that we were living the lifestyle, and then we loved and prayed for people who were not as fortunate as we were.”

The Sissons later flew back home after they were together for 11 days traveling to Antigua while Hendry and Brandel remained in Grenada, Tammy told WJAR.

“I’d like to think that if there was four people on that boat, that this never would have happened,” Pete added.

Signs of a violent struggle appeared to take place, with several items “strewn on the deck and in the cabin and a red substance that resembled blood seen on board,” Royal St. Vincent and Grenadines Police Force official Junior Simmons said during a Monday press conference.

Officials were still searching for the bodies this week, with Royal Grenada Police Force Commissioner Don McKenzie believing they were “disposed of” while the yacht sailed from Grenada to St. Vincent.

Suspects Ron Mitchell, 30, Trevon Robertson, 19, and Abita Stanislaus, 25, were arrested in St. Vincent. The trio were charged, and pleaded guilty to immigration-related charges, but have not been officially charged in the presumed tragic deaths of Hendry and Brandel.

“I just initially thought it couldn’t be as bad as it sounds, but we were hopeful that they would be found,” Sisson told WAVY about the moment he found out their friends had disappeared.

While family held out hope the couple would be found alive, their heartbroken sons Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry said in a statement posted on GoFundMe Tuesday they are “incredibly saddened to hear the news that our parents Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry are now presumed dead.”

“Ralph and Kathy lived a life that most of us can only dream of, sailing the eastern coast of the United States, living on their home Simplicity, making 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.”