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Hellman, Isabella 5-14-17; FL Straits - lost at sea
Topic Started: May 31 2017, 10:12 AM (94 Views)
tatertot
Advanced Member
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http://cbs12.com/news/local/friends-react-...abella-hellmann

Friends react to search being called off for Isabella Hellman
by Mike MagnoliFriday, May 19th 2017

BOCA RATON, Fla. (CBS12) — On Thursday night the Coast Guard suspended the search for 41-year-old Isabella Hellmann

Friends and family said Friday they are overwhelmed.

Isabellas sister, Elizabeth, tells CBS 12 News the family wants privacy -- to figure out what to do next.

But Isabella's boss and a college friend spoke to us.

"I still can't totally accept the fact that we're not looking for her any longer," said Ben Schacter, President of Signature Real Estate.

Schachter runs the real estate firm where 41-year-old Isabella Hellmann worked.

We spoke to him on Monday as the search at sea for Hellmann was just beginning --now the search is over, unsuccessful.

No Rescue, no recovery.

"We continue to keep her in our thoughts and prayers most importantly we continue to keep her family and her and her little girl in our thoughts and prayers," Schacter said
Hellmann's friends and family have been telling us all week what a strong swimmer and vibrant personality Hellmann had.

They don't understand how she could have just disappeared from her boat.

And If she was wearing a life vest-- as her husband says she was when he last saw her, why wasn't she located and saved?

Carolina Chica was Isabellas good friend, they went to university together in Bogota, Colombia.

Carolina told us she will hold onto the wonderful memories of Isabella, Isabella was a friendly happy person who loved going out to dinner, shopping, fashion-- and she came to the United States to pursue the American dream.

"This is a young woman with a bright future and a gorgeous little child newly married and it's heartbreaking," Schacter said.

Plans are in the works for a memorial service for Isabella Hellmann, nothing has been firmed up yet.
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tatertot
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http://www.wptv.com/news/region-s-palm-bea...abella-hellmann

FBI searches home of missing Palm Beach County woman Isabella Hellmann
WPTV Webteam
11:00 AM, Jun 16, 2017
7:47 PM, Jun 16, 2017

SUBURBAN DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - The FBI began a search Friday morning of the home of a missing Delray Beach woman.

The real estate agent disappeared in the Florida Straits in May as she and her husband were returning from a trip.

Lewis Bennett said he was sleeping below deck on their catamaran when at about 1 a.m. he woke up after the boat struck something. He went above deck and said he was wife was nowhere to be found and the boat was taking on water.

Bennett made it into a life raft and found his emergency beacon. The Coast Guard found him about 30 miles from Cay Sal, Bahamas.

Bennett told the Coast Guard his wife was wearing a life jacket.

The Coast Guard suspended its search for Isabella on May 18.

The FBI said the search on Oneida Drive was authorized by the court and that there is no public safety issue related to the search.
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tatertot
Advanced Member
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/...1006-story.html

Husband wants wife he reported missing at sea in May declared dead by court
Erika Pesantes

Even though her body was never found Isabella Hellman’s husband is now asking the court to declare her dead.

She went missing at sea in May while the couple sailed on a belated honeymoon trip. A hearing before a Palm Beach County judge is scheduled for Oct. 19.

Hellmann’s husband, Lewis Bennett, 40, is currently in Broward jail on federal charges related to stolen gold and silver coins. He is not charged in connection with his wife’s disappearance, which the FBI is investigating.

According to Bennett’s account to authorities, Hellmann was last seen during an at sea excursion on May 14 about 26 miles west of the Bahamas. Their catamaran struck something while Bennett slept below deck. He emerged to find the 37-foot vessel capsizing and could not find Hellmann, he told investigators.

Bennett’s petition for a presumptive death certificate filed in probate court Sept. 20 states Hellmann “is presumed to have died at sea, off a private vessel that she was traveling in” alongside Bennett.

Under Florida law, Hellmann would have to be missing for five years before she would be legally presumed dead. However, the law allows for a court to make a ruling prior to the five-year mark if the person “was exposed to a specific peril of death,” the petition states.

Court documents show Hellmann’s assets include her West Delray condo and a 2006 Mercedes-Benz C230, totaling about $125,000 in value. The couple also have a 14-month-old daughter who is believed to be with Bennett’s family in England.

Unsuccessful attempts at locating Hellmann, 41, are outlined in court records. The four-day search effort spanned across 4,980 nautical miles and included U.S. Coast Guard crews and a Cuban search and rescue patrol craft. According to the documents, Bennett also searched hospitals in Cuba.

A day after authorities called off the search, Bennett requested the Coast Guard offer him a letter of his wife’s presumed death. But the agency said it wasn’t authorized to do so.

In June, one of Hellmann’s sisters, Adriana Difeo, asked the court to grant her legal control of her missing sister’s estate. Bennett opposed the move, court records show, and Difeo later dropped her petition.

Attorneys for Bennett and Difeo could not be reached for comment Friday.

Late last month, Bennett pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of transporting stolen coins, which were snatched from a sailing vessel in the Caribbean island of St. Maarten in 2016. Bennett was a crew member on that vessel, the “Kitty R.”

The coins were discovered in May when rescuers plucked Bennett from a life raft after he abandoned the sinking catamaran, “Surf Into Summer.” They noticed an unusually heavy backpack that he managed to save and place on the raft.
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tatertot
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http://www.wtae.com/article/husband-of-mom-who-vanished-at-sea-during-boating-trip-charged-with-murder/18401485

Husband of mom who vanished at sea during boating trip charged with murder
AP Updated: 4:08 AM EST Feb 21, 2018
Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A man who claimed his wife disappeared at sea when their boat collided with an unknown object near the Bahamas was charged Tuesday with killing her and intentionally trying to sink the vessel to cover his tracks.

Lewis Bennett, 41, is charged with second-degree murder on the high seas in the May disappearance of Isabella Hellman, also 41, of Delray Beach, the FBI said in an affidavit filed in Miami federal court that points to financial greed as the likely motive. The affidavit also notes that Bennett did nothing to search for his wife, but he did rescue a tea set.

According to the FBI, Bennett told investigators the night his wife disappeared he had gone below deck on their boat near Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas, to sleep sometime after 8 p.m., activated the autopilot and left Hellman above to keep watch. The FBI said he falsely claimed she disappeared after the supposed accident. Her body has never been found despite an intensive search.

Investigators said they found evidence that Bennett had intentionally tried to sink the boat, which was a sailing catamaran. For example, portholes below the waterline had been opened and damage to the twin hulls appeared to have been caused from the inside, according to the FBI.

“The opening of both escape hatches is unexplainable as an accident and defies prudent seamanship,” the FBI quoted a Coast Guard expert as saying. “It appears the vessel was intentionally scuttled.”

In addition, the FBI affidavit said Bennett almost immediately got into a life raft with luggage and other items — including a tea set and a jar of peanut butter— and took no actions to find his wife. They had been married only three months and had been sailing on a delayed honeymoon to St. Maarten, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

“When asked if he used any of the flares on board the life raft to illuminate the area to facilitate a search, Bennett stated he did not. When asked if he had yelled for Hellman while in the life raft, Bennett indicated that he did not. When asked if he attempted to locate Hellman in the water near the vessel, Bennett also stated he did not,” the FBI affidavit said.

Authorities also said there were no navigational hazards in the area and no known loose objects that might cause a collision, such as a floating shipping container or another vessel.

Bennett has been attempting to get Hellman officially declared dead in Florida probate court. According to the FBI, if he did so, he would have rights to her home in Delray Beach and also access to her bank accounts.

“This would be a monetary incentive, benefiting Bennett,” the FBI affidavit said.
Edited by tatertot, Apr 15 2018, 07:51 PM.
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