U.S. judge declares newlywed lost at sea in The Bahamas, dead

U.S. judge declares newlywed lost at sea in The Bahamas, dead

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A United States judge has declared a missing newlywed dead, nearly two years after she and her husband went missing while honeymooning in The Bahamas.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Isabella Hellman, 41, has been presumed dead at sea by court order.

Her husband — Lewis Bennet, 42, pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter last November.

He will be sentenced on May 28 in Miami.

According to the AP, the plea agreement caps his prison sentence to eight years.

Authorities reported that Bennet was found alone in a lifeboat with $100,000 worth of stolen coins.

He maintained that he was asleep below the deck of the boat and only discovered his wife was missing when their catamaran took on water on May 14, 2017, AP reported.

Authorities searched for Hellman for four days.

Her body was never found.

An investigation undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uncovered that holes in the hull of the vessel were inflicted from the inside, and hatches were opened in what was deemed a deliberate attempt to sink the vessel.

During a court hearing in January, Bennet apologized to Hellman’s family, AP reported.