Virginia couple feared dead after three escaped prisoners hijacked their catamaran in Grenada previously lost son in quadruple murder and daughter to an early grave

A retired Virginia couple presumed dead after their yacht was hijacked by three escaped prisoners in Grenada had previously lost a son to murder.

The disappearance of Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel on February 18 is not the first time tragedy has struck their family.

Brandel's son Christopher Buro was just 20-years-old when he was gunned down at a friend's house on Christmas morning in 2005. Her daughter Jeanette also died in 2020.

Christopher's suspected killer was Nathan Cheatham, 27, who had earlier fatally shot his mother, Sheila Cheatham, before turning the gun on himself, police told the Washington Post at the time.

The violent end bares haunting echoes of the fate the family believe befell Hendry and Brandel aboard their yacht 'Simplicity'.

Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel had been sailing on their catamaran in Grenada last Sunday when they were hijacked

The couple is now feared dead after three prisoners stormed their vessel 'Simplicity' which is now docked at St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coastguard Service in Calliaqua 

Brandel's son Christopher Buro (left) was just 20 when he was gunned down at a friend's house on Christmas morning 2005 and her daughter Jeanette (right) also died in 2020

The couple was sailing around the Caribbean island and had docked near Saint George's when their catamaran was taken.

Police fear they may have been murdered by suspects Trevon Robertson, Ron Mitchell and Atiba Stanislaus - who are currently in custody - after 'copious amounts of blood' were found in their bedroom aboard the vessel.

Brandel's son and Christopher's brother Nick Buro told CNN that the boat was discovered in total disarray.

'The boat itself was ransacked and everything was strewn about in the entire cabin so clearly there was an altercation of some type that took place on the boat,' he said.

The nightmare comes 19 years after the family was shattered by the loss of Christopher.

The aspiring business student had arranged to meet his family for a Christmas Eve meal at the home of his father Ron Buro.

However he failed to turn up and was a no-show the next day at church where the family had arranged to meet at 11am.

It was not long before Nick began receiving messages about a disturbance at Christopher's friend's house.

The couple's family was hopeful they would be found, but evidence on their boat indicates 'they were likely injured'. Brandel's son Nick Buro revealed the family is concerned 'there might be a possibility that they aren't with us'. Brandel and Hendry are pictured with their family

Police (seen inspecting the catamaran) fear the Virginia retirees may have been murdered 

When a concerned Brandel called the police, they told her they would need to talk in person and it was at that moment they knew something terrible had happened. 

'Christopher could have been whatever he wanted,' Hendry told the Washington Post at the time. 'He was smart enough; he had the looks; he had the charm.'  

Christopher was killed at the home of his friend Adam Price, along with Price's mom Janina Price.

They were among the four victims slain by Cheatham, which included the killer's mother.

Christopher was one of Brandel's children from her first marriage to her ex-husband.

Christopher was described as 'extremely gifted' and a keen golfer by Hendry, who said he had dreams of moving out west to attend business school.

He had experienced a minor brush with the law however, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor for stealing something worth less than $200, according to Fairfax County General District Court records.

Fifteen years later, the family was rocked by another tragedy after Christopher's sister, Jeanette Buro, also passed away.

The suspects, Trevon Robertson, Ron Mitchell and Atiba Stanislaus, seen here, were being held at the South Saint George Police Station on the island when they escaped

The boat was found 85 nautical miles from where the couple had last been seen on it 

The exact circumstances of her death were not made public, but her family asked for donations to The Amy Winehouse Foundation in lieu of any to them.

Her Facebook page indicates that she studied Biochemistry at Northern Virginia Community College 

'Every time I saw you, it felt like coming home and I'm devastated and a little terrified that I will never feel that again,' her best friend Erin Berthea wrote in a tribute post. 

'You were SO generous, kind, smart, just so special. I want to hug you and never let you go. Instead, we have to say goodbye.'

Other friends described her as a 'firecracker'  with a 'strong' personality.

'I’m lucky that I got the chance to know and love you. You were an amazing woman. I know you struggled with demons in your past and things weren’t easy, but you were strong,' another friend, Catherine Meriwether wrote.

Elena Buro Chatel, who was Brandel's ex-sister in law, spoke of their devastation over the deaths.

'We are devastated. I’ve maintained a close relationship with Kathy throughout the years. We still referred to each other as Sis. My heart is broken,' she said.

The couple had been sailing around the Carribbean on their catamaran yacht 'Simplicity' when police say they were attacked and thrown over board

Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, (pictured) who are in their 60s, live aboard the vessel, named 'Simplicity' and were enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime trip which they had been planning for 12 years

In an update on a GoFundMe for Brandel and Hendry's family, her other son Nick Buro as well as Hendry's son Bryan Hendry appeared to have accepted their parents' grim fate. 

'We are grateful to have been raised by the strongest people that we will ever know, and we hope that we can follow in their footsteps and strive to be even half as wonderful as them,' they said in a statement.

'So many people have reached out with love and encouragement, sharing stories and anecdotes of their memories of Ralph and Kathy, and those stories are what we want them to be remembered by. 

'While the end of their life may have been dark, they brought light, and that light will never be extinguished from the hearts and minds of the people who knew, loved and cared so deeply about them.

'We are ever hopeful that justice will be served.'