HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — There are new details on the Northern Virginia couple whose catamaran was hijacked in the Caribbean.

Authorities now believe that Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel probably were killed by three escaped prisoners who took over their boat.

They were world travelers, and they set sail from the Safe Harbor Bluewater Yachting Center in Hampton last November.

What they were doing was nothing out of the ordinary for what they had done for years, but this time, they met some escaped prisoners.

On Nov. 2 in Hampton, Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel took aboard two longtime friends — Pete and Tammy Sisson from Rhodes Island.

“They were warm, loving people,” Tammy Sisson told 10 On Your Side. “That adventurous spirit and, you know, they loved to travel, and we were together 11 days on the way to Antigua.”

The meals were great. The friendships were even greater.

“But there were five of us on the boat,” Pete Sisson said. “So, Tammy and I and Ralph and Kathy and a very good friend that is named Will. Kathy made sure that she had a dinner — nice of course — every evening on the boat. We all sat down together and had dinner, and Ralph made sure we all joined hands and said a little prayer. 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 flew home to Rhode Island, leaving behind great friends and memories. It was the last time they would see their new friends.

“From the reports we are getting, it is definitely hard for both of us,” said Nick Buro and his brother Bryan Hendry, who are in the Caribbean trying to find out what happened to them.

Ralph and Kathy vanished Feb. 18, and they were last seen where their boat was docked in Grenada.

No one was found on board, but reports are that blood was found on board.

The brothers shared what they were told by police.

“There was blood found on the boat, there were clear signs of struggle, and the boat appeared to be ransacked. … Nothing was in order,” they said.

Family and friends are devastated.

Tammy remembers when she first heard,

“I said, ‘What! Oh, my God,'” Tammy Sisson said. “How devastated I was to see it. I saw it in the Salty Dog (Yachting organization they belonged to.) They sent out a newsletter and I was just shocked. I couldn’t even read the whole thing, and I just said, Pete, you have got to see this. Look, this is unbelievable. It can’t be possible. I mean, we’re still shocked.”

Said Pete Sisson: “I just initially thought it couldn’t be as bad as it sounds, but we were hopeful that they would be found.”

Investigators believe three escaped prisoners boarded the boat, hijacked it, likely killed the couple and threw them in the between St. Vincent and Grenada.

“We would leave the boat for the day, and leave the door unlocked,” Pete Sisson said. 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.”

Said Bryan Hendry: “I loved my father dearly and I cared and loved Kathy very much.”

Reports indicate the couple was married 27 years, and lived on the Simplicity.

“They were just one of the most beautiful people you had ever met, and to have them have something tragic happen to them in their place of safety and in their home is beyond my comprehension,” the Sissons told 10 On Your Side.

No one wants to believe they are gone.