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UK Diving Teacher Shot Dead In Bahamas Robbery

UK Diving Teacher Shot Dead In Bahamas Robbery

A British diving instructor has been shot dead in front of his wife in the Bahamas.

Gary Vanhoeck, 51, was shot twice in the head by masked raiders during a robbery on the couple's luxury yacht.

His wife Kathryn, 42, also a diver, was tied up by the men and forced to watch her husband die.

She was otherwise unharmed during the incident on the Caribbean island of New Providence, where James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed.

The couple were moored on their boat when they were ambushed by men demanding money.

Police are appealing for help in hunting four suspects. Two reportedly tied up a security guard while the other two launched the attack.

Mr Vanhoeck's brother Wayne said his family are "absolutely devastated" by the murder.

"It's been a few days now, but it's all still a blur. It's unreal," he told Sky News.

"Gary was a fantastic brother and friend. He was living his dream. He didn't deserve to die that way.

"We're devastated. It's such a shock to us all. The whole family is absolutely devastated."

Mr Vanhoeck's colleague, Michelle Cove, told Sky News: "He loved his wife so much and his son, Chris. He loved them more than anything.

"He had a passion for cooking - he was an unbelievable chef. I often used to say to him: 'How can you work all day - it's a tough job, it's very physical - and go home and cook these phenomenal meals you can't even find in a restaurant?'

"He says: 'You know, I find it quite therapeutic at the end of the day to have a glass of wine and cook a beautiful meal for my lovely wife.'

"I really admire him. I'm going to miss him so much. We are all just in shock," said Ms Cove.

A spokesman for Nassau Police said: "Police have launched an island-wide manhunt for the suspects responsible for a shooting incident that left a man dead on Friday 1 May.

"According to reports, around 10pm, a man who is a British national residing in the Bahamas for a number of years, was at home on his sailboat located at western New Providence near a place where he is employed, when two men armed with handguns accosted him and demanded cash.

"The men fired two shots hitting the victim before fleeing on foot.

"The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are searching for four men in connection with this incident. Investigations are ongoing."

Mr Vanhoeck, originally from Grimsby, Humberside, wrote on his blog that he and his wife were loving life on the island - "living like pirates, diving in the Caribbean".

His death raised the number of people murdered in the Bahamas this year to 49 - a 19% increase on 2014 - according to the Nassau Guardian.

The incident comes a year after Briton Edgar Dart was killed when struggling with robbers who had broken into his mother's home in the Emerald Bay area of Grand Bahama. Three masked intruders had cut phone lines to the house before entering, carrying a handgun and a machete.

The men tied up Mr Dart's family and made off with jewellery and other personal belongings.