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Lewis Bennett: $250K bond set for husband of missing Delray Beach woman

Posted at 5:10 PM, Sep 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-01 18:56:43-04

Bond is set at $250,000 for Lewis Bennett, whose wife Delray Beach realtor Isabella HelLmann, was lost at sea.

A judge sent the amount during a federal hearing in Key West Friday afternoon. 

Bennett is accused of transporting interstate commerce worth about $5,000. 

The FBI said he was in possession of silver coins he knew were stolen, and the coins were found after Bennett was rescued at sea.

Bennett says he last saw Isabella at the helm of his boat keeping watch, while the two were on honeymoon months ago.

Bennett says he felt the boat hit something, and he was jolted out of bed around 1 a.m. When he looked for Isabella, she was gone. 

The FBI says there were two backpacks and a suitcase in the life raft Bennett was rescued from.

In one backpack, the FBI found nine plastic tubes of silver coins reported stolen in 2016 in St. Maarten, on a boat Bennett was a crew member for. 

Contact 5 has learned Bennett's bond comes with what's called a Nebbia hold. This allows the court to look into the source of any funds used for the bond before approving it. 

In previous Facebook posts, shortly after her disappearance, Bennett announced he and Hellmann's baby were in the UK. 

A source tells Contact 5 Bennett was arrested in West Palm earlier this week following an interview with insurance agents. Bennett was going through the process of trying to claim Hellmann's life insurance policy, according to the same source. 

Another condition of Bennett's bond is that the amount can be revisited at a later date.

Bennett's next court appearance is in Key West on September 11 at 2 p.m. 

The  FBI still has an ongoing "missing persons" investigations into Hellmann's disappearance, but would not comment further.