The grieving husband of a North Carolina woman who disappeared during a vacation in Grenada says he now accepts investigators’ view that her case does not appear to involve foul play.
Elizabeth “Liz” Waddell, 43, had been traveling with a friend when she went missing on July 22 while swimming near Grand Anse Beach in St. George’s.
In an emotional update, her husband, Cailen, said he has come to agree with the leading theory shared by authorities investigating his wife’s disappearance.
He said that over the past week, relatives, friends, Grenadian officials and many local residents had spent hundreds of hours searching for Liz, but despite the extensive effort, they had been unable to find her.
After speaking at length with family members, local police, the U.S. Embassy and others in Grenada, Cailen said he joins authorities in believing there is no indication that anyone harmed her.
Grenada Police Chief Randy Connaught said at a Tuesday news conference that Liz and her friend had spent the first 10 days of their Caribbean trip at a resort on the island’s western side before relocating to an Airbnb in the south on July 21.
The next morning, at 11:36 a.m., Waddell was captured heading toward a jetty close to the Airbnb property.
According to surveillance video from the rental home, she rested in the sun for several minutes before entering the water at 11:51 a.m.
Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Waddell, 43, mysteriously disappeared near Grand Anse Beach in Grenada on July 22
Waddell and her husband are avid travelers, but Waddell made the trip to Grenada with a friend
Waddell was wearing blue and white striped shorts and a burnt orange loose crop top as she left the Airbnb
Three minutes later, a small boat could be seen passing by as Liz’s traveling companion adjusted a beach chair.
She was then seen swimming toward Grand Anse Beach at 12.04pm. Then, at around 12.46pm, her friend could be seen walking outside to look for her before returning to the Airbnb.
But Liz was never seen in the footage ‘returning from the water,’ and she was reported missing at 5.50pm, Connaught said at the news conference.
‘The missing person investigation into her disappearance will continue, and we are specifically hopeful to determine her actions between the time she was last seen on video and the time she was seen in the water around 5.30pm, as well as any further sightings,’ the husband said in his recent update.
Cailen said his beloved wife had ‘communicated her confidence in her swimming and location, as well as the beauty of the island.’
By Friday, Cailen and their adult daughter traveled from their home in Cary, North Carolina, to the island to aid in the search efforts.
As the search for the missing mother-of-one now stretches into a week, her family has created a website, FindLiz.com, to share updates on the investigation.
‘We have now seen video footage that confirms on Wednesday, Liz was last seen around 12.04pm, about 20 ft at most from shore in water about five feet deep swimming towards the beach at Grand Anse,’ Cailen posted on the site Tuesday.
‘I went out and did this swim yesterday,’ he noted. ‘It is easy, there are lots of rocks you can stop at if you need.
‘The water is shallower near shore, where Liz could touch if she wanted, and the water is like a lake, not like ocean water we experience in North Carolina,’ added Cailen, who serves as the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources manager in the city of Cary.
Friends described Waddell as an adventurer and a ‘ray of sunshine’
Waddell is the founder of Art of Movement Physical Therapy center in Cary
Newly-released surveillance footage shows Waddell walking toward a jetty near her Airbnb that morning
The worried husband later also shared a photo from the surveillance footage showing Waddell in blue and white striped shorts and a burnt orange loose crop top as she left the Airbnb. He now believes she went swimming in those clothes.
When Liz’s traveling companion finished an online course later in the day, she then went out to look for her once again – only to discover her towel still lying on the pier, longtime friend Amanda Romano-Harmon, told WRAL.
After several hours, the friend began to get nervous and called Liz’s husband, who was working, to inform him that she was missing.
‘She was starting to panic because she knew Liz didn’t have her phone or anything with her,’ said Romano-Harmon, who has been serving as a spokesperson for the family. ‘And so they wound up filing a missing persons report right away.’
Cailen also noted in his statement online that his wife did not have her wallet, shoes, cash or cards with her when she jumped in the water. It remains unclear what happened to the mother-of-one in the aftermath.
