A friend of the American woman who disappeared during a vacation in Grenada says video captured the woman’s last known movements before she vanished. Police later confirmed that surveillance footage shows Elizabeth Waddell on July 22, the day she was last seen, swimming off Grand Anse Beach in St. George’s, the Caribbean island nation’s capital.
Amanda Romano-Harmon, a friend of Waddell’s, said the footage appears to show her “floating” and “swimming around” in the water.
“But then she, you know, she floats out of the camera view and so that’s the last footage of Liz,” Romano-Harmon said.
Royal Grenada Police Acting Commissioner Randy Connaught said at a Tuesday briefing that video showed the 44-year-old North Carolina mother walking toward a pier on the beach at about 11:30 a.m. that morning. Over roughly the next half hour, the footage showed Waddell sitting on the nearby sand, walking along the pier, entering the water and then swimming beneath the pier shortly after noon, Connaught said.
Around 45 minutes later, Waddell’s friend and travel companion was seen heading toward the pier, but later returned alone, according to the acting commissioner.
“Mrs. Waddell was not seen returning from the water,” Connaught said. He also noted that investigators have received eyewitness accounts suggesting Waddell was swimming in the open ocean later that afternoon, not long before her friend reported her missing to police.
Authorities have not released the surveillance footage or any images tied to Waddell’s disappearance. Her husband, Cailen Waddell, said in a statement Tuesday that the family reviewed the footage after traveling to Grenada to assist with the search.
“I went out and did this swim yesterday,” he said, referring to the route his wife appeared to have taken. “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.”
Cailen Waddell said police were working on connecting with the eyewitnesses who reported interacting with his wife farther from shore at around 5:30 p.m. on the day of her disappearance.
“I understand that there are likely many questions, and there are for me too,” he said. “I am heartbroken that she is missing. Those of you who knew us best knew our commitment to each other, to travel, to nature, and exploring the world as a team.”
Grenada Police/Cailen Waddell
Waddell was on a three-week vacation with her close friend Heather. According to the family, Waddell left their Airbnb around noon. When she didn’t return for hours, the family said Heather went looking for Waddell and found her towel, but no other signs of her.
“Liz had literally left in a swimsuit with a towel. She didn’t have her phone, ID, anything with her, no shoes,” said Romano-Harmon, who described the beloved physical therapist as “the type of person who’d give you the shirt off her back.”
Waddell’s husband has described her as “a loving free-spirit person,” telling Grenadian media last week that his wife “could make friends with anyone and she often did.”
Police are asking boaters and residents in the area for anything they may have seen regarding Waddell. They’re also working to collect more security footage from hotels along the beach, according to her husband. Connaught said search efforts have so far covered land and sea.
The State Department is aware of the reports of a missing American in Grenada, a spokesperson said.
