The husband of a North Carolina woman who vanished last week during a trip to the Caribbean island of Grenada said Wednesday that he does not believe her disappearance involved “foul play.”
In a statement, Cailen Waddell, whose wife Elizabeth Waddell remains missing, said investigators are continuing to piece together her movements in the hours before she disappeared. He emphasized that “no detail is too small” as the search for answers continues.
Elizabeth Waddell was last captured on security footage at about noon on July 22, swimming near Grand Anse Beach, the Royal Grenada Police Force previously said. Cailen Waddell said witnesses later reported speaking with her around 5:30 p.m. that same evening, farther out from shore.
“After careful and thoughtful consultation with family, local authorities, the U.S. Embassy, and others here in Grenada, I join authorities in believing there was no foul play,” Cailen Waddell said in Wednesday’s statement. “Liz was last seen swimming in the ocean near Grand Anse, around 5:30 PM, far from shore. She communicated her confidence in her swimming and location, as well as the beauty of the island.”
Grenada Police/Cailen Waddell
The 44-year-old mother from North Carolina was in Grenada for a three-week vacation with her close friend, Heather, when she disappeared. Her family said Waddell left the Airbnb the two women were sharing and did not return for several hours. When Heather went to look for her, she found only Waddell’s towel, with no other sign of where she had gone.
A friend of Waddell’s said this week that surveillance footage showing her final known movements appeared to show her “floating” and “swimming around” on the day she went missing.
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“But then she, you know, she floats out of the camera view and so that’s the last footage of Liz,” her friend Amanda Romano-Harmon said.
Royal Grenada Police Acting Police Commissioner Randy Connaught said Tuesday that security video showed Elizabeth Waddell walking toward a pier along the beach around 11:30 a.m. before entering the water and swimming beneath the pier shortly after noon. Roughly 45 minutes later, her friend was seen walking toward the pier, then returning by herself.
Cailen Waddell described his wife as “a loving free-spirit person,” telling Grenadian media last week that his wife “could make friends with anyone and she often did.”
Police have asked anyone with information on Waddell’s whereabouts to contact authorities immediately. The U.S. State Department has said it is aware of the disappearance.
Emily Mae Czachor,
Cristian Benavides and
Kiki Intarasuwan
contributed to this report.
