CARY, NC — The husband of a 44-year-old North Carolina woman who vanished during a Caribbean vacation says the available evidence suggests she may have drowned.
Liz Waddell of Cary disappeared on July 22 while traveling with a friend in St. George’s, Grenada. Surveillance video showed her entering the water near her Airbnb around noon and swimming out of sight.
Husband cites timeline and witness reports in online updates
Cailen Waddell has been posting updates on FindLiz.com as the search continues. In an Aug. 6 post, he said reports that she was later seen by people on jet skis around 5:30 p.m. appear to fit the evidence investigators have gathered.
He wrote that the account described a conversation in which the group tried to persuade her to ride back to shore on a jet ski. According to that report, she said she was a good swimmer and gave them a thumbs up.
Family says witness description matched Liz Waddell
Waddell said he had never heard his wife describe herself that way, but he believed the rest of the witness account was consistent with her identity. He said the group reported seeing her about a third of a mile from shore in roughly 17 feet of water.
He also said parts of the timeline remain unclear. In his view, it does not make sense that she swam for 5.5 hours after the video showed her in the water at 12:04 p.m., and he said she was not moving toward where she was later reported to have been seen.
Police case remains open as husband returns home
Waddell said he does not believe his wife would intentionally harm herself. He said there are still no sightings or released images that support other explanations, though he speculated she could have reached land or ended up on a boat.
He also said the Royal Grenada Police Force still has an active missing persons investigation. After traveling to the island to help authorities, he returned home on July 31. In a prior update, he said he joined family, local officials, the U.S. Embassy and others in concluding there was no foul play.
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