Authorities and family continue search efforts for Elizabeth Waddell, last seen swimming near Grand Anse Beach.
Search teams on the Caribbean island of Grenada continue combing the coastline for a 44-year-old North Carolina mother who disappeared after going for a solo swim last week, with newly released surveillance video offering the clearest look yet at her final confirmed movements before she vanished.
Elizabeth "Liz" Waddell, of Cary, North Carolina, was last seen on camera swimming into open water near Grand Anse Beach in St. George's, Grenada, on the morning of July 22. The footage shows Waddell walking toward a jetty near her rented beachfront accommodation shortly before noon, sitting briefly in the sun, then entering the water at 11:51 a.m. She is filmed swimming beneath the jetty and moving away from the property toward Grand Anse Beach at 12:04 p.m., the last confirmed visual sighting of her. Surveillance cameras in the area do not show her returning to shore.
Waddell had traveled to Grenada with a female friend for a planned two-week vacation, arriving from Miami on July 11. The pair spent the first ten days of the trip on the western side of the island before relocating to a new beachfront rental in the Grand Anse resort area on July 21, a move authorities have confirmed was a pre-planned part of the itinerary rather than the result of any emergency.
On the morning she disappeared, Waddell went for the swim alone while her travel companion remained inside their accommodation finishing an online course. Her friend went out to check on her at 12:46 p.m., roughly 45 minutes after Waddell had entered the water, and found only her towel left behind on the pier. Waddell had left her phone, wallet, cash and identification cards behind at the property.
Later that afternoon, at approximately 5:30 p.m., a group of jet skiers reported encountering a woman matching Waddell's description far out in deep water. According to accounts relayed to local authorities, the jet skiers approached to check on her welfare, and she responded with a thumbs-up gesture, telling them she was fine and identifying herself as a strong swimmer. By 5:50 p.m., Waddell's friend, realizing she had been gone for hours without her phone, wallet or shoes, formally reported her missing to local police.
The Royal Grenada Police Force has since deployed drones, K-9 units and dive teams to search the surrounding coastline, treating the case as an active missing persons investigation. Authorities have requested backup assistance from the FBI to help canvass the area, though FBI agents have not been deployed on the ground in Grenada. Instead, the bureau has been providing background intelligence and helping cross-reference information as part of the broader search effort, according to reporting on the case. The U.S. State Department is also actively assisting Waddell's family throughout the investigation.
Waddell's husband, Cailen Waddell, traveled to Grenada on July 24 to retrace his wife's steps and assist in the search personally. He swam through the same stretch of water where she was last seen and described conditions near the shore as shallow, roughly five feet deep, along with a rocky bottom and unusually calm water. He said the area felt "more like a lake" than the ocean conditions he was accustomed to back home in North Carolina. Cailen Waddell has said the family believes no foul play was involved in his wife's disappearance.
Investigators with the Grenada Coast Guard, local police K-9 units and specialized dive teams have continued actively searching the island's southern coastline in the days since Waddell was reported missing, examining maritime tide patterns in the area and checking whether any unidentified boats or other vehicles approached the jetty during the midday window when she was last seen.
Elizabeth Waddell works as a licensed physical therapist in Cary, North Carolina, and also teaches dance classes as an instructor at Aradia Fitness. Her husband described her to Grenadian media as an extremely compassionate, outgoing and "loving, free-spirited person" who easily forms friendships wherever she goes. She is described as 5 feet tall, with short blond hair and a medium build. At the time she was last seen, she was wearing a loose, burnt orange crop top over blue-and-white striped shorts.
Waddell's family has launched a dedicated website, FindLiz.com, to share verified photographs from the security footage and to gather leads from members of the public who may have information relevant to the search.
The case remains an active investigation as of Thursday, with search teams continuing to focus on the waters and coastline surrounding Grand Anse Beach in the days since Waddell's disappearance. No additional public updates on the investigation's findings had been released as of the most recent reporting, and authorities have not indicated a timeline for when the search efforts might conclude.
