The family of Liz Waddell returned home on Friday, July 31, while the search for the 44-year-old North Carolina woman continued in Grenada. Cailen Waddell said the family would travel home that day after spending days on the island during the search.
“To everyone invested in Liz's story: The family will travel home today, Friday, July 31,” he wrote on FindLiz.com. He added, “We have done what we can here, and the investigation will continue.”
Cailen Waddell on FindLiz.com
Waddell said on Wednesday that he did not believe foul play was involved in his wife's disappearance. He wrote, “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.”
The family’s departure came after days of searches around the shoreline where she was last seen and around her Airbnb and the surrounding area. Elizabeth Waddell was vacationing with a friend in Grand Anse when she vanished on July 22.
Royal Grenada Police Force updates
The Royal Grenada Police Force said she was last seen on surveillance video around noon on July 22 swimming off Grand Anse Beach in St. George's. Investigators said she entered the water at 11:51 a.m. and was seen swimming below the jetty at 12:04 p.m. She was not seen returning from the water.
Her friend reported her missing to local police a few hours after she vanished, and police said the friend later reported her missing at the South St. George Police Station at 5:50 p.m. on July 22. The Royal Grenada Police Force issued a missing persons alert on July 23.
Randy Connaught on July 28
Royal Grenada Police Force Commissioner Randy Connaught said on July 28 that no final conclusion had been announced about the circumstances of Waddell's missing-person status. He said, “The Royal Grenada Police Force has not reached or announced any final conclusion regarding the circumstances surrounding Ms. Waddell's missing person status.”
Connaught also said, “At this time, the matter continues to be treated as a missing person investigation.” That leaves the search in an active police stage even as Waddell’s family has left Grenada and taken its updates off the island.
The unresolved question is what happened to Waddell after she was seen swimming below the jetty at 12:04 p.m. on July 22.
