Missing Cary Mom Elizabeth Waddell: New Grenada Beach Video & Live Search Updates

Grand Anse Beach, Grenada — The search for Elizabeth “Liz” Waddell, the 44-year-old physical therapist from Cary, North Carolina, enters its second week as authorities intensify efforts on land, sea and air to locate the missing American tourist. Surveillance video released by the Royal Grenada Police Force shows Waddell walking onto a jetty at 11:36 a.m. on July 22, shedding her towel and swimming beneath the structure at 12:04 p.m.; crucially, cameras never captured her return to shore. Acting Commissioner Randy Connaught confirmed during a Tuesday news conference that the disappearance remains a “missing-person investigation,” stressing hopes of finding her alive despite six days without contact. Coast Guard vessels, local dive teams, drones and K-9 units have been deployed around the southern coastline of Grenada, while fishermen and boat operators are being urged to report any sightings. Waddell arrived on the Caribbean island on July 11 with a longtime friend, who has cooperated fully with detectives and was the first to alert police when Waddell failed to return from her midday swim. According to investigators, witnesses later spotted a lone swimmer matching Waddell’s description farther offshore, prompting an expanded maritime sweep. Family members, including husband Cailen Waddell, have flown to Grenada and are assisting search crews. “Liz is an experienced swimmer and an adventurous soul,” he said in a statement, describing the shallow, rocky waters near the jetty as “more like a lake than the Atlantic we know back home.” Loved ones have launched social-media appeals using the hashtag #FindLizWaddell, and the U.S. State Department says it is providing consular support. Local tourism officials emphasize that disappearances are rare in Grenada, a nation that welcomed more than 500,000 visitors last year. Still, hotels across St. George’s have circulated Waddell’s photo — a 5'6" medium-build woman with short blond hair and distinctive tattoos — to staff and guests. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Royal Grenada Police Force at +1 473-440-3999 or the nearest U.S. embassy. As the community in Cary holds nightly vigils and Caribbean authorities widen their net, the hope remains that Elizabeth Waddell will soon reunite with her family.