North Carolina woman vanishes after swim on Grenada beach vacation

An American woman disappeared on vacation in Grenada, and her loved ones are pleading for help finding her. Elizabeth “Liz” Waddell, 44, of Cary, North Carolina, was last seen at Grand Anse Beach on Wednesday, the Royal Grenada Police Force said in a missing person alert issued Thursday. She had been staying at Grand Anse, a popular tourist destination known for its white sand and turquoise water, in St. George’s, the nation’s capital. Police asked fishermen, boat operators and residents along the southern coastline to report any sightings of Waddell. She is described as being of medium build with short blond hair. A spokesperson said the State Department is aware of reports that Waddell is missing in Grenada. Her husband, Cailen Waddell, pleaded for help on Facebook. “Liz went missing in the afternoon on Wednesday. I am on my way there now to help search. I expect nothing less than Liz’s safe return — so please send your love, light, thoughts, and prayers our way,” he wrote. Anyone with information on Waddell’s whereabouts is asked to contact the South Saint George Police Station. Waddell is the founder of Art of Movement Physical Therapy. She was vacationing with a friend, and the two were staying at an Airbnb property when Waddell went for a swim and did not return, Amanda Romano-Harmon, a longtime friend of Waddell and spokesperson for her family, told NBC News. “Last Wednesday, while her friend was actually in the Airbnb finishing up an online class, Liz went ahead and put a swimsuit on and grabbed a towel and went out. They had a pool at the Airbnb, and it was very close to the beach in Grand Anse Bay, that area,” she said, recounting what she had heard from Waddell’s husband. “The friend saw her go out and put the towel out and sit down and just kind of was chilling. ... When she finished up her class, she looked out and she didn’t see Liz, so she just went outside and looked around.” But Waddell was nowhere in sight. “She didn’t really see her at the beach, but she did find her towel on the pier,” Romano-Harmon said. She said Waddell went out with her swimsuit and towel and had left her phone and ID at the Airbnb. When a few hours passed without her return, the friend called Waddell’s husband and filed a missing persons report. The police, she said, “took it seriously right from the very beginning and started deploying resources to find her.” The last sighting of Waddell was between noon and 1 p.m. Wednesday. She was seen on a camera of a bar and grill that faces toward the pier, Romano-Harmon said. “They did see her on the pier and getting into the water, and she was just kind of swimming and floating along, but then she floated off the camera’s view,” she said. Romano-Harmon called Waddell’s disappearance “baffling.” “Where is she? The Coast Guard has been out for several days. They’ve had divers out for several days. They can’t find her,” she said. Romano-Harmon has known Waddell for almost 25 years, and her husband and Waddell’s husband were college roommates. She described Waddell as a “ray of sunshine” and an experienced traveler who loves meeting new people. Waddell’s adult daughter, husband and twin sister, as well as other friends, have flown to the island to aid in the search, Romano-Harmon said. Waddell’s family, she said, is “pretty broken up.” “They’re struggling, they want answers, and they’re trying their best,” she said.