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Nearly a week has passed, and the ocean still hasn't given up its secret. That's the latest in the search for a Cary woman who vanished while vacationing in the Caribbean — a case that has grown more puzzling, not less, with every passing tide.

Elizabeth "Liz" Waddell, 44, told a friend she was headed down for a quick swim. She never came back. Now international investigators and U.S. authorities are racing against time, tides and an ocean that keeps its cards close, trying to piece together what happened to her.

Waddell was last captured on security footage gliding through the water at Grand Anse Beach on July 22, right around noon. After that, nothing. No sighting of her leaving the surf, no trace on land. Grenada police laid out the grim timeline during a news conference Tuesday morning, and the picture they painted was less a mystery novel than a stubborn blank page.

Searching Every Inch, Finding No Trace

Crews have combed the shoreline like they're searching for a needle dropped into the sea itself. Divers have gone beneath the waves. Yet the Royal Grenada Police Force says there is still "no final conclusion" about where Waddell might be.

"This matter continues to be treated as a missing person investigation," said Randy Connaught, the Grenada commissioner of police, his words carrying the weight of a search that refuses to close. "We appeal to anyone who may have information relevant to this investigation to come forward."

Back home, Waddell is known for helping others move and heal — she works as a physical therapist in Cary and teaches classes at Aradia Fitness, according to ABC11, The News & Observer's newsgathering partner. Her husband, Cailen Waddell, operations manager for Cary Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, flew to Grenada Friday to join the search himself, trading a desk job for sand, surf and sleepless nights.

A Trip That Started Ordinarily Enough

Waddell had landed in Grenada from Miami on July 11, traveling with a female friend. For ten days, the pair settled into the island's western side like any other vacationers — until July 21, the day before Waddell disappeared, when they packed up and switched accommodations.

Police say there was nothing sinister behind the move. It was, in Connaught's words, simply a "planned arrangement" baked into their travel itinerary from the start. "There was nothing by way of information that there was anything concerning that agitated the move from that particular resort," he said.

Minute by Minute: What the Cameras Saw

If the case were a film reel, this is where the tension builds. At 11:30 a.m. on July 22, surveillance footage shows Waddell strolling toward the beach, settling onto the sand like someone with nowhere else to be. Minutes later, she sheds her towel and steps into the water.

By 12:04 p.m., cameras catch her swimming beneath the jetty — the last confirmed glimpse anyone has of her. About 40 minutes after that, her friend walks down to the beach alone, then leaves. Hours slip by before the alarm is finally raised: Waddell's friend reports her missing at 5:50 p.m.

In between those two moments — the swim and the missing-person report — lies a gap authorities still cannot explain. Witnesses on scene and every frame of footage reviewed so far tell the same story: Waddell never emerged from the water, Connaught said.

Tides, Cellphones and Unanswered Questions

Since then, investigators have turned detective work into something closer to forensic archaeology, reconstructing Waddell's final hours piece by piece. Tide charts have been studied like weather maps before a storm. Her cellphone has been probed for digital breadcrumbs. Coast Guard boats and aircraft have scoured the water and sky above it.

"The investigative team is also examining whether any person, vessel or vehicle moved to the relevant locations during this critical period," Connaught said, hinting that the search now stretches well beyond the shoreline itself.

The FBI has stepped in too, though quietly — offering background support rather than boots on the ground. No agents have been dispatched to the island, Connaught clarified, and no such request has been made.

Cooperation From Those Closest to Her

Both Waddell's travel companion and her husband have stayed fully engaged with investigators throughout, according to Grenada police — answering questions, retracing steps, doing what they can from the sidelines of a search that moves at the ocean's pace, not theirs.

"It is our hope that Elizabeth will be found and found alive and well," Connaught said. "The Royal Grenada Police Force remains equally hopeful that she will be safe and that she is safe, and we continue to appeal for cooperation to us."

A Community Rallies Online

Miles away from Grand Anse Beach, a different kind of search is unfolding — one powered by Facebook posts, shared links and a family-run website built solely to keep updates flowing. It's become a digital lighthouse for anyone hoping for news.

Cailen Waddell posted an update to that site Monday, describing his own swim through the same waters where his wife vanished. He called it "easy" — nothing like the swells North Carolinians might picture.

"The water is shallower near shore, where Liz could touch if she wanted and the water is like a lake, not like ocean water we experience in North Carolina," he wrote, painting a picture of calm water that only deepens the puzzle of her disappearance.

What She Was Wearing, What She Looks Like

According to her husband, Liz was dressed in blue-and-white striped shorts with a loose, cropped orange top when she entered the water. A missing person alert describes her as roughly 5 feet 5 inches tall with blonde hair. Cailen Waddell, speaking separately to ABC11, described her as closer to 5 feet tall with short blonde hair — small discrepancies that underscore just how many details investigators are still trying to nail down.

For now, the search continues, the tide keeps rolling in and out, and a family thousands of miles from home waits for the phone call that could change everything.