New Sighting Of Missing Mom Probed By Cops After Woman Matching Liz Waddell Spotted Outside Grocery Store Days Later 😱🛒🔍
New Sighting of Missing North Carolina Mom Probed by Police After She Vanished From Caribbean Airbnb
A possible new sighting of missing North Carolina mother Elizabeth “Liz” Waddell is now under active investigation by police in Grenada, offering a fragile thread of hope days after she disappeared during what was supposed to be a carefree three-week vacation.
Authorities are reviewing surveillance footage after a report that a woman matching Liz’s distinctive appearance was seen outside a grocery store on Friday evening. The unconfirmed sighting comes after the 44-year-old physical therapist vanished from an Airbnb near Grand Anse Beach in St. George’s, leaving only a towel on a pier as the last physical sign of her presence.
Amanda Romano-Harmon, a longtime friend speaking on behalf of the family, confirmed that investigators are treating the tip seriously. “So there is an unconfirmed report that someone in town possibly spotted someone who looked like Liz in front of a grocery store on Friday evening,” she said. “So the police are pulling surveillance video from the area today to see if they can corroborate that story and if it is in fact Liz that was seen.”
The development has injected a new sense of urgency into a search that has already drawn coast guard crews, police officers, fishermen, local boat operators, volunteers and a growing team of loved ones. Roughly nine family members and friends are now on the ground in Grenada, including Liz’s husband Cailen, their adopted daughter, Liz’s identical twin sister, and several close friends who flew in to help retrace her steps and spread her photo across the island.
Liz was last known to be at Grand Anse Beach on July 22. According to those closest to her, she left the Airbnb in just her swimsuit while her travel companion, Heather, finished an online course on a Zoom call. She took a towel and headed down to the pier overlooking the bay, planning only to pass a little time. When Heather later went looking for her, the towel was still there on the pier itself. Liz’s cellphone, identification and shoes remained behind at the rental. She never returned.
Amanda has repeatedly described the disappearance as “100 percent out of character.” Liz is an experienced traveler and an okay swimmer who can hold her own in the water. Conditions that afternoon were reported as extremely calm, and the bay is shallow enough that a person should have been able to touch the bottom. Yet the bay opens into the open ocean, a detail that continues to trouble those searching for answers. “Obviously none of us can tread water this long,” Amanda noted.
Cailen Waddell, who works for the Town of Cary’s Parks and Recreation Department, has been on the island since shortly after the disappearance. He has publicly praised the local police for their efforts while pleading for his wife’s safe return. “My wife is a loving, free-spirited person. She could make friends with anyone. She often did. She’s always willing to help someone,” he said. “The police have been wonderful. The investigation is ongoing. They’ve done everything it seems they can to find her.”
Liz, originally from Florida, earned her doctorate in physical therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and runs Art of Movement Physical Therapy from her home in Cary. Friends describe her as adventurous, compassionate and someone who easily connects with strangers. She and Cailen are known as an active couple who love traveling and staying involved in their community. Those who know her best say the idea that she would simply walk into the water and vanish makes no sense.
The Royal Grenada Police Force continues to appeal for information from anyone who may have seen Liz, especially fishermen, boat operators and residents along the southern coastline. Dive teams and boats have been searching the waters for days. Even glass-bottom boat operators who normally carry tourists have taken their vessels out empty to scan the shallows and deeper areas. The family has also launched a website, FindLiz.com, to share updates and ways the public can help.
The reported grocery-store sighting on Friday evening represents the first potential lead suggesting Liz may have left the water and been on land days after she disappeared. If the surveillance footage confirms the woman was her, it would dramatically shift the focus of the search from the bay to the town itself. Investigators are moving quickly to examine the video and interview anyone who may have been in the area at the time.
For the nine loved ones now walking the streets and beaches of St. George’s, every new tip carries both hope and heartbreak. They have been tracing her final known movements, speaking with locals, and trying to keep her face visible across the island while battling exhaustion and fear. Amanda has described the group as “destroyed, stressed, and fatigued,” yet determined to leave no stone unturned.
The towel on the pier remains the most concrete physical evidence of Liz’s last moments near the water. Everything after that—whether she swam farther than expected, encountered trouble in the calm bay, or somehow made it to shore and walked into town—remains unknown. The new sighting, if verified, could rewrite the timeline entirely.
Until the surveillance video is fully reviewed and the tip either confirmed or ruled out, the family continues its relentless effort. They are asking anyone who may have seen a woman matching Liz’s description near a grocery store on Friday evening, or anywhere else on the island since July 22, to come forward immediately. In a case defined so far by silence and unanswered questions, even an unconfirmed sighting has become a critical lead worth chasing with everything they have.
