Jamie Cail death – live: Swimmer’s autopsy results awaited as ex-police commissioner’s appeal for help revealed
Retired athlete found dead in US Virgin Islands on 21 February
Investigators for the US Virgin Islands Police Department are “anxiously awaiting” Jamie Cail’s autopsy and toxicology results.
Glen Dratte, director of communications for the department, told CNN it was “crucial” to be accurate.
He said that all deaths were looked into by the Criminal Investigations Bureau but added that there were “a lot of moving parts” in the probe.
Cail, 42, was found unresponsive by her boyfriend in their St John home at 12.08am on 21 February, police said.
Cail’s partner and a friend took her to a clinic where she was given CPR before being pronounced dead. A cause of death has not been revealed.
Cail, from New Hampshire, was a top high school and university athlete who was part of a relay team that won a gold medal at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships. She later swam for the University of Maine.
According to police, her unnamed boyfriend had been out at a bar on the night that she died.
Distraught family and friends paid tribute to Cail as a “beautiful person” with a “huge heart”.
Report: Cardiac arrest may be to blame for Jamie Cail’s death
Police in the US Virgin Islands have reportedly told WMUR in Jamie Cail’s home state of New Hampshire that staff at the clinic that attempted to revive her indicated that she may have passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest, according to the network’s reporter Arielle Mitropoulos.
An autopsy has now been scheduled to definitively determine her cause of death.
The scarcity of information surrounding the case has already led armchair true crime fans on Twitter to irresponsibly and baselessly speculate about the role of Ms Cail’s boyfriend in the tragedy and the possibility that an adverse reaction to a Covid vaccine might be to blame but it is worth reiterating that it is far too soon to say anything definite.
Everything we know about the death of the US swimming champion
The US Virgin Islands Police Department is investigating the sudden and unexplained death of former top university swimmer Jamie Cail.
Here’s everything we know so far about the case.
Everything we know about the death of US swimmer Jamie Cail
Sudden death of former US swim champ Jamie Cail under investigation
Former teammate pays tribute to Jaime Cail
Jooyoung Lee took to Twitter to remember his high school teammate.
“Very sad to hear that my hs friend and teammate, Jamie Cail (in the middle with the Bolles suit), has passed away. Jamie had an unmatched work ethic. She left everything in each practice and became a world class distance swimmer through grit. Rest in peace to a real one,” he tweeted.
“I remember we used to do dry land training to supplement swimming. One set was 10 x 1 minute rapid jumps while holding weights over one’s head. Most of us would hold 10 pound weights. Jamie would hoist a 45 pound plate above her head and push through pain. She was a real one.”