Current:Home > MarketsParents of US swimming champ suggest foul play in her death -CapitalWay
Parents of US swimming champ suggest foul play in her death
View
Date:2025-04-16 21:48:18
The parents of former American swimming champ Jamie Cail said they are demanding answers about their daughter's death in the U.S. Virgin Islands and refuting autopsy findings that an accidental drug overdose killed her in February.
In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, Cail's parents, Pat and Gary Cail, slammed the police investigation into their daughter's death in February, claiming critical evidence was "completely overlooked" and suggesting foul play may have been involved.
"What we are looking for is justice for Jamie. We're looking for truth," Pat Cail said.
Jamie Cail, who was raised in Maine and lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands for nearly two decades, was found unresponsive in February in a residence she shared with her boyfriend in St. John, the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department said in a statement.
Cail's boyfriend, whose name was withheld by police, told investigators he found Cail, 42, unconscious after he left a bar and went back to their residence to check on her just after midnight on Feb. 21, according to police. The boyfriend told police he and a friend immediately rushed Jamie Cail to the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Toxicology results from the autopsy found that Cail died of "fentanyl intoxication with aspiration of gastric content," according to a statement the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department released in August.
"Manner of death is accidental," the police department said in a statement, citing an Aug. 22 report from the medical examiner's office.
But Cail's parents said they believe their daughter's death was no accident and claim police have not been forthcoming with information. They said they haven't been given an official copy of the autopsy report despite repeated requests to obtain one.
"There is no way that she had fentanyl in her voluntarily," Gary Cail said.
MORE: Death of former American swimming champion probed in Virgin Islands
Pat Cail added that her daughter "never did drugs. Never."
The parents shared with "GMA" graphic photos of their daughter they said were taken by a person they authorized to go to a funeral home to view the body.
"She had a black eye. She appeared to have had a blunt trauma to the forehead. It appeared that her nose had been broken. Her lips had blood around them," Pat Cail said, describing the images.
MORE: Tributes pour in for former US swimmer amid death investigation
Gary Cail said, "We don't know if there's anything else on the rest of the body because we don't have the autopsy report."
ABC News has reached out to the U.S. Virgin Island Police Department for comment.
Jamie Cail was a star swimmer for much of her youth in Claremont, New Hampshire. As a teenager, she was a member of an 800-meter relay team that won a gold medal at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships and in 1998 she notched a silver medal at the Swimming World Cup in Brazil.
Her parents said compounding their grief is the knowledge that their daughter was preparing to leave the U.S. Virgin Islands on March 14 to return to New Hampshire.
"She was coming home," Pat Cail said. "It makes no sense."
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Jennifer Lopez's Jaw-Dropping Look at the Wicked Premiere Will Get You Dancing Through Life
- Man charged with participating in march with flaming torch has pleaded guilty to lesser charge
- Georgia vs Ole Miss live updates: How to watch game, predictions, odds, Top 25 schedule
- Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
- Teddi Mellencamp's Estranged Husband Edwin Arroyave Responds to Divorce
- Real Housewives of Atlanta Star Porsha Williams Influenced Me to Buy 50 These Products
- Gunman who wounded a man before fleeing into the subway is arrested, New York City police say
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- Andrea Bocelli on working with Russell Crowe, meeting the Kardashians and new concert film
Ranking
- California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Alabama vs LSU live updates: Crimson Tide-Tigers score, highlights and more from SEC game
- Federal Regulators Inspect a Mine and the Site of a Fatal Home Explosion Above It
- Model Georgina Cooper Dead at 46
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs seeks bail, citing changed circumstances and new evidence
- 'Just a shock': NC State student arrested after string of 12 shootings damaging homes and vehicles
- Gov. Tim Walz vows to fight Donald Trump’s agenda while working to understand his appeal
Recommendation
Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
FEMA: Worker fired after directing workers to avoid helping hurricane survivors who supported Trump
Pete Holmes, Judy Greer on their tears and nerves before 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever'
FBI, Justice Department investigating racist mass texts sent following the election
Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
'I hope nobody got killed': Watch as boat flies through air at dock in Key Largo, Florida
Chinese national jailed on charges that he tried to enter Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate
Should you sell your own home? Why a FSBO may look more tempting