Jamie Cail death - live: Virgin Island police give update in mysterious death of swimmer as family speak out
The sudden death of a former US champion swimmer in the US Virgin Islands is under investigation by police.
Jamie Cail, 42, was found unresponsive by her boyfriend in the St John home they shared at 12.08am on 21 February, US Virgin Islands Police Department says.
Cail’s partner and a friend took her to the nearby Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic where she was given CPR. She was pronounced dead at about 2.39am, police said.
Her death is under investigation by the island’s Criminal Investigation Bureau. A cause of death has not yet 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.
Her distraught family and friends have paid tribute to Cail as a “beautiful person” with a “huge heart”.
Key Points
US Virgin Islands police launch investigation after Jamie Cail found unresponsive
Heartbroken family and friends pay tribute: ‘Rest in peace to a real one’
USA Swimming ‘saddened’ by Cail’s death
USA Swimming issues statement following Cail’s death
14:40 , Gustaf Kilander
The managing director of the National Team, Lindsay Mintenko, said in a statement that “USA Swimming is saddened to hear of Jamie Cail’s passing. Jamie was a proud member of our National Teams in the late 1990s and was a cherished teammate”.
“We extend our condolences to Jamie’s friends and family,” she added, according to WMUR.
Report: Cardiac arrest may be to blame for Jamie Cail’s death
14:02 , Joe Sommerlad
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.
NEW: Police in the Virgin Islands confirm to @WMUR9 that the hospital staff at the clinic, where former swimming star Jamie Cail was taken, indicated she was suffering cardiac arrest.
They say an autopsy is pending to determine Cail's cause of death. https://t.co/UwNdSMUBN7— Arielle Mitropoulos WMUR (@AMitropsWMUR) February 28, 2023
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.
A celebrated athlete mysteriously died in the Virgin Islands. Here’s everything we know about Jamie Cail’s sudden death
13:01 , Graeme Massie
Top high school and university athlete found unresponsive by boyfriend at shared residence in US Virgin Islands on 21 February.
Everything we know about the death of US swimmer Jamie Cail
Family and friends pay tribute following death of former swimming champion
11:30 , Joe Sommerlad
Friends and family have paid tribute to the former champion swimmer on social media.
Here’s Graeme Massie’s report.
Family and friends pay tribute following death of former swimming champion Jamie Cail
Report: Cardiac arrest may be to blame for Jamie Cail’s death
10:00 , Joe Sommerlad
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.
NEW: Police in the Virgin Islands confirm to @WMUR9 that the hospital staff at the clinic, where former swimming star Jamie Cail was taken, indicated she was suffering cardiac arrest.
They say an autopsy is pending to determine Cail's cause of death. https://t.co/UwNdSMUBN7— Arielle Mitropoulos WMUR (@AMitropsWMUR) February 28, 2023
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
09:01 , Graeme Massie
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
07:34 , Graeme Massie
Former teammate pays tribute to Jaime Cail
06:04 , Graeme Massie
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.”
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 😞 pic.twitter.com/IZ1lE4U2IS
— Jooyoung Lee🥋 (@theyoungjoo) February 22, 2023
Cousin pays tribute to Jamie Cail
05:04 , Graeme Massie
Jessica DeVries identified herself as Jamie Cail’s cousin on a tribute page on Facebook.
“We are all devastated as a family. Pat and Gary, Jamie’s parents are living in Maine. They are absolutely shook to the core. We are all mourning together and are unbelievably grateful and blessed by the outpouring of love and uplifting experiences you are sharing with us,” she posted.
Friend pays tribute to Jamie Cail
04:01 , Graeme Massie
“She was just… a very beautiful person,” a friend told WMUR. “She had a huge heart. She was really loving and kind and well-loved and popular on the island and everybody knows her.”
“Everyone from the you know, older generational, local families to the younger people, everybody loved her.”
‘Rest in peace to a real one’
03:04 , Graeme Massie
Jamie Cail’s former high school swim teammate Jooyoung Lee took to Twitter to mourn her sudden death.
Mr Lee, a gun crime expert at the University of Toronto, wrote: “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.”
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 😞 pic.twitter.com/IZ1lE4U2IS
— Jooyoung Lee🥋 (@theyoungjoo) February 22, 2023
University of Maine pays tribute to Cail
02:02 , Graeme Massie
“University of Maine athletics is saddened to learn of the death of former Black Bear swimmer, Jamie Cail,” officials said in a statement. on Monday.
“The University of Maine community asks everyone to keep Jamie’s family and friends in their thoughts.”
USA Swimming ‘saddened’ by Cail’s death
01:01 , Graeme Massie
“USA Swimming is saddened to hear of Jamie Cail’s passing,” said Lindsay Mintenko, managing director of the US national swimming team.
“Jamie was a proud member of our National Teams in the late 1990s and was a cherished teammate. We extend our condolences to Jamie’s friends and family.”
Pictures from Jamie Cail’s swimming career
00:02 , Graeme Massie
Jamie Cail’s high school and college swimming record
Monday 27 February 2023 23:16 , Graeme Massie
Jamie Cail won a gold medal as a teenager at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships in the 800m relay.
Cail swam the third leg alongside future Olympic gold medallists Lindsay Benko, Ashley Whitney and Jenny Thompson.
Originally from New Hampshire, Cail swam for a successful Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, where she still holds several records, according to SwimSwam.com.
She later moved to California where she won several state championships and swam for the University of Southern California.
US Virgin Islands police launch investigation after Jamie Cail found unresponsive
09:10 , Joe Sommerlad
One of the top high school swimmers of the 1990s has been found dead in the US Virgin Islands. Jamie Cail was only 42 years old and the cause of death remains a mystery.
The body of the retired swimming champion was discovered in the home she shared with her boyfriend in St John on 21 February, local police say.
Ms Cail, originally from Claremont, New Hampshire, was part of a relay team that won a gold medal at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships before she enrolled at the University of Maine and competed as part of its swim team in the 2000/01 academic year, according to ABC News.
She’s being remembered as “one of the best high school swimmers in the country in the 1990s”.
This is everything we know about Jamie Cail.
