Current:Home > MyParents of US swimming champ suggest foul play in her death -MarketStream
Parents of US swimming champ suggest foul play in her death
View
Date:2025-04-16 15:14:28
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! (331)
Related
- Jay Kanter, veteran Hollywood producer and Marlon Brando agent, dies at 97: Reports
- Vinnie Pasquantino injury: Royals lose slugger for stretch run after bizarre play
- Navajo Nation adopts changes to tribal law regulating the transportation of uranium across its land
- Man pleads guilty to killing Baltimore tech entrepreneur in attack that shocked the city
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Contract security officers leave jail in Atlanta after nonpayment of contract
- Court stops Pennsylvania counties from throwing out mail-in votes over incorrect envelope dates
- Sister Wives' Robyn and Kody Brown List $1.65 Million Home for Sale
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- The Ultimate Labor Day 2024 Sales Guide: 60% Off J.Crew, 70% Off Michael Kors, 70% Off Kate Spade & More
Ranking
- Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
- Chrysler's great-grandson wants to buy, rebuild Chrysler, Dodge brand; Stellantis responds
- Nursing home oversight would be tightened under a bill passed in Massachusetts
- 7 US troops hurt in raid with Iraqi forces targeting Islamic State group militants that killed 15
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Former California employee to get $350K to settle sexual harassment claims against state treasurer
- Olympian Ryan Lochte Shows 10-Month Recovery After Car Accident Broke His Femur in Half
- Another grocery chain stops tobacco sales: Stop & Shop ditches cigarettes at 360 locations
Recommendation
US Open player compensation rises to a record $65 million, with singles champs getting $3.6 million
Sarah Adam becomes first woman to play on U.S. wheelchair rugby team
Patrick Mahomes Says Taylor Swift Has Been “Drawing Up Plays” for Kansas City Chiefs
Getting paid early may soon be classified as a loan: Why you should care
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
Carlos Alcaraz’s surprising US Open loss to Botic van de Zandschulp raises questions
GOP nominee for governor in North Carolina has a history of inflammatory words. It could cost Trump
Michigan Supreme Court rules out refunds for college students upended by COVID-19 rules