Death of former American swimming champion probed in Virgin Islands

(ST JOHN, US Virgin Islands)  — The sudden death of former American swimming champion Jamie Cail is under investigation by authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands, authorities said.

The 42-year-old Cail was found unresponsive in a residence she shared with her boyfriend in St. John, the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department said in a statement.

“This case is presently under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Bureau,” according to the police statement.

Cail’s boyfriend, whose name was withheld by police, told investigators he left a bar and went back to their residence to check on Cail just after midnight on Tuesday, according to police.

“Upon his arrival, he discovered his girlfriend on the floor,” police said.

The boyfriend and a friend took Cail in a private car to the Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic, where efforts to save her life failed, police said.

Police were notified of the death about 2:39 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

No additional information on Cail’s death was disclosed by police, who urged anyone with any information to contact the Criminal Investigation Bureau.

Cail was originally from Claremont, New Hampshire, and was a star swimmer for much of her youth, her family told ABC affiliate station WMUR in Manchester.

She was also a member of the University of Maine’s women’s swim team in the 2000-2001 academic year, according to the school’s alumni association.

As a teenager, Cail was a member of a relay team that won a gold medal at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, according to SwimSwam.com, an online swimming news site.

“She was just she was she was 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.”

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