At the beginning of this year, the U.S. Virgin Islands became the backdrop for the tragic discovery of the death of Jamie Cail, an acclaimed former American swimmer. She was 42.
On the evening of February 21, her boyfriend, returned home shortly after midnight and found Cail non-responsive. With the assistance of a friend, she was immediately transported to the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center. It was there that she was officially pronounced dead.
Details emerging from an autopsy conducted by the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department revealed a drug overdose as the cause. August 22 saw the release of a toxicology report, which identified “fentanyl intoxication with aspiration of gastric content” as the specific cause of her passing.
The report concluded that her death was accidental in nature. Yet, information about how Cail encountered the lethal synthetic opioid, fentanyl, remains undisclosed.
Cail’s family is disputing her cause of death. They released post-mortem photos to Insider that show heavy bruising on her face that they claim indicates evidence of foul play. The family denies that Cail was a fentanyl user and suspect she had been beaten.
Hailing from New Hampshire, Cail had an illustrious swimming career. Her achievements include a standout performance at the Phillips 66 National Championship in Nashville, Tennessee. Additionally, SwimSwam.com recognizes her contribution to a relay team victory at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships. Her collegiate swimming days were spent at the University of Maine, where she was part of the women’s team from 2000 to 2001.