"She was last seen swimming along Grand Anse Beach on Wednesday afternoon," Amanda Romano-Harmon said.
Romano-Harmon noted that family members are attempting to maintain hope while searching for any potential clues surrounding the incident.
"She was starting to panic because she knew Liz didn't have her phone or anything with her, and so they wound up filing a missing persons report right away," Amanda Romano-Harmon said.
>>> US Senate to Vote on Russia Sanctions Package Honoring Late Senator Lindsey Graham
Friend and community members described Waddell, the founder of Art of Movement Physical Therapy in Cary, North Carolina, as adventurous and outgoing.
"They're broken up," Amanda Romano-Harmon said. "They're trying to figure out anything – no stone left unturned.
They're looking for all the details, all the clues.
They're just trying to hold it together as best as they can, and we're trying to be as supportive as we possibly can for them, because it's unimaginable.
We're just trying to keep them calm and trying to help them in any way that we can."
Prior statements from Waddell's business page outlined her professional focus on health and rehabilitation.
"She'll see kids playing in the park as she's walking or exercising or whatever, and she'll start kicking the ball with them.
Everybody's a friend for Liz," Amanda Romano-Harmon said.
Waddell previously detailed her physical therapy mission on social media platforms.
"Liz helps active people get out of pain so they feel stronger, healthier and able to do what they love," Liz Waddell wrote.
Waddell holds a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her family launched findliz.
com to organize tips and public support.
>>> Hurricane Genevieve Reaches Category 5 Peak with 160 MPH Winds in Eastern Pacific
Authorities describe her as 5 feet, 5 inches tall with a medium build and short blonde hair, urging anyone with information to contact the South Saint George Police Station at (473) 440-3921.
