A 19-year-old Canadian woman has been found dead on the beach of the popular tourist island of K’gari (formerly known as Fraser Island), off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The young woman’s body was discovered surrounded by a pack of dingoes on Monday morning.
According to Queensland police, the woman had been working at a backpacker hostel on the island’s eastern beaches. She had left the hostel around 5am on Monday, telling her colleagues that she was going for a swim on her own. Her next sighting was between 6am and 6:15am on the beach north of the Maheno shipwreck, where two male witnesses discovered her body surrounded by approximately 10 dingoes.
Inspector Paul Algie of the Wide Bay Burnett District Police stated that the woman’s body had been “touched and interfered with” by the wild canids. However, he cautioned that police will wait for the post-mortem examination, scheduled for Wednesday, before speculating on the cause of her death.
“At this stage, it’s too early to speculate on the cause of death – we simply can’t confirm whether this young lady drowned, or died as a result of being attacked by dingoes,” Algie said.
The inspector acknowledged the public’s desire to know what happened to the “very unfortunate woman,” but emphasized that the police investigation is still ongoing. They are currently piecing together the woman’s movements in the 75-minute window between 5am and 6:15am.
A Canadian friend of the young woman, who was working with her at the hostel, is assisting the Queensland Police Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in contacting the victim’s family.
Algie described the scene as “a very traumatic and horrific” one for the witnesses, and said that the police officers who attended, as well as the K’gari community, have been deeply affected by the incident.
K’gari, the largest sand island in the world, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and an important refuge for dingoes, known locally as “wongari.” Authorities have warned that the dingoes are wild animals and should be treated as such.
Police are appealing for any witnesses who may have information about the woman’s movements or the incident to come forward and assist with the investigation.