A 19-year-old Canadian backpacker, Piper James, was found dead on a beach on the Australian island of K’Gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, earlier this week. An autopsy has now revealed that she likely died of drowning, with evidence of “pre-mortem dingo bite marks” that were unlikely to have caused her immediate death.
The Coroners Court of Queensland spokesperson told BBC News that Piper’s body showed “physical evidence consistent with drowning” as well as “injuries consistent with dingo bites”. However, they added that the exact cause of death could take several weeks to establish conclusively.
Piper’s father, Todd James, expressed relief at the autopsy results, stating that this would allow her body to be repatriated to Canada. Her mother, Angela, had previously shared that Piper had always dreamed of travelling and had saved up for this trip after graduating from high school, despite her parents’ concerns about her young age.
The teenager had been working at a backpacker’s hostel for the past six weeks and had told friends she was going for a morning swim at around 5 am on the day her body was discovered, around 6:30 am local time. She was found near the Maheno shipwreck, a popular tourist landmark on the island.
K’Gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, is home to a population of around 200 dingoes, a protected species of native Australian wild dogs. The area is known for its large dingo population, and the Coroners Court spokesperson confirmed that there were “extensive post-mortem dingo bite marks” on Piper’s body, but no evidence that anyone else was involved in her death.
Piper’s family has remembered her as having an “infectious laugh” and an adventurous spirit, traits that led her to embark on this fateful trip to Australia. The tragic circumstances of her passing have left her loved ones and the wider community deeply saddened.
