A Canadian backpacker was found dead on a beach in Queensland, Australia, and now officials have figured out how she died.
Piper James, 19, died from drowning after being injured in a dingo attack, CBC News reported.
She was found dead on Jan. 19 on K’Gari, a sand island off the coast of Australia. There are about 200 dingoes on the island and are protected as a native species, the BBC reported.
“Piper died as a result of drowning in the setting of multiple injuries, due to, or as a consequence of a dingo attack,” a Coroners Court of Queensland spokesperson told CBC News by email.
James had been visiting Australia, traveling around the country with a friend and had been working on K’Gari. She told friends she was going for an early-morning swim, according to the BBC.
Her father told the Australian Associated Press, “Maybe some dangerous dingoes saw her as something all by itself, as prey that’s harmed, splashing around, and maybe that got their attention to come out, and then Piper got pushed out into the ocean,” CTV News reported.
“I’ve heard that that’s kind of how they’ll do (it), they’ll corral their prey so they can’t come out, and they’ll push them out into the water, and unfortunately, wait for them to drown and bring them in,” James’ father Todd said.
When her body was found, she was surrounded by about 10 of the wild dogs.
Investigators said she had pre-and post-mortem dingo bites, indicating that she was forced into the water by the animals, the CBC said.
Officials said the bites she had suffered before her death probably did not cause her to die. But there were “extensive” post-mortem bite marks.
Eight of the 10 dingoes found near her have been euthanized.
The last known fatal dingo attack on K’Gari was in 2001, the BBC and the ABC reported. A woman was also attacked in 2023 but ran into the water and was rescued by witnesses.
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