Woman, 19, found dead on K’gari surrounded by dingoes identified as police probe whether she ‘drowned’ or was ‘attacked’

Canadian Piper James was holidaying with friends when she was found dead at Seventy Five Mile Beach.

A woman found dead on a beach on K’gari (formerly Fraser Island), surrounded by a pack of dingoes, has been identified.

The Courier Mail reports Piper James, 19, was holidaying on the Queensland tourist destination with friends. Her body was found at Seventy Five Mile Beach, just after 5am on Monday.

Police are probing whether she either drowned or was attacked by dingoes – amid confirmation she had sustained “defensive wounds”.

Wide Bay District Inspector Paul Algie confirmed James, from Canada, had been living and working on the island for six weeks with a friend.

James went to a beach about 5am for a swim, then was found by two men driving past, who saw about 10 dingoes surrounding an object on the shore about one hour later.

“[It] was obviously a very traumatic and horrific scene for them to uncover,” he said.

“[Her friend] is very traumatised, she’s been supported by her friends at the backpackers where they were working.

Algie said it was too early to speculate on the cause of death until a post-mortem was conducted.

“We simply can’t confirm whether this young lady drowned or died as a result of being attacked by dingoes,” he said.

Algie said James’ body had been “touched and interfered with” by the dingoes, but they were not speculating whether that had anything to do with her cause of death.

“K’gari is a wilderness area, dingoes are wild animals, and while they are very culturally and significant to the local First Nations people and to the people that live on the island, they are still wild animals and need to be treated as such,” he said.

“I implore all people that visit K’gari, which is a beautiful place, that you do not go near dingoes, that you do not feed dingoes and that you just leave them to live their life and you need to move around them accordingly.”

Witnesses said they saw at least 12 dingoes around her body at the waterline.

Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding James’ death.

Friends told the Courier-Mail James had been living at K’gari for some time and was working at a backpacker’s hostel.

“Police are appealing to anyone who may have relevant information, including dashcam vision or witnessed anything to come forward,” a police statement read.

Online, K’gari-based influencers Indefinite Leave said they were “saddened” by the news.

They urged people to not jump to conclusions about James’ death.

NewsWire has contacted the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation for comment.

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