Devastated parents speak out after Canadian teen found dead surrounded by dingoes on Australian island

Police said her body was found surrounded by a pack of dingoes, prompting an investigation into the circumstances of her death.

A post-mortem examination began this week, with the Queensland Coroner tasked with determining whether the teenager died after entering the ocean, from injuries caused by wild animals, or from another cause.

Officials say further forensic testing will be required before a conclusion can be drawn.

For her family, the wait is agonising. “Our hearts are shattered as we share the tragic loss of our beautiful daughter Piper,” Todd James said on social media.

“We will always remember her infectious laugh and her kind spirit. I admired her strength and determination to go after her dreams.”

He said his daughter was thrilled about travelling to Australia and cherished the friendships she had formed along the way.

The teenager had been living and working on K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, for six weeks, employed as a housekeeper at a backpacker campsite alongside a close friend from her hometown in British Columbia.

Queensland police said the friend had been left “highly traumatised” by the incident.

According to investigators, Piper was last seen alive at around 5am on Monday when she told people at the hostel that she planned to go to the beach. Her body was found by two men driving along the island’s eastern shoreline.

Her mother, Angela James, told Canadian media she had spoken to her daughter shortly before she went out that morning.

“She was just so special. She was just so precious. She was so empathetic. Always worried about other people,” she told The Canadian Press.

Her daughter was relishing her time in Australia and had fallen in love with K’gari, she said.

“She was very adventurous. She loved motocross. She loved camping, she loved swimming, and she loved surfing. She wanted to learn to surf,” she added.

Speaking with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the mother said: “When I didn’t hear from her, I didn’t think anything of it. I knew she didn’t have a phone. That morning she borrowed her girlfriend’s phone to go down to the beach and they haven’t found her girlfriend’s phone.”

She added: “Once I heard that Piper was not OK, I don’t clearly remember much after that. I remember just dropping to the floor and just screaming and just going into shock.”

Before travelling overseas, the teenager had spent two summers working with British Columbia’s wildfire services, something her father said she took immense pride in.

Friends and family have been sharing images of her rafting, snowboarding, riding dirt bikes and firefighting, reflecting what her parents described as a fearless approach to life.

Her grandmother, Penny Vanalstine Marshall, also paid tribute. Her granddaughter, she said, had “a spirit of unbridled joy and courage”.

Queensland premier David Crisafulli said during a press conference on Wednesday: “We’ve got to acknowledge that a young woman, in the prime of her life, has lost her life. Nineteen years of age, and doing what she loved, on a trip of a lifetime – and to not go home to her family is really tough”.

He confirmed that an autopsy was a critical next step.

A spokesperson for the Coroners Court of Queensland said an investigation was underway and that the teenager’s family was being kept informed.

“Following the autopsy, further scientific testing will be required,” the spokesperson said.

“These further results and establishing the cause of death may take some time.”

The island has only about 150 permanent residents but attracts roughly 400,000 tourists a year.