The family of a Canadian backpacker found dead and mauled by dingoes on the Queensland island of K’gari has paid tribute to the “beautiful” and “precious” teenager.
Piper James, 19, had gone for an early-morning swim when her body was found surrounded by a pack of about 10 dingoes near Orchid Beach on Monday.
Her father, Todd James, said the family were shattered and in pain over her death.
“We will always remember her infectious laugh and her kind spirit,” he wrote in a touching post on social media this morning.
“So many are going to miss you, my precious little baby girl.
“May be gone, but how can we ever forget you?”
James added that he had supported her to travel to Australia and loved hearing about the bonds and friendships she was developing.
“I admired her strength and determination to go after her dreams,” he said.
“She was glad I was on board for her trip to Australia. Lol, she said, ‘Because I’m 18, and you can’t stop me!’
“Piper would work hard so she could play hard.”
Piper had worked as a firefighter in Canada before working with a friend from home at a backpackers’ hostel on K’gari for the past six weeks.
Her body, found covered in bites and scratches, will undergo an autopsy on mainland Queensland today.
The examination is hoped to provide answers as to whether she had died from drowning or being mauled by dingoes.
The potential that dingoes could be responsible has stunned locals and tourists alike.
The last fatal dingo attack on K’gari was 25 years ago, when a nine-year-old boy was killed in 2001.
Police said the incident has been traumatising to Piper’s friend, the two men who found her, officers and the wider community.
Locals and visitors have been warned to stay away from dingoes.
“Dingoes are wild animals, and whilst 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,” Wide Bay District Inspector Paul Algie said on Monday.
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