Canadian man found on Australian beach likely died of drowning, autopsy finds

A Canadian backpacker who was found dead on an Australian beach earlier this week and surrounded by a pack of dingoes likely died from drowning, an autopsy has found.

A spokesman for the Queensland Coroner’s Court told BBC News that 19-year-old Piper James had “physical evidence consistent with drowning” and “injuries consistent with a dingo bite”.

The spokesman added that “pre-mortem dingo bite marks” were unlikely to have caused her “immediate death”. An autopsy is part of an initial assessment that could take weeks to determine the exact cause of her death.

Piper’s body Found on the beach at K’GariAn island off eastern Queensland state on Monday.

The coroner also said in a statement to the BBC that “a post-mortem examination revealed numerous dingo bite marks” and that there was no evidence that anyone else was involved.

Piper’s father, Todd James, told Australia’s Nine News the family was relieved as the autopsy results meant her body could be returned to her family in Canada.

her mother angela told global news Her daughter had always dreamed of traveling and had saved up for the trip after graduating from high school.

Both parents were worried about her traveling at this age, but Piper was determined.

According to Australian media reports, the teenager had been working at a backpacker hostel for the past six weeks and told friends she was going for a swim at 5:00am on Monday morning.

Her body was discovered at around 06:30 local time (20:30 GMT on Sunday).

She was discovered near the Maheno wreck, which washed ashore in 1935 and is now a popular tourist landmark.

The area is famous for its dingo population, a type of wild native dog that is protected in Queensland National Parks.

According to Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, approximately 200 dingoes live on World Heritage-listed K’Gari.