{"id":316056,"date":"2026-03-06T13:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316056\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T13:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:47:13","slug":"coroner-finds-piper-james-died-on-kgari-from-drowning-due-to-dingo-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316056\/","title":{"rendered":"Coroner finds Piper James died on K’gari from drowning due to dingo attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nikki Sorbello and James C Taylor, ABC<\/p>\n

\"Canadian<\/p>\n

\nCanadian backpacker Piper James who died on K’gari in January.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ Supplied\n<\/p>\n

Drowning by dingoes has been ruled as the official cause of death of Canadian teenager Piper James.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old was found on a K’gari (Fraser Island) beach at about 6:30am on January 19, near a campsite where she lived and worked for about a week before her death.<\/p>\n

Her body was surrounded by a pack of approximately 10 dingoes, eight of which have since been euthanised.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Coroners Court of Queensland said James died as a result of drowning in the setting of multiple injuries, due to, or as a consequence of a dingo attack.<\/p>\n

“The investigation into Piper’s death is ongoing, and no further information can be provided at this time,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\"Candian<\/p>\n

\nCandian tourist Piper James, pictured with her father Todd, was found dead on a K’gari beach.
\nPhoto: Social media\n<\/p>\n

In response to the finding her mother, Angela James, told the ABC she could not stop thinking about how scared her daughter must have been.<\/p>\n

“It breaks my heart we couldn’t be there to save her,” Angela James said.<\/p>\n

“It hurts my heart to think she was screaming for me,” her father Todd James said.<\/p>\n

“It’s hard to imagine what our baby went through.”<\/p>\n

\"Angela<\/p>\n

\nAngela and Todd James in the surf during smoking ceremony for Piper James on K’gari.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ James Taylor\n<\/p>\n

Last month, her parents and friends visited the beach where she died.<\/p>\n

They have since called for a coronial inquest into policies governing the sharing of information by rangers about the risk of dingo attack.<\/p>\n

The ruling comes after a six-week-long investigation into the circumstances surrounding James’s death.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\nA memorial to Piper James on K’gari.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ Olivia Nunes-Malek\n<\/p>\n

Angela James previously told the ABC that her daughter had regularly gone for an early morning swim during the week she had been living on the World Heritage-listed island.<\/p>\n

“She just loved to start her day in the ocean watching the sun come up, because she just felt so free there,” she said.<\/p>\n

“She said it was the most amazing thing.”<\/p>\n

\"Angela<\/p>\n

\nAngela and Todd James are calling on the state government to increase warnings about the danger of dingoes during peak periods on K’gari.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ Ollie Wykeham\n<\/p>\n

The last reported fatal dingo attack on the island occurred in 2001, when nine-year-old boy Clinton Gage was killed by a dingo after tripping and falling near a campsite.<\/p>\n

Chasing prey into the ocean is a common hunting strategy used by dingoes on K’gari.<\/p>\n

In 2023 a woman was chased into the surf by four dingoes while jogging along the beach on K’gari.<\/p>\n

The woman sustained multiple bites to her limbs and torso in the attack.<\/p>\n

– ABC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Nikki Sorbello and James C Taylor, ABC Canadian backpacker Piper James who died on K’gari in January.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-316056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-podcasts","13":"tag-public-radio","14":"tag-radio-new-zealand","15":"tag-rnz","16":"tag-top-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-topnews","19":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}