The loved ones of a teenage Canadian tourist found dead in Australia said they were ‘traumatized’ after her body was discovered surrounded by a pack of wild dogs.
Piper James, 19, was found dead on a beach north of the Maheno Wreck on Queensland’s K’gari island on Monday morning.
Brianna Falk, a close friend, said her ‘heart dropped’ upon hearing the gruesome news about the girl she had sat beside in English class just three years ago, according to The Canadian Press.
‘We had so many plans and she was so young,’ Falk told the outlet, adding that James adored her life and being in nature.
‘You never think that it is going to be somebody that you know, let alone one of your closest friends,’ she added.
Falk revealed that she was working her day job at a car dealership when the early reports began to emerge and she began to fear the worst knowing her friend was in Australia.
The nightmare proved true when she spoke with a mutual friend, who confirmed that James’s body was the one found near the Maheno Shipwreck after she went for a solo swim at around 5am.
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She said her initial reaction was anger, noting that James was one of the easiest people to talk to and did not deserve such a tragic fate.
‘She was a good person. She never did wrong by anybody,’ Falk told the outlet. ‘She was just a good friend.’
James’s father, Todd James, shared a heartbreaking tribute on Facebook on Tuesday, admitting that the family is ‘shattered’ by her sudden loss.
‘Our hearts are shattered as we share the tragic loss of our beautiful daughter, Piper. We will always remember her infectious laugh and her kind spirit. I admired her strength and determination to go after her dreams,’ the father wrote.
‘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!”‘ he added.
‘Mostly, I loved hearing about and seeing the bonds and friendships she was developing as she grew into her beautiful self.’
He explained that his daughter was proud of her work with the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), a provincial agency responsible for preventing, managing, and responding to wildfires – typically around 1,600 each year.
‘Piper would work hard so she could play hard,’ he wrote. ‘So many are going to miss you, my precious little baby girl.’
His post included dozens of photos of James, many capturing her adventurous spirit at concerts, backpacking with friends, fighting fires, dirt biking or seemingly co-piloting a small plane.
‘Maybe gone, but how can we ever forget you?’ he concluded the tribute. ‘The pain…RIP my baby.’
Wide Bay District Inspector Paul Algie said during a Wednesday press conference the teenager had been living and working at a backpacker hostel on the eastern beaches with a friend for the past six weeks.
The fellow Canadian traveling with James was also left ‘extremely traumatized’ according to Algie.
The inspector said a post-mortem examination will officially determine James’s cause of death, as it still remains unclear whether the dogs were responsible.
‘At this stage, it’s too early to speculate on the cause of death – we simply can’t confirm whether this young lady drowned, or died as a result of being attacked by dingoes,’ Algie said.
Falk revealed that, around six months ago, James made a ‘pretty spur-of-the-moment’ plan to travel to Australia with her friend Taylor, according to The Canadian Press.
‘They mentioned that they didn’t really have a plan, and it was very nice and free-spirited,’ she told the outlet. ‘They were having a blast.’
Just an hour after she went to the beach, two men driving past spotted more than a dozen dingoes surrounding what they quickly realized was a body, triggering an urgent police response.
‘It was obviously a very traumatic and horrific scene for them to uncover,’ Algie said.
Officers were observed at the crime scene on Tuesday, gathering further witness statements – especially from ‘people who knew her movements’ and could help piece together what happened during the fatal 75-minute period.
‘So there was an hour, to hour and 15 minutes, that police are currently piecing together as a part of their investigations,’ the inspector added.
If authorities determine her death was caused by native animals, it would be the first fatal dingo attack in the country in 25 years, Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said he was ‘not surprised’ by the violent discovery, noting an ‘escalating number of attacks’ in the past five years.
Algie said that additionally, swimming and dingo safety advice is ‘more the business’ of park rangers than of police.
‘But, what I would say, is that K’gari is a wilderness area,’ the official told The Guardian.
‘Dingoes are wild animals, and whilst they are very culturally 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 added.
He said that the scene was traumatic not just for law enforcement and James’s family, but also for the residents of K’gari who witnessed it.
‘As you can imagine, they are absolutely horrified and shocked at what’s occurred – this is an incident that impacts everybody heavily,’ Algie said.
‘It is a very sad set of circumstances, and it does impact – particularly an island community – quite harshly.’
Falk, along with James’s other friends back home, said she has not been able to stop crying since hearing the news of her friend’s death and hopes to connect with others who knew her, according to The Canadian Press.
‘I really did love Piper, and I’m gonna miss her a lot,’ she said.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers have since increased patrols on K’gari from Monday following the suspected attack.
