Daily London
Her body was covered in bite wounds and scratches.
Campers nearby were woken up in the early hours as authorities arrived on scene about 6.30am.
“I got a knock on the swag by the rangers, they were making sure the women we were sleeping with were still here, because obviously someone’s gone missing,” witness Bryce Neighbour said.
“We saw someone get put in the body bag and it was a bit much.”
The surrounding camp zones have been closed and rangers are warning tourists to beware.
“At the moment it’s a police matter, and our response to any risk mitigation is increased patrols in the area,” ranger Linda Behrendorff said.
The potential that the island’s iconic predators could be responsible has stunned locals and tourists alike.
“We’ve fortunately come out of a peak period, a holiday period over the Christmas holidays where there were very limited high-risk behaviour from dingoes to visitors” Behrendorff said.
If dingoes are to blame, it would be the first death from an attack in 25 years.
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour described James’ death as a “massive tragedy”.
“I think that if this is found to be a fatal dingo attack, there will have to be a review of the dingo management strategy,” Seymour said.
