Parents of B.C.’s Piper James travel to Australia to visit beach where she died

The parents of Piper James have travelled to Australia to visit the beach where the British Columbia teenager was found dead circled by a pack of wild dogs.

The Australian Associated Press confirmed the parents of the 19-year-old from Campbell River, B.C., touched down in Brisbane on Tuesday.

James was working on the island of K’gari off Australia’s east coast when she went out for an early-morning swim and was later found dead surrounded by about 10 dingoes.

Preliminary autopsy results found evidence of drowning as well as dingo bites both before and after she died, though the bites alone were unlikely to have caused her immediate death.

Australian officials say the pack of dingoes would be euthanized citing their involvement in her death and some aggressive behaviour since.

Her father Todd James earlier confirmed on social media the family’s plans to travel to Australia to bring home her remains.

“It is now time to go to Australia to be with Piper, walk where she last walked, and try to feel the spirit of my baby girl in some way,” he said in a Facebook post last week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2026.

The Canadian Press