A 19-year-old Canadian woman was found dead on a remote Australian beach early Monday morning, her body discovered amid a small pack of dingoes in what police described as a “traumatic and horrific scene.”

The death occurred on K’gari, a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of Queensland that draws hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Queensland Police said two passersby found the teenager’s body shortly after 6 a.m. local time, roughly an hour after she was believed to have gone for a swim alone near a well-known shipwreck.

“There was a small pack of dingoes around her at the time,” Queensland Police Inspector Paul Algie told reporters. “I can confirm there was marking on her body consistent with having been touched and interfered with by the dingoes.”

Algie emphasized that it is too early to determine the cause of death. Investigators are examining all possibilities, including drowning and a potential dingo attack, pending the results of an autopsy scheduled for Wednesday.

“We simply can’t confirm whether this young lady drowned or died as a result of being attacked by dingoes,” Algie said.

Police said the woman had been working at a backpackers’ hostel on the island for several weeks and was familiar with the area. She is believed to have entered the water around 5 a.m., when the beach would have been dark and largely deserted.

Dingoes are a protected native species on K’gari and are a central part of the island’s ecosystem—and its dangers. While interactions between humans and dingoes are closely managed, fatal attacks are extremely rare. According to local officials, the last deadly dingo incident on the island occurred 25 years ago, when a nine-year-old boy was killed.

“This is a shocking tragedy that has really affected our community,” Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour told 9News. “Dingoes are an essential part of this wilderness on K’gari. It’s part of why people go there—to escape, to be part of a World Heritage wilderness. There are dangers there.”

The island, formerly known as Fraser Island, is famed for its wild beaches, dense forests, and free-roaming dingoes. Visitors are warned not to swim alone, particularly at dawn or dusk, and to remain alert to wildlife at all times.

As investigators work to determine exactly how the teenager died, authorities say the focus remains on establishing the facts and notifying family members. For now, the scene has left a deep scar on the island—where pristine beauty and raw wilderness collided with sudden, unexplained loss.