The first six carcasses arrived on March 26. They washed ashore along the beaches of Kelly's Point on Guemes Island, a small community in Puget Sound roughly 80 miles north of Seattle and five minutes by ferry from the city of Anacortes. The Skagit County Sheriff's Office Animal Control Unit responded, documented the animals, and began an investigation. That was the beginning of what has become an accumulating, unsolved mystery: by April 2, 21 dead canines had been found on or near the island's shoreline, all of them skinned, many missing their front paws.
Skagit County Sheriff's Office and Guemes Island Fire Chief Olivia Cole confirmed the total count of 21 to NBC News on Friday. "On April 2, eight more carcasses were collected from the beaches of Guemes Island," Cole said. "The Skagit County Search team came out by boat and on foot to search for more, and they were able to find eight more. We're at a total of 21 now."
Authorities do not know where the canines came from, how they entered the water, who prepared them, or why they were disposed of in this manner. On Wednesday, April 1, the carcasses were turned over to a forensic veterinarian, where necropsies are currently being conducted along with DNA testing, according to the Skagit County Sheriff's Department news release cited by NBC News.
What Was Found: The Physical Evidence
Every carcass had been skinned. The Guardian and NBC News both confirmed this detail from Cole directly. Some of the canines were also missing their front paws, a detail that appears consistently across multiple accounts.
Cole told NBC News that the carcasses were all approximately the same size: some measuring about the length of a woman's size 9.5 shoe, others slightly larger, comparable to what she described as a "fox size." She noted they appeared to come from the same species and had "a little bit of black and white on their back paws."
Two of the canines found ashore had orange twine wrapped around their necks, according to The Mirror US, which cited details from the Skagit County Sheriff's investigation. A separate carcass was spotted floating in the La Conner Channel on March 31, before the major April 2 discovery of eight additional animals on the island's beaches, also per The Mirror.
Cole told NBC News she personally examined the carcasses and found no evidence of gunshot wounds. "I personally did not see any gunshot wounds or markings that would suggest something like a dogfighting ring," she said. That absence of a visible cause of death is one reason authorities are awaiting the forensic necropsy results before drawing conclusions.
Who These Animals Are Remains Unclear
The species has not been officially confirmed. Cole told NBC News: "We don't have final confirmation on them if they are coyotes, if they're domestic, or something else." The consistent sizing, the shared coloring described as black and white on the back paws, and the similar preparation of all 21 carcasses suggest a common origin — but the absence of skin makes visual species identification difficult, which is one reason DNA testing has been ordered.
The island was historically nicknamed "Dog Island" due to the now extinct Salish woolly dog that once lived there, NBC News noted. Salish woolly dogs were a domesticated breed kept by Coast Salish peoples who spun their fur into blankets; the breed became extinct in the late 19th century. The island's historical connection to canines makes the current situation particularly resonant to longtime residents, though officials have not suggested any connection between the historical name and the current discovery.
The Speculation Residents Cannot Avoid
Guemes Island has approximately 600 year-round residents, according to NBC News. It is roughly 8 miles long and accessible only by a short ferry crossing from Anacortes. The island's geographic isolation means any large-scale disposal of animal carcasses in its waters would almost certainly require a boat, and large commercial vessels including tankers do pass through the channels nearby.
Cole acknowledged that speculation is everywhere on the island. "This whole island is talking, and there are rumors, because we get big tankers that come through here, and we know there are breeders on other islands," she told NBC News. "So everybody is just having all kinds of thoughts going around, but we can't confirm anything until the necropsy comes back."
The Island of Guemes sits within a network of Washington State's San Juan Islands and surrounding passages where commercial shipping, fishing vessels, and private boats all operate. The La Conner Channel, where one carcass was found floating on March 31, is a navigable waterway used by working boats. The geographic spread of discoveries — Kelly's Point, the La Conner Channel, multiple beach locations around the island — is consistent with carcasses having entered the water upstream of the island and drifted ashore over several days.
What Residents Saw
Alexie Gregory, 41, a Guemes Island resident for nine years, encountered the carcasses at Kelly's Point on Tuesday, April 1. She spoke to NBC News about what she found. "It was so eerie to see one and then, literally, five minutes of walking, we found another," Gregory said. "I think we found a total of 10 or 11 that day, and by the end of it, I was numb. I was just in shock."
Cole, who is also a dog groomer on the island in addition to her role as fire chief, described the situation with a phrase that became widely repeated in coverage of the story: "It's a creepy mystery out here. That's what I keep saying, it's like the start of a horror movie, honestly."
Cole told NBC News that the community's conversations center on a single concern: "This is what we're talking about here. Anywhere you go, down to the local store, we're all talking about these carcasses that washed up and how we want to catch the person responsible."
What Investigators Are Doing and What They Are Not Saying
The Skagit County Sheriff's Office has not named any suspects or persons of interest. The investigation is being led by the SCSO Animal Control Unit. The bodies were transferred Wednesday to a forensic veterinarian for necropsies — full postmortem examinations — as well as DNA testing. The forensic results are expected to clarify species, possible cause of death, and potentially genetic lineage that could narrow where the animals came from.
KOMO News, the Seattle ABC affiliate, confirmed the timeline of discoveries: first six on March 26, five more in the days following including the March 31 La Conner Channel sighting, then eight more on April 2, bringing the total to 21. According to KOMO's reporting, the carcasses had been skinned and had their front paws removed, consistent with what NBC News and The Guardian also confirmed independently.
The Skagit County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information to call the Skagit County Sheriff's Office or Skagit 911 and speak with a deputy or animal control officer.
Why This Is Unusual
The disposal of animal carcasses in waterways is not uncommon; livestock operations, fishing vessels, and animal processing facilities generate remains that occasionally enter water. What is unusual about the Guemes Island case is the combination of factors: 21 animals of the same apparent species and size, all prepared in an identical manner, all entering the water in roughly the same geographic zone over a 10-day period, with no apparent operational explanation that would account for skinned animals missing paws being disposed of in Puget Sound passages.
Commercial fur trapping produces skinned carcasses, but trappers typically dispose of remains on land or in licensed facilities rather than in navigable waterways. Fur farms, which do exist in Washington State and neighboring islands, also produce skinned carcasses as a byproduct. Cole's mention that "we know there are breeders on other islands" reflects the community's awareness that animal operations in the wider archipelago could potentially be a source, though this remains unverified speculation pending the necropsy results.
What the evidence shows clearly: 21 animals were skinned, their paws removed, and they ended up in the water off Guemes Island over a 10-day period. Who did this, why, and where the animals came from are questions that the forensic necropsy results are expected to help answer. Until then, the roughly 600 people who live on that island are watching their shoreline and waiting.