4. Cannibalism
There are two theories about cannibalism: either the people of Roanoke were the victims of cannibals, or they had to resort to it to stay alive. Other Native American tribes were hostile to outsiders, and they weren’t on good terms with the settlers or the Croatians. One of these groups could have been cannibals. There were never any bodies found at the settlement, but that doesn’t mean anything. The bones could have been used for healing remedies by grinding them into a powder.
The people of Roanoke could have been picked off gradually, or cannibals could have kidnaped them and disposed of them that way. The fact that no bodies were found sounds like a time-consuming endeavor, but White was gone for three years. If cannibals attacked the settlers, they had more than enough time to dispose of all of the bodies. There is no definitive evidence that any Native American tribes in the area were cannibals, so this is a less likely theory than the people of Roanoke becoming cannibals themselves.
In 1609, in the settlement of Jonestown, Virginia, the colony had to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. It is possible that the people of Roanoke had to as well. The settlers could have been hungry enough to see cannibalism as a viable option. During the investigations into the disappearance of the settlers, local tribes mentioned that there were internal conflicts in Roanoke before everyone disappeared. The people could have resorted to cannibalism because they were hungry and killed themselves off. An outlandish theory, but an interesting one nonetheless.