The Lost Colony

I have chosen to research the 'Lost Colony' of Roanoke. This can be traced back to August 1587. The colony consisted of 115 English settlers who arrived on Roanoke island off the coast of North Carolina. Later the same year, John White (governor of the colony) was to sail back to England to gather fresh supplies however a major naval war broke out between England and Spain just as he arrived and Queen Elizabeth I called on every available ship to confront the Spanish Armada. He didn't return until 3 years later when there was no one to be found. There was no trace of the colony or its inhabitants (including his granddaughter, the first English child born in America). All that was left was the word "Croatoan" which was the name of an island south of Roanoke home to a Native American tribe of the same name.
http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/what-happened-to-the-lost-colony-of-roanoke

To this day no one knows what happened to the 'Lost Colony' but there has been many theories such as:

1. " The people of Roanoke simply left the settlement. This is one of the more probable theories.  It is said that they have supposedly left Roanoke island and started settling in the Chesapeake Bay.  And that they built rafts or a boat of some sort using materials torn apart from their houses.  Close to twenty years had passed before John Smith and his group started the well-known settlement of Jamestown (where the popular story of Pocahontas takes place).  This settlement was near the Chesapeake Bay.  The evidence in this tale is that the ruler of the natives did indeed admit to killing the colonists.  They said that they had been in their land (Chesapeake Bay area) and were then annihilated to prevent more English settlers form stealing their land. 
2. The whole population of Roanoke Island was killed by a disease. This is an absurd theory.  It is true that the English had brought over some diseases.  However, note, there were no bodies found and the houses had disappeared.  Quite a ridiculous theory. 
3. The village was destroyed by a severe storm such as a hurricane. Another one of the incredulous theories.  A hurricane could have washed away the colonists and destroyed the houses, true.  But the huge problem with this theory is the fence was still standing.  It is not possible for a storm to do as much damage as clearing away the whole settlement when the fence remained untouched. 
4. The people of Roanoke decided to leave Roanoke Island to live with the Natives. This theory is definitely probable. Crotoan, which was carved on the post, was the name of an island in the area.  It was also the name of the group of the kind natives that inhabited it.  It is possible that they colonists decided to live with the natives of Croatoan.  Though there has not been a descent amount of evidence to prove this theory, there also has been no evidence against it. 
5. The colonists were killed by the Native Americans. This is the most probable of all five theories.  One important fact supports this theory.  As one may not know, the English men had before tried to start the colony of Roanoke before.  Twas a group of fifteen men.  A little over a year had passed since they first started the colony, before explorers decided to check up on their hopeful progress.  What these explorers found was one dead body.  It was verified that it was the work of the Natives.  From this past event we know that the Natives were capable of such atrocities and also capable of hiding the bodies.  What’s interesting is that the Natives pulled all of that off in between less than a two year period.  While the “lost colony” had been deprived of its leader for a number of three years.  The “Indians” had a sufficient amount of time to tear down the buildings too.  However there has still not been enough evidence to verify this theory. "

Theories found on: http://theshadowlands.net/roanoke.htm 

Although there is no real proof of what happened there are projects being done to uncover the truth. For example the DNA Project. 

The Plan:

1. "Locating and testing individuals closely associated with local families whose history implies they are of Native American ancestry, specifically those who lived on the land that is historically associated with Native villages where the colonists would have located.
2. DNA testing descendants of these early inhabitants to determine whether their deep ancestry indicates Native American or Indo-European origins.
3. Work with DNA surname project administrators to determine whether English families of surnames matching those of the Lost Colonists have already been DNA tested.
4. Connecting English families of the same surname to Lost Colonists genealogically.
5. Using DNA, genealogy and history, attempt to connect living descendants to colonists and local Native American tribes.
6. Certify the genealogy of those believed to be connected to the Lost Colony.
7. Reconstructing families of interest using DNA results and genealogy.
8. Tracking population migration using DNA. What happened to the Colonists and the Native population? Where did they go? Who are they and where do they live today?
9. After development of the above data base, DNA testing of archaeologically excavated skeletal remains to determine who they match."

Found on: http://www.lost-colony.com/DNAproj.html