John White's return to Roanoke
On 18 August 1590 John White came back to Roanoke Island and found the colony he had left in 1587 abandoned, with the word CROATOAN carved on a post.
On 18 August 1590 John White, an Englishman, went back to Roanoke Island with supplies for the colony founded there in 1587. The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources says he found the settlement abandoned, with a single word, CROATOAN, cut into a post at the fort.
The department's account says White and the colonists had agreed before he left in 1587 that a message carved into a tree would tell White if they relocated, and a Maltese cross would be added if the move was forced. White found no such cross, so he hoped the colonists were alive.
Wikipedia says White took CROATOAN to mean the colonists had relocated to Croatoan Island. Rough seas and a lost anchor forced his ship back to England before he could follow the lead. The Tudor Society says White was back in England by October 1590 and that the colonists' fate is still unknown.
"The word "CROATOAN" was found carved into the palisade, which White interpreted to mean that the colonists had relocated to Croatoan Island. Before he could follow this lead, rough seas and a lost anchor forced the mission to return to England. That attempt became known as the "Lost Colony".[7]"
- Origins of the Lost Colony Mystery, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (2016)
- The Lost Colony: The Roanoke Colony, The Tudor Society