In 1587, about 120 men, women, and children established the first English colony in the New World -- then vanished without a trace, leaving historians and archaeologists with one of America's most perplexing mysteries.  The group of colonists settled on Roanoke Island in Dare County and was an enterprise financed/organized by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584. Also known as "The Lost Colony," the settlers of Roanoke soon had ran out of food, so they sent John White (Governer) back to England to collect more supplies. He told the colonists that if they should move, to carve a message on a tree trunk and if in danger, he said mark a cross. John White was not able to return back to Roanoke till 1591 because England was at war and the army needed all their ships.  When he finally returned, none of the colonists could be found.  The first idea was that Indians had killed them, but no drop of blood or dead body could be found anywhere.  On a tree they found were the words "CROATOAN," which stood for the Indians who inhabited the nearby island.  The colonists weren't found there either, and the mystery remains to this day, though there are many theories.

Theories:
Spanish Soldiers in St. Augustine (Florida), heard that English settlers established a colony, and kidnapped the English settlers. The theory is they might have killed them eventually, and that is the reason why John White noticed English boats missing when he returned in 1590.

Another theory is that when John White came back and found CROATOAN written on the tree, he thought the colonists were telling him that they moved to Croatoan Island. But really, the colonists moved inland with the Croatoans because of low food supply.

Scientists postulate drought may have caused the colonists starved to death because this would have meant a massive food shortage for the island. The drought was said to have lasted three years in the same time period with testing on old Cypress trees in the area.

English men wanted to go back to England, but there wasn't enough space for all the colonists. So, some were left behind, and those who were on the ship were caught in bad weather. The ship was lost at sea.