The Roanoke Colonists: Lost, and Found?

We Finally Have Clues to How America's Lost Colony Vanished National Geographic

two independent teams say they have archaeological remains that suggest at least some of the abandoned colonists may have survived, possibly splitting into two camps that made their homes with Native Americans. "The evidence is that they assimilated with the Native Americans but kept their goods" says Mark Horton archaeologist. A collection of newly discovered European objects, including a sword hilt, broken English bowls, and a fragment of a slate writing tablet still inscribed with a letter, could point to the presence of the colonists on Hatteras Island, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of their settlement on Roanoke Island, as well as at a site on the mainland 50 miles to the northwest.

See also this The Roanoke Colonists: Lost, and Found? New York Times