What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke? Find clues here

First, it helps to have a little background info on what exactly happened. The colony of Roanoke was established by Sir Walter Raleigh (whose Wikipedia page describes him as a "landed gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer") in 1587. The colony consisted of 90 men, 17 women and 11 children, all from England, who were ready to establish a village on Roanoke Island in what is now North Carolina. Between being far away from home and supplies, and the contentious relationship with the Croatoan tribe who also lived on the island, it was a risky task. In fact, when the colonists arrived, they found that the skeletal remains of the British garrison left on the island from an earlier expedition, which understandably freaked them out. They tried to abandon the plan to colonize, but the ship's captain refused to let them back on the ship. As things grew even more tense with the Croatoans, the colonists begged their leader John White to go back to England and bring more colonists and supplies. He set sail for the Motherland, promising to return as soon as possible with help.

Things didn't exactly work out. White didn't want to immediately sail back to America once he got to England, since winter was setting in, and screw long ocean voyages during stormy, cold weather. But, shortly after that, the Anglo-Spanish War happened, and it required that every able British ship take arms against the Spanish and their formidable Armada. After the English finally bested the Spanish, White was able to turn his attention back to his colonists... but when it was all said and done, it was three years before White could return to Roanoke with supplies. To his surprise, when he arrived, he found nothing. Nada. Zippo. The colonists were gone, and had totally disassembled their village. The only clue? The word "Croatoan" carved on a nearby tree. No remains or descendants were ever found.

Theories on what happened to the disappeared colony run the gamut. Many believe that the colonists carved "Croatoan" on the tree as a sign that they were moving to nearby Croatoan Island (now Hatteras Island). Some think they were slaughtered by hostile tribes, or by the Spanish, but the most likely explanation is that the colonists simply integrated themselves into another tribe. They took the time to disassemble the village, and no bodies were ever found nearby, so we have to assume that the colonists voluntarily left at some point... but why? And where did they go? And what happened to them after they left?

Even to this day, no one is quite sure what exactly happened at Roanoke. Archaeologists, geneticists, historians, and conspiracy theorists all have different ideas on what happened to the colony... and new theories are still being tossed out.