12-year-old died less than 24 hours after he arrived at a North Carolina wilderness camp for troubled youth

And it’s not the first time

A youth wilderness therapy camp in North Carolina is under investigation after a 12-year-old boy died under suspicious circumstances there less than 24 hours after he arrived.

North Carolina health officials said Friday that they are removing all children from the care of a wilderness therapy program called Trails Carolina.

Trails Carolina claims to be a Leader in Wilderness Therapy, offering an Adventure Wilderness Program for children with behavioral and/or emotional difficulties.

These programs can look “idyllic” in brochures and online, touting an opportunity for children struggling with various behavioral issues to “connect with nature” and “find hope and healing.”

The boy had been assigned to a cabin with other students and four staff members when he got to the camp. Shortly after 8 a.m. the next morning, staff discovered he was not breathing, officials said. The staff said that they had done CPR, but when emergency responders arrived, “rescue efforts were initiated and then stopped as the child appeared to be deceased for some time,” the sheriff’s office statement said.

Search warrants executed by the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina are shedding new details into the death of the 12-year-old boy, who has not been publicly identified.

According to the sheriff’s office, a forensic pathologist said the boy’s death “appeared not to be natural, but the manner and cause of death is still pending.”

It was also reported that the boy had had a panic attack during the night and was found the next morning unresponsive.

Sheriff Chuck Owenby said in a news release that an autopsy would be performed. Still, the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner report might not be available for months. He said the autopsy was being conducted because the child’s death “appeared suspicious” since he had arrived at the camp just 24 hours earlier.

Owenby said the medical examiner did say the death was not natural but that the cause and manner of the death were still pending.

“Trails Carolina Camp has not completely cooperated with the investigation,” the TCSO statement said.

Carolina Trails is described as an “Adventure Wilderness Program For Students 10–17.” Since 2019, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has issued a “Statement of Deficiency” five times.

A spokeswoman for Trails Carolina pushed back in a separate statement issued Thursday.

In a statement published on Thursday by local ABC affiliate WLOS, Trails Carolina refuted the sheriff’s office, saying they were “cooperating fully with investigators” and were informed that initial reports indicated the death was accidental.

“Trails staff initiated life-saving efforts and called EMS and the sheriff, and our staff have fully cooperated with the local law enforcement’s investigation, voluntarily presenting themselves for interviews with law enforcement and other related public agencies,” the statement said.

The boy’s death is the second of a Trails Carolina camper in the last decade. In November 2014, 17-year-old Alec Lansing left the camp, prompting a massive search. His body was later found in a stream, where investigators believed he fell after climbing a tree and breaking his hip, leaving him unable to move. Reports from the time said he died of hypothermia.

This is an ongoing investigation.

If you enjoyed reading my article🙋‍♀️ , you can do a few things to support my writing🖨: give me a clap or several✋✋✋ , drop your comment or 🖋share your thoughts/opinions📝. Make sure to hit that follow button 👓!

2024© All Rights Reserved. (The Caffeinated Writer / B.A. Little)