After child’s death, NC removes campers from wilderness camp with troubled history

After the death of a 12-year-old at Trails Carolina, local social services workers are removing all children enrolled in the western North Carolina wilderness camp.

“While the investigation is ongoing and we cannot comment on specific details, it was determined that action needed to be taken to ensure the health and safety of the children,” a state Department of Health and Human Services press release says.

Parents were notified and the Transylvania County Department of Social Services will temporarily take custody of campers, the release says.



Eighteen children were affected, according to Trails Carolina, which lashed out at the state’s action Friday. It called the move “reckless” and accused local law enforcement of bias.

“The children were receiving high-level clinical care for complex mental health diagnoses requiring experienced professionals with full knowledge of critical medications and specialized treatment regimens,” the statement said, adding: “This reckless move by the State denied parents the opportunity to continue to care for their children in the appropriate manner.”

On Feb. 12, state regulators ordered the wilderness therapy program to stop taking new admissions and to put immediate measures in place to keep children safe. That suspension — a rare step for state regulators — will remain in effect until April 14.

That move came nine days after the 12-year-old boy from New York was found dead at a camp cabin in Lake Toxaway, 140 miles west of Charlotte. The boy had arrived at the program less than 24 hours earlier.

How the boy died has not yet been determined, authorities say. But the death appeared “suspicious,” according to a news release issued by the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office. A forensic pathologist told investigators that the death did not appear to be natural, the sheriff’s office said.

Trails Carolina disputes that characterization, contending that there is no evidence of “criminal conduct or suspicious acts” and that preliminary reports indicate the boy’s death was “accidental.”

“The Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office has maintained a biased approach in what appears to be an attempt to close a program that has successfully treated and helped restore and heal more than 2,700 families and saved lives,” the statement released Friday said.

What investigators have disclosed

The boy who died reportedly experienced a panic attack the night he arrived and was found cold, stiff and frothing at the mouth the next morning, search warrants show.

While it’s unclear what caused the boy’s mouth to froth, that “could’ve indicated that he ingested some sort of poison,” according to an affidavit from a detective who obtained the search warrant.

A camp counselor told investigators that the boy was required to sleep on the floor inside a sleeping bag, which in turn was inside a small tent called a bivy bag.

The counselor said the boy was checked at 12 am, 3 am and 6 am on Feb. 3, and was found dead at 7:45 am that day. But when investigators arrived that morning, the boy’s body was stiff and “cold to the touch,” the search warrants said.

Four adults were assigned to the cabin where the boy was died, and all reportedly were placed on leave, the sheriff’s office said.

The Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office said Friday it is “actively pursuing the investigation daily and cooperating with Transylvania County DSS and the Dept of Health and Human Services in their investigations.”

On its website, Trails Carolina says it was founded in 2008, largely on the belief that a wilderness setting enhances the benefits of therapy. Participants in the for-profit program typically enroll for 85 days, the program’s website says, and tuition is $675 to $715 per day.

Trails Carolina takes children ages 10 to 17 on wilderness expeditions, and its therapists meet with children on a weekly basis, the website says. The program helps minors with a variety of conditions, including depression, anxiety and anger management problems, it says.

Concerns about Trails Carolina have been voiced for years. In 2014, 17-year-old Alec Lansing died after running away from the program. DHHS, which regulates therapeutic programs, has cited the program with multiple deficiencies in recent years.