LAKE TOXAWAY, N.C. — Health officials in North Carolina said Friday they are removing all children from the care of a nature-based therapy program nearly two weeks after the death of a 12-year-old New York boy.
The Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release that while it cannot comment on specific details of the Trails Carolina investigation, this action “must be taken to ensure the health and safety of the children.” Health officials declined to say how many children were affected, citing confidentiality rules, but Trails Carolina said later Friday that 18 children had been forced to leave.
In a letter notifying Trails Carolina of the suspension of filming until April 14, Deputy Chief Secretary of Health Mark T. Benton wrote that the secretary has determined that “the character and degree of conditions at Trails Carolina are harmful for the health or safety of the children in your care.”
The move came days after health officials ordered the program to halt filming and take other steps to ensure children’s safety while the boy’s death is investigated.
“The death at Trails Carolina is tragic and concerning,” officials said in the news release. “We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased child, and are committed to conducting a thorough investigation with our provincial partners and will take all appropriate steps based on the outcome of our and other investigations.”
All parents have been notified and the children will be temporarily housed at the Transylvania County Department of Social Services, health officials said. Located in Lake Toxaway, about 35 miles southwest of Asheville, Trails Carolina describes itself as a nature-based therapy program that helps 10- to 17-year-olds “work through behavioral or emotional issues.”
The cause of the boy’s Feb. 3 death is not yet known, but the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release last week that the pathologist who performed the autopsy told investigators the death did not appear natural. The autopsy was conducted because his death appeared suspicious as it occurred less than 24 hours after the boy’s arrival, the sheriff’s office said.
In a news release late Friday, Trails Carolina said that, based on preliminary findings from government agencies, an internal investigation and other input, “everything points to an accidental death.”
“We mourn with the family of the student who tragically passed away and pledge to do everything we can to determine what happened,” the release said.
The deceased boy was transported from New York to Trails Carolina by two men on Feb. 2 and assigned to a cabin with other minors and four adult staff members, the sheriff’s office said. The next morning, emergency responders responded to a 911 call reporting that the boy was not breathing.
In an affidavit filed with a search warrant, Detective Andrew Patterson said that when investigators arrived on Feb. 3, the boy was cold to the touch and his body was in rigor mortis. A CPR mask covered the boy’s face and detectives noticed possible bruising around his eye, Patterson said.
A counselor told investigators that after arriving, the boy refused to eat and was “noisy and angry,” but later calmed down and ate snacks, according to the affidavit. The boy slept on the floor of the bunk bed in a sleeping bag in a bivy with an alarm on the zipper that sounded if anyone tried to go outside. The counselor said the boy had a panic attack around midnight and was checked at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., and felt stiff and cold when he was found dead at 7:45 a.m.
The sheriff’s office said Trails Carolina did not fully cooperate with the investigation, something the program has disputed. State officials said in their letter that local Department of Social Services staff were on site the day after the boy died, but they were not able to gain access to the camp’s children until two days later, state health officials said. Trails Carolina said in an earlier statement that it complied with parents’ preferences after asking children for permission to speak with researchers.
On Friday, Trails Carolina criticized the sheriff’s office and the Department of Health and Human Services for their handling of the case, citing in part a request from the health department for parents to travel from across the country to pick up their children. , otherwise the children would be taken into custody.