NC - 12-year-old dies at Trails Carolina wilderness therapy camp, Lake Toxaway, February 2024

[Izzylizzy]

The Search Warrant issued at the camp.

Search Warrant.pdf

drive.google.com

 

[tlcya]

The Search Warrant issued at the camp.

Search Warrant.pdf

drive.google.com

in addition to CH being on his back and his lower body being unclothed with foaming from his mouth responding detectives noted the following per the search warrant:

visible lividity had set in on CH's back, an indication that he probably had not been moved into that position as part of resuscitation efforts (MOO)

what appeared to be petechia was visibly noted around CH's lips and in his eyes

He had a bruised eye and an extended vein (not sure what is meant by this) in his neck

Conjunctival and facial petechiae, although nonspecific findings, are considered hallmarks of asphyxial deaths. Consensus in the literature suggests that their pathogenesis is related to the combined effects of increased cephalic venous pressure and hypoxic damage to endothelial cells.
Asphyxial deaths and petechiae: a review - PubMed.

If the officers observed correctly that they saw petechiae on his face and foam coming from his mouth this seems to be very very likely to have been positional asphyxia MOO

 

[Cartie]

The Search Warrant issued at the camp.

Search Warrant.pdf

drive.google.com

That was a hard read, shocking.

 

[RickshawFan]

Re: the former participant:
Withholding toilet access? Made to wear pants filled with fecal matter? WTH? So let’s think… starting with physical illnesses caused by forced incontinence, probable bacterial infections and maybe even the beginning of decubitus ulcers. It’s a wonder the camp was never closed for health violations.

IMO no one requires “training” to know you don’t do that to another person. I bet staff turnover is high. The website lists a bunch of people with letters after their names like:

LCSW
MA
NCC
LCMHC
MSW
LCAS
ASDCS
LPC

And so on. Were any of them aware of the horrific treatment and sanitation issues? What’s wrong with them?
MOO and boy am I mad.

This participant interview is what got my speculation going about the reason the child's pants were removed. I'm speculating they anticipated he would soil himself. That was the reason for the plastic sheet under him, too. I mean, why do you need a plastic sheet on the floor of a cabin? Having one on a bed is one thing, or out in the woods, but on a wooden cabin floor? I imagine it had to do with body fluids.

Are we clear if the pants and underpants were near his head, staff had to have removed them, correct? His arms must have been in the "bivy bag".

 

[Simply Southern]

"And the parents said 'no.'"

I find this hard to believe or is it because I really don't want to believe it?

What if it was their child comes to mind.

I think the parents are protecting their child. These children have a variety of social and mental diagnosis.

I would agree for a professional psychologist to interview my child in a control setting, in my presence. Is that how traumatized children should be questioned.

NO, absolutely NOT, gonna let some small town Sheriff and local DDS workers , most (moo) with no degree. NO WAY, speak with my child.
Moo

 

[Simply Southern]

The Search Warrant issued at the camp.

Search Warrant.pdf

drive.google.com

OMG being looking for this. Thank you!!

 

[RickshawFan]

"And the parents said 'no.'"

I find this hard to believe or is it because I really don't want to believe it?

What if it was their child comes to mind.

IMO if the camp asked whether the parents would consent, I'll bet they didn't tell the parents the exact situation. We also don't know if the camp ACTUALLY spoke to the parents; they seem to be covering stuff up, per LE. LE should have been the ones to contact parents, since a crime has potentially been committed. It doesn't mean LE would do the interviewing.

 

[RickshawFan]

I think the parents are protecting their child. These children have a variety of social and mental diagnosis.

I would agree for a professional psychologist to interview my child in a control setting, in my presence. Is that how traumatized children should be questioned.

NO, absolutely NOT, gonna let some small town Sheriff and local DDS workers , most (moo) with no degree. NO WAY, speak with my child.
Moo

DCF or CPS handle this kind of stuff routinely, and were already called in on this case. It's what they do: interview traumatized kids. The camp wouldn't give them access, however, contrary to law.

 

[Stunned]

My nephew worked there on and off for 3 years. He said they sent you out with someone who was more experienced than you on hikes. That was your training. He also said it was all about the money.

 

[cujenn81]

I think the parents are protecting their child. These children have a variety of social and mental diagnosis.

I would agree for a professional psychologist to interview my child in a control setting, in my presence. Is that how traumatized children should be questioned.

NO, absolutely NOT, gonna let some small town Sheriff and local DDS workers , most (moo) with no degree. NO WAY, speak with my child.
Moo

I'm not sure you'd have a choice about the DSS employees (if you had enlisted this camp to take care of your child). According to the letter sent to Trails Carolina by NCDHHS, they are the regulating body that issued the state license that allows them to operate their business.

Trails Carolina is licensed and operating as a Residential Therapeutic Camp for children and adolescents who have mental illness, developmental disabilities or substance use disorders under Chapter 122C of the North Carolina General Statutes and rules found at10A NCAC 27G.5200. That license for Trails Carolina is issued by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), Division of Health Services Regulation (NCDHSR). In addition, NCDHHS’ Division of Social Services (NCDSS) oversees child welfare services in North Carolina in partnership with the local county departments of social services.

Warrants show clearer timeline, disturbing details after boy found dead at Trails Carolina

A News 13 investigation is uncovering new details about a 12-year-old’s death at a wilderness therapy program in Transylvania County.

wpde.com

 

[Stunned]

It seems that these camps are founded, run and staffed by sadists for the most part.

JMO

That love money.

 

[Simply Southern]

DCF or CPS handle this kind of stuff routinely, and were already called in on this case. It's what they do: interview traumatized kids. The camp wouldn't give them access, however, contrary to law.

It it were life threatening DCF/CPS can and do get a court order. I've know judges to be awaken at night to sign an emergency order. Moo

In the event of an unexplained death, the provider is required to notify Behavior Health Licensing, immediately or as soon as they are open.

BH will make an immediate visit with a team from licensure. BH we all review charts, medication records, employees files, full property and facility inspection. Ensure facility is safe and incompliance.
BH can close the doors immediately and move clients to other facilities, if immediate danger or neglect.

BH board and director of DHS issued a letter to suspend new admissions. This is a normal protocol, once the COD and investigation is complete, if no ill findings, admissions will resume.

If the BHLB believes personal client interviews are needed for an investigation they will petition a judge.

I've experienced death investigations in BH, ALF and LTC, over my career. I bet the folks from Raleigh were their within hours. Its the same protocols for all facilities housing/providing care, involving an unexplained death.

All my opinion

As you can read, the guidelines are very stringent.

NC DHSR MHLCS: Rules and Resources

 

[Simply Southern]

IMO if the camp asked whether the parents would consent, I'll bet they didn't tell the parents the exact situation. We also don't know if the camp ACTUALLY spoke to the parents; they seem to be covering stuff up, per LE. LE should have been the ones to contact parents, since a crime has potentially been committed. It doesn't mean LE would do the interviewing.

LE has a current list of all clients per media coverage.
LE or DHS can certainly petition a judge for an order for an interview.
Moo

 

[Stunned]

I was confused earlier about whether Carolina Trails has just one campus or several. The answer seems to be 4. The juveniles were removed to another campus in Pisgah Forest, which seems to be a town in this instance, and not the National Forest.

Pisgah Forest is a community in the town of Brevard NC..

 

[Simply Southern]

I'm not sure you'd have a choice about the DSS employees (if you had enlisted this camp to take care of your child). According to the letter sent to Trails Carolina by NCDHHS, they are the regulating body that issued the state license that allows them to operate their business.

Trails Carolina is licensed and operating as a Residential Therapeutic Camp for children and adolescents who have mental illness, developmental disabilities or substance use disorders under Chapter 122C of the North Carolina General Statutes and rules found at10A NCAC 27G.5200. That license for Trails Carolina is issued by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), Division of Health Services Regulation (NCDHSR). In addition, NCDHHS’ Division of Social Services (NCDSS) oversees child welfare services in North Carolina in partnership with the local county departments of social services.

Warrants show clearer timeline, disturbing details after boy found dead at Trails Carolina

A News 13 investigation is uncovering new details about a 12-year-old’s death at a wilderness therapy program in Transylvania County.

wpde.com

From your article, included from BHH.
"Local and state staff have been onsite since Feb. 6, including unannounced visits made this past weekend. The agencies have been focused on, "ensuring the safety of the remaining youth while diligently investigating the child's death and reviewing all aspects of the camp's operations."

Moo...IF the camp is involved with the child's death. BH would have closed the camp immediately.

 

[Simply Southern]

I was confused earlier about whether Carolina Trails has just one campus or several. The answer seems to be 4. The juveniles were removed to another campus in Pisgah Forest, which seems to be a town in this instance, and not the National Forest.

I missed they were moved to another location. Which article made this discovery? Thanks

 

[Izzylizzy]

I'm not sure you'd have a choice about the DSS employees (if you had enlisted this camp to take care of your child). According to the letter sent to Trails Carolina by NCDHHS, they are the regulating body that issued the state license that allows them to operate their business.

Trails Carolina is licensed and operating as a Residential Therapeutic Camp for children and adolescents who have mental illness, developmental disabilities or substance use disorders under Chapter 122C of the North Carolina General Statutes and rules found at10A NCAC 27G.5200. That license for Trails Carolina is issued by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), Division of Health Services Regulation (NCDHSR). In addition, NCDHHS’ Division of Social Services (NCDSS) oversees child welfare services in North Carolina in partnership with the local county departments of social services.

Warrants show clearer timeline, disturbing details after boy found dead at Trails Carolina

A News 13 investigation is uncovering new details about a 12-year-old’s death at a wilderness therapy program in Transylvania County.

wpde.com

Off the top of my head this combination of the kid's issues for being there seems quite dicey.'

" mental illness, developmental disabilities or substance use disorders "

Looks like the majority of counselors are unqualified ,a fact that was known to the state.


"Questions about staff qualifications, training"

Jonathan Hyde went to work at Trails last summer after being laid off from several jobs during the pandemic.

His professional background is in outdoor guiding and he figured he was well-equipped to work with kids in the wilderness.

But he was not prepared for the level of care the teens he was with would require.

Jonathan Hyde, who worked at Trails Carolina during the summer 2020, talks with WBTV Chief Investigative Reporter Nick Ochsner.(Corey Schmidt)

“I had kids that were vocally suicidal. I had kids that tried running away. I had kids that would try and fight you,” Hyde said.

“One of the issues of the place is that the people that spend the majority of the time with them are not trained therapists.”

Hyde was given three days of training before being sent to into the woods with participants.

That’s shorter than what an attorney for Trails Carolina recently told members of the N.C. Senate, who wrote a letter to the camp raising various questions about its program.


The letter said the facility follows a six-day training program and attached a schedule outlining which activities take place on specific days.

The program outlined in the letter to senators is not what Hyde experienced when he was hired last year.

“There was training but it was extremely minimal,” he said.'

‘It’s beyond cruel’: Inside an N.C. wilderness therapy program for teens

Trails Carolina, a wilderness therapy camp in the mountains of North Carolina, advertises itself as a place to help children. But interviews with former participants, staff and parents who have sent their children to the camp suggest it may do the opposite.

www.wbtv.com

 

[Izzylizzy]

This camp is well known to state and local officials.


The state/local officials still let the camp remain open and handed them some new requirements after the latest death.

May 24,2021
'A dead teen, history of violations'

Inspection reports from N.C. DHHS show Trails Carolina was cited for fifty deficiencies between 2010 and 2019, the last time an inspection was conducted.

Among the violations were ten citations for improper medication handling and administration. Trails Carolina was cited four times for violating regulations surrounding seclusion, physical restraint and isolation.

And on three different occasions, Trails Carolina was cited for failing to protect participants from harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation.


The last time came in 2015, months after 17-year-old Alec Lansing ran away from his group on an excursion with Trails Carolina in November 2014.

A death investigation report released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shows Lansing ran away from his campsite, climbed up a tree and fell. He landed in a stream and broke his femur, where he was unable to move.

Lansing was found 12 days later, still laying in the creek.

The DHHS report investigating his death shows a deputy with the local sheriff’s office said staff at Trails Carolina waited five hours before calling for help.


Had they called sooner, the deputy told a DHHS investigator, they would have had a better chance of finding Lansing alive.

Trails Carolina was fined $12,000 but was allowed to continue operating.

WBTV’s requested an interview with a DHHS leader to ask questions about Trails Carolina’s history of deficiencies and the 2014 death but DHHS refused to answer questions.

Instead, a spokeswoman sent a statement defending the agency’s regulation of Trails Carolina.


“There was no evidence of a systemic lack of supervision of the other clients served by Trails Carolina,” the spokeswoman said of Trails Carolina following the 2014 death.

The statement also pointed to the string of annual inspections of Trails Carolina.

State regulations require an inspection every 12 to 15 months. But inspection reports show that annual inspections sometimes took place at longer intervals.

The last three inspections took place in 2016, 2018 and 2019.'

 

[Izzylizzy]

Lawsuit says sexual assaults went unreported at NC wilderness camp where child died

Trails Carolina advertises itself as a wilderness camp for “children and teens who struggle with various mental health issues and behavioral concerns.”

www.wsoctv.com

 

[Nancy19XX]

It's hard for me to criticise the parents at this point because there are so few resources and options available to families with troubled, volatile teens. There is so much pressure to try and help their child but so few choices available.

And when that child acts out or snaps, we blame the parents for not doing anything beforehand. But what are they to do, realistically?

You can try and 'manage' things at home, try and get the child to cooperate with a therapist or out patient treatment program or find a program that accepts them to come stay. It's all hit or miss, imo.

This! MOO but until you've dealt with an out of control kid that refuses treatment... you can't understand.

If I could have afforded a program for my daughter when she was a teen. I WOULD HAVE! I was terrified of her and she tried so many therapists, psychiatrists, ER visits and holds, mental hospitals.... nothing helped. It took time but we eventually found a great team of mental health professionals that helped get us through.

The desperation of a mother trying to help their child is unimaginable. MOO.