The body of a 12-year-old boy who died at a controversial North Carolina therapy camp, naked from the waist down and foaming at the mouth, was found just hours after counselors watched him suffer a panic attack. A search warrant revealed that the vehicle was found in a state in which it had been damaged.
The boy, identified in documents only as “CJH,” a white male, had arrived at Trails Carolina Camp on Lake Toxaway from New York less than 24 hours before his death.
It remains unclear when the boy died and the cause of his death, but forensic pathologists previously said it “does not appear to be natural.”
Camp staff told police that CJH was “loud and furious” when he arrived at Trails Carolina and refused to eat dinner even after being taken to the facility on Friday, February 3.
According to Transylvanian police, the boy calmed down later in the evening and eventually ate snacks prepared by counselors, but after being placed in a hut, he became restless again around midnight and slept on the floor in accordance with camp rules. It is said that he was ordered to do so. County Sheriff’s Office Warrant.
CJH was given a bivy bag, a sleeping bag that was placed inside a small tent that had an alarm that would go off if he tried to go out in the middle of the night.
While CJH suffered a panic attack in the middle of the night, two counselors were “standing along the wall” of the hut, offering any assistance other than opening the hut so they could check on the boy. It is not clear whether it was.
One of the two counselors interviewed by police “did not say whether he or any other counselor had attempted to assist CJH with ‘easement during his anxiety attack’.” says the warrant.
Counselors checked on CJH late at night, at 3 a.m. and at 6 a.m., and finally found the boy dead at 7:45 a.m., “cold to the touch and stiff.” , they argued.
Panic attacks are not fatal, but According to researchbut they can cause other long-term health complications.
Police previously said it was clear the boy had been dead for some time, but that he was in rigor mortis and was lying on his back with his arms across his chest and his knees bent toward the ceiling. I discovered that there is.
He was wearing a sweatshirt but was naked from the waist down, his pants and underwear lying on the ground next to his right shoulder.
“During the interview, camp counselors were asked how his pants got into this position, but they did not know,” the document states.
CJH had small bruises in and around his lips and eyes, and veins running down his neck. He was also foaming at the mouth, suggesting that he may have ingested some kind of poison.
Camp staff allegedly prevented Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Human Services investigators from interviewing the other boys in the cabin by moving them to another location 30 miles away. .
The organization, which calls itself “Wilderness Camp for Troubled Youth,” blasted the sheriff’s office’s assessment in a statement Monday, saying the warrant contained “misleading statements.”
The detention center said it would not discuss some details “out of respect for the family and the investigation,” but disputed that other boys “refused” to speak to investigators.
“Trails sought parental permission for the children involved to speak with law enforcement and state regulators, and we complied with each parent’s wishes, as required,” the statement said. mentioned in.
“The children were removed from the area so they wouldn’t know what was going on, not to avoid investigators. “It’s a mental health facility that treats children who have been affected. If we don’t remove the children from the area, their mental health will be compromised.”
Trails Carolina reiterated its previous claims of innocence and that preliminary investigations do not indicate criminal activity.
Police last week called the boy’s death “suspicious,” but autopsy results are not yet available.
Trails Carolina, located approximately 55 miles southwest of Asheville, is a community-based company that helps children ages 10 to 17 “cope with behavioral and emotional challenges, build trusting relationships with family and peers, and achieve goals.” It describes itself as a “nature-based therapy program that helps people.” Academic success. ”
This program costs up to $715 per day, depending on the age of the student.
