LAKE TAXAWAY, N.C. – North Carolina health officials are ordering a naturopathic program to end hospitalizations and take other steps to ensure the child’s safety while investigating the death of a 12-year-old boy earlier this year. I was instructed to take the following steps. Month.
Department of Health and Human Services officials said in a letter to Trails Carolina on Monday that while the investigation is ongoing, at least one staff member must be awake when the children are asleep, and that one He said the use of bivvy bags, which are weatherproof shelters for people, should be discontinued.
The cause of the boy’s death has not yet been determined, but the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release last week that the pathologist who performed the autopsy told investigators that the death did not appear to be natural. .
The sheriff’s office said the boy died less than 24 hours after arriving, and an autopsy was performed because the boy’s death was considered suspicious.
Trails Carolina, located on Lake Toxaway, about 55 miles southwest of Asheville, describes itself as a nature-based therapy program that helps children ages 10 to 17 “overcome behavioral or emotional challenges.” are doing.
The deceased boy was transported from New York to Trails Carolina on February 2 by two men and assigned to a cabin with other minors and four adult staff members, the sheriff’s office said.
The next morning, paramedics responded to a 911 call saying the boy was not breathing.
The sheriff’s office said Trails Carolina was not fully cooperating with the investigation, a claim the program disputes.
State officials said in the letter that local Department of Human Services officials were on the scene the day after the boy died, but were unable to visit the children at the camp until two days later.
Officials told Trails Carolina in the letter that DSS and law enforcement must have unrestricted and unannounced access to campgrounds, staff and customers. Provide daily customer list. Report if your child was restrained within the past 24 hours.
Additionally, staff who were in the cabin must be prohibited from returning to the cabin or campsite.
Trails Carolina said in a statement that the children requested permission to speak with investigators and that the parents’ wishes were met and that the children should see what was happening rather than avoid investigators. He said he felt a strong desire to prevent this from happening.
“We are a mental health facility that treats children with severe and complex mental health diagnoses,” the program said. “If we don’t move the kids out of the area, we’re going to be harming their mental health.”
Detective Andrew Patterson said in a search warrant affidavit obtained by WBTV-TV that when investigators arrived on Feb. 3, the boy was cold to the touch and his body was in rigor mortis. Ta.
Patterson said the boy’s face was covered by a CPR mask and detectives noticed possible bruising around his eyes.
According to the affidavit, the counselor told detectives that the boy refused to eat dinner after arriving and was “loud and angry,” but later calmed down and ate a snack.
The boy was sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag inside a bivy that set off a zipper alarm if anyone tried to get out.
According to the affidavit, the counselor said the boy had a panic attack around midnight and two counselors were standing along the wall, but did not say whether the counselors tried to help the boy. Ta.
He said the boy was checked at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. and found dead at 7:45 a.m. His body was stiff and cold to the touch.
Trails Carolina responded to the search warrant details, saying the document contained misleading statements and that the family was “saddened” by the details being made public.
The program also claimed that based on available knowledge, there was “no evidence of criminal or suspicious activity.”
