A 12-year-old boy has died at a wilderness therapy camp in North Carolina.
The boy was found unresponsive inside a small, single-person tent on February 3rd, less than a day after arriving at the camp.The boy was told to sleep in a bivy, or a small, single-person tent, inside a cabin at the camp. The bivy’s zipper apparently broke off, and staff used a zip-tie to enclose the tent instead.
Staff were supposed to check on campers at midnight, 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Around 3 a.m. on Feb. 3, another staff member said he heard heavy breathing and “mumbling” coming from the bivy but did nothing. He conducted another check on the bivy around 6 a.m. and said he was “certain” he heard breathing but said the boy was “no longer heavily breathing.”
Later that morning, the boy was found unresponsive inside the bivy. Law enforcement were dispatched to the camp at 8:28 a.m. that morning.
The staff member told DHHS his belief that “he and the camp were responsible” for the boy’s death. And when asked what he could have done differently, the staff member stated, “I could have opened [the boy’s tent] up, re-positioned him.”
The forensic pathologist conducting the autopsy told investigators the 12-year-old’s death appeared to not be natural, but the manner and cause of death are still pending.
Autopsy results for the 12-year-old boy are pending, but Trails Carolina previously said his death appeared to have been accidental.
The state suspended admissions to the camp earlier this year, and children who were staying at the camp in February were removed. In March, NCDHHS officials notified the camp that the state planned to revoke its license because it was in violation of state health codes.
A former Trails Carolina employee who previously spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity said the camp’s website, which showed a photo of children fishing, is a “false advertisement.”
“These kids aren’t fishing because you’re afraid they are going to use the pole as a weapon and kill someone. You see kids riding in canoes, that’s false advertisement,” the former staff member alleged. “Those kids aren’t riding in canoes because they may go out on the lake and try to kill themselves. Those kids aren’t repelling or going on mountain hikes because you’re afraid they are going to push someone off the cliff.”