The death of a 12-year-old boy at Trails Carolina earlier this year was ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner. 

       What You Need To Know

  • The boy's official cause of death is asphyxia due to smothering, according to an autopsy report

  • He was found dead on the morning of Feb. 3, less than 24 hours after his arrival at the camp

  • After the boy's death in February, DHHS removed all remaining campers from Trails Carolina after announcing his death did not appear to be natural

  • DHHS announced in May that they plan to revoke the camp's license 

 

The boy had been at the outdoor therapy camp less than 24 hours before his death, which the autopsy says was caused by asphyxiation due to smothering. 

Located in Transylvania County, the camp provides wilderness therapy services for 10- to 17-year-olds, and the boy had been flown in from New York at his parents' request. 

Authorities said the boy died in the early morning hours of Feb. 3 and was found dead at 7:45 a.m. when counselors tried to wake him.

The sheriff's office immediately began investigating the death, and he was sent for an autopsy after investigators said it did not appear to be natural. 

He was found dead inside the bivvy he had slept in, which is a small, enclosed tent where campers sleep inside of a sleeping bag. The bivvy is usually secured with an internal mesh door, but the one the boy was using had been torn, so his bivvy was closed with the outer weather-resistant door.

The door also had an alarm on the opening, to alert counselors if a camper was trying to get out of the bivvy. Because his bivvy was closed with the opaque outer door, he could not be seen when counselors performed visual checks throughout the night. 

In the morning, the boy was found turned around in the bivvy, with his feet at the opening and his head at the enclosed end. The autopsy says resuscitation was attempted by camp personnel, but it was later determined that rigor mortis was already present, and he had likely been dead for several hours. 

The report notes that it is common for bivvys to come with a warning that the outer opening should not be fully secured as it could cause breathing restriction. 

All other causes of death were ruled out, including disease, complications from his prescription medication and illicit drugs. 

The examiner came to the conclusion that the death should be ruled a homicide because the boy was put into a compromised sleeping position by others and was not reasonably able to get out of the bivvy because of the alarm securing the opening. 

Additionally, camp personnel deviated from standard protocol by using a bivvy that had been damaged and securing him under an opaque covering that may have prevented someone noticing the problem before he died. 

Authorities in Transylvania County removed all other campers from Trails Carolina after the boy's death and suspended admissions. In May, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced they would revoke the camps license. 

Transylvania County Sheriff Chuck Owenby said his office will review the autopsy report in relation to the ongoing criminal investigation and meet with the District Attorney of Prosecutorial District 42. 

Spectrum News reached out to Trails Carolina for comment, but they declined to provide a statement at this time.