NORTH CAROLINA – Authorities in North Carolina have disclosed the cause of death for a 12-year-old boy who was found unresponsive at a camp for troubled teens earlier this year. The incident has been ruled a homicide.
The boy, who remains unidentified, was discovered at Trails Carolina, an adventure therapy program, on February 3. According to the Medical Examiner’s report the child was “smothered” and died from asphyxiation.
Trails Carolina officials had called 911 when they were unable to awaken the boy that morning. The Medical Examiner’s report revealed that the child had suffered swelling of the brain and mild bruising on his legs.
The report stated that the boy had been placed in a bivy, a small camping tent, the night before his death. Camp protocol dictates that each bivy should have an opening with an alarm to alert counselors if the occupant tries to exit. However, the internal mesh on the boy’s bivy was torn, so an outer layer, which was opaque, was used to replace the opening. Consequently, the cabin counselors could not see the boy during their checks throughout the night.
The boy appeared to have stopped moving inside the bivy around 1 a.m. Emergency personnel arrived at around 8 a.m. and determined that he had likely been dead for several hours.
At the time of the incident, the camp expressed their devastation and stated they were cooperating with authorities. The Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office believes the death was not natural and claimed that the camp was not fully cooperating.
The investigation into the boy’s death is ongoing.