In a decisive move by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), all children have been ordered to leave Trails Carolina, a wilderness therapy camp in Brevard, North Carolina, following the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy.
This incident has cast a shadow over the camp’s operations, prompting an immediate response to safeguard the well-being of the remaining attendees.
NCDHHS announced on Friday that it was imperative to take swift action to protect the children’s health and safety. In a statement released that morning, the department detailed that parents had been informed, and arrangements were made for the children to be temporarily cared for by Transylvania County DSS.
The young boy’s death on the morning of Saturday, February 3, has raised serious concerns about the safety measures and protocols in place at Trails Carolina. In response, NCDHHS issued a letter to the camp on Friday, explicitly prohibiting the admission of any new campers until April 14.
The letter emphasized the severity of the situation, stating, “The Secretary has determined that the character and degree of conditions at Trails Carolina are detrimental to the health or safety of the children in your care.”
Reacting to the state’s intervention, Trails Carolina issued a statement through a spokeswoman later on Friday. The statement criticized the state’s actions, alleging that regulators had “threatened and intimidated” the parents of the 18 children still at the camp.
It accused the state of removing the children without giving parents a fair chance to make alternative care arrangements, describing the move as “negligent and reckless.”
The controversy surrounding Trails Carolina deepened with the revelation that the camp’s website was down by Friday afternoon. Furthermore, search warrants from the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office disclosed unsettling details about the circumstances of the boy’s death, noting he was found unresponsive with his clothing disarranged, and the staff was unable to explain the situation.
NCDHHS had already demanded on Monday that Trails Carolina halt new admissions and comply with several other requirements to continue operating amidst the ongoing investigation.
The letter also highlighted the camp’s initial resistance to allowing investigators to interact with the remaining campers, a stance that contradicts the camp’s claims of cooperation, as stated by a spokeswoman in denial of the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office’s assertion of non-cooperation.
WBTV’s ongoing investigation into Trails Carolina, initiated in 2021, has uncovered allegations of abuse and neglect from former participants and staff.
This recent incident marks the second child fatality associated with the camp in a decade, following the death of a 17-year-old boy who ran away from the facility in 2014. These developments have ignited a critical examination of the practices and safety standards at wilderness therapy camps, with Trails Carolina at the center of this scrutiny.