BREVARD, N.C. (WBTV) – Search warrants executed by the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office are shedding new details into the death of a 12-year-old boy at a North Carolina wilderness camp.
The boy was found dead on the morning of Saturday, February 3, the camp said in a statement.
The Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office executed two search warrants as part of its investigation into the death. Affidavits filed with the warrants detail what first responders saw when they arrived on scene.
The warrants also provide new details to support claims by the sheriff’s office that staff at Trails Carolina was not cooperating with the investigation.
Details of how the boy was found
According to the warrant, the boy was laying on a mat on the floor of a bunk house.
“The body was in Rigor Mortis at this time and was cold to the touch,” the warrant said.
“CJH was laying on his back with his arms on his chest and his knees bent upwards toward the sky.”
According to the warrant, the boy was wearing a hoodie and t-shirt but his pants and underwear were laying next to his shoulder. The warrant said none of the staff interviewed by detectives could explain how his pants and underwear were taken off and ended up next to his shoulder.
“Once they rolled the body, CJH began to foam at the mouth, which could’ve indicated that he ingested some sort of poison.”
Previous: ‘It’s beyond cruel’: Inside an N.C. wilderness therapy program for teens
Rigor mortis starts to appear in the body hours after a person’s death, according to the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine.
The warrant details an interview with a staff member who was assigned to watch the boy, who had just arrived at the camp.
According to the warrant, the staff member said the boy experienced a panic attack between 12:00 a.m. and 12:30 a.m.
“Him and another counselor stood along the wall while CJD was experience (sic) panic and high anxiety,” the warrant said.
According to the warrant, the staff member told detectives that the boy was checked on at 12:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. before he was found dead at 7:45 a.m.
“He was cold to the touch and stiff,” the staff member reportedly told detectives.
Detectives were blocked from seeing the other children that were in the bunk house at the time the boy died, according to the warrant.
“Trails Carolina staff refused to allow us to speak with any juveniles on sight, as well as see them,” the warrant said. “They also refused to give out any of the juveniles names or date of births (sic), or any other information as well.”
The warrant said Trails Carolina staff also blocked social workers with the Transylvania County Department of Social Services.
“DSS was provided with first names of the juveniles but nothing else. When they attempted to ascertain the whereabouts of these juveniles, they refused to disclose the locations of them.”
Related: N.C. regulators order wilderness camp to stop accepting new participants
Court records show deputies were ultimately able to confiscate notebooks with each of the four other children’s names on them. Records show deputies also seized electronic devices at the camp and other items.
A spokeswoman for Trails Carolina sent the following statement on Monday afternoon, after this story was first published, in response to a request for comment on the details outlined in the search warrant:
“Trails is aware of the contents of the search warrant and we are saddened for the family to have these details made public. The search warrant document contains misleading statements; there are details we will not address at this time out of respect for the family and the investigation that is still underway. We can address the statement that Trails prevented children from speaking to investigators. Trails asked parents’ permission for any children involved to speak with law enforcement and state regulatory agencies, and we complied with each parent’s preference, as we are required by law to do. Children were moved from the area to protect them from seeing what was happening, not to avoid investigators. We are a mental health facility treating children with severe, complex mental health diagnoses. Not moving children from the area would have harmed their mental well-being.”
“Trails maintains there is no evidence of criminal conduct or suspicious acts, based upon all knowledge available to us and information and statements from involved agencies. Trails and all related personnel have not been charged with any crimes. Knowing the truth about what caused the loss of this young boy’s life is what matters, and we eagerly await the report by the chief medical examiner.”
The FBI is assisting the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office with the investigation, a spokeswoman confirmed to WBTV.
Details of FBI’s role in the investigation were not immediately available.
Detectives are investigating the boy’s death as manslaughter, the warrant said.
Previously, the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office has said an autopsy showed the boy’s death was not natural.
Copyright 2024 WBTV. All rights reserved.