Cause of death announced for New York boy who died at wilderness camp

A 12-year-old New York boy who attended a North Carolina wilderness camp designed for “troubled teens” died of asphyxiation in February, according to an autopsy report released Monday.

The boy, identified in reports only by the initials CJH, died in the care of Trails Carolina, a nature-based program for children ages 10 to 17 with behavioral or emotional problems.

While camping, the boy was forced to sleep in a damaged bivouac, a tent-like sleeping bag, and was “suffocated,” the autopsy report said. The bivouac reportedly had a torn mesh door that was secured with a weatherproof door and an alarm system that sounded if the boy tried to leave the bivouac.

After he reportedly suffered a panic attack around midnight, counselors checked on the teenager at 3 and 6 a.m. but said they could not see him because of the bivouac’s “outer, opaque layer.”

When they examined him again at 7:45 a.m., his body was reportedly stiff and cold to the touch.

His body was reportedly found rotated 180 degrees from the tent entrance, “which would have caused the waterproof material to fall onto his head and face,” the autopsy report said.

“He was placed in this vulnerable sleeping area by others and had no opportunity to extricate himself from the situation as the alarm secured the opening,” the report said. “Standard protocol was deviated from as a damaged bivouac was used and the external weatherproof door was secured instead of the internal mesh panel.”

The boy died less than 24 hours after arriving at the camp in Lake Toxaway, about 120 miles west of Charlotte.

He reportedly suffered from ADHD, anxiety and migraines in the past and was brought to Trails Carolina by his family from New York.

In a February press release, Trails Carolina described the death as an accident and stated, “We mourn with the family of the student who tragically passed away and have promised to do everything in our power to find out what happened.”

The brutal conditions in similar programs for troubled youth have been the subject of controversy in the past and were addressed in the 2023 Netflix documentary “Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare.”

In her 2020 documentary, Paris Hilton described her traumatic experience at a facility in Provo, Utah, where she was allegedly sexually abused by program staff.

With News Wire Services