On the morning of February 3, there was a 911 call to a Wilderness Program in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina. A 12-year-old boy from New York was assigned to a cabin with other campers. Less than a day following his arrival, authorities said he was found dead. According to a forensic pathologist, food poisoning was the little boy’s cause of death. The Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office is looking into the boy’s death as a manslaughter case. The boy’s body was in rigor mortis, and he was cold to the touch.
Detective Andrew Patterson said that the boy’s face was covered with a CPR mask and that investigators noticed what appeared to be bruises around his eye. When questioned about the boy’s death, the camp said, “regardless of the evidence that the wilderness program killed 12-Year-Old Boy Preliminary investigation proved the Wilderness Program didn’t kill the 12-year-old boy it was an accident and that it had not been informed of any questionable preliminary results by the medical examiner.”
“Inappropriate and disrespectful to the family,” the camp described the public’s conjecture about the death.
The statement stated that police enforcement, other governmental organizations, and “our program should not settle for anything less than a comprehensive, professional, fact-based investigation of the family and their son. Speculation is destructive, unhelpful, and irresponsible before the complete results of these investigations are available.”
The Truth About the Wilderness Program
According to the description, this camp offers kids dealing with a variety of behavioral problems a chance to “connect with nature” and “find hope and healing.” However, past campers who talked to USA TODAY, like Katelyn Haruko Schmisseur, say otherwise. Claiming to have been mistreated by staff and to always fear punishment.
They talked of filthy living. The restroom was a tarp stretched between two trees, according to Katelyn Haruko Schmisseur, a former camper who participated in the program at the age of 16. Katelyn stated she looked up at a staff worker as she used it. They stared at her as she knelt. They informed her it was mandatory for her wilderness therapy program and contributed to the abuse. For solid waste, there was a pail lined with a biohazard bag.
The scent of the biohazard bag only grew worse as the temperature rose. There were flies everywhere. Katelyn eventually started cleaning herself with sticks and leaves since she could only have one roll of toilet paper per week to share among ten people. In her words, “It was just so nasty. They didn’t care…just another form of dehumanizing you and taking away your dignity.”
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
When she initially showed up, her 40-pound backpack was packed with her few belongings for the duration of the 90-day program. She set out on an exhausting three-mile hike as her first task. She had to walk in the middle of a Utah desert with her backpack.
Katelyn, who is in her 20s now, says she was afraid explaining that “Above all, I missed my family dearly. All I can recall is how powerless I felt. They make it extremely evident to you that even if you are living in this world, you have no autonomy or free will. It’s made very clear that you are a patient. You are not free. You have no choice.” Katelyn is only one of many former campers coming forward to share their experiences with wilderness therapy. Therefore, this is compelling evidence that the Wilderness Program is responsible for Killing the 12-year-old boy and others.
This is Not the First Time
Furthermore, there is substantial evidence that the Wilderness Program killed the 12-year-old boy. However, he was not the only one who has died at this very camp, and unfortunately not the worst either.
The camp has had gotten many calls from 911 over the years. Children have been found in very gruesome states. Three days after starting her wilderness program in 1990, 16-year-old Kristen Chase passed away from heatstroke. Two years later, Ian, a 14-year-old in August, perished at his outdoor therapy program from hyperthermia; in 2000, 15-year-old William Edward Lee died from a head injury sustained while being detained by staff. Charles Moody, a 17-year-old who had been restrained, smothered to death that same year. Anthony Haynes, 14, passed away in 2005 while receiving discipline at the wilderness boot camp. The 15-year-old Caleb Jensen’s body was discovered stuffed inside a sleeping bag wet with pee and excrement after he passed away in 2007. All of this occurred at the very same camp.
The 17-year-old Daniel Huerta passed away in 2011 while being driven by a staff member. In 2016 the death of 19-year-old Lane Lesko followed as an attempt to flee from a treatment facility that combined residential and natural settings went sideways. In the end not only did this Wilderness Program kill that 12-year-old boy, but it claimed the lives of nine other children before it actually got shut down.
The Reality of the Situation
In one form or another, wilderness therapy has been around for more than fifty years. It gained popularity in the 1990s when programs claimed that the therapeutic powers of the natural world could solve any issues parents were having with their children.
The pandemic added to its momentum. Tessie Schmisseur, Katelyn’s mother, and other parents were introduced to wilderness therapy by an educational consultant of a friend who highly recommended it. Tessie Schmisseur characterizes the consultant as a “very demanding, pushy and high-pressure salesperson.” There is a hope that this Wilderness program that killed the 12-year-old boy will bring light to this dawning situation.
Written By Jada Dunkentell
ABC NEWS: Officials order all children removed from North Carolina wilderness camp where boy died
USA TODAY: A 12-year-old boy died at a wilderness therapy program. He’s not the first.
Huff Post: 12-Year-Old Dies Shortly After Joining Wilderness Therapy Program
Featured Image Courtesy of *jarr*’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Image Courtesy of eloriane72 ‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
