In November 2016, the body of a teenager who had been lost for almost two weeks was found. A terrible thing happened while the group was camping in the Nantahala National Forest. Alec Sanford Lansing, who is 17 years old, hasn’t been seen since November 10, when he walked away from a therapy program trip at Trails Carolina.
Which is an outdoor therapy center in Lake Toxaway. His body was found near where he had left the group. This was a very sad end to the search. The death at Trails Carolina is still being looked into to find out what happened.
Trails Carolina Death: The History of Murder and Suicide
A boy from Atlanta named “Trails Carolina” who got lost from a forest camp in the Nantahala National Forest and couldn’t move because his hip was broken died of hypothermia.
Authorities say that Alec Sanford Lansing was camping with Trails Carolina, an outdoor recovery program based in Lake Toxaway, when, at about 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 10, he went off on his own through the forest, as reported by Newyorkdailynews.com.
At 6 o’clock, someone said he was missing. The deputies told the police what Lansing looked like and where he was last seen, and they asked them to keep an eye out for him.
On November 10, a volunteer firefighter in Cashiers said he saw someone near a gas station who looked like the teen. The worker said that a station worker confirmed that the teen had been there, but cops couldn’t see the video because of problems with the store’s CCTV system.
Rescuers looked for people in the Nantahala for about two weeks. They had help on the ground and in the air from many agencies from at least three states. On Saturday, November 22, Queen said that Lansing had been found “not very far” from where he had first camped with Trails Carolina.
The body was found in a wild area that was hard to get to. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement wanted an autopsy to find out why Lansing died. The exam was done on Monday, November 24, by Dr. William Selby, a pathologist. He found that the teen died of hypothermia. Selby said that another important part of the autopsy was that Lansing’s hip was broken.
The news release says that detectives who were in the area where Lansing’s body was found on Saturday, November 22, saw that moss had been taken off a tree that leaned over the small stream where Lansing’s body was found. Investigators think Lansing climbed the tree and then fell into the small creek, breaking his hip and leaving him unable to move.
Timothy Wiltse and Michael Rockefeller’s deaths have been talked about on our site before. You should read their stories and find out more about them:
- Timothy Wiltse Cause of Death: What Really Happened to the Missing Boy?
- Michael Rockefeller Death: The Mystery Behind What Really Happened To Him?
Teenager Missing After Vanishing from Trails Carolina Camp
Alec Sanford Lansing, who was 17, was camping with a group in Lake Toxaway as part of the Trails Carolina trip for outdoor recovery. Around 2:30 p.m. on November 10, 2014, he went into the bush by himself. At 6 o’clock that evening, he was reported missing, which was scary. Authorities quickly called police and told them what Lansing looked like and where he was last seen. Telling them to keep an eye out for the teen. Even though a group of people from different departments worked hard to find him.
The large area they were looking in and the tough mountainous terrain made it harder and harder to find him. As part of the search, a chopper was sent up to look for Lansing from the air. But the thick forest canopy was a big problem because it made it hard to see and find any signs of the lost teenager. Queen, a spokeswoman for the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, said that Lansing was being watched by a counselor from Trails Carolina when he went missing.
Lansing had left the group, which the psychologist had seen. In his trials in Carolina reviews, this made the search even more urgent. A few days later, Lansing’s dead body was found near a small stream by detectives. They noticed that moss had been taken off of a tree that hung over the stream where his body was found. Pathologist William Selby did an autopsy to find out what caused the death.
The results made it clear that cold was the cause of death. They also showed that the person had a broken hip in the past, which made this Trails Carolina death even more complicated. As officials looked into the Trails Carolina case and tried to figure out what happened, the Trails Carolina community and Lansing’s family and friends grieved for a young life that was cut short far too soon.
We are still trying to figure out what happened to Trails Carolina. Check thetecheducation.com for the latest news. While you wait, you can read about the deaths of other well-known people.
