Kristen Chase - 1990

In 1990 wilderness therapy received unexpected media attention when 16 year old Kristen Chase died at the Challenger wilderness program.

It came as an shock not only for the wilderness industry but also for the general public.

Wilderness therapy program were developed in the early 1970's. At that time the programs looked very much as outdoor program with little focus on punishment but instead they functioned as a kind of time out for the children.

Around the late 1980's Cartisano entered the business and he launced what is recognized as the modern wilderness programs even today. Almost every wilderness program are today very focused on consequences.

But the structure became so strict and involved elements from boot camps that it would take almost marine soldier skills to complete the programs without injury. At that time teenagers began to die in wilderness programs in numbers not seen before inside the industry.

Kristen Chase died at mentioned above at the Challenger wilderness program owned by Cartisano. It made the authorities to wonder whether it was time for regulation of the industry. Some legislation was introduced and for Cartisano and his wilderness program it meant closure. However the legislation faced opposition as wilderness programs meant jobs going to areas with very little industry and high unemployment. The local politicians struggled to prevent too much legislation.

Still the deaths meant that safety measures were introduced and for another decade wilderness therapy were a little industry until the TV-show Brat Camp made parents believe that wilderness therapy can be safe and as result put the lives of teenagers in jeopardy, but that is another story.

Kristen Chase would have been a grown woman today. A woman with her own family and loved ones around her, but this was in such a gruesome way denied her. Instead she became part of the sad legacy that wilderness therapy can be useful if you return to nature. Kristen Chase did return to nature. In fact six feet down in the nature.

May she never be forgotten.

Sources:

• Victims in the 1990's, Fornits Wiki Database
• FATHER SUES CHALLENGER OVER DAUGHTER'S DEATH, By Marianne Funk, Deseret News Staff Writer, July 24, 1991

Danny Lewis - 1989

16 year old Danny Lewis died during an outing while supervised by VisionQuest.

The place the counselors did choose for a bath became deadly for Danny Lewis when he became tangled in moss and drowned.

Sources:
Victims in 1980s,
Californian, Utahn drown, The Rochester Sentinel - April 4, 1990

John Vincent Garrison - 1990

18 year old John Vincent Garrison ended up at VisionQuest instead of serving his time in the local juvenile detention facility. No information can tell us today whether it was a choice made by the court in order to treat some kind of disorder instead of just doing time. But the decision to choose this kind of alternative sentence turned out to be deadly.

According to the media we have learned that the parents believed that the treatment of this young man by the staff members led him to believe that his life was in danger. He took the decision to escape from the program in an attempt to save his life and he drowned during this attempt.

His parents sued the program. It has not been possible to determine whether they won in court.

Source:
Deaths in the 1990s - Fornits Wiki database
VisionQuest sued over teen's death, Lodi News-Sentinel - 3 Jun 1991

Erica Harvey - 2002

15 year old Erica Harvey cooked to death in the wilderness. Despite the fact that the wilderness program marketed themselves as professionals they didn't take into account that the body temperature can change very fast on a medicated person in the harsh wilderness conditions.

Her parents sought help by professionals. They didn't get that. Instead they got their daughter killed by amateurs.

Many years later her mother came forward expressing a hope that the tragedy the loss of her daughter meant her for should not repeat itself for another family. Sadly it was not the case.

Sources:
Deaths 2000-4, Fornits Wiki Database
Losing Erica: Cynthia Clark Harvey Doesn't Want Anyone Else's Child to Die in a Wilderness-Therapy Program Phoenix New Times, November 5 2009

Anthony Green - 1991

In the days before research proved that face.down restraints were deadly, 15 year old Anthony Green lost his life when three staff members from Brookhaven Youth Ranch pinned him to the ground.

The sources we have found don't inform us if this tragedy was investigated at all.

All we know are that mother had to live with nightmares about her sons demise.

Years later the boys were suddenly removed when the ranch was inspected and cause to suspect neglect were found. Why it should take so long for action to take place is an unanswered question.


Sources:
Victims in 1990s, Fornits Wiki database
A mother's grief Woman haunted by son's death at youth home sues Waco-area facility and three staff members, The Dallas Morning News - October 2, 1991
Dallas teens pulled from boys home, The Victoria Advocate - November 10, 1997