11-year-old Rock Hill boy found dead in Boone hotel

Posted: Sunday, June 9, 2013 5:36 pm | Updated: 6:18 pm, Sun Jun 9, 2013.

Caroline McMillan/Charlotte Observer

Authorities are exploring the possibility that an incident at a Best Western in Boone that left an 11-year-old Rock Hill boy dead and his mother in critical condition Saturday could be linked to the death of an elderly couple in the same hotel room two months before.

Emergency responders were called to the Best Western Plus Blue Ridge Plaza, located at 840 E. King St., .around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, after getting reports of a medical emergency involving two people, officials said.

The boy was pronounced dead at the hotel and his mother was taken to Watauga Medical Center by ambulance for treatment.

The Charlotte Observer's news partner WCNC confirmed the boy’s death with his pastor, Scott Davis of Northside Baptist Church in Rock Hill, who said the family is devastated.

Davis, who wouldn’t release the names of the boy and his mother at the family’s request, said the pair were on a family vacation.

Davis said he and the boy’s father traveled to Boone Saturday afternoon after hearing of the death, WCNC reports.

No cause of death was released, but Sergeant Shane Robbins of the Boone Police Department said investigators discovered that the hotel room the boy and his mother were found in is the same room where two elderly people were found dead on April 16.

“While no evidence has been discovered that these incidents are related, investigators continue to explore all possibilities,” Robbins said in a statement.

Robbins said that due to the complicated nature of the incident, further details won’t likely be available until late Sunday afternoon.

WCNC contributed to this story. Read more from the Charlotte Observer

Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. My wife use to babysit the 11 year old. Who would ever imagine something like this would happen to your wife and child? Very sad.

Are now saying Carbon Monoxide

App91 wrote:Are now saying Carbon Monoxide

That is scary. I think we all go into hotels with a sense of safety and would never expect something like this to happen.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family.

App91 wrote:Are now saying Carbon Monoxide

Holy lawsuit, batman.

I figured it was either CO or a haunting.

I'm in the resort business in this area and one of my co-workers was the manager at this place less than a year ago. All he said regarding this is "never stay in a room directly above an indoor pool".

App91 wrote:Are now saying Carbon Monoxide

I figured as much, what else could it be? But at the same time I'm thinking what generates CM in a hotel and how can it only affect one room? Weird and tragic.

I just got in from my workout at Broyhill Wellness Center. The medical staff at the wellness center can't discuss the victims or their conditions or treatment because of HIPAA. They can discuss anything that is general knowledge in the community. Word as of 2 PM was that a HAZMAT team from Ashe County was on scene testing. The operating theory as of noon today was chlorine gas. This could also explain the two earlier deaths in April.

Chlorine sounds unlikely because it's not used in indoor pools. Bromine is the indoor equivalent because it doesn't emit the gas bubbles that chlorine does. Chlorine is used for outdoor pools because it's stronger and can protect the pool better from the elements. Bromine isn't as strong, but it doesn't need to be since indoor pools don't face the elements. If chlorine is used in an indoor pool, then it can turn the pool area into a gas chamber in a relatively short period of time.

If chlorine was used in that pool, then that's criminal neglect.

The CO is saying the room was directly above the pool heating system so it could be bad ventilation. I wouldn't be surprised if that room wasn't occupied much, if at all, between April and now as the room is a suite. Those types of rooms aren't upgraded to as much because of the cleaning costs and there wasn't that many events in Boone during the last seven weeks.

Boone PD had a press conferece at 5:30. Apparently the health inspector told the hotel to correct the ventilation problem on March 6th, more than a month before the first deaths. Also the Boone FD said that CO2 detectors are not required in commercial properties.

T-Dog wrote:Boone PD had a press conferece at 5:30. Apparently the health inspector told the hotel to correct the ventilation problem on March 6th, more than a month before the first deaths. Also the Boone FD said that CO2 detectors are not required in commercial properties.

That is correct. But, in my opinion as a fire inspector and arson investigator, they should be, especially in properties like motels where people are sleeping. Smoke detectors are required and combo units are not that much more expensive. There are many ways that carbon monoxide can form and since it's both odorless and colorless detectors should be required. A lot of inspectors have been saying this for years. If there is any good to come from this tragedy I hope cities and states will take another look at these laws.

I sent an email to our NC Legislators today asking that they please take a look at this. One can only hope that they will.

firemoose wrote:

T-Dog wrote:Boone PD had a press conferece at 5:30. Apparently the health inspector told the hotel to correct the ventilation problem on March 6th, more than a month before the first deaths. Also the Boone FD said that CO2 detectors are not required in commercial properties.

That is correct. But, in my opinion as a fire inspector and arson investigator, they should be, especially in properties like motels where people are sleeping. Smoke detectors are required and combo units are not that much more expensive. There are many ways that CO2 can form and since it's both odorless and colorless detectors should be required. A lot of inspectors have been saying this for years. If there is any good to come from this tragedy I hope cities and states will take another look at these laws.

I sent an email to our NC Legislators today asking that they please take a look at this. One can only hope that they will.

I am going to take your lead and email my reps. BTW CO is poison, CO2 is what you emit every time you exhale.

appbio91 wrote:

firemoose wrote:

T-Dog wrote:Boone PD had a press conferece at 5:30. Apparently the health inspector told the hotel to correct the ventilation problem on March 6th, more than a month before the first deaths. Also the Boone FD said that CO2 detectors are not required in commercial properties.

That is correct. But, in my opinion as a fire inspector and arson investigator, they should be, especially in properties like motels where people are sleeping. Smoke detectors are required and combo units are not that much more expensive. There are many ways that CO2 can form and since it's both odorless and colorless detectors should be required. A lot of inspectors have been saying this for years. If there is any good to come from this tragedy I hope cities and states will take another look at these laws.

I sent an email to our NC Legislators today asking that they please take a look at this. One can only hope that they will.

I am going to take your lead and email my reps. BTW CO is poison, CO2 is what you emit every time you exhale.

Whoops...typing too fast. I changed it in my OP.

firemoose wrote:

appbio91 wrote:

firemoose wrote:

T-Dog wrote:Boone PD had a press conferece at 5:30. Apparently the health inspector told the hotel to correct the ventilation problem on March 6th, more than a month before the first deaths. Also the Boone FD said that CO2 detectors are not required in commercial properties.

That is correct. But, in my opinion as a fire inspector and arson investigator, they should be, especially in properties like motels where people are sleeping. Smoke detectors are required and combo units are not that much more expensive. There are many ways that CO2 can form and since it's both odorless and colorless detectors should be required. A lot of inspectors have been saying this for years. If there is any good to come from this tragedy I hope cities and states will take another look at these laws.

I sent an email to our NC Legislators today asking that they please take a look at this. One can only hope that they will.

I am going to take your lead and email my reps. BTW CO is poison, CO2 is what you emit every time you exhale.

Whoops...typing too fast. I changed it in my OP.

Already got a reply from my local rep. Indicated he had read article so not an automatic reply. Hopefully no one else has to die because of the lack of an inexpensive devise that is easily deployable.

firemoose wrote:

T-Dog wrote:Boone PD had a press conferece at 5:30. Apparently the health inspector told the hotel to correct the ventilation problem on March 6th, more than a month before the first deaths. Also the Boone FD said that CO2 detectors are not required in commercial properties.

That is correct. But, in my opinion as a fire inspector and arson investigator, they should be, especially in properties like motels where people are sleeping. Smoke detectors are required and combo units are not that much more expensive. There are many ways that carbon monoxide can form and since it's both odorless and colorless detectors should be required. A lot of inspectors have been saying this for years. If there is any good to come from this tragedy I hope cities and states will take another look at these laws.

I sent an email to our NC Legislators today asking that they please take a look at this. One can only hope that they will.

I support your side of this with the CO detectors. I do wonder how much the Hospitality industry would fight this as a huge cost burden. I would be very surprised if they did not fight this tooth and nail.

Please contact the Mayor of Boone. Ask her to propose an ordinance requiring all hotels in Boone to have CO detectors. Many years ago a young coed, Cindy,died in a fire on Queen Street in a rental unit with no smoke detector- as they were not required at that time for rental units. Boone stepped up and became the first city in NC to require smoke detectors in all rental units. Now it is a state requirment. They can take the lead again. If there is any leadership
Loretta.Clawson@townofboone.net

Story and video are now on CNN.com.

McLeansvilleAppFan wrote:I support your side of this with the CO detectors. I do wonder how much the Hospitality industry would fight this as a huge cost burden. I would be very surprised if they did not fight this tooth and nail.

No doubt they would fight it. But the cost of the duel purpose units has come down a lot over the past 10 or so years to where they are only a few dollars more than the mass produced fire only units. Some of the higher end chains are already using multi-purpose detectors. Truth be told a lot of people in the industry will be watching closely to see what will happen in these cases. Since it has been announced that it was CO that caused the deaths in both cases then the cost of not installing them might far outweigh the cost of the units, especially to BW.

Being talked about on CNN and on the CNN.com main page.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/11/us/north- ... ?hpt=hp_c2

It's particularly disturbing to me because I've stay there a few time. I can't remember 100% but it seems like that's where we checked and and the smoke detector was covered up. We just thought that a prior guest had burnt one and didn't want to set off the alarm so we called down and made sure that they didn't charge us for smoking in a non-smoking room. It was just weird because the room had been cleaned fairly well but the smoke detector was still covered up. We just marked it up to the fact they didn't look up.

Now it makes me wonder if it was a combination detector and it was going off all the time and the motel staff covered it up. I know that I"m reaching but it still makes me feel a little weird. I wish that I could be 100% that this was the motel, but I'm almost certain that it was.