A teenage girl was found dead Sunday inside Cornerstone Treatment Facility in Wadesboro, prompting an active police investigation into what went wrong at the psychiatric residential program for children and adolescents in Anson County. Authorities say the discovery was made inside the facility. Officials have not released the girl’s name or a cause of death.
The Wadesboro Police Department says it is working with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, the Anson County Department of Child Protective Services and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, according to WCNC. That outlet reports that state investigators and local officers were on site at Cornerstone while parallel administrative reviews were opened.
State Inspection Flagged Elopements And Care Gaps
A complaint-and-follow-up survey by the state’s Mental Health Licensure team documented multiple incidents in late 2025 and January 2026 in which teenage clients eloped from the unit. One Jan. 19 incident detailed in the report describes three clients kicking open a locked door and leaving the facility to meet an adult male. The report states, “This deficiency constitutes a Type A1 rule violation for serious neglect and must be corrected within 23 days,” and notes that some clients’ treatment plans did not include goals to address elopement. The findings appear in the state’s public inspection materials and linked facility records: N.C. DHHS inspection report and state facility records.
Earlier Missing-Teen Case Raised Separate Red Flags
Earlier this year, police investigated a separate episode in which three teens left Cornerstone without authorization and a man was later accused of taking them away from the area, according to reporting compiled by Yahoo. That case highlighted the same elopement vulnerabilities that state reviewers would later spell out in their inspection findings.
Officials have not released any additional details about the recent death. Investigators say the medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death. Wadesboro police and state teams continue to interview staff and review records; no arrests or charges connected to the girl’s death have been announced so far, per WCNC. State regulators have ordered the facility to correct the cited deficiencies and strengthen care planning and supervision.
