A `tragedy of apathy' in teen's suicide.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Trevor Principe slept with a baseball bat at his side. At least three times in his short life, county Child Protective Services officials were called to investigate claims that he was being abused.

But help did not arrive in time for the 14-year-old Carmel Valley boy. He disappeared April 1 and his body was found 18 days later hanging from an oak tree on the remote Cahoon Ranch where he grew up. He was found less than 300 yards from the tiny, log-heated cabin he shared with his father, Ken Principe. His death was ruled a suicide.

Trevor's fate has left a trail of sadness, anger and regret among those who knew the eighth-grader. His death also has raised questions, some of which will never be answered publicly, about whether the agencies designed to prevent such tragedies had failed him.

"It's a tragedy of apathy," said Gwyneth Hovick, manager director of the Children's Experimental Theater in Carmel, where Trevor spent his Saturdays when he could catch a ride from the three-room cabin 30 miles away.

"He looked like one of those people who was holding himself together with every ounce of his strength. He was just a little boy carrying around this invisible backpack full of something," said Hovick. She recalled that Trevor missed his ride to the theater class on the Saturday he argued with his father and walked off into the woods.

Records of Monterey County's Child Protective Services, the agency charged with investigating allegations of child abuse, are confidential, and state law bars its employees from commenting on any of their cases. But Trevor's mother and the principal of Carmel Middle School confirmed that Child Protective Services officials had been contacted about Trevor's unhappiness at home and his claims of abuse.

A former CPS worker said cases like Trevor's are the most difficult ones because they don't involve clear signs of physical abuse. Harvey Link resigned two years ago after 10 years with the agency. He said a number of factors, including the isolation of Trevor's father's house and a history of violence in his mother's home, are likely to have contributed to the suicide.