Texas Rangers Seek Evidence of Manslaughter in Camp Mystic Flood Deaths

Texas investigators are pursuing a criminal investigation into the deaths of 27 girls at Camp Mystic during catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River, court documents show. Search warrant applications executed last week sought access to the electronic communications of the camp's owners, with authorities stating the records could yield evidence of manslaughter, negligent homicide, child abandonment or other offenses. No charges have been filed, and a camp representative did not respond to requests for comment.

In an affidavit, Texas Ranger Brant Johnston alleged that Camp Mystic maintained inadequate emergency plans, failed to conduct emergency drills or training, and in some cabins lacked sufficient adult counselors. He wrote that the owners did not relocate children from low-lying cabins despite monitoring late-night flood warnings. "Young campers cannot reasonably be expected to independently recognize a rapidly developing, life-threatening hazard or to organize and execute an evacuation absent direction from an adequate number of adult supervisors," Johnston stated. He concluded that Camp Mystic, LLC "was aware of and consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death to the campers in their care."

Twenty-five campers and two teenage counselors at the Christian all-girls camp died when the Guadalupe River surged beyond its banks before dawn on July 4, 2025. Camp owner Richard Eastland also died in the flood. The broader flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river.

For decades, Camp Mystic was a summer institution for generations of families who sent their daughters to ride horses, canoe, fish and attend Bible studies. The camp did not reopen this year and has filed for bankruptcy reorganization.

Attorneys for some victims' families welcomed the search warrants but said they should not have been necessary. Christina Yarnell and Brad Beckworth, representing the family of victim Cile Steward, said in a statement that families had spent more than a year seeking accountability and answers from the Eastland family. Steward's body has not been found.

Johnston wrote that he visited Camp Mystic several times and that investigators conducted interviews with witnesses, flood victims and people associated with the camp. However, several individuals, including members of the Eastland family and other top camp officials, declined to be interviewed. The Eastland family and camp leaders have testified in courtrooms and before the state Legislature in the months since the flood, with camp director Edward Eastland offering a tearful apology.