Texas investigators seek evidence of manslaughter, other crimes in 27 flood deaths at Camp Mystic

Camp Mystic faces a criminal investigation that could include manslaughter or negligent homicide charges in the deaths of 27 girls amid devastating flooding in Texas last year, court documents show.

In applications for search warrants executed last week, investigators sought to obtain the electronic communications of the camp’s owners , saying they could provide evidence of manslaughter, negligent homicide, child abandonment or other crimes. No charges have been brought, and a representative of the camp did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Brant Johnston, with the Texas Rangers, wrote in an affidavit that Camp Mystic had inadequate emergency plans, failed to conduct emergency drills or training, and in some cabins did not have enough adult counselors. Its owners neglected to take precautions by relocating children from low-lying cabins despite having monitored late-night flood warnings, Johnston wrote.

“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 wrote.

He concluded: “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 were killed as the raging Guadalupe River surged beyond its banks before dawn on July 4, 2025. Camp Mystic owner Richard Eastland also died in the flood.

For decades, Camp Mystic was a summer staple and an institution for generations of families, who dropped off their girls at the sleepaway camp to ride horses, canoe, fish and attend Bible studies. The camp did not reopen this year, and it has filed for bankruptcy reorganization .

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All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.

Attorneys for some of the victims’ families welcomed the search warrants but said they should not have been necessary.

“For more than a year, families of the 27 angels killed at Camp Mystic have fought, begged, and pleaded with the Eastland family for accountability and answers,” Christina Yarnell and Brad Beckworth, attorneys for the family of victim Cile Steward, said in a written statement. “Instead, the Eastlands have held hostage the information and answers owed to parents who deserve, more than anyone, to know the details surrounding their daughters’ final moments.”

Steward’s body still has not been found.

Johnston wrote in the warrant that he made several visits to Camp Mystic and that he and other investigators have conducted interviews with witnesses, flood victims and people associated with the camp. But several people, including members of the Eastland family and other top camp officials, refused interviews, Johnston wrote.

The Eastland family and other camp leaders have testified in courtrooms and in front of the state Legislature in the months since the flood, however, with camp director Edward Eastland offering a tearful apology.

法庭文件显示，神秘营地面临刑事调查，可能涉及去年德克萨斯州毁灭性洪灾中 27 名女孩的死亡，包括过失杀人或疏忽致死罪。

在上周执行的搜查令申请中，调查人员试图获取该营地所有者的电子通讯记录，称这些记录可能提供过失杀人、疏忽致死、遗弃儿童或其他犯罪的证据。目前尚未提出任何指控，营地代表也未立即回复置评请求。

德克萨斯州骑警布兰特·约翰斯顿在一份宣誓书中写道，神秘营地应急预案不足，没有进行应急​​演练或培训，而且一些小木屋的成人辅导员人数不够。约翰斯顿还写道，尽管营地所有者密切关注着深夜洪水预警，但他们却疏忽大意，没有将地势低洼的小木屋里的孩子们转移出去。

约翰斯顿写道：“不能合理地指望年轻的露营者能够独立识别迅速发展的、危及生命的危险，或者在没有足够数量的成年监督员的指导下组织和执行疏散。”

他总结道：“Camp Mystic, LLC 明知其照管的营员面临重大且不合理的死亡风险，却故意忽视了这一风险。”

2025年7月4日黎明前，汹涌的瓜达卢佩河决堤，淹没了基督教女子夏令营，造成25名营员和两名青少年辅导员丧生。夏令营老板理查德·伊斯特兰也在洪水中遇难。

几十年来，神秘营地一直是许多家庭夏季的必去之地，他们把女儿送到这里寄宿，让她们骑马、划独木舟、钓鱼、参加圣经学习。今年，营地没有重新开放，并已申请破产重组。

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

总而言之，这场破坏性洪水在数英里长的河段上造成至少 136 人死亡，引发了人们对事情为何会变得如此糟糕的疑问。

部分受害者家属的律师对搜查令表示欢迎，但表示本不应该需要搜查令。

“一年多来，在神秘营地遇难的27名‘天使’的家属们一直在与伊斯特兰家族抗争、恳求，希望他们能追究责任并给出答案，”受害者西尔·斯图尔特家属的律师克里斯蒂娜·亚内尔和布拉德·贝克沃思在一份书面声明中表示。“然而，伊斯特兰家族却将本应属于家属的信息和答案扣为人质，而这些家属比任何人都更应该知道他们女儿临终前的细节。”

斯图尔特的遗体至今仍未找到。

约翰斯顿在搜查令中写道，他曾多次前往神秘营地，他和调查人员对目击者、洪水受害者以及与营地有关的人员进行了访谈。但约翰斯顿也写道，包括伊斯特兰家族成员和其他营地高层官员在内的几个人拒绝接受采访。

自洪水发生以来的几个月里，伊斯特兰家族和其他营地负责人已在法庭和州立法机构作证，营地主任爱德华·伊斯特兰含泪道歉。