Camp Mystic owners could face manslaughter, negligent homicide charges for flood deaths
The owners of a private Christian camp in Texas are reportedly under criminal investigation over the deaths of 25 campers, two counselors and a camp owner in catastrophic flooding last year.
Investigators applied last week for search warrants to obtain the electronic communications from members of the Eastland family that owns Camp Mystic in Hunt and camp staff, the Associated Press reports. Twenty-eight people died at the camp after flash floods from the Guadalupe River struck before dawn on July 4, 2025, including owner Dick Eastland.
Investigators said the communications could provide evidence of crimes including manslaughter, child abandonment or negligent homicide. No charges have been filed in the case.
Brant Johnson of the Texas Rangers, the investigative division of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), said in an affidavit cited by AP that Camp Mystic’s emergency plans were inadequate.
He said the owners failed to take precautions, such as moving campers out of cabins in low-lying areas, even though they had monitored flood warnings late into the night of the disaster. They also allegedly failed to do emergency drills and didn't provide enough adult counselors in some cabins.
“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,” the affidavit stated.
Johnson concluded that “Camp Mystic, LLC was aware of and consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death to the campers in their care” on the night in question.
Johnson began looking into criminal complaints against Camp Mystic in March. He interviewed witnesses and flood victims, along with several operators, agents and others connected to Camp Mystic LLC.
The warrant applications reportedly seek Apple data, including call logs, emails and browser history, to establish a timeline of what camp officials did that night.
DPS requested phone records for seven staff members who are not part of the owners’ family. They include a retired police officer who served as night watchman, a tribe coordinator, an office assistant, a camp photographer and three kitchen staff members from Poland.
A DPS spokesperson told AP that the Texas Rangers will submit their findings to Kerr County prosecutors, who will decide whether to file charges.
Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June while facing multiple wrongful-death lawsuits. Chapter 11 allows a business to keep operating while it reorganizes its debts. The filing lists less than $10 million in estimated assets and $10 million to $50 million in liabilities.
The filing came as Camp Mystic and its owners sought to resolve five wrongful-death lawsuits out of court in June, Houston Public Media reported. In the lawsuits, more than a dozen families accuse camp leaders of failing to evacuate campers and counselors during the flooding, which they say led to the girls’ deaths.
The camp withdrew its application for an operating license amid opposition and did not reopen this year.
