Camp Mystic faces manslaughter charges as Texas Rangers say owners 'consciously disregarded' risk to 27 dead girls

From the Newshound archive · first published 23 September 2026.

Texas Rangers have applied for search warrants targeting Camp Mystic's owners over the deaths of 27 girls in the July 4, 2025 Guadalupe River flood, with investigators seeking evidence of manslaughter, negligent homicide and child abandonment. Ranger Brant Johnston's affidavit concludes that Camp Mystic LLC "was aware of and consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death" to girls in its care. The camp had no emergency drills, inadequate adult supervision in some cabins, and ignored late-night flood warnings that could have triggered evacuations. No charges have yet been brought, and members of the Eastland family have refused to be interviewed.

Camp Mystic was not accredited at the time of the disaster — the deadliest summer camp tragedy in US history — and has since filed for bankruptcy.

Owner Richard Eastland, 70, died in the flood himself while trying to save the girls; investigators are now seeking electronic communications from his family and other top officials.