The story has been updated to include statements from Camp Mystic provided to KSAT.
KERR COUNTY, Texas - The families of five campers and two counselors who died during the Hill Country floods have filed a lawsuit against Camp Mystic and its owners, alleging “gross negligence and reckless disregard for safety,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday, seeks accountability for the 27 campers and counselors, calling the deaths an “entirely preventable tragedy.”
The Fourth of July rain swelled the Guadalupe River to historic levels, sweeping through communities along the river before sunrise, killing more than 100 people across the Hill Country.
The plaintiffs include the following families:
- Warren and Patricia Bellows, parents of Anna Margaret Bellows
- Blake and Caitlin Bonner, parents of Lila Bonner
- Matthew and Wendie Childress, parents of Chloe Childress
- Ryan and Elizabeth DeWitt, parents of Molly DeWitt
- John and Andrea Ferruzzo, parents of Katherine Ferruzzo
- Ben and Natalie Landry, parents of Lainey Landry
- Lindsey McCrory, mother of Blakely McCrory
The defendants named in the lawsuit include:
- Camp Mystic
- Natural Fountains Properties Inc.
- Mystic Camps Family Partnership
- Mystic Camps Management
- Members of the Eastland family: George Albritton Eastland as representative of the estate of Richard Eastland (former Camp Mystic director), Willetta Eastland, Edward Eastland and Mary Liz Eastland
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages exceeding $1 million, including compensation for conscious pain, mental anguish and funeral and counseling expenses. The plaintiffs have demanded a jury trial.
“We carry the memory of our daughter in everything we do. This legal step is one of honoring her, and we believe that truth and justice are essential to finding peace — not only for our family, but for every family affected,” Ryan DeWitt said in a statement. “We trust that through this process, light will be shed on what happened, and our hope is that justice will pave the way for prevention and much-needed safety reform.”
The document states that Camp Mystic has “always been prone to deadly flash flooding,” and the area has become known as “Flash Flood Alley.”
Despite the known flash flooding in the area, Camp Mystic, according to the petition, failed to adopt legally required evacuation plans.
According to the lawsuit, the implemented plan “prohibited” evacuation and required counselors to follow the plan “no matter the circumstances.”
“In case of flood, all campers on Senior Hill must stay in their cabins. They will be given instructions through the loud speaker. If the electricity is off, a walkie-talkie will be used. Food and other supplies will be delivered to Senior Hill by boat or truck. Campers and counselors NEVER wander away from your cabin. Those on the flats must also stay in their cabins unless told otherwise by the office. All cabins are constructed on high, safe locations.”
The document also alleges Camp Mystic provided no training regarding evacuation procedures.
The lawsuit states that the camp allegedly ignored warnings about the risky location of its cabins, the approaching July 4 storm, the rising flood risks throughout the morning, and its own counselors’ requests to evacuate.
The camp “simply ignored the unmistakable safety threat to its campers and counselors until this tragedy was unavoidable,” the lawsuit states.
Starting July 3, Camp Mystic began getting alerts from the National Weather Service warning of “the potential for significant rain and floods.”
By early July 4, the camp was aware of the increasing danger, including a 1:14 a.m. warning of “life-threatening flash flooding.”
Despite the warnings, the lawsuit alleges that camp leadership “took no steps to protect the lives” of campers and counselors. Instead, Richard and Edward Eastland allegedly spent an hour and 15 minutes “working to keep camp equipment dry while they watched the river swell with flood waters.”
In the document, Richard and Edward Eastland allegedly met in the main office of the camp around 1:45 a.m., around 30 minutes after the warning.
The first contact between counselors and Richard and Edward Eastland came around 2:20 a.m., when counselors ran across the camp to ask for help.
Richard and Edward Eastland went to one of the cabins, told the girls to put down towels, and then returned to the office, instructing the campers to stay put because “that’s the plan.”
After receiving a call that was “cut out” from the front gatekeeper trapped by rushing water, Richard and Edward Eastland “agreed they should begin evacuating campers,” the lawsuit states.
The camp allegedly evacuated only five cabins, leaving others, including the Bubble Inn and Twins cabins, where the families’ loved ones stayed, exposed to the floods.
According to the lawsuit, all 13 campers and two counselors in the Bubble Inn cabin, along with 11 campers from the Twins I and II cabins, including Blakely McCrory, died in the flood.
Richard Eastland also died during the floods while saving campers.
The lawsuit also criticizes the camp’s post-flood communications, telling the families their daughters were “unaccounted for” when deaths were already known.
The petition alleges that the camp’s announcement to reopen next summer while camper Cile Steward remains missing uses “the deceased girls as a recruiting tool,” promoting a memorial in their honor without consulting the girls’ parents.
“The camp is ready to move on, but these girls and their parents first deserve transparency and justice,” the lawsuit states.
A trial date has not been set.
Family of Eloise ‘Lulu’ Peck also file lawsuit against Camp Mystic
On Nov. 10, the parents of 8-year-old Eloise “Lulu” Peck also filed a lawsuit against Camp Mystic and its owners.
The family alleges the last moments and deaths of the 27 campers and counselors were caused by “the negligence and gross negligence” of the following defendants:
- Camp Mystic
- Mystic Camps Family Partnership
- Mystic Camps Management
- Natural Fountains Properties Inc.
- Willetta Eastland
The plaintiffs seek monetary relief in excess of $1 million, but the lawsuit states they “intend to leave the determination of the verdict amount to the jury.”
The family also seek wrongful death damages, including mental anguish, physical pain, loss of companionship, funeral and burial expenses.
Similar to the other lawsuit, the defendants knew that camp facilities were located in a flood zone, the history of flash flooding in Kerr County, repeated prior flood events at the camp and received warnings from family members about flood risk, the document states.
Camp Mystic were allegedly negligent “in many ways.” The document alleges the camp failed to assess and monitor flood risks, took improper safety measures, failed to hire “competent” employees, agents and/or contractors with proper qualifications.
According to the petition, the family is asking the defendants to preserve and maintain all evidence related to the lawsuit, including video footage, business records, incident reports, checks, emails and text messages.
Camp Mystic releases statements
Camp Mystic provided the following statement to KSAT on Tuesday.
“We continue to pray for the grieving families and ask for God’s healing and comfort.”
Jeff Ray, the legal counsel for Camp Mystic, released the following statement to KSAT.
“We empathize with the families of the campers and counselors and all families in the Hill Country who lost loved ones in the horrific and unprecedented flood of July 4. We intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwaters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes, that it was unexpected and that no adequate warning systems existed in the area. We disagree with several accusations and misinformation in the legal filings regarding the actions of Camp Mystic and Dick Eastland, who lost his life as well. We will thoroughly respond to these accusations in due course.”