Local
Texas Rangers seek evidence in Camp Mystic flood death investigation
Search-warrant affidavits show investigators are examining whether Camp Mystic’s owners could face criminal charges after 27 people died in the July 2025 flooding. The inquiry focuses on emergency planning, evacuation decisions and access to the owners’ electronic devices.
KERRVILLE, Texas — Texas Department of Public Safety investigators have obtained 14 search warrants as part of a criminal investigation into the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic during catastrophic flooding on July 4, 2025.
The warrants identify five possible offenses under review: manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, injury to a child, abandoning or endangering a child, and deadly conduct. The documents do not indicate that charges have been filed.
The investigation centers largely on the Eastland family, which operates the Kerr County summer camp. Warrants seek access to electronic devices belonging to members of the family and others connected to the camp.
Investigator Brant Johnston wrote that he began examining criminal complaints against Camp Mystic in March 2026. He said investigators interviewed camp operators, agents, managers, witnesses and flood survivors, but were unable to interview several people associated with the camp, including Edward Eastland, Mary Liz Eastland, Richard Eastland Jr., Cathryn “Catie” Eastland, Betsy Althaus and Glenn Juenke.
According to the affidavits, investigators are examining whether the camp lacked an adequate emergency response plan and delayed moving campers to safety as floodwaters rose. Johnston wrote that those actions could show the camp “was aware of and consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death to the campers in their care.”
The July 2025 disaster killed 27 people connected to Camp Mystic. The body of 8-year-old Cile Steward has not been recovered.
Attorneys for Steward’s family said relatives of the victims have spent more than a year seeking information about what happened. In a statement, they urged the Eastland family to accept responsibility and cooperate with investigators, saying families deserve answers about their children’s final moments.
The criminal investigation follows multiple civil lawsuits involving the Eastland family and Camp Mystic. The camp had not responded to requests for comment on the inquiry as of Sept. 23, 2026.
The warrants provide an early look at the evidence investigators are gathering, but any decision to prosecute would come later, after authorities complete their review and prosecutors assess whether the evidence supports charges.