Parents of girl missing from Camp Mystic flooding 'devastated' by reopening plan

The parents of a girl who was among the victims who perished in flooding waters at Texas’ Camp Mystic in July have condemned the camp’s plans to reopen while their daughter’s body remains missing.

At least 27 campers and counselors from the all-girls summer camp were killed along the Guadalupe River when calamitous flash floods swept through the area on July 4. Camp owners on Sept. 22 said a portion of the camp would reopen for the summer 2026 season.

“To promote reopening less than three months after the tragedy — while one camper remains missing — is unthinkable,” CiCi and Will Steward wrote in a letter, KHOU reported. “Worse still, you are preparing to invite children to swim in the very river that may still hold our daughter’s body.”

The Stewards, whose 8-year-old daughter Cile remains missing, said they were “devastated” by the reopening plans and faulted the camp in their letter for pursuing such plans “without prior consultation or consent from the affected families,” KHOU reported.

“Recovery teams are still out there every day, scouring the river — your backyard — risking their own safety to bring her home to us,” they wrote. “Yet, instead of recognizing or highlighting that effort, you have not once mentioned her name or the fact that she is still missing.”

The portion of the camp set to reopen is about a half mile from the section affected by the flooding. Camp owners thanked families in a Sept. 22 message for their “love, support, and patience” and said the camp would create a memorial to those whose lives were lost.

In the message to families, the camp’s operators said they would implement new safety procedures to comply with new protocols signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sept. 5. Among other things, the legislation addresses emergency response and training measures and bans camps from placing cabins within FEMA-designated floodplains.

“We are not only rebuilding cabins and trails,” the Stewards wrote to camp officials. “But also a place where laughter, friendship, and spiritual growth will continue to flourish.”

The parents’ letter particularly took issue with the camp’s statement that “the heart of Camp Mystic has never stopped beating.”

“Have you considered that, for many of us, Camp Mystic’s heart stopped beating the moment these 27 girls took their last breath?” the letter added, KHOU reported.

The Stewards called on camp owners to “halt all discussion of reopening and memorials” until their daughter’s body is recovered.

“Our families remain trapped in the deepest throes of grief, yet your communications treat our never-ending nightmare as little more than a brief pause before resuming business as usual,” they wrote. “Had you paused to reflect – or simply consulted with any one of our families – you might have spared grieving families the additional anguish your decisions now cause.”