Texas Rangers Target Camp Mystic in Flood Death Probe

Texas Rangers have accused Camp Mystic and its leaders of manslaughter and other criminal offenses in the deaths of the girls who perished when floodwaters tore through the century-old summer camp, according to search warrant affidavits that became public this week. The filings mark the most serious legal escalation yet in the aftermath of the July 4, 2025 Hill Country flood, in which 28 people died at the camp — 25 campers, two teenage counselors, and the camp’s co-director.

Investigators filed and executed 14 search warrant affidavits against the family and staff members who run the camp, KUT News reported. The warrants, approved by a Kerr County state district judge and made public the week of Sept. 22, sought customer data from Apple Inc. tied to the Apple accounts of camp owner and executive director Willetta “Tweety” Eastland and others.

What the Affidavits Allege

According to the affidavit reviewed by KUT, Rangers have probable cause to believe the camp’s leaders committed manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, injury to a child, abandoning or endangering a child, and deadly conduct.

“These offenses were committed against child campers — including both deceased victims and surviving campers of the flood event,” Brant Johnston, an investigator with the Texas Rangers, wrote in the document.

The San Antonio Express-News, which obtained the affidavits, reported that the warrants targeted Apple accounts belonging to Tweety Eastland; her late husband, owner and co-director Richard “Dick” Eastland, who died in the flood; and their sons Edward Eastland, Britt Eastland, and Richard Eastland Jr. Also named were Edward’s wife, Mary Liz Eastland, the camp’s chief health officer; Britt’s wife, Cathryn “Catie” Eastland; and camp night watchman Glenn Juenke, among others. The data sought covers 12:01 a.m. July 3 through 11:59 p.m. July 4, 2025 — the day before and the day of the disaster.

A Night of Warnings and Delay

Johnston’s affidavit paints a detailed account of the camp’s response as the Guadalupe River surged. The deluge reached a crisis point around 3 a.m. — nearly two hours after the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for an area that included the camp’s property.

“Management continuously treated the rising waters as a manageable logistical operation long after the situation had progressed into a life-or-death water rescue operation, delaying emergency measures until campers were actively trapped,” Johnston wrote.

Dick Eastland tried to drive 13 campers and two counselors to higher ground in his Chevrolet Tahoe, but the vehicle was submerged in more than 20 feet of water, its airbags deploying at 3:51 a.m., according to data recovered from his Apple Watch. A counselor watched helplessly as the vehicle was lifted and spun downriver; everyone inside was killed.

Edward Eastland was swept from the Twins I and II cabins at 4:09 a.m. with two campers clinging to him, per data from his watch. Tweety Eastland woke at 2:50 a.m. to ankle-deep water, was picked up around 3:30 a.m. by her son Britt, and went to bed around 4:30 to 5 a.m., sleeping until dawn, the affidavits stated. Mary Liz Eastland evacuated her children but did not call 911, and Tweety Eastland also fled without calling 911.

The camp had an outdoor public address system with seven speakers, yet no one used it to direct campers to higher ground even though electricity was still on at 3:50 a.m., Johnston noted.

Staffing and Planning Failures

The affidavits also allege the camp violated state staffing rules. In the Twins I and II cabins, where 11 children died, only one adult counselor (18 or older) and one 17-year-old counselor were present per cabin for 23 children. The 17-year-olds did not meet state law’s definition of adult supervisors, which requires one adult supervisor for every 10 children.

Camp Mystic’s decision to staff the cabins below the required ratio “consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk to campers housed” there, Johnston wrote.

“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,” he added.

The camp’s emergency instructions told campers and counselors to shelter in place during floods and contained no evacuation guidance, the affidavits stated. Tweety Eastland told Johnston the instruction sheet had remained the same since she arrived at Camp Mystic in 1976. The camp also failed to report the children’s deaths to the Texas Department of State Health Services in a timely manner, with more than nine months passing before officials were officially notified, according to the affidavits.

A Widening Reckoning

The criminal inquiry is the latest chapter in a sprawling accountability process. The Rangers began investigating Camp Mystic in March 2026 after it emerged that hundreds of complaints had been filed against the camp, and state health officials opened their own review. More than a dozen families are suing the camp and its leaders for negligence, while the camp and related businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2026, citing debts exceeding $10 million.

A June 2026 legislative investigation added context to those allegations. Casey Garrett, a state investigator who conducted more than 140 interviews, testified that the camp lacked emergency training, drills, and a written evacuation plan.

“[The Eastlands] are loving, Christian people. Unfortunately, they were running a multi-million dollar, for-profit business like … something from 1965,” Garrett told lawmakers. “These people did not want this to happen… but nothing had changed in decades.”

Attorneys for the parents of Cile Steward, the 8-year-old camper whose remains have not been recovered, said the affidavits confirmed their long-held suspicions. “The Eastlands have held hostage the information and answers owed to parents who deserve, more than anyone, to know the details surrounding their daughters’ final moments,” Austin attorneys Brad Beckworth and Christina Yarnell said in a statement.

Mikal Watts, an attorney for Camp Mystic and the Eastland family, has said the family welcomes the Rangers’ involvement. “They are an independent, honorable investigatory body that we were hoping… would get involved and do an in-depth report,” Watts told the Texas Tribune.

What Comes Next

The affidavits do not themselves constitute charges; a grand jury would ultimately decide whether to indict. A separate affidavit filed in March indicated the deaths could be referred to a grand jury once the search for Cile Steward is complete — a search that has now stretched beyond a year.

The flood killed more than 130 people across the region, including nearly 40 children, and prompted Texas lawmakers to pass new camp safety laws. The Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act bars the state from licensing youth camps that operate cabins in floodplains, while the Youth CAMPER Act requires written emergency plans and annual staff training.

For the families of the 28 who died at Camp Mystic, the search warrants represent both a measure of accountability and a reminder of how much remains unresolved. Whether the Texas Rangers’ findings ultimately reach a grand jury — and what charges, if any, follow — now stands as the central question in one of the deadliest camp disasters in American history.