The parents of an 8-year-old girl who remains missing after the deadly July 4 flooding in the Texas Hill Country have filed a lawsuit against Camp Mystic, marking the fifth legal challenge against the summer camp since the July 4 disaster killed 25 campers and two counselors.
The 100-page lawsuit, filed Wednesday by Will and Catherine Steward, alleges that a series of failures by camp leadership led to the death of their daughter, Cecilia “Cile” Steward, who’s still missing more than seven months after floodwaters swept through the long-running all-girls Christian summer camp.
According to the legal filing, Cecilia is “presumed to be deceased.”
According to court records, the Stewards dropped their daughter off at camp on June 29 for her first overnight camp experience, part of a family tradition that spanned generations.
“Cile's parents did not know that when they kissed Cile goodbye, it would be the last time they would ever hold her,” the lawsuit read.
The lawsuit says Cecilia was assigned to a cabin housing some of the youngest campers, closer to the Guadalupe River than cabins for older campers. In the days leading up to the flooding, camp leaders allegedly received multiple weather alerts warning of increasing flood risk across the region but didn’t notify campers or counselors of the severity of the threat or move younger campers to higher ground, according to the filing.
As heavy rain fell upstream overnight on July 4, water levels along the Guadalupe River began rising rapidly while most campers were asleep.
According to the lawsuit, as flood warnings intensified, camp leaders didn’t move campers to higher ground and instead instructed counselors and girls to “stay put” in their cabins. Attorneys for the Stewards say those directions left some of the youngest campers trapped as water began entering cabins.
“It is particularly horrific to know that, by following the rules the Eastlands gave them, so many girls would lose their lives,” court records read. Tweety Eastland owned Camp Mystic with her husband, Dick, who died in the flood.
The lawsuit describes chaos inside the cabin where Cecilia and other younger campers were housed. The girls huddled on top of bunk beds as water rose rapidly, according to the filing. Counselors attempted to evacuate girls through submerged windows onto floating mattresses as floodwaters filled the cabin. Some campers were swept into the current as they tried to escape.
The petition alleges that Cecilia made it through the broken window and onto a mattress, but fell into the floodwaters. The lawsuit alleges she reached a tree where other survivors were later found but was unable to hold on.
“She calls for help. She grabs for branches. But she keeps grabbing leaves,” the lawsuit states.
“Cile is swept away.”
The July 4 flood devastated parts of the Hill Country, where summer camps and vacationers were gathered during the holiday weekend. Water levels rose nearly 40 feet in a matter of hours, killing more than 130 people. At least two people, including Cecilia, remain missing.
Camp Mystic was among the hardest-hit locations in the region. In the months since the flood, four other lawsuits have accused camp leaders of negligence, arguing more could have been done to warn campers and move them to safer ground.
Attorney Mikal Watts, who represents the Eastland family and the camp, offered condolences to families affected by the disaster and pushed back on allegations made in recent lawsuits.
“We disagree with the misinformation in the legal filings regarding the actions of Camp Mystic and Dick Eastland, who lost his life as well,” Watts said in a statement. “We will thoroughly respond to these accusations in due course.”
Camp Mystic is set to reopen later this year.
