Camp Mystic bankruptcy a 'gut punch' near flood anniversary, families say

• Camp Mystic's owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing over $10 million in debt.
• Attorneys for the victims' families have criticized the move as an attempt to delay and avoid accountability.
• The deadly flood at the camp in July 2025 resulted in the deaths of 25 young campers and three adults.

Lawyers representing families who lost loved ones during the deadly Camp Mystic flooding in 2025 are speaking out against the camp's owners' decision to file for bankruptcy.

Camp Mystic's owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday, June 24, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, citing over $10 million in debt.

A move that drew sharp criticism from Kyle Findley of Arnold & Itkin LLP as the filings paused pending litigation against the camp, including a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families.

"The bankruptcy filing is not accountability. It is simply a financial reorganization that could allow the same people and entities to remain in control of Camp Mystic while attempting to circumvent the justice of the Court. After 27 girls died, this filing is just another attempt to delay taking responsibility," Findley said in a statement to USA TODAY.

Findley represents six families — Getten, McCown, Pohl, Sheedy, Stevens and Toranzo — in a wrongful death lawsuit against the camp's owners, the Eastland family.

The suit stems from the July 4, 2025, flooding at Camp Mystic that killed 28 people, including 25 young campers, two 18-year-old counselors and the camp’s co-executive director, Dick Eastland.

Additional families released statements through their respective attorneys about the bankruptcy filings, with Sam Taylor with the Lanier Law Firm telling KENS5 in San Antonio that the bankruptcy filing is another attempt to avoid accountability.

“I've already spoken with most, if not all of our clients this morning, and literally, this is just another slap in the face that the people that caused the deaths of their daughter are seeking to avoid accountability,” Taylor said. 

Taylor represents the Naylor, Hanna, Hollis, Hunt, Dillon and Lytal families.

Lawyers Brad Beckworth, Christina Yarnell and Blair Townsend, representing the family of Cecilia “Cile” Steward, 8, whose body has still not been recovered nearly a year after the flooding event, told KYTX in Tyler, Texas, that the timing of the filing is "a despicable gut punch to families already bracing to grieve their daughters under a canopy of Fourth of July fireworks."

"Cile Steward was 8 years old.  She was in Camp Mystic’s custody and care when she was killed on July 4, 2025.  Her body has still not been recovered.  A bankruptcy filing does not change what was promised to her, or what is owed to her family.  We will never stop pursuing truth and accountability for Cile and the other precious girls the Eastlands killed on the Fourth of July," the lawyers' statement read.

USA TODAY has reached out to Eastland's attorney for comment but has not heard back.

Why did Camp Mystic file for bankruptcy?

Court documents filed by the camp's operating entity, Camp Mystic LLC, name Edward Eastland ‒ whose father, co-executive director Dick Eastland, died in the floods ‒ as manager, with the company represented by Dallas-based attorney Martin Sosland of Vartabedian Katz Hester & Haynes LLP.

The Voluntary Petition for Non-Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy estimates the camp has between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors, assets between $1 million and $10 million and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million.

The filing also designates the case as a "complex" Chapter 11 ‒ citing both the $10 million-plus debt and more than 50 parties with an interest in the case.

Three affiliated entities were included in the bankruptcy proceedings:

• Natural Fountains Properties Inc.
  • Documents list between 1 and 45 estimated creditors, with assets and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million.
• Mystic Camps Family Partnership Ltd.
  • Documents list between 1 and 45 estimated creditors, between $100,001 to $500,000 in assets and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million.
• Mystic Camps Management LLC.
  • Documents list between 1 and 45 estimated creditors, between $0 to $50,000 in assets and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million.

Who died at Camp Mystic?

Named the Havens 27, here is the list of the young girls and counselors who died during the floods.

1. May Grace Baker, age 8.
2. Margaret Bellows, age 8.
3. Lila Bonner, age 8.
4. Chloe Childress, age 18, camp counselor.
5. Molly DeWitt, age 9.
6. Lucy Dillon, age 8.
7. Katherine Ferruzzo, age 18, camp counselor.
8. Ellen Getten, age 9.
9. Hadley Hanna, age 8.
10. Virginia Hollis, age 8.
11. Janie Hunt, age 9.
12. Mary Kate Jacobe, age 8.
13. Lainey Landry, age 9.
14. Hanna Lawrence, age 8.
15. Rebecca Lawrence, age 8.
16. Kellyanne Lytal, age 8.
17. Sarah Marsh, age 8.
18. Linnie McCown, age 8.
19. Blakely McCrory, age 8.
20. Wynne Naylor, age 8.
21. Eloise Peck, age 8.
22. Abby Pohl, age 8.
23. Margaret Sheedy, age 8.
24. Renee Smajstrla, age 8.
25. Mary Barrett Stevens, age 8
26. Cecilia “Cile” Steward, age 8
27. Greta Toranzo, age 10.

The 28th person killed was the camp's co-executive director, Dick Eastland.

Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at [email protected].