The family of an 8-year-old girl who remains missing after being swept away by Hill Country flooding that struck Camp Mystic last summer is suing its owners and demanding a judge prevent its reopening.
The 100-page lawsuit, filed by Catherine and Will Steward, the parents of Cecilia “Cile” Steward, is the fifth from the family members of 25 campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic who died during the catastrophic July 4 flooding. The girls, called “Heaven’s 27,” were among the more than 130 people killed during the flood. The Stewards’ suit and the four others, which were filed in November, all seek more than $1 million in damages each.
The five suits list Camp Mystic as well as the Eastland family, who owns and operates the camp, as defendants. Richard “Dick” Eastland, the camp operator at the time of the flooding, also died during the disaster. The Stewards’ suit condemns the camp repeatedly, claiming the Christian summer girl’s camp’s display of faith “masked a reckless disregard for the lives of the children entrusted to their care.”
The suit also alleged the camp’s emergency instructions at the time were not up to Texas administrative code and were negligently made, did not include an evacuation plan and required campers to stay in their cabins. In the wake of the flood’s disaster, state lawmakers passed several laws designed to bolster camp safety requirements for those in floodplains.
“Cile was taken from us 7 months ago and while we recognize this lawsuit will not bring her back, we feel compelled to ensure the truth of Camp Mystic’s failures are exposed,” the Stewards said in a statement.
The Stewards are also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the camp from reopening until the suit is closed. Camp Mystic announced two months after the flood that it planned to reopen one of its camp sites, which the families of the girls who died condemned. The Stewards’ suit called the Eastlands’ decision to reopen the camp “tone deaf” and claimed it constituted intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Although Cile is still officially considered a missing person, the suit said the 8-year-old is “presumed to be deceased.”
The Stewards’ suit also draws comparison between the July 4 flood and previous floods in Camp Mystic history, particularly one in 1932. The lawsuit alleges that the 2025 disaster “was essentially a repeat” of previous flooding that should have warned the camp to take more precautions.
In a statement, Camp Mystic attorney Mikal Watts said camp officials disagree with “misinformation” about how they and the Eastland family responded, and that they intend to prove in court the flooding was unexpected and unforeseeable.
“In the meantime, we remain proud of the legacy of Camp Mystic and its role in forging strong, young Christian women across Texas, Watts said, “and will endeavor to continue that role in the future while focused entirely on implementing a litany of new procedures and new technologies to make Camp Mystic and the community around us safe for all who come in the future.”
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
Photo: A cross honoring the victims of the July 4, 2025, flood stands in front of Camp Mystic across the Guadalupe River on Nov. 21, 2025. Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune
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