The doomed Texas sleepaway camp Camp Mystic — where 27 campers and counselors died in catastrophic flooding last year — must leave many of its destroyed buildings untouched, a judge said Wednesday.
The new injunction came after it was revealed that the camp plans to reopen on higher ground in less than two months, with a shocking 900 girls registered to attend despite glaring failures by camp officials.
Camp director Edward Eastland sobbed on the stand this week, revealing he had no idea what happened to still-missing 8-year-old camper Cecilia “Cile” Steward.
Children’s belongings are grouped together at Camp Mystic on July 7, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. Getty Images
Camp director Edward Eastland testifies during a hearing on a suit against Camp Mystic in the 459th State District Court in Austin, April 14, 2026. APHe also admitted the camp failed to use a loudspeaker to evacuate the grounds and didn’t meet with staff to discuss the incoming storm — measures that could have saved lives.
“I wish we never had camp that summer,” he said on Monday during a hearing tied to lawsuits filed against the camp by victims’ devastated kin, including Cecilia’s parents.
A status conference and discovery are scheduled for mid-May as the Stewards’ wrongful death lawsuit continues.
The family contends their case could rely on physical evidence tied to the camp’s wrecked cabins, according to CNN.
Search and recovery workers dig through debris looking for any survivors or remains of people swept up in the flash flooding at Camp Mystic on July 6, 2025. Getty ImagesThe ruling, handed down by Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, prevents the influential Eastland family from cleaning up the site.
Brad Beckworth, an attorney for the missing girl’s family, ripped into the Eastland family for planning to reopen.
“Whether it is hubris, greed, grief, or just an overwhelming combination of all of those, they have this unmitigated desire to reopen this camp in a few weeks, and come hell or high water, they’re going to do it.”
