Camp Mystic suspends summer operation 2 days after Texas lawmakers’ demands

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Camp Mystic owners have agreed to suspend camp operations this summer after being called to do so by state lawmakers and parents whose daughters were swept away from cabins and survived or died in them during last summer’s Hill Country flood.

The decision was announced Thursday, 48 hours after the second day of legislative hearings into the camp concluded in Austin. A bipartisan joint Texas Senate and House investigating committee overseeing a state legislative investigation heard evidence and testimony about multiple failures at Camp Mystic during and after the flood event. The all-girl’s camp in Hunt, Texas, licensed by the state at the time, is where 25 campers and two counselors died July 4.

Multiple wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against the camp alleging gross negligence. A lawsuit filed against the Department of State Health Services is also ongoing, alleging it wrongfully granted the camp’s operating license last year despite the camp not being in compliance with state laws and regulations. Three state investigations into the camp are ongoing: one by the state legislature, one by DSHS and a criminal investigation by the Texas Rangers.

On Monday and Tuesday, state lawmakers and parents called for DSHS to suspend Camp Mystic’s license and prohibit its owners, members of the Eastland family, from having anything to do with the care of children.

By Thursday, the owners, members of the Eastland family, announced they had informed DSHS they were withdrawing their application for a summer 2026 camp license.

“No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy,” they said in an emailed statement. “We recognize that no statement and no decision can undo that loss or ease the burden carried each day by parents, siblings, loved ones, survivors, first responders and our beautiful Kerr County community.”

The family said it made the decision in order to “remove any doubt that Camp Mystic has heard the concerns expressed by grieving families, members of the Texas House and Senate investigating committees and citizens across our state. Respect for those voices requires that we step back now.

“Camp Mystic will continue to fully cooperate with all ongoing investigations, comply with every lawful requirement and continue supporting recovery and healing efforts. Today is not about camp operations. It is about respect for the families, accountability to the public and reverence for the memory of the lives lost.”

The reversal comes two days after the Eastlands remained defiant about continuing to operate despite the ongoing criminal investigation and their ongoing appeal with a court order demanding that they not destroy evidence and tear down cabins where campers died.

On Tuesday, Britt Eastland was adamant that the camp would continue operating and that parents would thank them for doing so in five or 10 years, The Center Square reported. The Eastlands also maintained that they would appeal if DSHS denied their license, also saying they sought to gross $4 million this summer.

They have also maintained they are in full compliance with the law, which state lawmakers openly rejected. State Sen. Charles Perty, R-Lubbock, and others pointed to 22 deficiencies in their current DSHS application, including not having an evacuation plan, The Center Square reported. State Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, asked them if they understood the trauma they were causing others by stating in their application that they planned to have swimming, snorkeling and canoeing in the river this summer where campers drowned.

State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, expressed exasperation with Mary Liz Eastland, the camp’s registered nurse and camp’s health officer, who as of Tuesday still had not reported the deaths of 27 girls as required by law. State law requires that state licensed facilities and state licensed medical professionals report deaths within 24 hours.

A Camp Mystic mother and Austin surgeon whose daughter survived the flood pointed to multiple potential medical violations Eastland allegedly committed, both legally and ethically, according to medical duty of care standards, The Center Square reported.

In response to the camp withdrawing its license application, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement, “Camp Mystic will remain closed for 2026. The DSHS continues working with the Texas Rangers to investigate Camp Mystic. The results of that investigation will be made public as soon as possible.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who’d been demanding DSHS pull the camp’s license, said, “At the conclusion of heartbreaking testimony from the families of Heaven’s 27 two days ago, I was hopeful the Eastland family would consider withdrawing their 2026 Camp Mystic license application for this summer. I am thankful to hear that, today, the Eastland family withdrew their application. Given the tragic circumstances, this is the correct decision to protect Texas campers and to allow time for all investigations to be completed.”