Lawyers for the parents of an eight-year-old who disappeared during the catastrophic Camp Mystic flooding say the family has secured a “legal and moral victory” this week.
In July 2025, flash floods at Kerr County’s Camp Mystic claimed the lives of 24 campers, two counsellors, and Dick Eastland, the camp’s co-owner.
The Central Texas disaster—described as the sixth-deadliest freshwater flooding event in US history (via NASA Earth Data)—unfolded after powerful rainfall turned the Guadalupe River into a ‘raging torrent’.
Camp Mystic, a private non-denominational Christian girls’ summer camp, was among the properties heavily damaged, with cabins, homes and vehicles swept up in flooding that killed more than 130 people.
Cecilia ‘Cile’ Steward, eight, was attending the camp when she was carried away by the floodwaters.
The Independent reported that she and one other girl are the only people still listed as missing from the incident.
Her parents, Will and CiCi Steward, have been working with attorney Brad Beckworth in an effort to ‘get the truth of what happened’ to their daughter.
In a complaint filed with the court, the Stewards allege Camp Mystic engaged in gross negligence.
They say their daughter was told to remain inside her cabin and wait for further direction as the situation escalated.
The suit also claims Eastland disregarded weather warnings and instead concentrated on moving canoes to higher ground.
On Wednesday (March 4), the family’s case took a significant step forward when Travis County District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble approved a temporary injunction blocking Camp Mystic’s proposed reopening in summer 2026.
The Stewards argued that the camp—originally established in 1926 as Stewart’s Camp for Girls—should be stopped ‘from altering or destroying the Camp Mystic site and physical evidence central to this case’, according to the lawsuit.
Under the ruling, camp owners are prohibited from altering, remodeling, removing, reconstructing or demolishing the cabins where campers, including Cile, were staying on July 4 2025.
Judge Gamble also ordered that the main office building, the rec hall and the commissary not be used ‘to ensure’ the areas remain in their ‘current state for forensic inspection,’ the publication reported.
Reacting to the injunction on behalf of the Stewards, Beckworth told People: “We’re glad Judge Gamble gave everyone a full opportunity to be heard.
“She granted our motion to stop Camp Mystic from reopening the Guadalupe campus effective immediately so that all evidence that will help us get the truth of what happened to Cile will be brought to light.”
Another attorney for the family, Christina Yarnell, described the outcome as a ‘legal and moral victory for [the team’s] continued efforts to find Cile’.
Camp Mystic’s attorney, Mikal Watts, has said that more than 850 campers have already registered to attend this summer, according to the Associated Press.
The camp is still waiting for state regulators to decide whether it will be granted a licence to reopen.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has asked that the licence not be issued while the deaths remain under investigation, with legislative inquiries expected to begin in the spring.