'Our angel on earth': Camp Mystic parents mourn girls who died in Texas flood

Amy McDaniel and Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jul 9, 2025

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Grieving families of the 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic believed to have died in the Central Texas flash flood on July 4 have identified some of the girls whose tragic loss has left them “utterly shattered.”

While most of the children lost to the flood at the all-girls Christian summer camp on the Guadalupe River in Texas’ Hill Country have been found, authorities were still searching for five of the campers and one counselor as of Wednesday morning. More than 100 people, mostly in Kerr County, have died in the flooding across the state, and more than 170 are still missing.

“Our precious angel baby has entered the gates of Heaven,” the parents of 8-year-old Camp Mystic camper Mary Kate Jacobe, of Houston, said in a statement Wednesday. “Mary Kate Jacobe was the light of our lives. She was tiny but mighty, full of love and joy with a smile that melted your heart. Mary Kate, our Sissy, was the baby of our large family and was most certainly our angel on earth.

“We are utterly shattered and forever changed by the loss of our girl,” the Jacobe family said.

They thanked everyone across Texas and the nation who has offered prayers and support “so lovingly expressed by so many.”

“We sincerely thank you for respecting our family’s privacy as we process the unthinkable,” the Jacobe family said. “Our family extends our deepest sympathy to all those affected by the tragic flooding. We stand united by loss but rooted in love. May God be with you now and always.”

Several of the families who lost children at Camp Mystic are from Dallas.

Best friends Lila Bonner, 9, and Eloise Peck, 8, recently completed the second grade at Bradfield Elementary School in Highland Park.

“We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly for others to be spared from this tragic loss,” Lila’s family said in a statement.

Eloise’s mother, Missy Peck, told KDFW-TV that “Eloise was literally friends with everyone. She loved spaghetti but not more than she loved dogs and animals. She passed away with her cabinmate and best friend, Lila Bonner, who also died. Eloise had a family who loved her fiercely for the 8 years she was with us. Especially her Mommy.”

Highland Park ISD Superintendent Mike Rockwood released a statement, saying, “Our hearts are heavy following the devastating flood in the Texas Hill Country. Many of our students were in the area, and our community is heartbroken for the families deeply affected by this tragedy.”

Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, 8-year-old twins from Dallas who attended University Park Elementary School., were also among the Camp Mystic children who died, their grandfather Dave Lawrence told the Miami Herald.

Hanna and Rebecca gave “all in our family so much joy,” he said. “They and that joy can never be forgotten.”

Their 14-year-old sister, Harper, survived the flood.

Janie Hunt, 9, of Dallas, who was a great-granddaughter of oil baron William Herbert Hunt and a relative of the family that owns the Kansas City Chiefs, was attending Camp Mystic for the first time, her grandmother Margaret Hunt told the New York Times.

Janie was the oldest of three children. Six of her cousins who were also at Camp Mystic are safe, her grandmother said.

The family of 19-year-old Chloe Childress, a Camp Mystic counselor from Houston, said she “lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith. Returning as a counselor to the place she loved so dearly, Chloe was looking forward to dedicating her summer days to loving and mentoring young girls at Camp Mystic.

“Our family was shocked to hear of the horrific tragic flooding in the Hill Country, and we were devastated to learn that our precious Chloe was among the victims,” the Childress family said in a statement. “While we know that her joy is now eternal and her faith has become sight, our hearts are shattered by this loss and the similar heartbreak of other families like ours. We desire to grieve privately during this time and thank so many caring people, in advance, for respecting this wish. Please know we are grateful for every kind thought, your quietly spoken prayers, and the countless hearts of sympathy that are carrying us through these days. We thank you for kindly respecting our privacy as we celebrate Chloe’s life and mourn our incomparable loss.”

Camp Mystic director Dick Eastland, who ran the camp with his wife Tweety, died when he was swept away by the floodwaters while trying to rescue some of the campers, according to officials and his family.

“If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,” Eastland’s grandson George wrote in an Instagram post. “That’s the man my grandfather was. A husband, father, grandfather, and mentor to thousands of young women, he no longer walks this earth, but his impact will never leave the lives he touched.”

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