Camp Mystic’s plan to reopen after last year’s July 4 floods is running into new state scrutiny, with Texas health regulators telling the camp’s owners that they are investigating hundreds of complaints about how it operated during the 2025 summer season. In a letter sent Tuesday, the Texas Department of State Health Services notified the owners that the agency has been reviewing allegations that the camp violated state laws governing youth camps, the Associated Press reported.
The health agency said it has received “hundreds of complaints regarding Camp Mystic’s operations in the summer of 2025” since February, and it asked for help from state police, according to the AP report. The Rangers’ involvement was described by the Texas Department of Public Safety as assistance in investigating complaints of neglect during the flood, though neither agency released details about what the state police unit is examining.
The renewed investigations add to the legal and political pressure around whether the Christian, all-girls camp can return some of its operations this summer. Families of 25 girls and two teenage counselors who died in the July 4 floods have objected to reopening plans, and more than 850 families have signed up to return to the camp if regulators allow it to reopen a portion of the grounds that did not flood.
In the days surrounding the floods, officials said the camp did not evacuate as the Guadalupe River rose rapidly—going from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes before dawn, according to the AP story. The AP report also said the letter from the health agency informed the owners of the health agency’s investigation but did not mention the Rangers’ role.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pressed for a pause on any reopening, calling the Rangers’ involvement a “criminal investigation” and saying the state should not grant a license for the camp to reopen until that probe and another inquiry by state lawmakers are complete. “I urge you to prioritize safety and do everything in your power to ensure Camp Mystic and/or their operators are not allowed to operate until the facts are in,” Patrick wrote in a letter Tuesday to the head of the health agency.As covered in the same theme earlier this month, Patrick had argued for blocking the camp’s summer reopening while investigations proceeded.
Camp Mystic’s owners said they plan to cooperate. In a statement Wednesday, the camp said it has complied with “every investigative request we have received,” including from lawmakers, and that it worked closely with the Texas Rangers immediately after the floods and would continue doing so. “We look forward to cooperating with the Texas Rangers and supporting them in their efforts to gain a thorough and accurate understanding of what happened on the South Fork of the Guadalupe River during the early hours of July 4,” Camp Mystic said.
The camp’s statement came as lawsuits continued in the aftermath of the floods. Families of several of the girls who died have sued the camp’s operators, arguing the camp officials failed to take necessary steps to protect campers as floodwaters became life-threatening. The AP report said a district judge last month ordered the camp owners to preserve damaged cabins and other parts of the grounds in the flooded area as the lawsuits proceed.
Separately, Texas Department of Public Safety officials said the search for 8-year-old Cile Steward continues; the body of the camper has not yet been recovered, the AP reported. The flooding also killed Richard Eastland, one of the camp owners, and the AP story said at least 136 people died along several miles of the river.