Camp Mystic halted its plan to reopen this summer after withdrawing its application for a 2026 license renewal for the all-girls camp on the Guadalupe River, the Associated Press reported April 30. The withdrawal came in the wake of weeks of court testimony and legislative investigations that described major gaps in flood-emergency planning and execution, following last year’s flood that killed 25 girls and two teenage counselors at the camp.
In a statement, Camp Mystic said “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.” A Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson confirmed the withdrawal, and the action effectively changed the course of a reopening effort that had been framed just days earlier as ready for nearly 900 campers.
The reversal was also met with praise from Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who had opposed the camp’s reopening while investigations were ongoing. In a statement, Patrick said he was “thankful to hear that, today, the Eastland family withdrew their application,” adding that, given the “tragic circumstances,” the decision was correct to “protect Texas campers” and allow time for investigations to be completed.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who had not weighed in publicly on whether the camp should reopen, said Thursday that the findings of ongoing investigations into Camp Mystic by DSHS and the Texas Rangers “will be made public as soon as possible.” The statement left open when the results would be released, but placed the timeline of next steps with the state agencies conducting the reviews.
Court and legislative hearings played a central role in shaping pressure on the camp, with families of victims packing sessions and describing failures they said contributed to the deaths. The testimony, AP reported, included accounts of missed flood warning signs, descriptions of the flood as it tore through the camp area in the early morning hours of July Fourth, and testimony that evacuation decisions came too late. Families also brought video showing floodwaters rising while a girl repeatedly screamed for help in the distance, according to the report.
The hearings also featured statements from people connected to the camp, including Edward Eastland, one of the camp directors, who offered a public apology to the victims’ families on Tuesday. In remarks presented in the AP account, Eastland said, “We tried our hardest that night. It wasn’t enough to save your daughters … I’m so sorry,” as the victims’ families sat behind him. Another family, Cici and Will Steward, said they were grateful “that no child will be placed in the Eastlands’ care this summer,” and noted that their daughter, 8-year-old Cile Steward, remained the only victim still missing at the time of the hearings.
AP reported that in those proceedings, the Stewards said the camp did not withdraw “out of grace,” but because “the state of Texas was about to deny it.” Earlier in the reopening push, the camp had pressed to return this summer, inviting journalists and lawmakers to review what it described as safety improvements. Camp leaders had also said no activities would take place in the low-lying area that had been devastated, and had highlighted widespread interest among families in sending campers back.
At the same time, state regulators raised warnings before the withdrawal. AP reported that regulators had identified nearly two dozen deficiencies in Camp Mystic’s emergency operations plan for the year, including problems tied to flood warning evacuation plans, the use of emergency warning and public address systems, monitoring safety alerts, and training for campers about safety. Texas regulators also said hundreds of other camps had been found deficient as they tried to meet new safety standards enacted after the disaster.
Investigations into the July Fourth tragedy have continued. AP reported that Texas health regulators said they were investigating hundreds of complaints against the camp’s owners, while the Texas Rangers were looking into allegations of neglect, according to the Texas Department of Safety, though the scope of the Rangers’ elite investigations unit was not immediately clear in the report. The flooding also killed camp owner Dick Eastland, and the AP account noted that the owner’s death followed the earlier statements from the Eastland family to state lawmakers that the camp would be ready to reopen.
As families and lawmakers focus on the next stage—an investigation process that will now proceed without a summer reopening—the grief and unanswered questions remain prominent. Matthew Childress, father of 18-year-old counselor Chloe Childress, said, “We never imagined a world without our daughters, and no decision made now can change that.” The camp’s withdrawal, according to the statement from Camp Mystic, was framed as a step to pause any summer plans until investigations conclude.