Joyce Catherine Badon was staying with a group of friends when the flooding struck
NEED TO KNOW
- A 21-year-old woman who went missing amid the Texas flood disaster sent one last text message to her family before she disappeared
- Joyce Catherine Badon, who was staying with college friends when the flood struck in Hunt, Texas, said “we’re being washed away” before her phone “went dead” according to the leader of a search team
- “We pray that all four of them are still alive,” said Joyce’s father Ty Badon to CNN
The body of a 21-year-old woman who sent one final text message to her family before she was washed away in a Texas flood has been found.
Joyce Catherine Badon, 21, was trapped at a house along the Guadalupe River, which flooded amid torrential rain on Friday, July 4, according to Agence France-Presse.
Dad Ty Badon previously told CNN that Joyce was staying with a group of college friends when the flood struck.
On Monday, July 7, he confirmed to NBC News that she had been found dead. Joyce’s mother Kellye Badon also shared a message about their “lovely” daughter on her Facebook page.
“God showed us the way we should go this morning!” Kellye wrote. “We found our lovely daughter who blessed us for 21 years! We pray to be able to find her three friends soon. Thanks to EVERYONE for the prayers and support. God is good!”
Her mom did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Louis Deppe, the leader of a group of volunteers who were searching for Joyce, told the AFP the house where she was staying “collapsed” around 4 a.m. local time on Friday. Before she disappeared, the woman sent one final text message.
“On her cellphone, the last message [her family] got was ‘we’re being washed away’ and the phone went dead,” Deppe told the news agency.
Also missing from her friend group are Ella Cahill, Aidan Heartfield and Reese Manchaca, according to the Beaumont Enterprise and 12 News Now.
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Ty previously told CNN that the group was staying at a house owned by Aiden’s dad, who was on the phone with his child as the disaster struck.
“Aidan said, ‘Hey I’ve got to go, I’ve got to help Ella and Reese … they just got washed away,’ and then a few seconds later the phone just went dead, and that’s all we know,” Ty explained.
Tina Hambly, the 55-year-old mother of Joyce’s best friend and roommate, helped with the search for the college friends using a kayak oar to poke at branches and other debris.
“We’re doing a seven-mile stretch, and there’s seven teams and we’re doing a mile apiece,” Hambly told the AFP, “so just kind of dividing and conquering, trying to find any four of them or anyone.”
She added, “But, you know, we are friends and families and frankly, some strangers have shown up.”
More than 90 people have died as a result of the flooding in Central Texas, according to NBC News.
To learn how to help support the victims and recovery efforts from the Texas floods, click here.
