{"id":30099,"date":"2025-07-05T21:37:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T21:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=30099"},"modified":"2025-07-05T21:37:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T21:37:17","slug":"death-toll-in-catastrophic-texas-flooding-rises-to-32-including-14-children-and-18-adults-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=30099","title":{"rendered":"Death toll in catastrophic Texas flooding rises to 32, including 14 children and 18 adults, officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"

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At least\u00a0four of the missing Camp Mystic girls<\/a>\u00a0and the camp\u2019s director\u00a0were found dead during search and rescue operations following the devastating flooding in Texas\u00a0as the death toll rose to 32,\u00a0according to officials and local reports.<\/p>\n

Renee Smajstrla, 8; Sarah Marsh, 8; Janie Hunt, 9; and Lila Bonner were among as many as\u00a027 campers who were washed away<\/a>\u00a0in the deadly Guadalupe River flash floods.<\/p>\n

A total of 27 bodies were recovered as of Saturday \u2014\u00a014 of which were children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha said at a press conference. Some 18 adults were among the dead.<\/p>\n

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\"People15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
People look on as law enforcement and volunteers continue to search for missing people near Camp Mystic.AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Renee15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Renee Smajstrla was found dead during flood searches, her family said.Shawn Salta \/Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Officials have not revealed whether those children are the Mystic campers, but family members took to social media to break the heartbreaking news.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to all our friends and family for all the prayers and outreach. Renee has been found and while not the outcome we prayed for, the social media outreach likely assisted the first responders in helping to identify her so quickly,\u201d her uncle\u00a0wrote on Facebook along with a picture of the young girl beaming.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Muddy15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
A view inside of a cabin at Camp Mystic where catastrophic flooding hit.AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>\u201cWe are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday. She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic. Please continue to pray for the other families in Kerrville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah, of Mountain Brook, Alabama, was also found dead, her mother confirmed to The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sweet Sarah is gone!\u201d\u00a0her grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh,\u00a0wrote Saturday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cShe will live on in our hearts forever!\u201d Sarah Marsh\u2019s grandmother wrote on Facebook after the 8-year-old was found dead. \u201cWe love you so much sweet Sarah!\u201dDebbie Marsh \/Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe will always feel blessed to have had this beautiful spunky ray of light in our lives. She will live on in our hearts forever! We love you so much sweet Sarah!\u201d<\/p>\n

Lila\u2019s family confirmed her death in a statement in which they described suffering \u201cunimaginable grief,\u201d\u00a0according to NBC News:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cWe ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Janie was also discovered dead,\u00a0according to Corpus Christi Cr\u00f3nica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"Photo15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Lila\u2019s family confirmed her death in a statement in which they described suffering \u201cunimaginable grief,\u201d\u00a0according to NBC News.via KSAT12<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 9-year-old\u2019s mother had\u00a0told CNN Friday<\/a>\u00a0that she had not heard anything about her daughter\u2019s whereabouts after the flood hit the camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are just praying,\u201d Janie\u2019s mother had said.<\/p>\n

Kerr County officials ominously alluded to the death of a \u201cdirector,\u201d but refused to confirm their identity or the circumstances around their death.<\/p>\n

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\"Janie15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Janie Hunt also died in the floods, according to a report.CNN Weather<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere are so many great people in this community that are responding and moving quickly, lives lost saving people, like camp directors. I\u2019m going to let other people name names and stuff. That\u2019s not my job here,\u201d said Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville.<\/p>\n

Texas officials refused to confirm the identities of the dead or missing, saying they were protecting the privacy of the grieving families, but family of Mystic\u2019s director, Dick Eastland, confirmed he heroically died while trying to save the young girls from the storm.<\/p>\n

Eastland raced to one of the camp\u2019s 23 cabins when the floodwater swept it away early Friday morning,\u00a0Channel2Now reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

Another director at nearby Heart O The Hills Camp also perished in the flood.\u00a0The camp \u2014 located just one mile north of Camp Mystic \u2014 was not open at the time, but Director Jane Ragsdale was on the property when the floods suddenly surged.<\/p>\n

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\"Flood15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
A flood gauge marks the heigh of water flowing near Kerrville, Texas.AP<\/span>\u201cWe are mourning the loss of a woman who influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful,\u201d the camp wrote on its Facebook Page.<\/p>\n

Ragsdale had been a co-owner of the camp since 1976, but was, at one point, a camper and a counselor herself.<\/p>\n

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\"Campers15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Camp Mystic, a girls-only camp on the Guadalupe River, had to be evacuated overnight due to flooding.via KSAT<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Other staff at the camp have been accounted for and made it to higher ground, the camp said.<\/p>\n

It is not clear if any of the other campers had been found dead, but local reports indicate that some of the girls were rescued and were transported to family reunification centers.<\/p>\n

One missing camper, Annie Flack, was home safe Saturday, her mother told The Post.<\/p>\n

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\"Muddy15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Muddy towels and clothing hang on a clothesline outside of a camp cabin.AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n