NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n\n\n- Two victims of the horrific Texas floods have been identified as the 8-year-old twin granddaughters of former\u00a0Miami Herald<\/em>\u00a0publisher David Lawrence Jr.<\/li>\n
- Lawrence confirmed to the\u00a0Herald<\/em>\u00a0that Hanna and Rebecca had died at Camp Mystic; Their sister Harper, 14, was also at the camp but survived<\/li>\n
- Twenty-seven campers and counselors from Camp Mystic died when the Guadalupe River suddenly overflowed due to unprecedented rain over the July 4 weekend, and eleven are still missing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The 8-year-old twin granddaughters of newspaper publisher David Lawrence Jr. were among those who died during the\u00a0devastating flash floods<\/a>\u00a0that struck central Texas over the July 4 weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nLawrence, the former publisher of the\u00a0Miami Herald<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Detroit Free Press<\/em>, confirmed to the\u00a0Herald<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>that his twin granddaughters, Hanna and Rebecca, and their 14-year-old sister, Harper, had been at\u00a0Camp Mystic<\/a>\u00a0when the\u00a0Guadalupe River overflowed<\/a>, suddenly overwhelming the\u00a0Christian girls\u2019 summer camp<\/a>. The twins, he confirmed, had died in the floods; He\u2019d previously shared that Harper was \u201csafe,\u201d per a report from\u00a0CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Camp-Mystic-Texas-Flooding-Tragedy-070625-03-318bd480666541cd893b230e4c16bff9-300x200.webp\")
<\/div>\n\n\n![\"Officials](\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/tIigMf59irYB98nIn-R3jVu7wy8=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(911x536:913x538):format(webp)\/Camp-Mystic-Texas-Flooding-Tragedy-070625-03-318bd480666541cd893b230e4c16bff9.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>Officials search the grounds of Camp Mystic.<\/span>AP Photo\/Julio Cortez<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cIt has been an unimaginable time for all of us. Hanna and Rebecca gave their parents John and Lacy and sister Harper, and all in our family, so much joy,\u201d Lawrence told the\u00a0Herald<\/em>\u00a0in a statement. \u201cThey and that joy can never be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNever miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nHis son, John, is one of Lawrence’s five children with wife Roberta. Per the\u00a0Herald<\/em>, John and Lacy are attorneys and live in Dallas. Under Lawrence\u2019s tenure as the\u00a0Miami Herald\u2019<\/em>s publisher, the paper won five Pulitzers. He retired in 1999 and founded\u00a0The Children\u2019s Movement of Florida<\/a>, an education advocacy group.<\/p>\nIn a statement to\u00a0NBC News Texas<\/a>, their parents confirmed the girls had recently completed 2nd grade at University Park Elementary School.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n“Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others,” the parents wrote. “We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them.\u00a0 But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time.\u00a0 Thank you for the love and support.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nPEOPLE has reached out to Lawrence via The Children\u2019s Movement of Florida for further comment.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/david-lawrence-jr.-charity-event-7725-009919ee993c48d9861bc9629bbda9e3-300x200.webp\")
<\/p>\nDavid Lawrence Jr. in Miami in 2015.<\/span>Johnny Louis\/Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe death toll from the sudden, catastrophic floods continues to climb, and as of Monday, July 7, over 100 have died. In a statement on its\u00a0website<\/a>, Camp Mystic confirmed that 27 of those dead were campers and counselors at the summertime retreat, which is nestled along the Guadalupe River.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nTen of the campers and one counselor are still missing, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said,\u00a0according to CNN<\/a>. The camp’s owner,\u00a0Richard “Dick” Eastland<\/a>, also died.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” the camp said in a statement. “We are praying for them constantly. We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
David Lawrence Jr.\u2019s three grandchildren were at Camp Mystic when the Guadalupe River overflowed, devastating the girls\u2019 summer retreat NEED TO KNOW Two victims of the horrific Texas … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30262,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30258\/revisions\/30262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- \n
- Two victims of the horrific Texas floods have been identified as the 8-year-old twin granddaughters of former\u00a0Miami Herald<\/em>\u00a0publisher David Lawrence Jr.<\/li>\n
- Lawrence confirmed to the\u00a0Herald<\/em>\u00a0that Hanna and Rebecca had died at Camp Mystic; Their sister Harper, 14, was also at the camp but survived<\/li>\n
- Twenty-seven campers and counselors from Camp Mystic died when the Guadalupe River suddenly overflowed due to unprecedented rain over the July 4 weekend, and eleven are still missing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The 8-year-old twin granddaughters of newspaper publisher David Lawrence Jr. were among those who died during the\u00a0devastating flash floods<\/a>\u00a0that struck central Texas over the July 4 weekend.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nLawrence, the former publisher of the\u00a0Miami Herald<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Detroit Free Press<\/em>, confirmed to the\u00a0Herald<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>that his twin granddaughters, Hanna and Rebecca, and their 14-year-old sister, Harper, had been at\u00a0Camp Mystic<\/a>\u00a0when the\u00a0Guadalupe River overflowed<\/a>, suddenly overwhelming the\u00a0Christian girls\u2019 summer camp<\/a>. The twins, he confirmed, had died in the floods; He\u2019d previously shared that Harper was \u201csafe,\u201d per a report from\u00a0CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\n \n<\/div>\n<\/div>Officials search the grounds of Camp Mystic.<\/span>AP Photo\/Julio Cortez<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cIt has been an unimaginable time for all of us. Hanna and Rebecca gave their parents John and Lacy and sister Harper, and all in our family, so much joy,\u201d Lawrence told the\u00a0Herald<\/em>\u00a0in a statement. \u201cThey and that joy can never be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNever miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/div>\nHis son, John, is one of Lawrence’s five children with wife Roberta. Per the\u00a0Herald<\/em>, John and Lacy are attorneys and live in Dallas. Under Lawrence\u2019s tenure as the\u00a0Miami Herald\u2019<\/em>s publisher, the paper won five Pulitzers. He retired in 1999 and founded\u00a0The Children\u2019s Movement of Florida<\/a>, an education advocacy group.<\/p>\n
In a statement to\u00a0NBC News Texas<\/a>, their parents confirmed the girls had recently completed 2nd grade at University Park Elementary School.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n“Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others,” the parents wrote. “We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them.\u00a0 But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time.\u00a0 Thank you for the love and support.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nPEOPLE has reached out to Lawrence via The Children\u2019s Movement of Florida for further comment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nDavid Lawrence Jr. in Miami in 2015.<\/span>Johnny Louis\/Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The death toll from the sudden, catastrophic floods continues to climb, and as of Monday, July 7, over 100 have died. In a statement on its\u00a0website<\/a>, Camp Mystic confirmed that 27 of those dead were campers and counselors at the summertime retreat, which is nestled along the Guadalupe River.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nTen of the campers and one counselor are still missing, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said,\u00a0according to CNN<\/a>. The camp’s owner,\u00a0Richard “Dick” Eastland<\/a>, also died.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” the camp said in a statement. “We are praying for them constantly. We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
David Lawrence Jr.\u2019s three grandchildren were at Camp Mystic when the Guadalupe River overflowed, devastating the girls\u2019 summer retreat NEED TO KNOW Two victims of the horrific Texas … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30262,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30258\/revisions\/30262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Lawrence confirmed to the\u00a0Herald<\/em>\u00a0that Hanna and Rebecca had died at Camp Mystic; Their sister Harper, 14, was also at the camp but survived<\/li>\n