The Cile Steward wrongful death lawsuit is a Travis County civil case filed on February 4, 2026, by Will and CiCi Steward against Camp Mystic and the Eastland family, alleging that negligence, gross negligence, and premises liability at the girls’ summer camp caused the death of their 8-year-old daughter in the July 4, 2025, Guadalupe River flood.1Kerr County Lead. Plaintiffs’ Application for Temporary Restraining Order and Temporary Injunction The suit seeks more than $1 million in damages and is pending in the 200th Judicial District Court as case number D-1-GN-26-000758. Cile’s body has never been recovered.
Who Cile Steward Was and How She Died
Cile was an 8-year-old camper at Camp Mystic, the girls’ camp the Eastland family has owned along the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas, since 1939. In the early hours of July 4, 2025, torrential rain pushed the river from under eight feet to a record 37.52 feet in roughly three and a half hours, sending floodwaters through the low-lying sleeping cabins.2San Antonio Express-News. Camp Mystic Flood Guadalupe River Twenty-seven people died: 25 campers, two teenage counselors, and executive director and co-owner Richard “Dick” Eastland, who was killed while trying to rescue girls from their cabins.3CNN. Camp Mystic Decision Flood Construction
According to the Stewards’ petition, Cile and two other campers tried to escape their flooding cabin on an inflatable mattress. Cile fell off and was swept away.4People. Parents of Missing 8-Year-Old Camper Swept Away by Flood Sue Camp Mystic Her parents believe she reached a tree where other survivors were later rescued, but the current was too strong.
The timing became central to the case. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. Dick Eastland received the alert but did not begin an evacuation. By 1:45 a.m. he had noted rising water and still held off. Investigators later told Texas lawmakers that at 2:37 a.m. he drove counselors back to their cabins and told them to “put down towels and to stay put.”5Fox 4 News. Texas Camp Mystic Flood Investigation Preventable Deaths A frantic evacuation did not begin until roughly 2:55 a.m., more than 90 minutes after the initial warning.
The Claims Against Camp Mystic
The Stewards are represented by Brad Beckworth, Christina Yarnell, and Blair Townsend of Nix Patterson.6Nix Patterson. Family of Cile Steward Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Camp Mystic Their petition advances several overlapping theories:
- No evacuation plan. The camp allegedly had no written evacuation procedure and maintained a standing “shelter in place” policy requiring campers to stay in their cabins during floods, which the lawsuit calls a “death sentence.”7KXAN. Lawsuit Claims Camp Mystic Improvised Evacuation Plan, Told Campers to Stay in Cabins
- Ignored warnings. The Stewards allege camp leadership received multiple flood warnings from the National Weather Service and the Texas Division of Emergency Management on July 2 and 3 without alerting campers, alerting staff, or ordering an evacuation.6Nix Patterson. Family of Cile Steward Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Camp Mystic
- Missing safety equipment. The camp allegedly lacked walkie-talkies for counselors, battery-powered radios, a backup generator, and a working public-address system.7KXAN. Lawsuit Claims Camp Mystic Improvised Evacuation Plan, Told Campers to Stay in Cabins
- Known flood history. The petition argues the 2025 disaster was “essentially a repeat” of earlier floods at the camp in 1932, 1978, 1985, and 1987 and that the Eastlands were well aware of the river’s danger.8Texas Tribune. Texas Hill Country Camp Mystic Lawsuit Negligence
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Stewards characterize the Eastlands’ push to reopen the camp as “tone deaf” and a continuing source of harm.8Texas Tribune. Texas Hill Country Camp Mystic Lawsuit Negligence
Alongside the wrongful death claims, the Stewards accuse camp leaders of altering the flood site after the disaster: remodeling the main office, removing communication equipment, stripping cabins, and changing the terrain despite knowing litigation was inevitable.1Kerr County Lead. Plaintiffs’ Application for Temporary Restraining Order and Temporary Injunction Beckworth argued in court that evidence was being “cleaned up” and that investigators needed to examine the specific condition of each cabin.9Houston Public Media. Texas Floods Kerr County Camp Mystic Lawsuit Ruling
Who Is Being Sued
The defendants named in the petition are Camp Mystic, LLC; Natural Fountains Properties, Inc. (doing business as Camp Mystic, Inc.); Mystic Camps Family Partnership, Ltd.; Mystic Camps Management, LLC; the estate of Dick Eastland; Willetta “Tweety” Eastland individually and as a camp officer; Edward S. Eastland; Mary E. Eastland; and William Neely Bonner III.1Kerr County Lead. Plaintiffs’ Application for Temporary Restraining Order and Temporary Injunction
Where the Case Stands
Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble is presiding. On March 4, 2026, she issued a temporary injunction barring Camp Mystic from altering or remodeling any structure that housed campers during the flood and sealing off the “old Guadalupe grounds,” including the commissary, recreation hall, and main office. She allowed operations to continue on unaffected parts of the property and declined the Stewards’ request to shut the camp down entirely.10NBC News. Judge Declines Close Camp Mystic, Bars Construction Campus Hit Flooding
The Eastlands appealed. After a three-day evidentiary hearing in April 2026, Judge Gamble issued an updated injunction on April 15, ordering the camp to leave the damaged cabins, floodwater markings, access routes, and communication systems untouched.11WKOW. Judge Says She’ll Issue New Order Halting Renovations to Camp Mystic’s Flooded Areas She also indicated she would move the trial up from its original April 2028 date and scheduled a status conference and discovery coordination for mid-May 2026.3CNN. Camp Mystic Decision Flood Construction
The April Hearing Testimony
Three witnesses provided testimony that has shaped the record so far.
Edward Eastland, Camp Mystic’s director and co-owner, admitted under cross-examination that the camp had no written evacuation plan and that he slept through both the 1:14 a.m. flash flood warning and a “CodeRED” alert. He acknowledged that staff held no meetings about pending dangers, did not use the camp’s loudspeakers to order an earlier evacuation, and that “lives could have been saved if camp staff acted sooner.”12Texas Tribune. Texas Camp Mystic Flood Civil Lawsuit Hearing Director Testimony
Mary Liz Eastland, the camp’s chief medical officer and Edward’s wife, testified that she evacuated her own home with her children but did not reach the low-lying cabins. When attorney Christina Yarnell pressed her on failing to help campers despite her 34 years at the property, Eastland acknowledged she had “abandoned” Cile Steward.13Texas Tribune. Texas Camp Mystic Hearing Medical Director License She also admitted she never reported the 27 deaths to the state health agency within the legally required 24-hour window.14CNN. Texas Camp Mystic Hearing Testimony
Glenn Juenke, the camp’s night watchman and a retired police officer, initially testified that the camp did everything possible and that no evacuation plan would have worked. Under cross-examination, he conceded that if anyone had used a loudspeaker or walkie-talkie between 2:20 and 3:15 a.m. to summon able-bodied adults on the grounds, there were enough people to evacuate the cabins. He confirmed that the order was never given and that 27 people died because of that failure.15San Antonio Express-News. Camp Mystic Hearing
The Arbitration Fight
Camp Mystic has moved to push all five pending lawsuits out of public court and into private arbitration, citing a “binding arbitration” clause in the registration agreements families signed.16KERA News. Camp Mystic Lawsuits Arbitration Texas Floods Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue the camp waived that right by litigating for months before invoking it and that the agreements were not signed by both parents or by the children who died, as they contend the Texas Arbitration Act requires.17San Antonio Express-News. Camp Mystic Lawsuits Move Arbitration Remain Judge Gamble heard arguments on June 10, 2026, with a status hearing set for July 15, 2026.18WSET. Camp Mystic Parents Await Ruling on Whether Lawsuit Trial Will Continue Publicly or Not
What the Defense Argues
Attorney Mikal Watts is representing Camp Mystic and the Eastlands pro bono.19Texas Lawbook. Mikal Watts: No Jury in America Will Hold Camp Mystic Responsible His central argument is that the flood was “unexpected and unprecedented” and could not have reasonably been foreseen.20San Antonio Express-News. Camp Mystic Attorney Accused Bad Faith At the April hearing, Watts presented evidence that the river surged from 264 gallons per second to 125,000 gallons per second within 30 minutes and that it was not raining at the camp when campers went to bed.21Kerr County Lead. Seven Takeaways From Day 2 of the Camp Mystic Hearing He also emphasized that no adequate public flood warning system existed in the area at the time.3CNN. Camp Mystic Decision Flood Construction
The Stewards counter that the region’s flood history made the risk obvious. The Guadalupe River basin has recorded more than 42 major floods over the past century, Kerr County is among the most flash-flood-prone areas in the country, and the camp itself flooded in 1932, 1978, and 1985, with Tweety Eastland airlifted from the property in the 1985 event.22Houston Public Media. History Repeated as the Guadalupe River Swept Away Camp Mystic A 1987 flood killed 10 children at a nearby camp.23CNN. Camp Mystic Owner Warnings Texas Flooding FEMA designated parts of Camp Mystic as a “Special Flood Hazard Area” in 2011; the camp successfully appealed to have 15 buildings removed from the hazard map in 2013 and another 15 in 2019 and 2020, but an AP analysis later found that at least 12 structures on the Guadalupe campus remained fully within the 100-year floodplain.24PBS NewsHour. Camp Mystic Appealed to Remove Buildings From FEMA’s 100-Year Flood Map, Records Show
Watts’s conduct has drawn its own scrutiny. Plaintiffs’ attorneys filed a motion for sanctions alleging bad-faith tactics, including social media posts attacking CiCi Steward by name and calling Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick “Lt. Gov. Judas,” and the defense team’s failure to appear at scheduled hearings.20San Antonio Express-News. Camp Mystic Attorney Accused Bad Faith
Related Lawsuits
The Steward suit is one of five. In November 2025, four separate wrongful death lawsuits were filed by the families of 15 other victims, all alleging gross negligence and seeking jury trials in Travis County against Camp Mystic and the Eastlands. The allegations largely mirror the Stewards’ complaint: no evacuation plan, ignored warnings, priority given to saving canoes and equipment over children, and marketing that described cabins as being in “high, safe locations.”25CNN. Camp Mystic Texas Flooding Lawsuits One suit also alleges the camp sought to remove cabins from FEMA’s 100-year floodplain maps in 2013 to avoid mandatory flood insurance costs.26Texas Scorecard. Grieving Families Sue Camp Mystic After July 4 Flood Tragedy
Camp Mystic itself will not operate in 2026. After the Texas Department of State Health Services identified 22 categories of deficiency in the camp’s emergency plan on April 23, 2026, the Eastlands withdrew their license renewal application on April 30, saying the decision was meant to “remove any doubt that Camp Mystic has heard the concerns expressed by grieving families.” The Stewards called the move a “calculated exit” to avoid a state-mandated denial.27KSAT. Camp Mystic Won’t Reopen This Summer, Withdraws Its Application to Renew License
The Search for Cile
As of mid-2026, Cile Steward remains the only person from the Camp Mystic disaster whose body has not been recovered. The Texas Rangers’ recovery mission in Kerr County continues.28NBC News. Parents of Camp Mystic Camper Still Missing Fear Daughter Cile May Never Be Found Will Steward has spoken of “a sinking feeling” that authorities may never locate her remains. The family has described the camp site as an “active crime scene” and continues to press for its preservation through the ongoing litigation.