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Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Notes mailed by Camp Mystic girls before their deaths that have started to arrive at stricken parents' homes
Gut-wrenching letters written by girls staying at Camp Mystic have started to arrive at their families' homes a week after they tragically died in horror floods. At least 27 girls and staff at the Christian summer camp in Kerr County, Texas lost their lives when flash flooding swept through their campsite on the Guadalupe River. Officials said at least 120 people have died in the floods, and over 170 people are still missing. In the heartbreaking days since hearing their girls were not coming home, the parents' anguish was compounded as they received letters the campers had written home while they got ready for the July 4th holiday weekend. Douglas McLeod, the grandfather of Blakely McRory, 8, one of the girls lost to the floods, said he was sent a note by her after she arrived at the summer camp, according to a Facebook tribute to her. He did not say what Blakely wrote in her last letter, her mother Lindsey said the eight-year-old was a loving and warm girl, and 'little corner of the world is a better and brighter place because Blakely was here.' 'While we hoped for a miracle, it has been confirmed that Blakely's life was lost on the Guadalupe that early morning, along with so many others,' Lindsey said. 'Although we must mourn her absence, we will choose to celebrate her life.' The grandfather of Blakely McRory, 8, one of the girls lost to the floods, said he was sent a note by her after she arrived at the summer camp With efforts to find the staggering number of people that are unaccounted for still ongoing, families have been searching for possessions that were left behind from the devastating floods. Stacy Stevens, the mother of Mary Stevens, who also died in the floods at Camp Mystic, said she is hoping to find her daughter's favorite stuffed monkey in the debris. She wrote in a Facebook group dedicated to the flood recovery efforts: 'Looking for my daughter's monkey that she has had her whole life and took with her to camp.' 'We lost my daughter and would love to have it back as it was her most prized possession. It has her name on the tag — a square sticker with Mary Barrett Stevens on it. Please call me if you find it,' she wrote, per the New York Post. At least 160 people are still missing in the flood-hit area, with many feared to be children washed away by the disaster. Officials say they are holding out hope that some may still be found alive, with some survivors saying they clung to trees for hours in desperate attempts to remain out of the fast moving currents. As of Thursday, over 100 bodies have been recovered from flood waters, including 36 children, but the death toll is expected to grow as searches continue. It comes as President Donald Trump traveled to the site of the horror floods on Friday. He shared a tender moment with First Lady Melania Trump as he prepared to fly to Kerr County, putting his arm around her in a somber moment. 'It's a terrible thing,' Trump said. 'We're going to be there with some of the great families and others, the governor, everybody.' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will join the Trumps on the trip. Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Texas earlier this week. The president, unlike in other disasters, has not cast blame on anyone for the tragedy, calling it a horrible accident. 'I would just say this is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it's just so horrible to watch,' the president said on Sunday.
The Sun
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Heartbreaking letters Camp Mystic children wrote to their family arrive days after they died in Texas floods
LETTERS that were written by children staying at Camp Mystic have started to arrive at their family's homes - just days after they died in the floods that saw cabins swept away. More than 120 people were killed and over 150 remain missing - one week after the floods hit central Texas. 7 7 Twenty-seven children and staffers at Camp Mystic, located on the banks of the Guadalupe River, died in what was the deadliest floods to hit the Lone Star State in more than a century. The river is located in the notorious 'Flash Flood Alley,' rising more than 26 feet in just 45 minutes as it burst its banks. Little Blakely McCrory, eight, was among the children at the summer camp killed. And, it's emerged that she wrote her family a letter before her body was found dead. Her grandad, Douglas McLeod, received the note in the mail, as shared on Facebook. Blakely suffered tragedy just weeks before her death. Douglas told ABC News that the child's dad died of a heart attack and he said what unfolded was a 'double tragedy.' 'We're just devastated,' he said. Blakely's devastated mom, Lindsey, paid tribute to her daughter online. She revealed she was comforted that her daughter was in the 'arms of Jesus.' Camp Mystic director's tragic final act to save girls from Texas floods as wall of water tore through cabins killing 27 'Eight years on this earth is far too short a stay,' she wrote. 'Still, we know that Blakely was light and life, and she brightened the day of everyone fortunate enough to cross her path. 'Our little corner of the world is a better and brighter place because Blakely was here. Although we must mourn her absence, we will choose to celebrate her life.' Meanwhile, families of the victims continue to search for possessions that were left behind. 7 7 Stacy Stevens' daughter, Mary, also perished in the floods. Stevens shared a message on social media, saying she was looking for her daughter's monkey, per The New York Post. She described the stuffed toy as her daughter's 'most prized possession.' The mom later deleted her social media entry in a public Facebook group dedicated to items found on the Guadalupe River. It was likely that the children at Mystic didn't have their cell phones, former camper Charlotte Lauten said. Lauten, 19, spent nine summers at Mystic during her childhood. She also noted that as the camp is situated in such a remote location, there was high chance that there wouldn't be cell phone signal. The July 4 deluge was not the first time the Guadalupe River had burst its banks. HISTORY OF FLOODING Ten teens were killed in floods that hit another camp in 1987, as reported by The New York Times. Floods in 1998 saw 12 fatalities and left more than 4,000 people injured. Camp Mystic chiefs invested $5 million in a move to expand the summer camp in 2019. But, the cabins that were most at risk of flooding were not relocated, as reported by the outlet. Dick Eastland, the director of the camp who was also killed, didn't believe the scale of the floods that occurred on July 4 wouldn't happen. 'He didn't feel that there was any way that camp could flood like this,' Lisa Miller, a former counselor, told the outlet. Tributes were paid to Eastland over his bravery and heroism. His grandson, George, said he died when the flood waters crashed into the walls of his cabin. 'If he wasn't going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way—saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,' he wrote on Instagram. Eastland and doting wife Tweety bought the camp in 1974 and were the third-generation of their family to manage it. An investigation into the floods is underway. But, it has since emerged that Texas officials signed off on the camp's emergency plans just days before the floods. Inspectors surveyed Mystic and didn't find any outstanding issues. Before and after pictures show the damage the flooding caused. The camp was located in a picturesque setting, but the landscape shows cabins destroyed and surrounding grassy areas turned to mud. 7 7 7
