09-07-2025
Former MLB Pitcher Searches for His Missing Brother's Family After Texas Floods: 'Pray for a Miracle'
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Tyler Walker has flown to Texas to search for his brother and his brother's family after their vacation home was apparently swept away in the flood
'All we can do is pray for a miracle,' mom Kathy Walker told a local news outlet
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference that the Walker family 'was very close with so many kids, including my own son'Former San Francisco Giants pitcher Tyler Walker has reportedly been in Texas searching for his missing brother, Mark Walker, as well as his sister-in-law and teenage nephew, who are all believed to have been swept away in the Fourth of July floods.
Walker's niece Ellie, 16, was not with the family and survived flooding at her nearby Waldemar Camp.
'All we can do is wait and pray for a miracle at this point,' Kathy Walker, Tyler and Mark's mom, told the Marin Independent Journal at her home in San Rafael, Calif. 'In a situation like that, waiting to find out if her dad and mom or brother, it's just, it's just dreadful.'
Ellie has attended the same camp every summer for years while her parents and younger brother stayed at their nearby vacation home called 'River House.'
The family lives in Kentfield, north of San Francisco.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Marin County resident, said at a news conference on Monday, July 7, that his family knows the Walkers well.
'Mark, his wife, and his 14-year-old son who was very close with so many kids, including my own son, in the Marin County area, they're missing,' Newsom said. 'Thankfully, their 16-year-old daughter was found. It's just another reminder of how devastating this tragedy is and obviously continues to unfold in just excruciating ways. Anyone with kids understands that.'
Both Ellie and Johnny were heavily involved in youth sports. Mark coached the kids 'in every sport since they were 6,' mom Kathy, 80, said. He coached T-ball, Little League and the 'Bombers' traveling baseball team.
Johnny graduated from the eighth grade with plans to enroll as a freshman at Marin Catholic High School in the fall, joining his older sister.
Kathy told reporters she had been in regular contact last week with her son, Mark, 52, while he and his family were in Texas. But after the flash flooding early on the Fourth, she heard nothing.
Two friends of Tyler's, plus several of Mark's, all flew to join the search. She spoke with Tyler on Sunday.
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'They're doing what they can to look on the river,' she said. 'He said there's just so much devastation it's impossible to comprehend. The debris piles everywhere, cars and trees and limbs. Just everything is piled up.'
The vacation home was about 20 feet above the Guadalupe River, which overran the surrounding areas, causing the floods, after heavy rains.
'The water came from above, and the river was rising at the same time the water was coming from the top,' Kathy said. 'It's crashed and gone.'
To learn how to help support the victims and recovery efforts from the Texas floods, click here.
Read the original article on People
