Camp Mystic Files for Bankruptcy as Flood Victims Seek Justice Nearly One Year Later

A Camp in Crisis, a Debt Too Deep to Ignore

Camp Mystic's owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, nearly a year after catastrophic floods in Texas Hill Country killed 25 girls, two teenage counselors, and the camp's longtime director. The filing marks a stunning legal and financial turning point for one of Texas's most storied summer institutions — and raises urgent questions about whether the families of the dead will ever see meaningful compensation.

In paperwork filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas in Houston, the camp estimated liabilities between $10 million and $50 million. The filing said the camp's total assets were between $1 million and $10 million. That enormous gap between what the camp owes and what it has makes the road ahead extraordinarily difficult for victims' families. Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who has been following the wrongful death lawsuits, said the bankruptcy filing implies that the owners believe they don't have the resources to cover the litigation. "It's going to be more difficult for the families to recover compensation because of this," Tobias said.

What Investigators Found: A Cascade of Failures

The bankruptcy filing came days after a new investigative report into the failed evacuation identified a series of missteps that led to the deaths at the camp. Investigators told a joint Texas House and Senate committee they reached four conclusions in their exhaustive review of what contributed to the deaths. The findings were damning. State investigator Casey Garrett told lawmakers: "Nobody had any instruction whatsoever about what to do in an emergency — particularly, here we are talking about a flood emergency. There were no specific assignments given to staff."

Camp leadership failed to evacuate cabins for over 90 minutes after the initial flash flood warning was issued by the National Weather Service. At 1:14 a.m., the National Weather Service sent a flash flood warning. Camp owner Dick Eastland called his son, Edward, for help shortly after 3 a.m. In that time, investigators said the campers could have been instructed to evacuate to higher ground. Making matters worse, camp leadership had confiscated counselors' cellphones while on site and did not provide them with replacement equipment, such as a radio or handheld transmitter that they could have used in an emergency.

The report found that although the camp held the required state license and passed inspections, its written emergency plans lacked key details. A one-page document titled "Emergency Instructions" included only a single paragraph on flooding, directing campers to stay in their cabins and await further instruction. By contrast, the fire-response section included specific relocation procedures. Remarkably, a Department of State Health Services inspector had signed off on the camp's plans on July 2, 2025 — just two days before the flood.

Bankruptcy Complicates the Fight for Justice

Victim families had filed suit in November, accusing the operators of failing to take appropriate action as rising floodwaters approached the campgrounds. The families are seeking more than $1 million in damages. The Chapter 11 filing now throws those lawsuits into uncertainty. Sarah Foss, the global head of legal and restructuring at Debtwire, said the camp's bankruptcy filing means lawsuits against it are "temporarily paused," and that victims' families will be treated as creditors who must seek compensation from a limited pool.

Under Chapter 11, Camp Mystic could attempt to reorganize and continue operating — or liquidate entirely. One bankruptcy attorney believes liquidation is the more realistic outcome, given the size of the debt and the litigation the camp faces. She added that restructuring the business may be nearly impossible. Attorney Kyle Findley, representing families, called the filing a "financial reorganization that could allow the same people and entities to remain in control of Camp Mystic while attempting to circumvent the justice of the Court."

A Criminal Investigation Continues — and a Camp Stays Dark

The bankruptcy filing came weeks after Camp Mystic halted plans to reopen this summer in the face of outrage from victims' families and lawmakers, who objected to the century-old camp welcoming girls back while lawsuits and investigations remained ongoing. Families of the victims had packed legislative hearings, often wearing "Heaven's 27" pins with photographs of their daughters, listening to details of missed flood warning signs and the decision to leave the girls in their cabins until it was too late.

A state criminal investigation remains ongoing. Lawmakers say they will use the report's findings to guide policy changes when the legislature reconvenes in 2027. A joint committee of state representatives and senators said the Legislature has already addressed all but one of the deficiencies outlined in the investigators' report, and promised to address the remaining problem — the inability of camp counselors to reach the camp's owners during