5 more families file lawsuits against Camp Mystic after deadly floods

A view inside of a cabin at Camp Mystic, the site of where at least 20 girls went missing after flash flooding in Hunt, Texas, on July 5, 2025. Rescuers were on Saturday searching for more than 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed at least 27 people -- with more rain on the way. "So far, we've evacuated over 850 uninjured people, eight injured people and have recovered 27 deceased fatalities at this time. Of these 27, 18 are adults, nine are children," said Kerr Country Sheriff Larry Leitha on July 5. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

Five more families have joined in the effort to find Camp Mystic negligent in the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors at the Kerr County summer camp over Fourth of July weekend, according to family attorneys.

The families of Linnie McCown, Abby Lynn Pohl, Margaret Sheedy, Mary Stevens and Greta Toranzo have joined a lawsuit filed by Houston lawyer Kyle Findley, who filed the wrongful death suit on behalf of Ellen Getten's family early last week.

"Like all young, defenseless, little girls, these children expected to be protected while at camp. They expected to be kept safe. They, and their parents, expected they would be returned home after the summer session in the same physical condition as when they left. The last thing that any parent expects is to send their child to camp, only to have to arrange a funeral rather than bring home their little girl. Yet, that is what happened to these girls’ parents," the petition reads.

The amended petition mirrors the others filed last week in a Travis County court: It alleges camp owners Dick and Tweety Eastland, as well as other members of the Eastland family and the companies they maintained to run the camp, knew of the flooding risks leading up to the event that left their daughters dead. The lawsuit also claims the camp worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to remove certain cabins from the 100-year floodplain designation in order to save money on flood insurance, as well as claiming the camp's emergency preparedness plan was inadequate.

"The horrifying nature of these girls’ untimely deaths cannot be overstated. The suffering their parents have gone through having to imagine their daughters, overcome by floodwaters, alone in the darkness, calling out for anyone to help, is more than any parent or person should be forced to bear. The undeniable pain, fear, desperation, horror, and distress the girls undoubtedly experienced in the hours and minutes before their deaths were foreseeable and preventable had Defendants acted with reasonable care for their safety," the document reads.

All but one of the "Heaven's 27" who died at the camp were campers or counselors in Bubble Inn and Twins. Only 10-year-old Toranzo, who was attending her third summer at Mystic, stayed in a different cabin — one called "Jumble House." Camp director Dick Eastland also died during the flooding.

The lawsuit names Natural Fountains Properties Inc., Mystic Camps Family Partnership, Mystic Camps Management and Camp Mystic, as well as Tweety Eastland and Edward Eastland, Dick's son. It also names Seaborn Stacy Eastland and William Bonner III, who the lawsuit identifies as an owner and the president of Natural Fountains Properties, respectively.

The families are asking for a jury trial and seek damages in excess of $1 million.

These lawsuits represent 18 campers and two counselors killed at Camp Mystic. The seven others — including the family of Cile Steward, the only camper whose remains have not been recovered — have not joined any lawsuits.