KERR COUNTY, Texas – Camp Mystic withdrew its application to renew its license on Thursday, following two days of emotional testimony at the State Capitol.
In a statement, camp officials said it informed the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) that it is withdrawing its application for a summer 2026 camp license.
A DSHS spokesperson confirmed to TheTXLoop 12 News that the Eastland family withdrew their license renewal application.
The camp, which is owned and run by Edward and Mary Liz Eastland, stated that the decision “is intended to remove any doubt that Camp Mystic has heard the concerns expressed by grieving families, members of the Texas House and Senate investigating committees and citizens across our state.”
Camp Mystic said in the statement that it will cooperate with ongoing investigations.
In a statement, Gov. Greg Abbott said DSHS and the Texas Rangers are still working together in the investigation of Camp Mystic and results will be made as soon as possible.
The withdrawal of the license comes after the Guadalupe River flooded on July 4, 2025, resulting in the death of 27 campers.
“Today is not about camp operations. It is about respect for the families, accountability to the public and reverence for the memory of the lives lost,” the statement said.
Camp Mystic today informed the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) that it is withdrawing its application for a summer 2026 camp license.
No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy. We commend DSHS for their testimony this week that recognized their legal obligations. But rather than risk defending our rights under Texas law in a manner that may unintentionally effect further harm, we choose rather to withdraw our application for the 2026 camp season.
Twenty-eight precious lives were lost. We recognize that no statement and no decision can undo that loss or ease the burden carried each day by parents, siblings, loved ones, survivors, first responders and our beautiful Kerr County community. We also recognize that over 800 girls want to return to Camp Mystic Cypress Lake this summer. Our special bond with our Camp Mystic families does not change or end with the announcement. We love each of you.
This decision is intended to remove any doubt that Camp Mystic has heard the concerns expressed by grieving families, members of the Texas House and Senate investigating committees and citizens across our state. Respect for those voices requires that we step back now.
Camp Mystic will continue to fully cooperate with all ongoing investigations, comply with every lawful requirement and continue supporting recovery and healing efforts.
Today is not about camp operations. It is about respect for the families, accountability to the public and reverence for the memory of the lives lost.
Camp Mystic
Attorney Sam Taylor of The Lanier Law Firm, who represents some of the families of the girls killed at Camp Mystic during the flooding, said they believe the decision is “proper.”
“The families we represent are grateful that no other Texas family will hand their daughter over to Camp Mystic this summer,” Taylor said. “But until there is full accountability for what happened on July 4 and until there are real, enforceable safeguards for every child sent to a Texas summer camp, our work continues.”
TheTXLoop spoke to a parent who had her daughter sign up to go to Camp Mystic this summer. Her daughter was at Camp Mystic during the July 4 flooding and still wanted to go back.
While this mother thought their perspective was important, she said some of the families who planned to send kids back to Mystic have faced harassment, which is why TheTXLoop is not identifying the woman.
“The news about Camp Mystic deciding not to move forward with renewing their license comes as a disappointment,” the woman told TheTXLoop. “Our daughter was a survivor of the July 4th flood. She was in a cabin on the flats and was rescued by Edward. The decision to return to camp was not made in haste.”
“We took our time and waited for the new Heaven’s 27 laws to be implemented,” the woman continued. “We talked with the Eastland’s about all of the new safety measures they had in place at Cypress Lake. We felt comfortable and confident in sending our daughter back. … We are heartbroken for our daughter and the 800+ other girls who were planning to return to Camp Mystic.”
One family’s statement getting attention is that of Cici and Will Steward, whose daughter Cile Steward is the only Mystic camper still missing.
They rebuked Camp Mystic’s reasons for pulling its application.
For nearly ten months, our family has lived with the unbearable absence of our eight-year-old daughter, Cile – the last Camp Mystic camper still lost in the ruin of the Guadalupe River.
For nearly ten months, the Eastland family had refused to take any accountability for the decisions that stole twenty-seven daughters from their families. They have now admitted that the camp was not safe, not prepared, and not ready for our daughters last summer.
Today, Camp Mystic announced it will no longer seek a 2026 operating license. We are grateful that no child will be placed in the Eastlands’ care this summer.
But let there be no confusion about what happened today. Camp Mystic did not withdraw its application out of grace. It withdrew because the State of Texas was prepared to deny it. It withdrew after DSHS cited nearly two dozen deficiencies in its licensing application. It withdrew after Lieutenant Governor Patrick’s continued public demands on DSHS to deny renewal and on the Eastland family to do the right thing. It withdrew after four days of court testimony and two days of legislative testimony, testimony that forced our family to live through the Eastlands’ failures on July 4th over and over again.
What the Eastlands offered today was not accountability. It was not out of respect for our grieving families. Nor because they wanted to do the next right thing. We have pled with them to stop since September. It was a calculated exit from a license they were about to lose.
The Eastland family withdrew their license to operate before the State of Texas yanked it from them.
We are deeply grateful to Governor Abbott; Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick; to Chairman Flores, Chairman Meyer, Vice-Chair Perry, Vice-Chair Moody, and every member of the Senate and House General Investigating Committees; to DSHS for upholding its obligations under the Heaven’s 27 Safety Act; and to Chief Nim Kidd and the Emergency Operations Center, who have never stopped working to bring Cile home.
To the families the camp addressed in its statement today: I am sorry you were held in limbo for so long, and I hope your daughters still find the positive, healing, and safe camp experience they deserve. Every Texas family deserves that.
This is not the end. We will continue to fight for Cile and the recovery to bring her home. We will continue to fight for the legal reforms this Committee and the Heaven’s 27 Safety Act began. We will not stop until a jury renders its verdict in court, where it belongs. And we will continue to believe that there were heroes at Camp Mystic on July 4, 2025…but their names were not Eastland.
Cici and Will Steward
A week ago, TheTXLoop reported that Camp Mystic’s emergency plan submitted to operate this summer, did not fully comply with new rules for youth camps.
DSHS directed the camp to make changes, such as:
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Map the locations of all cabins in relation to flood risk
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Explain how they would help campers with mobility or visual impairments during an evacuation
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Show how the emergency plan would be distributed to parents and staff
Those updated camp safety requirements are from a new state law passed in September, deemed the “Heaven’s 27 Law.”
State Rep. Wes Virdell, R-Brady, felt compelled to give background on some of the claims in response to the statement.
“Mrs. Steward is hurt. She’s going through something terrible and I understand her reaction to it,” Virdell said. “What’s left out is that it wasn’t just Camp Mystic that received the letters for the deficiencies. It was camps all across Texas. Out of every camp that applied, only 3 of them did not receive a letter of deficiency.”
Several lawmakers, including Virdell, have spoken out for months against the new law that created these stricter requirements, saying parts of it are unattainable and will force camps to close.
“The biggest one is the fiber-optic requirement. I’ve talked to so many camps who tell me it’s millions of dollars to get fiber optics to their property. There are other options like Starlink. I know there are at least 19 camps that are suing the state right now because of the fiber-optic requirement,” Virdell said.
Virdell has proposed a special session to go over possible changes to the law, but it has not yet been granted.
The Stewards, meanwhile, remain focused on Mystic and have asked that it never reopen with the same owners in place.
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