Camp Mystic director died while saving girls, Kerrville Daily Times reports

KERR COUNTY, Texas – The director of Camp Mystic was among the people killed due to the Hill Country floods, according to the Kerrville Daily Times.

On Saturday, the newspaper confirmed longtime owner Richard “Dick” Eastland was killed while trying to save girls at the camp. Eastland’s nephew was the first to announce the death on Facebook.

A truck rests on a tree outside sleeping quarters at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers,” guest columnist Paige Sumner said in the Daily Times’ tribute to Eastland.

Campers reportedly saw Eastland as a father figure while they were away from home at Camp Mystic.

A wall is missing on a building at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Eastland, a father of four boys, “had hundreds of girls each term who looked up to him like a dad,” Sumner said.

As of Saturday night, at least 43 people have died, and 27 girls from Camp Mystic remain missing due to flooding along the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country on the Fourth of July.

>> 27 girls missing from Camp Mystic along Guadalupe River in Kerr County, officials say

Kerr County officials said that of those who died, 15 were children. Twelve adults and five children have not been identified.

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