The parents of an 8-year-old girl, who was among the 27 Camp Mystic campers and counselors — also known as “27 Heaven” — swept away during the deadly flooding in Texas this summer, have called on the camp owners to “halt all discussions” on reopening until their daughter Cile’s body is recovered.
“We call on Camp Mystic to halt all discussion of reopening and memorials,” CiCi and Will Steward wrote in a letter shared to social media. “Instead, Cile must be recovered, and you must fully confront and account for your role in the events and failures that caused the deaths of our daughters. Anything less dishonors the children who were killed while in your care — at a time when their safety was your primary responsibility.”
The letter from the Stewards comes following Camp Mystic announcing in an email sent out on Monday that it will be reopening next summer, which will mark the camp’s 100 year anniversary. However, the camp will not be reopening the original campus, which suffered “devastating damage.” Instead, Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, which opened in 2020 and was not destroyed, will be reopened. Camp Mystic also shared that it will be creating a memorial to honor the “27 Heaven.”
“As we work to finalize plans, we will do so in a way that is mindful of those we have lost,” the letter said, according to The Associated Press.
The owners said they intend to construct a building in memory of those lost on July 4.
“We hope this space will serve as a place of reflection and remembrance of these beautiful girls,” the camp’s statement read. “We continue to pray for the grieving families and all those who lost loved ones.”
But the Stewards accused Camp Mystic of failing to properly consult with victim’s family members in its decision to go ahead and reopen.
“On Monday, you sent one message to the Heaven’s 27 families — leaving some families inexplicably off the distribution list — framing it as an opportunity for privacy and reflection,” the Stewards wrote. “Then, just two hours later, you sent a very different email to the broader camp community, again excluding most of our families.”
The Stewards said Camp Mystic’s decision to reopen fails to mention the fact their daughter’s body is still missing.
“Recovery teams are still out there every day, scouring the river — your backyard — risking their own safety to bring her home to us,” the Stewards wrote. “Yet, instead of recognizing or highlighting that effort, you have not once mentioned her name or the fact that she is still missing. Not in any formal communications with the affected families, not to the wider community, and not even to our family.”
“To promote reopening less than three months after the tragedy — while one camper remains missing — is unthinkable,” the Stewards wrote. “Our families remain trapped in the deepest throes of grief, yet your communications treat our never-ending nightmare as little more than a brief pause before resuming business as usual. Worse still, you are preparing to invite children to swim in the very river that may still hold our daughter’s body when you plan to “open your gates.”
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