The parents of the last girl still missing after July’s flash floods that killed 25 campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic in Texas are opposing the camp’s reopening.
Their demands to remain closed come after officials announced plans to reopen part of the camp next year and build a memorial to the campers and camp counselors who died.
The body of eight-year-old camper Cile Steward has not yet been recovered.
In a letter sent to Camp Mystic leadership on Sept. 24, Steward’s parents, CiCi and Will Steward, wrote that reopening the camp while they still look for her body is “unthinkable."
“Recovery teams are still out there every day, scouring the river — your backyard— risking their own safety to bring her home to us. Yet, instead of recognizing or highlighting that effort, you have not once mentioned her name or the fact that she is still missing,” the parents wrote.
The letter criticized the lack of communication from Camp Mystic in the hours after the flooding and after with the latest plans to reopen the camp.
“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,” the Stewards said.
Cile’s parents added: “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.’”
The Stewards demand that discussions on reopening and memorials be halted. Instead, they are asking camp leaders to “fully confront and account” for their role in the events and failures that caused their daughter’s death after Cile’s body is recovered.
Cile’s parents are responding to an email that Camp Mystic sent out on Sept. 22 on reopening and setting up a memorial.
Camp Mystic’s owners are the wife and family members of Dick Eastland, who also died in the flooding while trying to help evacuate campers.
In a statement to Alpena News, Camp Mystic said, “Our decision to partially reopen areas of the camp is informed by our faith and our commitment to continue the nearly century-long mission and ministry of Camp Mystic to provide a Christian camping experience for girls that allows them to grow physically, mentally, and spiritually."