{"id":233700,"date":"2026-04-03T16:31:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/233700\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T16:31:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:31:06","slug":"camp-mystic-submits-application-to-reopen-amid-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/233700\/","title":{"rendered":"Camp Mystic submits application to reopen amid scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TEXAS \u2014 Ryan DeWitt remembers his daughter Molly for her faithful, inclusive and joyful persona.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a little girl in her class in kindergarten that she took under her wing from Ukraine, and they became really good buddies. And she has a passion for those who are different, those on the margins,\u201d said DeWitt.<\/p>\n<p>Molly is one of the\u00a025\u00a0Camp Mystic campers swept away in last year\u2019s floods on July 4 that also killed two camp counselors, the owner of the camp and hundreds of other people in Kerr County.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers passed a camp safety bill following the flooding that requires youth camps\u00a0to\u00a0have state-approved emergency plans. Camp\u00a0Mystic has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/campmystic.com\/safety\/\" title=\"https:\/\/campmystic.com\/safety\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">implemented<\/a>\u00a0new procedures and technologies that include flood alert towers, a flood risk assessment and emergency drills\u00a0within 48 hours of camper arrival.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Wes Virdell, R-Brady, thinks it\u2019s safe for the camp to reopen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey operated off of what had been known for 60 to 100 years of how the river worked there. And, you know, unfortunately they were caught in a flood that nobody had ever seen,\u201d said Virdell. \u201cI think that while they were prepared then, I think they\u2019re even better prepared now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Camp Mystic wants to open its Cypress Lake location that didn\u2019t flood last year. The camp submitted a license application to the Texas Department of State Health Services.<\/p>\n<p>Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LtGovTX\/status\/2026051867164418489\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LtGovTX\/status\/2026051867164418489\" rel=\"nofollow\">asked<\/a>\u00a0the agency not to renew the Camp Mystic license until the deaths are investigated and any necessary corrective actions are taken to ensure this never happens again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one\u2019s trying to put Camp Mystic out of camp forever. We\u2019re just saying don\u2019t renew it now and let the process play out so that the families can have peace and get answers,\u201d said Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>DeWitt wants to see new camp leadership, and the families of Heaven\u2019s 27 want both camp locations to remain closed until a missing camper is located.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCile Steward has not been found. And it is incredibly insensitive for them to continue to move forward,\u201d said DeWitt.<\/p>\n<p>The camp said its decision to reopen is informed by its faith and from the \u201cstrong interest from families who wish to provide their daughters with a Christian\u00a0camping experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>DeWitt said that even if he hadn\u2019t lost a daughter, he wouldn\u2019t send his child there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no chance I would entrust that family with the safety of my most precious asset,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The state told Spectrum News 1 that after the application materials are reviewed, including the emergency plan, a pre-licensure inspection is conducted and the process is expected to take several weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEXAS \u2014 Ryan DeWitt remembers his daughter Molly for her faithful, inclusive and joyful persona. \u201cThere was a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6329,1658,2160,132,134,133,6328,1570,102,6363,223,287,82,27,2053,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-233700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-app-capital-tonight","9":"tag-app-local-state-politics","10":"tag-app-top-stories","11":"tag-austin","12":"tag-austin-headlines","13":"tag-austin-news","14":"tag-capital-tonight","15":"tag-ctv","16":"tag-dallas","17":"tag-erin-davis","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-san-antonio","21":"tag-texas","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}