Texas family mourns ‘shining light' 8-year-old daughter confirmed dead in Camp Mystic flood disaster
The Lytal family described Kellyanne, who went missing on the Fourth of July, as a 'shining light in this world.'
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'She was kind, fearless, silly, compassionate, and a loving friend to everyone,' the family wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital.
They added she 'believed deeply in Jesus,' noting they 'rejoice in the comfort of knowing she is in Heaven with our Lord and Savior.'
Camp Mystic, an all-girls private Christian retreat, reported 27 girls missing after the Guadalupe River flooded and waters rushed through the campground.
They are all presumed dead, and first responders continue to search for remains.
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'Even though she was taken from us way too early, we thank God for the eight magical years we got to share with her,' the Lytals wrote.
'Our family wants to thank everyone for their prayers and support during this difficult time. We are forever grateful for the men and women who are assisting in the search and rescue efforts.'
3 The parents of 8-year-old Kellyanne Elizabeth Lytal confirmed to Fox News Digital that she was one of the Camp Mystic girls killed in the Texas Hill Country floods.
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3 Officials say 176 people remain missing from the catastrophic floods, along with 119 people confirmed dead.
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3 The Lytal family set up a fund known as The Kellyanne Elizabeth Lytal Memorial Foundation as a way to help out charitable causes that were dear to their daughter's heart.
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At least 119 people died in the floods, and at least 176 people remain missing, according to officials.
In Kellyanne's honor, the family established the Kellyanne Elizabeth Lytal Memorial Foundation to give to charitable causes that were dear to her heart.
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The fund is part of the Greater Houston Community Foundation, a tax-exempt organization.
The Lytal family asked for continued prayers for all the families affected by the tragedy.
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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Missing Camp Mystic Counselor Katherine Ferruzzo's Remains Found 7 Days After Texas Floods
Katherine Ferruzzo, a Camp Mystic counselor, was found dead on Friday, July 11, her family confirmed in a statement The 19-year-old was one of at least 27 campers and counselors killed in the Texas floods over the Fourth of July weekend "We are incredibly grateful to all the search and rescue professionals and volunteers," Ferruzzo's family said in a statement, per NBC 5The remains of a Camp Mystic counselor who died during the Texas floods has been found. Katherine Ferruzzo's family confirmed that her remains were found on Friday, July 11, in a statement obtained by NBC 5. "We are incredibly grateful to all the search and rescue professionals and volunteers who have remained steadfast in their efforts to locate the victims of this tragedy. We would especially like to thank the Texas Rangers," the family said, per the outlet. Officials previously announced that at least 27 campers and counselors died at the Christian summer camp. Its location in Kerr County was the hardest-hit region during the July 4 floods. Ferruzzo family statement revealed that she had recently graduated from high school and was planning to attend the University of Texas in Austin to study education. The late counselor hoped to become a special education teacher. She was 19 years old and had a strong philanthropic presence in Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle. The Ferruzzo family will be launching a charitable foundation in her memory. "The Katherine Ferruzzo Legacy Foundation is being established to honor Katherine and her compassion for those with special needs and learning differences. We will share a link with donation details in the coming days," the family said in the statement, per NBC 5. "We would like to thank the Houston and Camp Mystic communities for their unwavering support and for allowing us to mourn this tragedy in private," the statement continued. "We are heartbroken for the other families and pray for all who have been affected. " The destructive and deadly floodwaters in Texas was spurred by nearly unprecedented rainfall that swelled the Guadalupe River. The death toll has risen steadily since the disaster and now sits at at least 129, with over a hundred people still missing, according to USA Today. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The grandmother of 9-year-old camper Jane Hunt recently remembered her granddaughter in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. Margaret Hunt described Jane as a "brilliant" and "precocious" child who 'loved life" and "loved everybody." She also told PEOPLE her granddaughter was a big theater fan, and a necklace she gifted the child following a performance helped the family identify Jane after her death. 'She was in a play in May, and that's when I gave her the little Janie necklace that she had on when they found the body," Margaret said. "That's how they knew it was Janie. She had on a necklace that, in beads, spelled out [her name]." Read the original article on People
USA Today
16 hours ago
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Camp Mystic girls had a safe haven by the river for 100 years. Then, the flood came.
There is something special, almost sacred about a place where girls go for four weeks, putting down phones and away from boys, which brings them closer together. The first time Allie Coates ran barefoot across the buffalo grass at Camp Mystic, she was eight. Her tiny strides nestled among the cypress trees near the Guadalupe River. She caught a catfish, mailed her first letter and learned to ride a horse. Thirteen summers later, she was still there, this time as a counselor, teaching 8-year-old girls how to swim and fish, French braid hair and play guitar. She can still see herself as the shy girl snuggled under the hot pink comforter. Her name embroidered in white across her bunk in Bubble Inn. It's the same cabin where this year, 13 girls and their counselors were swept away in a Fourth of July flood in Texas hill country. In all, 27 children and staff from Camp Mystic died among at least 120 in the state. Today, her Los Angeles apartment smells like chocolate chips and oatmeal. She's finding comfort baking 'Tweety' cookies, named after camp director Tweety Eastland — whose husband died in the flood trying to get girls to higher ground. She is 25 now, a social media manager, and is wearing a silver bracelet filled with charms from her time at camp, including an M for the most improved at canoeing. She pulls out her camp Bible, reading from crumpled papers in her bubbled teenage handwriting: Matthew 5:16, 'Be a light for all to see.' As Coates' mom drove her to camp from Dallas each year, she began to relax. The highway that cut through scrubby desert turned to flat gentle hills with mesquite trees until Highway 89 and its craggy limestone led them through the green metal gate emblazoned with a 'CM.' It was a place that felt timeless, away from selfies and cell phones, boys and social media, a place where Sunday fried chicken lunches gave way to One Direction dance parties. Mystic Girls, as the former campers call themselves, are mourning what was lost: the girls beginning their camp journeys and their counselors who tried to save them. The innocence of a place and time where they say they found the best version of themselves, a place that made them who they are. 'It was a safe space to be weird and awkward, where we could be silly and just be ourselves,' Coates says. 'Just to be girls.' In the week since the flood as they hear heartbreaking stories of loss, generations of Mystic Girls across the country are turning to each other. They are hosting prayer vigils and fundraisers, sharing photos and favorite stories. They are seeking the familiar that takes them back to camp, the cheese enchilada recipe and the yellow sheet cake with chocolate frosting, the songs and prayers that sustain them. See how the Texas floods unfolded: Why Camp Mystic was in a hazardous location A generation of campers Julia Hawthorne's first year at Camp Mystic was 1987. She followed her older sister, who had followed their aunt who had gone to the camp in the 1970s. Hawthorne later became a counselor at the camp, teaching girls what she had learned. Her cousins went to Camp Mystic in the 1990s. When she was pregnant in 2006 and learned she was having a girl, the first thing she told her sister: 'Oh my gosh, she can go to Mystic.' Her second daughter, Presley, would be born four years later, also a Mystic girl. Her two nieces are in second grade and are registered to attend next year, if the camp re-opens for what will be its 100th anniversary. 'These songs that we sang every day at camp, they are the same songs that my aunt learned, my daughters learned,' says Hawthorne, 49, a dentist in Austin. 'There is some comfort in that right now.' Girls often look for their grandmother's names written on ceilings of the unairconditioned cabins, a tradition dating back to when the camp moved to all girls in 1939. There are so many names and so little space, the girls now often write on plaques that line cabin walls. The camp opened in 1926 and three generations of the same family have run it, with disagreement over money among siblings in 2011 that was sorted out through court, and the family kept it, even when summers of travel volleyball teams and volunteer trips threaten it. Each summer, about 2,000 girls from 8 to 18 attend the camp over three sessions. Little has changed over the years, other than baton twirling giving way to lacrosse, and a charm school class changing to beauty inside and out, where girls are taught that painting your nails red can help keep you from biting them. Former First Lady Laura Bush was a counselor. There is something special, almost sacred about a place where girls go for four weeks. A place where they put down their phones. A place where they get away from the boys. A place that brings them closer together. 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Laura Trujillo is a national columnist focusing on health and wellness. She is the author of "Stepping Back from the Ledge: A Daughter's Search for Truth and Renewal," and can be reached at ltrujillo@
Boston Globe
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Basho was an elitist, Thoreau a codependent
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