Texas flooding victims: What we know about those who lost their lives
As rescuers desperately search for dozens more still missing, this is what we know about those who lost their lives.
At least 79 dead in Texas as Abbott warns of new flooding threat
Jane Ragsdale, 68, was director of Heart O' the Hills Camp in Hunt. It was one of the summer camps in hard-hit Kerr County that was in the path of flood waters. The camp was between sessions and did not have children present, but Ragsdale perished, Heart O' the Hills said in a Facebook post.
'Jane wasn't just our director, she was our guiding light, our example, and our safe place. She had the rare gift of making every person feel seen, loved, and important. Her kindness, strength, and wisdom shaped generations of campers and staff,' the camp said.
Sarah Marsh, 8, of Mountain Brook, Ala., was a camper at Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian camp near Hunt, Texas, along the Guadalupe River. The mayor of Mountain Brook announced the girl's passing in a Facebook message, saying, 'This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school, and our entire community.
Camp Mystic owner Richard Dick Eastland, who was in his 70s, died while attempting to rescue campers as flood waters overtook the riverfront property, according to multiple media reports.
'It doesn't surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers,' former camper and longtime friend Paige Sumner wrote in the Kerrville Daily Times. 'He had already saved so many lives with the gift of Camp Mystic.'
Linnie McCown of Austin, a student at Casis Elementary School, was another camper who did not survive the flooding at Camp Mystic.
'It's with the heaviest of hearts we must share that our sweet little Linnie is with the Lord in heaven,' her father, Michael McCown, said on Instagram. 'She filled our hearts with so much joy we cannot begin to explain.'
The family of Camp Mystic attendee Lila Bonner confirmed to KXAN-TV over the weekend she was among those killed in the flooding. In a statement, the Dallas girl's family said, 'We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly for others to be spared from this tragic loss.'
Sisters Blair and Brooke Harber had been staying alongside the Guadalupe River when their cabin was swept away, according to their school, St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas. The girls had not been staying at Camp Mystic but at a different location in the area.
Blair was 13 and Brooke was 11. Their parents, who were staying in a different cabin, were safe, but the girls' grandparents were unaccounted for.
'This tragedy has touched every corner of our hearts,' the church said in a statement Sunday.
Ingram resident Julian Ryan, 27, died while trying to evacuate his family from their home near the Guadalupe River during the flash flooding. His fiancé, Christina Wilson, says Ryan cut his arm when he punched out a window so that she and her children and mother could escape. His body was recovered after flood waters receded, she said. An online fundraiser has been launched to assist his survivors.
Tanya Burwick, 62, went missing as she went to work early Friday at a Walmart near San Angelo, which is in Tom Green County, another jurisdiction hit by flash floods. Police found her submerged SUV later in the day, but not her body until the following morning, blocks from the vehicle.
'We ask that the public continue to keep the Burwick family in their thoughts and prayers as they navigate this heartbreaking tragedy,' the San Angelo Police Department said in a Facebook post.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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