“She jumped on her bed at 6:15 that morning just ready to go.” A Texas mother describes the last morning with her 9-year-old daughter before she left for summer camp
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — Four lawsuits paint a scathing picture of allegations against the summer camp where 25 campers and two counselors died during the July 4 flooding in Central Texas.
Fifteen of the 27 families are now suing Camp Mystic, among others, for gross negligence. They allege the camp and its leadership were ill-prepared for the flooding emergency.
One of the families suing is Jennie and Doug Getten. They said the morning their daughter Ellen was getting ready for her first year of camp was full of joy.
“She jumped on her bed at 6:15 that morning just ready to go,” Jennie Getten said.
Ellen’s mother said that joy is what defined her youngest daughter. The 9-year-old was a first-time attendee at Camp Mystic alongside her older sister, Gwynne.
The excitement turned to tragedy just days after the sisters made it to the summer camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas.
“For [Ellen] to come home in a casket is just unbearable,” Jennie said.
Ellen is one of the 25 campers and two counselors, known as Heaven’s 27, who died when the July 4 floods ripped through Kerr County, including Camp Mystic. Ellen was a camper in Bubble Inn, in which all campers and counselors died.
Jennie and Doug said they weren’t made aware of a flood even when a camp representative called to tell them Ellen was unaccounted for.
“We said, what does that mean? And they just said, she’s unaccounted for and we didn’t even know if our other daughter was alive. So, we immediately just start calling friends trying to figure out what’s going on,” Jennie said.
The Gettens said they haven’t heard from a camp director directly since July 9, five days after the floods.
Ellen was recovered a few days later on July 12. Jennie and Doug told KHOU 11 they were DNA swabbed on July 6.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this to you right now. My 9-year-old died going to summer camp,” Doug said.
The Gettens said they would have never sent Ellen or Gwynne to Camp Mystic if they knew about the flood risks.
“I’m angry that in any literature that I’m aware of, the camp never disclosed to us these various risks,” Doug said.
That’s an allegation also made in their lawsuit alongside gross negligence and a failure to protect the girls on-site.
“[Gwynne] had to walk by her little sister’s cabin to go where she was told to go [the morning of July 4]. [Gwynne] also was able to kiss [Ellen] goodnight on July 3 and give her a hug,” Jennie said.
The family’s lawyer Kyle Findley created a timeline in their lawsuit, which discusses the days leading up to and during the floods.
“July 3, you have a flood watch, the afternoon of July 3, again, no action taken, no preparation, no planning, and then the night or the morning of July 4, 1 a.m. another flood warning, again, no action, no planning, no preparation,” Findley said.
Camp Mystic’s legal counsel Jeff Ray released the following statement:
“We empathize with the families of the campers and counselors and all families in the Hill Country who lost loved ones in the horrific and unprecedented flood of July 4. We intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwaters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes, that it was unexpected and that no adequate warning systems existed in the area. We disagree with several accusations and misinformation in the legal filings regarding the actions of Camp Mystic and Dick Eastland, who lost his life as well. We will thoroughly respond to these accusations in due course.”
“We don’t want any other family to have to go through this, so we want to hold the camp accountable for what happened, for not having a plan,” Jennie said.
“What would accountability look like?” KHOU 11 Reporter Amanda Henderson asked.
“It’s also about transparency, telling us what happened, making sure this never happens to another family, for them to take responsibility,” Jennie said.
“Instead of doing camp pickup on July 26, we had a funeral on July 16, and that should never, no one ever else should have to feel the pain we’re feeling now and that’s why we’re doing this,” Doug said.
All four lawsuits are asking for a jury trial and were filed in Travis County, Texas.
Photojournalist Ivan Gibson contributed to this report.
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