The families of two Camp Mystic girls who were killed in the Texas floods have spoken out for the first time since the tragedy.
Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner were both swept away over the July 4th weekend at the all-girls Christian camp where 27 campers and counselors died.
Their parents have since sat down with NBC News and described their anguish over losing the two girls, while advocating for change.
Tim Peck, father of Eloise, told the outlet: ‘We can hope that time numbs, but it will never ever go away.’
His daughter and Lila had been best friends as well as first-time campers at Camp Mystic when the terrifying floods overwhelmed the area.
Lila’s mother Caitlin told the outlet: ‘They were so excited to be together, which made it easier to say goodbye to them because we dropped them off caravanning together.
‘And both of them, you know, were annoyed that we wanted one more hug and one more kiss.
‘And then the two of them, you know, linked arms and frolicked off and never looked back.’
Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner (pictured) went to Camp Mystic as best friends and first-time campers but never came home following the devastating Texas floods
Blake and Caitlin Bonner, left, are seen here alongside Missy and Tim Peck, as they sat down NBC News
‘Nothing will bring these girls back. We recognize that,’ her husband Blake Bonner added.
‘We’re trying to honor their legacy and letting this tragedy be a catalyst for change.’
The families are part of Heaven’s 27 Foundation which hopes to pass legislation to protect Texas campers.
‘If we don’t get it passed in this special session, it will be January 2027 before another regular session is called,’ Caitlin told the outlet.
‘Which would mean it would be potentially two summers – if you don’t start until spring of 2027, you don’t get anything passed before that you can establish before that summer, so you’re looking at summer of 2028, potentially, before any of these changes are mandated. That’s not a risk I would be willing to take again as a parent.’
The foundation hopes to pass Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act as law, which focuses on prevention, detection, training and response.
They are further looking to remove structures out of flood zones as well as 24-hour emergency detection plans, including monitoring and notification systems as well as evacuation plans.
‘There are very simple solutions here that revolve around simple items of prevention. Making sure people don’t sleep in flood plains, especially children, and detection,’ Blake added.
The all-girls camp was in a low-lying area, which is likely why it was hit so hard by the wall of water PICTURED: Destroyed bedding and the girls’ belongings at Camp Mystic)
‘Nothing will bring these girls back. We recognize that,’ Blake Bonner said. ‘We’re trying to honor their legacy and letting this tragedy be a catalyst for change’
On the Fourth of July, water rose 26 feet on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles and some of Camp Mystic’s buildings
Both the Bonner and Peck family know that their actions won’t bring their daughters back, but hope that change can prevent disaster for other families in the future
‘I know there’s been a lot out there in terms of early warning systems that do exist that just weren’t funded and then even detection on the premise that if you don’t have cell service and you don’t have power, if you don’t have a plan, how are you going to communicate with a number of 8 and 9 year old girls that outnumber the adults by an order of a magnitude? I mean, it’s mindboggling.’
The families are urging legislators to take action and support their movement for change.
Both the Bonner and Peck family know that their actions won’t bring their daughters back, but hope that change can prevent disaster for other families in the future.
‘Something I think about a lot is that Lila and Eloise were best friends at school and there are third-grade girls who have to reconcile with the fact that they lost two classmates in a flood, many of them who were evacuated from neighboring camps,’ Caitlin said.
‘I don’t want them to be scared to go to camp. They should know that they can continue those memories and go back. Lila and Eloise would want that.’
In a letter obtained by the outlet, Camp Mystic said: ‘We join the families in supporting legislation that will make camps and communities along the Guadalupe River safer, especially the creation of detection and warning systems that would have saved lives on July 4.’
‘I don’t want them to be scared to go to camp. They should know that they can continue those memories and go back. Lila and Eloise would want that,’ Caitlin Bonner said
The Bonner and Peck families are urging legislators to take action and support their movement for change
Texas State Rep. John McQueeney, R-Fort Worth, said that ‘there is a massive push to deliver. We will get this done. We are not going to put kids to sleep in a flood plain.’
Missy Peck said that the idea that camps could continue on without change to their safety actions was terrifying.
‘I wouldn’t wish what we’ve gone through on my worst enemy. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and it’s of the essence that we have to get this done to make sure that every child is safe, every child,’ she told the outlet.
Last week, families gathered, some wearing buttons memorializing ‘Heaven’s 27,’ demanding that Texas lawmakers pass a bill that would boost camp safety.
The bill includes changes such as keeping cabins out of flood plains, instituting new requirements for emergency plans and mandating weather radios.
Last week, families gathered, some wearing buttons memorializing ‘Heaven’s 27,’ demanding that Texas lawmakers pass a bill that would boost camp safety
Michael McCown, who lost his eight-year-old daughter, said: ‘It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons I still do not know, these protections were not in place nor thought out thoroughly for my daughter and the rest of the girls here’
Michael McCown, who lost his eight-year-old daughter, said: ‘It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons I still do not know, these protections were not in place nor thought out thoroughly for my daughter and the rest of the girls here.’
‘Please pass this bill, protect our kids and do not let their deaths be in vain,’ he added.
On the Fourth of July, water rose 26 feet on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles.
The head of Camp Mystic had been tracking the weather beforehand, but it’s now unclear whether he saw an urgent warning from the National Weather Service that had triggered an emergency alert to phones in the area.
Some of the camp’s buildings were in what the Federal Emergency Management Agency considered a 100-year flood plain.
But in response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county’s flood map to remove 15 of the camp’s buildings from the hazard area.
