Young campers, beloved teacher and his wife among those killed when Guadalupe River overflowed
A beloved teacher and his wife. Young sisters staying with their grandparents. Multiple girls from a riverside summer camp and their father-figure camp director. These are some of the dozens of victims killed as gushing floodwaters swept across central Texas on Friday.
The flooding originated from the swift waters of the swollen Guadalupe River as a storm pounded the region with torrential rain.
The death toll has climbed to 82, with dozens more missing as of Monday morning.
As the floodwaters receded, more victims were being identified and their stories shared.
Teacher and high school soccer coach Reece Zunker and his wife Paula were found dead following the devastating flash flooding in Kerr County.
“Reece was a passionate educator and a beloved soccer coach,” Kerrville Independent School District said in a statement. “His unwavering dedication to our students, athletes, and the Tivy community touched countless lives and will never be forgotten.
“Paula, a former Tivy teacher, also left a lasting mark on our community,” the statement continued. “The care and impact she shared with her students continue to be felt, even years later.”
The school district asked to keep the family “in your prayers,” as the couple’s two children, Lyle and Holland, were both still missing as of Sunday afternoon.
Harber Family
Blair and Brooke Harber, aged 13 and 11, were sleeping in a riverside cabin in Hunt, Texas, with their grandparents, Charlene and Mike Harber, when the torrent swept away their cabin.
The girls’ parents, R.J. and Annie, were staying five houses down from them and awoke at 3:30 a.m. to go check on the girls during the storm but found their house had already started to flood.
The family detailed their story in a GoFundMe post, sharing how the pounding rain masked the sound of the floodwaters in the home, which they said were “rising one foot per minute.”
R.J. and Annie broke a window to escape the flooded home and borrowed a kayak from a neighbor to try to reach their children.
“But the water had risen too high to reach the neighbor’s house that my parents and nieces and their 2 dogs were at,” the post read, detailing how the waters were rough and had white caps.
The bodies of Blair and Brooke were found 15 miles away in Kerrville.
“When they were found their hands were locked together,” the family said.
The sisters were both students at St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas.
Charlene and Mike had yet to be found at the time of the fundraising post.
Tanya Burwick
The last time Tanya Burwick’s family heard from her was a frantic phone call about the floodwaters as she headed to work at a Walmart early Friday in the San Angelo area. When Burwick didn’t show up for work, her employer filed a missing persons report and sent a colleague to look for her.
Police investigating the 62-year-old’s disappearance found Burwick’s unoccupied SUV fully submerged later that day. Her body was found the next morning blocks from the vehicle.
“She lit up the room and had a laugh that made other people laugh,” Lindsey Burwick told The Associated Press, adding that her mother was a beloved parent, grandparent and colleague to many.
Jane Ragsdale
Jane Ragsdale, 68, devoted her life to the Heart O’the Hills Camp, a summer camp for girls in Texas Hill Country. She was a camper and counselor there herself in the 1970s before becoming a co-owner. By the 1980s, she was director of the camp in Hunt.
“She was the heart of The Heart,” the camp said in a statement. “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.”
Dick Eastland
Dick Eastland was the director and co-owner of Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
Those who knew Eastland said he made the ultimate sacrifice trying to save his campers from the flood.
“Camp Mystic’s Dick Eastland no doubt gave his life attempting to save his campers,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, wrote on X. “For decades he and his wife Tweety poured his life into loving and developing girls and women of character. Thank you Mr. Eastland. We love you and miss you.”
Paige Sumner, a former camper and friend of Eastland, wrote in the Kerrville Daily Times: “It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers. He had already saved so many lives with the gift of Camp Mystic.”
Katharine Somerville, a camp counselor at Camp Mystic’s Cypress Lake location, told “Fox News Live” on Sunday that the camp director was among the “most selfless men in the whole world” and “a father figure, a comforting force in the uncertainty of everything.”
Lila Bonner and Eloise Peck
Lila Bonner and Eloise Peck were best friends and cabinmates at Camp Mystic.
The girls were from Highland Park, a city near Dallas. They had both recently finished second grade at Bradfield Elementary.
Janie Hunt
Janie Hunt was one of the Camp Mystic campers who died in the devastating floods over the weekend. She was just 9 years old.
Janie was a family member of Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt. Clark’s wife, Tavia, said the family was devastated in an Instagram post.
“Our hearts are broken by the devastation from the floods in Wimberley and the tragic loss of so many lives – including a precious little Hunt cousin, along with several friend’s little girls,” Tavia Hunt wrote.
Anna Margaret Bellows
Anna Margaret Bellows, an 8-year-old from Houston, was also attending Camp Mystic.
Her parents confirmed to Fox News that she died in the flood.
Renee Smajstrla
Renee Smajstrla, an 8-year-old from Ingram, Texas, was another of the Camp Mystic girls confirmed to have died.
“Renee has been found and while not the outcome we prayed for, the social media outreach likely assisted the first responders in helping to identify her so quickly,” Renee’s uncle, Shawn Salta, told Fox News in a statement. “We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday. She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic. Please continue to pray for the other families in Kerrville. ”
Linnie Anne McCown
Linnie Anne McCown, an 8-year-old from Austin, was confirmed to have died in the flood at Camp Mystic.
Her father Michael told Fox News, “She loved dance, gymnastics and was the sweetest girl to everyone she met.”
Sarah Marsh
Sarah Marsh, an 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, was spending the summer away from home at Camp Mystic.
Marsh was a student at Cherokee Bend Elementary in suburban Birmingham.
“Our family is completely devastated by the loss of Sarah and her dear friends at Camp Mystic,” the Marsh family said in a statement to Fox News. “This is a tragedy that no parent can prepare for and it will never be right this side of Heaven.
“While we are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have received, we request privacy as we navigate the unimaginable steps ahead,” the family continued. “We continue to keep the fellow campers, staff, and families in our prayers – for their rescue and return home.”
Mary Kathryn Jacobe
Mary Kathryn Jacobe, 8, was also killed in the flood at Camp Mystic, FOX26 Houston reported.
Mary’s family told the outlet that the girl was “fun, compassionate and kind.”
“We will miss her dearly,” the family said.
Fox News Digital’s Paulina Dedaj, Scott Thompson, Rachel Wolf and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
