Chloe Childress, 18, was one of the 27 campers and counselors who died in the flooding at Camp Mystic last summer

NEED TO KNOW

• Matthew Childress’s 18-year-old daughter, Chloe, was killed by floodwaters that struck Camp Mystic in Texas Hill Country on July 4, 2025
• When the grieving father identified the camp counselor’s body the next day, he gave her 17 kisses
• More than eight months after the disastrous flood, Childress and other parents continue to push for camp safety

When Matthew Childress’s daughter Chloe was a newborn, he started giving her 17 kisses as an expression of his love. 

After the 18-year-old Camp Mystic counselor died in last year's flooding tragedy, he placed the same number of kisses on his daughter’s face while identifying her bruised body, according to a recent New York Magazine feature.

Early that Fourth of July morning, rain barraged Central Texas and caused the Guadalupe River to rise 20 feet in three hours, The New York Times previously reported. The historic flood swept away buildings and brought devastation to the region, leaving more than 130 people dead.

Camp Mystic — the century-old Christian sleepaway camp for girls in Hunt, Texas — became a national symbol of the tragedy following the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors, including Chloe. (Camp co-owner Dick Eastland also died.)

The deaths of the young girls, who became known as “Heaven’s 27,” galvanized many grieving parents to push for new safety laws and file joint lawsuits against the historic camp owned by the Eastland family.

Matthew, a chief operating officer at a law firm, has served as one of their leaders and believes camp operations should be suspended until a congressional investigation is complete. Meanwhile, the Camp is still trying to reopen this summer.

“Trust has been shattered. Our state has suffered a shocking mass death of children,” Matthew wrote in a March op-ed for The Houston Chronicle. “As the families most affected, we deserve the full truth."

“Truth takes time — time we will never get back with our daughters,” continued the dad of two. “But investigations and complete transparency are essential to ensure that no other family is forced to endure the pain and heartbreak that now, and forever, defines our lives.”

The Childress family and a lawyer for Camp Mystic did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

Matthew and his wife, Wendie, an attorney, raised their son and daughter in River Oaks, a Houston neighborhood with multi-million-dollar homes and tree-lined streets.

Sending their eldest child, Chloe, almost 300 miles away to Camp Mystic was an easy decision. Matthew’s mom and sister had attended as girls, and Chloe had gladly stayed at the camp for 10 seasons straight, New York Magazine and The Texas Tribune reported.

Last summer, the 18-year-old girl, who planned to attend the University of Texas at Austin that fall, was put in charge of Bubble Inn, a cabin on the banks of the river, with another counselor. Then the floodwaters hit.

When Wendie received texts from other concerned moms, she and Matthew drove west, thinking they’d bring Chloe back with them, according to The Texas Tribune. Instead, they endured hours of torturous waiting at an elementary school in nearby Ingram.

After arriving, Matthew wanted to start searching for his daughter, but other parents had already tried and been thwarted by devastation and debris left by the overfilled river, according to New York Magazine.

A couple of hours later, after a city employee called the last of the names of girls who had been found, Matthew realized his brave girl might be dead.

That night, the parents who were still waiting for answers slept on the floor of a church, New York Magazine reported. When Matthew woke up at 5:30 a.m., with no answers about Chloe’s fate, he began sobbing, as did his wife. The pair curled up together on the floor, seeking comfort.

Matthew clung to hope that Chloe was alive, but after sitting through a press conference where a Kerrville city official admitted they found no survivors, Matthew received the call from the local funeral home. Then he collapsed to the floor.

At the morgue, Chloe’s body was nearly unrecognizable. Her body had been carried more than two miles downriver before she was discovered on a riverbank, according to New York Magazine. As he was being led away, Matthew turned back to give her 17 kisses, a last ode to his love for her. 

In the aftermath of the floods, the parents of the deceased campers formed group texts, according to New York Magazine. That, in part, fueled their collective fight to keep their children’s memory alive and keep future campers safe.

By early September, three flood and camp safety bills had been passed into law, The Texas Tribune reported. It was an emotional win for the parents of Heaven’s 27. 

The laws prohibited cabins for children’s sleepaway camps from remaining in floodplains and required camp staff to be trained on evacuation plans and monitor weather warnings via radios, according to the outlet. Two months later, families of the victims filed complaints against the camp and its owners, alleging gross negligence. 

On Monday, Nov. 10, families of five campers and two counselors initiated a lawsuit in which they claimed that the owners of the all-girls camp valued money over safety, CNN, NBC News and The New York Times reported.

“Today, campers Margaret, Lila, Molly, Lainey, and Blakely should be third graders, and counselors Chloe and Katherine should be freshmen at the University of Texas,” the lawsuit said, according to CNN. “They all are gone.”

The families claim that the organization in Kerr County, Texas, chose to maintain its camps in flood-prone areas and didn’t make appropriate safety plans. 

As the legal fights continue, Camp Mystic announced plans to reopen its Cypress Lake location in 2026, though they said the nearby Guadalupe River camp would remain closed. 

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Earlier this month, as part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of the parents of Cecilia "Cile" Steward, the only remaining missing camper, a judge granted a temporary injunction against the camp to ensure that evidence is preserved during the ongoing state investigation.

As Matthew and other parents of dead campers continue to push for answers, their quest for justice has helped stave off some of their all-consuming grief and anger.

“If I can solve this problem, it’s almost like I can bring her back,” Matthew told The Texas Tribune. “If I can solve it, I’ll save her.”

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