Attorneys representing six members of the Eastland family have filed legal motions in Kerr County District Court challenging the scope of search warrants issued as part of a Texas Rangers criminal investigation into the deadly Camp Mystic flood.
The July 2025 flooding along the Guadalupe River killed 25 campers and two counselors at the Hill Country summer camp. Texas Rangers have been investigating potential criminal charges including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and endangering a child, though no charges have been filed.
Defense attorneys argue the warrants seeking electronic data from camp leadership and staff are “overbroad” and amount to a “fishing expedition” by investigators. The warrants target iCloud accounts and other digital records from individuals connected to the camp.
One warrant targeting Edward Stacy Eastland covers a period stretching from July 3 through October 17, 2025. His attorney contends that while the flood dates themselves may justify some data collection, extending the search across three and a half months gives investigators unrestricted access to virtually every category of information stored in a cloud account.
The defense also raised concerns that the extended timeframe could expose privileged attorney-client communications tied to ongoing civil litigation against the Eastland family and Camp Mystic. Attorneys are asking the court to appoint an independent special master or review team to screen potentially protected material before any data reaches investigators or prosecutors.
The Kerr County District Attorney’s Office responded by disclosing that the Department of Public Safety had already been working to establish a so-called Taint Team to filter privileged communications before the defense motions were filed. The state says electronic records will not be reviewed and phones will not be downloaded until after the court holds a hearing on the competing motions.
Prosecutors are asking to be allowed to preserve encrypted iCloud data before any Apple-provided access link expires, while agreeing to keep the information in an unreadable format pending further court orders.
In a notable development the Kerr County District Attorney Lucy Wilke disclosed plans to seek recusal of herself and her office from the case citing a conflict of interest and a lack of resources. She is expected to request appointment of a prosecutor pro tem to take over the criminal investigation.
Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following the disaster and has proposed selling its 749-acre Guadalupe River property to a buyer committed to preserving the camp’s historical mission. Multiple civil lawsuits stemming from the flood remain pending against both the camp and the Eastland family.