The mom of a young girl who was killed at Camp Mystic after devastating floods ravaged Texas has said she has found proof her daughter is now with God.
Missy Peck broke down as she shared her grief over losing her daughter, Eloise, who was swept away over the July 4th weekend along with 26 other campers and counselors at the all-girls Christian camp.
She was struggling to accept the tragedy in the aftermath, when she saw what she described as a sign from God.
‘We’d had a particularly emotional day and we were sitting at a bonfire, roasting marshmallows and talking, and I looked up in the sky and saw what could have only been described as God, the universe and Lulu working together,’ the grieving mother told NBC DFW, using her nickname for Eloise.
‘There was an “E” – a very clear “E” in the sky, crystal blue,’ she explained.
But she was not the only one who found hope from the universe, as Caitlin Bonner – the mother of Camp Mystic victim Lila Bonner – said she also received a ‘sign’ that her daughter is OK following her death.
She described how she would refer to her young daughter as ‘Lailabug,’ and ‘begged her for a sign’ when she received her little girl’s body.
‘We got home and there were lady bugs all over our interior staircase inside. Not one, like 10, on the first day and we’ve had a few that lingered.
Missy Peck (left) broke down as she shared her grief over losing her daughter, Eloise
Her young daughter was swept away at Camp Mystic over the July 4th weekend along with 26 other campers and counselors at the all-girls Christian camp.
She was struggling to accept the tragedy in the aftermath, when she saw what she described as a sign from God (pictured)
‘And then on the first day of school for Scarlet and Holden, Scarlet and I walked outside to take her picture where we’ve always taken it with Lila and I was so nervous and she was so brave and she goes, “Mom, Lila’s here!” – and our whole front porch, like the awning, had like maybe 30 ladybugs,’ Caitlin recounted.
Her and Missy’s daughters had been best friends as well as first-time campers at Camp Mystic when the terrifying floods overwhelmed the area.
‘They were so excited to be together, which made it easier to say goodbye to them because we dropped them off caravanning together,’ Caitlin said.
‘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.’
‘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.
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
‘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.
‘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.
‘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
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
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)
Yet 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.’
Their efforts are now being supported by officials at the camp, who wrote in a letter: ‘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.’
Texas State Rep. John McQueeney, R-Fort Worth, added 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.’
‘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’
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
But 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.
The Bonner and Peck families are urging legislators to take action and support their movement for change
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.
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’
Last week, families gathered, some wearing buttons memorializing ‘Heaven’s 27,’ demanding that Texas lawmakers pass a bill that would boost camp safety
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.
