Mom Shares 8-Year-Old’s Sweet Final Words To Her Before Tragic Texas Flood

The mother of an 8-year-old girl who died in Texas’ devastating floods over the Fourth of July weekend has found some solace after recovering a letter her daughter wrote shortly before her death. 

In an emotional interview with People published Monday, Lindsey McLeod McCrory of Houston said she wasn’t initially concerned when she learned Camp Mystic ― where Blakely McCrory, 8, was a camper ― was going to be hit with floods from the nearby Guadalupe River. 

“They’re probably having a blast,” recalled McLeod McCrory, who also spent time at Camp Mystic as a child, “because that’s what I remembered: ‘Oh, rainy day, stay in your cabin, play board games, or listen to music, whatever. It’s going to pass.’”

Before long, she received a message from Camp Mystic that Blakely was among the campers and counselors who had gone missing. That moment, she said, left her “shaking.” 

Days later, it was confirmed that Blakely was one of at least 27 people from Camp Mystic ― an all-girls’ Christian summer camp ― who had died in the floods, which claimed the lives of at least 132 people thus far. The camp’s longtime owner, Dick Eastland, was also killed. 

A report by local news outlet KHOU that aired days before Blakely was confirmed dead showed how parishioners at Memorial Lutheran Church in west Houston had been hopeful for her safe return. 

“Sadly, sometimes it takes something really bad to bring us together, to work together,” Associate Pastor Ned Moerbe told the outlet. 

Watch KHOU’s report on Blakely McCrory below. 

In her chat with People, McLeod McCrory shared a short letter Blakely had written that was among a handful of items she was able to retrieve from her daughter’s cabin. 

“Dear Mom, How are you? I am good. Camp is amazing,” Blakely had filled out the partially pre-filled stationery, sharing that she would be playing tennis and horseback riding.

After describing her daughter as “a live wire” with a “fun, spirited attitude” and “the type of child that doesn’t stay down for long,” McLeod McCrory said, “I’m just so grateful to keep her spirit alive.” 

She went on to note: “And we strongly believe that it happened quickly. She didn’t have to suffer. I just have this feeling. She’s with all those campers and staff who died, and other children. I just imagine it as a happy place, a peaceful place.”

McLeod McCrory’s family has experienced a number of personal tragedies in recent months. McLeod McCrory’s husband, Blake McCrory, died in March at age 59 following a short battle with cancer, and her brother also died this year, also at age 59.  

McLeod McCrory’s People chat comes just days after it was reported that federal regulators agreed to reclassify some of Camp Mystic’s buildings on their 100-year flood map, thus loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain. 

According to The Associated Press, FEMA amended Kerr County’s flood map in 2013 to remove 15 of the camp’s buildings from the hazard area.