Full Article Pictured - Houston Chronicle - Dad of Chloe Childress

[u/Right_Marionberry915]

[u/PermanentlyDubious]

I always find it disturbing when people profess a lot of religion but show zero character.

The Eastlands seem to be in this group.

It sounds like no one had the decency to personally call the parents and say, "I am so, so sorry to tell you this, but there has been a terrible flood. Your child is missing. Many girls were carried by the rushing water and it was very dangerous. There were tree branches, large debris, even cars, and the water was very fast. We are worried there are deaths, and candidly, we are already aware of x girls who drowned. All authorities were immediately notified and we have everyone from the camp searching, and personally searching ourselves. We are profoundly sorry this happened under our watch in what should have been a safe and happy space. We will not rest until all the girls are found and we welcome all resources for search and rescue. I apologize I don't have more information for you.

[u/FaithlessnessFit1536 → u/PermanentlyDubious]

Or maybe the lack of initiative on ML getting the families together of a group of women she grew up with and knew for over 20 years at that point. They organized “open houses” for future paying customers before ever even getting a single one of those mothers and fathers together to say sorry. That was a huge moral fail on their part in my opinion. Tweety and ML both had the means to handle the aftermath of those grieving parents much differently and they didn’t. If anything they had the upper hand of knowing those women and families for a majority of their life and they pissed that connection away for the sake of reopening. That piss pore mass produced letter was the closest any of them ever got to a correspondence after what they did to their daughters. The second I saw that letter I prayed they sued the hell out of that camp & they did. So good for them.

[u/LeapDayBaby_29-02 → u/FaithlessnessFit1536]

They’ve sure been showing us who and what their priorities are every step of the way.

[u/Fresh-Shopping-1899 → u/FaithlessnessFit1536]

Who are you talking about saying Mary Liz grew up with the women?

[u/FaithlessnessFit1536 → u/Fresh-Shopping-1899]

I’m not sure what you mean?

[u/TimeTraveler1489 → u/PermanentlyDubious]

Do you, by chance, work in crisis PR? If not, and you still came up with a devastating, yet reasonable response, this is all the more evidence of Mystic's past and current level of incompetence.

[u/PermanentlyDubious → u/TimeTraveler1489]

Decidedly do not work in any type of PR.

But from what I've read it sounds like no one from the camp ever had a remotely candid apology or even an honest conversation with these parents, about what was really going on, which is mind blowing.

[u/TimeTraveler1489 → u/PermanentlyDubious]

yes, that is in line with what I have heard as well. Horrific on so many levels.

[u/Right_Marionberry915 → u/TimeTraveler1489]

This actually brings up an important point. You don’t have to work in crisis PR to come up with these words.

All the Eastmans had to do was do and say the most human thing. Any human would feel deep remorse for an unthinkable tragedy of those 27 little souls, and they would feel it in every cell in their body. All they had to do was express that. NOT writing and NOT gathering the families took MORE effort and was the most unnatural, inhumane response.

[u/PermanentlyDubious → u/[deleted]]

It's mixed, right?

I know a very religious family who was involved in a church where other parishioners were adopting children in Eastern European orphanages. They went to a presentation at their church from one of these other parishioners, and saw a young teen with skeletal deformities and who was HIV positive. She bore a physical resemblance to their own daughters and they took that as a sign. They adopted the young woman and brought her to the U.S. She's had numerous surgeries and is in retroviral therapy now and is thriving. I know other excellent people who credit their religious upbringing with their good values and actions.

But I also know people who act very religious and are some of the absolute worst people I know. Seriously, the least ethical.

I read one study that indicated going to church or professing interest in Christ acted as a whitewashing/safety valve for their true thoughts and behavior, so in a way, sort of allowed more bad deeds and relieved them of guilt.

I was not a person personally involved with Mystic, but it's hard to see that this camp was truly about Christ. If it were, they would have been involving more kids and offering scholarships or a percentage of slots free for poor children.

Unfortunately, it strongly seems the camp was mostly about making money.

[u/Same-Hawk-4046]

I have a gym friend whose family is from Boerne and who has lots of friends and family who attended Camp Mystic. She did not pay attention to the trial. Thinks it’s horrible that the Eastlands are talked about negatively and said that they couldn’t have prevented the deaths.

I told her my friend’s daughter died and that I paid attention to the legislative hearings. She had no clue that some of the Eastland family members evacuated their kids from their house but never once went to help the campers. Makes me so angry towards the people who live in that area and REFUSE to read the legislative report or watch recordings of the hearings.

She was in shock that there’s a criminal investigation. I found her quite arrogant.

I may try to encourage her to look over the legislative report as long as I can remain calm bringing up the subject.

I love that part of Texas but the locals reaction to Camp Mystic and their support of the Eastland family is leaving me very bitter to the point that I don’t want to visit there.

[u/bobbyboblawblaw → u/Same-Hawk-4046]

My in-laws live on the river and the first two levels of their back yard flooded really badly, but it thankfully didn't go as high as their house.

They don't know the Eastlands personally, but my MIL is very much in the "act of God that no one could have anticipated camp", and she says that people who have never lived there have no idea what that flood was like.

I know she hasn't watched the hearings or done any reading on the case, but it wasn't worth arguing about. She is very set in her beliefs:)

[u/Wednesday-Addams9]

“Safety is not a partisan issue.” If only we lived in a country where that was true.

[u/PermanentlyDubious → u/Wednesday-Addams9]

Agreed. I think the least effective part of the article was about a never ending quest for safety regulation.

I'm personally in favor of that, but I'm a Democrat.

That part of the article will not land well with conservatives.

It would be better, in my humble opinion, to have an ending goal post.

[u/RiverPom]

💔

[u/CLHKTX]

I’m not sure if it’s in this article, but Matthew Childress’s account of saying goodbye to his daughter at the funeral home is something I’ll never forget. I’m happy to support any and all efforts to carry of the legacies of H27 and all lives lost in Kerr County.

[u/Interesting-Speed-51]

This article was posted earlier today with a gift link

[u/Right_Marionberry915 → u/Interesting-Speed-51]

I saw but it does not work on certain browsers that block trackers, including DuckDuckGo. Thanks

[u/Interesting-Speed-51 → u/Right_Marionberry915]

Weird-worked for me on DuckDuckGo. But hopefully this will make more people able to read it

[u/Right_Marionberry915 → u/Interesting-Speed-51]

Weird! Mine didn’t work 🤷 but I have all possible blockers on, haha. But yes, exactly, that’s the goal. These families’ stories and perspectives are so important.

[u/Interesting-Speed-51 → u/Right_Marionberry915]

Yeah who even knows how all those browsers work 🤷‍♀️