By Laura Bennett | U.S. Hope & Tragedy Chronicle | July 16, 2025
In a stunning and emotional twist to one of the most devastating missing children cases in recent U.S. history, authorities have confirmed that one of the 27 girls swept away by Texas floodwaters has made it home — alive.
The girl, identified only as “A.M.”, age 9, reportedly walked barefoot into a rural neighborhood nearly 11 miles from Camp Mystic, drenched in mud, dehydrated, and shaking — but conscious.
Neighbors immediately called police. Within 15 minutes, her identity was confirmed, and her parents were reunited with her in tears.
But what she told them next has left both her family and the authorities in shock — and urgently redirected the investigation.
“The water took them,” the girl said. “But not all the way. Some of them are still where the rocks make a circle. We waited there until it got quiet.”
According to Texas State Police, this phrase — “where the rocks make a circle” — matches a little-known natural formation in the lower canyon basin just outside the original search grid. The area is rarely accessed due to unstable terrain and was previously dismissed due to a lack of sonar activity.
The girl also told her parents that “someone was yelling from a hole”, but they couldn’t find where it came from, and that she followed birds when she left.
She is now under hospital care and trauma supervision, but her lucid memories and physical condition suggest she may have survived in the wild for up to 10 days — using techniques learned during camp training.
Authorities are calling her return a miracle, and immediately launched a new search mission based on her statements, deploying K9 teams and drones to the “rock circle” area.
“This is no longer a recovery effort,” said Sheriff Colton Briggs. “It’s a race against time — because now we know at least some of them may have been alive longer than we believed.”
As of this update, 13 girls remain missing.
But for one Texas family, the nightmare ended with a knock on the door… and a little girl who found her way home — and may just be the key to saving the rest.