By Emily Cartwright | U.S. Disaster Report | July 16, 2025
After two weeks of relentless searching, prayers, and heartbreak, the case of the 27 missing girls from Camp Mystic has reached a devastating and chilling conclusion.
Early this morning, a rescue drone scanning downstream areas of the Guadalupe River picked up an unusual and haunting image: a cluster of teddy bears and children’s belongings floating in slow current near a quiet bend once thought fully searched.
When the image was transmitted to ground teams, 20 rescue personnel were immediately dispatched.
What they discovered upon arrival has left the entire nation shaken.
According to Texas state police, the remains of all 27 girls were located along the riverbank and in the surrounding water, partially buried or tangled in flood debris. The area had previously been considered inaccessible due to unstable ground and high water levels.
But it was the condition of the bodies that led officers to declare a formal state-level emergency update.
“Several of the girls were found with expressions… we simply weren’t prepared to see,” said one senior official, pausing during the press briefing. “Their faces appeared frozen — as if terrified in their final moments.”
Authorities say many of the bodies were clutching objects, including waterlogged notebooks, sticks arranged in patterns, and in one case, a child’s name spelled out in leaves and twine.
The presence of the floating teddy bears is now being called “a silent signal” — possibly placed intentionally in the river to guide rescuers to the site.
FBI investigators on site are not ruling out foul play, with forensic teams already collecting soil samples, autopsy data, and trace evidence. Several of the bodies showed signs inconsistent with drowning, according to internal sources.
Parents of the victims have been notified, and grief counselors were deployed before public confirmation.
Flags across the state of Texas have been lowered to half-staff. A statewide moment of silence is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. tonight.
“We wanted to find them alive,” said Sheriff Cole Andrews. “But what we found… demands answers. And justice.”
This is now an active criminal investigation. Further updates to follow.