Say Their Name…
for the girls of Camp Mystic, Kerrville, TX — July 2025
(An editorial note: Praying all these girls are returned to their families! As of this writing, I do not have confirmation if these beautiful girls have been found, returned to their families, still missing or have eternally passed into the Father’s arms…)
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” — Isaiah 43:2
“Jesus wept.” — John 11:35
Say their name…
Because silence won’t do.
Because their laughter echoed once across the Guadalupe.
Because God still writes their story in eternity.
Hadley Hanna – who loved to sing in the shower, maybe destined for a Broadway debut.
Eloise Peck – whose journals held the makings of memoirs and bestsellers.
Lila Bonner – future florist, who knew each bloom’s language by heart.
Kellyanne Lytal – passionate about animals, on track to be a veterinarian with muddy boots and a soft voice.
Molly DeWitt – dreamt of Paris and pastries, a chef who would feed both bellies and souls.
Janie Hunt – a walking giggle, headed for late-night comedy or children’s books—or both.
Lainey Landry – a little preacher in the making, quoting Psalms by heart at bedtime.
Greta Toranzo – who once built a LEGO hospital, and might’ve built the real thing one day.
Virginia Hollis – dreamed in music, composing lullabies not yet sung.
Renee Smajstrla – who doodled dresses in the margins, fashioning a life full of color.
Sarah Marsh – a prayer warrior already, who could’ve led generations in worship.
Eli Mancera – a sparkplug on the soccer field and in every heart she met.
Brenda Joyce – lover of books, already asking grown-up questions about justice and grace.
Marie Marthers – curious and kind, who might’ve discovered a cure or at least cured someone’s loneliness.
Susan Moxley – destined to be a camp counselor herself, with a flashlight, a faith, and a fearless heart.
Blakely McCrory – would’ve opened her own tennis academy—“Grace & Grit.”
Katherine Ferruzzo – talked of building treehouses for kids who had none.
Caroline Trent – part-artist, part-dancer, full of motion and meaning.
Emma-Rose Wilson – saved ladybugs, rescued strays, and might’ve saved the world a little.
Charlotte Dade – who wore her heart on her sleeve and her dreams on her walls.
Isabella “Izzy” Nguyen – future firefighter or astronaut, either way she wanted the uniform.
Tessa McCoy – practiced being a mom with every doll she held.
Natalie Jimenez – fluent in two languages and learning a third, already bridging worlds.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” — Psalm 34:18
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” — Psalm 116:15
We say their names,
because each one is a melody unfinished.
A candle that seemed to go out…
but was actually carried higher into the wind of God’s breath.
We imagine their futures,
not because we pretend they are still here,
but because death does not cancel destiny—
it completes it in a different key.
And when the floodwaters roared,
we believe a still, small voice whispered through the dark,
“I am with you.”
Their cries were not lost.
They were heard.
And answered
by nail-scarred hands.
O Lord,
When the waters rise again in our grief,
when questions rage like rivers through our faith,
steady us.
Keep us afloat.
Hold us like you held them—
tightly, tenderly, eternally.
Until we, too, hear the laughter
that still ripples across heaven’s shore.
Say their name…
Every one.
Every time.
Every tear.
Amen.
