A Kerr County judge has denied a request from members of the Eastland family to narrow the scope of search warrants for electronic data tied to the criminal investigation into the deadly July 2025 flood at Camp Mystic. The ruling leaves in place a court-ordered process in which a special master will review the seized material before investigators get access to it.
Judge Sid Harle declined to limit the investigative review largely to information surrounding the July 4, 2025 flood, a restriction the Eastland family's attorneys had proposed, according to KSAT. The family had argued the warrants were too broad and that the review of their electronic data should be confined to the flood itself. Harle declined to impose those limits at this stage, though the judge said both sides may raise additional issues once the special master completes a review of the seized material.
What the Warrants Covered
The Texas Rangers sought Apple records for 14 people as part of the investigation, with the material covering browser histories, call logs, emails, GPS information, photos and videos. Seven of those accounts belonged to Eastland family members, including Camp Mystic director Dick Eastland, who died in the flood. The warrants were executed in September 2026, and the hearing this week did not determine whether anyone is guilty of a crime or whether prosecutors will ultimately file charges.
Earlier reporting detailed how that electronic evidence was gathered in the first place. According to a separate KSAT report from October, Texas Rangers seized eight iPhones and two Apple watches belonging to several Eastland family members from a storage facility in Denton County. The Texas Tribune had reported in September that a Kerr County state district judge approved the Rangers' 14 warrants targeting the Eastland family and other camp staff.
Special Master to Screen for Privilege
Under the ruling, a special master will conduct an initial review of the seized material to identify communications that may be protected by attorney-client or spousal privilege before the investigative team ever sees them. That review will determine which documents the state can access and which remain off-limits. Attorney Bobby Barrera, who represents two people not named in the search warrants but described as investigation targets, said the seized evidence will be turned over to the retired judge from Dallas County appointed to review it.
Barrera said attorney-client and spousal communications may be protected by law, underscoring why the screening step exists before prosecutors can review the data. The court may hold another hearing after both sides have had a chance to examine the special master's findings, leaving the ultimate scope of what investigators can use still unresolved.
Differing Accounts of Warrant Timeframes
Reporting on the warrants' exact date ranges has varied by target. KXAN described warrants seeking data from July 3 through the morning of July 4, 2025, the day the flood struck. The family had told KXAN they were concerned the seized data could include attorney-client privileged information. By contrast, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported that a warrant targeting Edward Stacy Eastland extended through October 17, 2025, months beyond the flood itself — a gap in timeframes that has fueled the family's argument that the searches amount to a broader fishing expedition.
The investigation traces back to the Hill Country flood that killed 25 campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic in Kerr County on July 4, 2025, one of the deadliest disasters to strike a Texas youth camp in recent memory. With no charges filed and the special master's review still pending, the case remains in a holding pattern, with the next court steps dependent on what that review turns up.
