(Reuters) -Founded by a University of Texas football coach, Camp Mystic where raging floodwaters swept away dozens of girls - killing several and leaving many others missing - was established along the banks of the Guadalupe River in central Texas hill country nearly a century ago "to provide young girls with a wholesome Christian atmosphere.

The longtime owner and director of Camp Mystic Dick Eastland died while trying to save and protect campers from rushing floodwaters.

The first photos from flood-ravaged Camp Mystic, the Christian Texas summer camp from which 27 young girls are missing, tell a heartbreaking story. The images capture both the destruction of the floodwaters—toppled trees and shredded buildings—but also the human traces left behind by the campers.