Father’s heartbreaking final voicemail to children before being swept away by deadly floods shared by family
More than 100 people have now been confirmed dead following the devastating floods that swept across central Texas last week.
Search and rescue missions are continuing to unfold as emergency services try to locate those still unaccounted for after floodwater rose 26 feet (eight metres) in just 45 minutes in the early hours of Friday (July 4), causing destruction to everything in its path.
Among the fatalities were 27 campers and counsellors from Camp Mystic, the Christian all-girls summer camp located on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
Following the horrific news, many friends, family members and loved ones have since come forward to open up about their monumental losses with one family sharing their father's heartbreaking final voicemail he left to his children before being swept away by the deadly floods.
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Jeff Ramsey, 61, an insurance salesman from Lewisville, is currently still missing after the floods struck his camper at the HTR RV Park in Kerrville, where he was staying with his wife, Tanya, 46, and the couple’s whippet dog, Chloe.
The couple's 24-year-old son, Jake, told the New York Post: "Once they realised there was nothing they could do, my stepmom was on the phone with her mom while my dad made a call to me and my sister.
"We were asleep. He left us a message saying he was not going to make it and that he loved us so much, telling us goodbye.
"He called me once he realised there was no hope. It was a short voicemail. He just left me a voicemail. He said, 'Buddy. I love you so much. It doesn’t look like we are going to make it. Tell Rachey I love her'," the father added, talking of his 23-year-old daughter named Rachel.
Recalling how unusual it was to hear his father sounding fearful, the grieving son added: "You never heard this guy panic but we heard panic and fear in his voice."
In a voicemail sent to Jake's sister a few minutes later, the sound of rushing water could be heard in the background as his stepmom screamed in the background, 'We’re dying, we’re dying!'
In his final moments before the water eventually took him, Jeff took the time to warn his wife Tanya's brother and her mother - who were staying at another cabin about 150 yards up from the river - of the impending danger.
He called them at 4:30am that morning.
"He rescued them because they would have slept in and they would have washed away. That cabin was destroyed, completely underwater. He saved their lives," Jake said.
Rescuers have since been able to find Tanya's body, identifying her by her distinctive tattoos.
And, miraculously, the family were able to be reconnected with their dog, Chloe, at a local animal shelter because she had been microchipped.
"That was the only good news that we’ve gotten all weekend. My sister and I were overjoyed because that is such a huge piece of my dad’s heart and my stepmom’s heart," said Jake.
"We were so excited to figure out that she was coming home."
Rhiannon Ingle