Names of flood victims released; focus now on finding VFD chief
Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department Chief Michael Phillips is still missing after the Fourth of July flood. Phillips was responding to a distress call when he was swept away by floodwaters in his vehicle on Cow Creek. File photo
The names of four of the five confirmed victims of the Fourth of July flood have been released by the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office. Marble Falls Volunteer Fire Department Chief Michael Phillips is still the only known missing person in Burnet County.
Among the five confirmed dead are:
- Malaya Grace Hammond, 17, of Marble Falls
- Preston Prince, 22, of Kingsland
- Walter Reed, 79, (residence not released)
- William Govaniavic Venus, 57, of Belton
- One unidentified white male
DailyTrib.com was told by family and friends Burnet resident Lee Brizendine that he was also killed in the flood and his body recovered. BCSO did not confirm whether he was the “unidentified white male.”
With five of the six known missing recovered, all local resources have been redirected to finding Chief Phillips.
“We have moved all of our resources to one area, which is where Chief Phillips was last seen,” reads a BCSO media release issued Wednesday, July 9. “We have a larger group of people searching the banks and areas of Cow Creek working our way to where this creek dumps into Lake Travis.”
Phillips was a 30-year veteran of the Marble Falls Volunteer Fire Department. He was swept away in his vehicle on July 5 amid the initial chaos of the flooding while on a rescue call. His vehicle and some personal effects were recovered.
Local first responders made 63 successful rescues during the thick of the Fourth of July weekend flooding and received 180 calls for service from 5-6 a.m. Saturday, July 5.