What began as an early morning road trip turned into a heartbreaking tragedy for one Texas family. In the pre-dawn hours of July 5, 2025, amid devastating floods sweeping through central Texas, 17-year-old Malaya Grace Hammond gave her life to save her younger siblings and a family friend.
The Hammonds — Malaya, her parents Matthew and Liz, her siblings Khalil (16) and Surya (13), and Surya’s best friend, 14-year-old Opal Alexander — had left Marble Falls, Texas, around 4:30 a.m., headed for a summer camp in the Ozarks. Matthew, a singer-songwriter, and Liz, a surfer and lifeguard, were navigating the route when weather reports forced them to change course due to flooding.
Tragically, they took a wrong turn in the darkness and unknowingly drove over a collapsed bridge. Their 2008 Honda Odyssey plunged into a raging river. As the van sank, the family sang “Rise and Shine, and Give God the Glory.” Malaya, thinking quickly, opened the sliding door to help the children escape.
Matthew and Liz swam out through their windows. When Matthew surfaced, he saw Malaya about 15 feet away, floating on her back in the current, still singing the hymn to stay calm. “That was the last we saw her,” Matthew later recalled.
He believed Malaya — the strongest swimmer among the children — would make it out. He turned his attention to rescuing his wife and son, who had managed to cling to a tree. Liz had swallowed a large amount of water and feared she wouldn’t survive, but she reached the riverbank and held on.
Meanwhile, Opal had been texting her mother when the van went under. She managed to call 911 while hanging on to a tree with one hand and her phone with the other. Khalil found her and pulled her safely ashore.
Matthew and Khalil then began searching in the darkness for Malaya and Surya. Eventually, they found Surya walking through a nearby field, but Malaya was nowhere to be found.
For two agonizing days, the family searched by foot, boat, and helicopter. On July 7, Matthew arrived at the search site and saw his son in tears — he knew instantly. Malaya had been found, lifeless, wrapped in cedar branches.
“She looked so beautiful and so peaceful,” Matthew said. “I honestly wanted her to wake up. I figured if Jesus could raise Lazarus, why couldn’t I raise my own daughter?” But Malaya was gone. “The miracle,” he added, “is that we found her.”
During the search, volunteer fire chief Michael Phillips of Marble Falls also went missing and has not been found.
“Malaya was and is an extraordinary soul,” Matthew said in a Facebook video shared by filmmaker Mikki Willis. “We miss her so, so much — like nothing I’ve ever missed in my life.”
He described his daughter as “the most loving person I have ever known… kind, caring, giving, always serving others.” A musician like her parents, Malaya wrote songs and sang harmonies that, according to her father, mirrored her deep desire to bring people together.
