Teacher dies after she’s swept away by water while hiking Texas mountains, officials say

Chacour Koop
·2 min read

A 39-year-old teacher remembered as a “passionate educator” died while hiking in a Texas mountain range with her husband, news outlets report.

Gabriel Mata told KVIA he was hiking with his wife, Christina Garcia-Mata, in the Franklin Mountains near El Paso on Monday afternoon when a rush of water swept her away.

Heavy rainfall in the region caused flash flooding in creeks and streams, prompting warnings from local officials.

“She’s Christy,” Mata said in a tearful interview with KVIA. “She’s beautiful.”

Enrique Dueñas-Aguilar, a spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department, told KFOX that Garcia-Mata was hiking in the early afternoon when a “strip of water rushed her away” and she was fatally injured.

The Franklin Mountains are a high-desert range in Far West Texas at the New Mexico border.

Garcia-Mata was a teacher at Akins Early College High School in Austin. The school’s student newspaper, Eagle’s Eye, reported she was from El Paso and voted teacher of the year in 2018.

“They love her,” Mata said of his wife’s students in the KVIA interview. “They’re going to hear this and they’re going to be heartbroken.”

She was also the mother to a 7-year-old son, the news outlet reported.

In a statement to KXAN, Austin Independent School District Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde described Garcia-Mata as a “dedicated and passionate educator.”

“Her colleagues knew her as a bright, warm presence who could lift their spirits with a smile and a story,” Elizalde said in the statement.

Mourning students reacted to Garcia-Mata’s death, which the school shared on Twitter.

51-year-old drowns after floodwaters sweep Jeep off Missouri road, officials say