A family is mourning their loved one, who died in the Texas floods over the Fourth of July weekend, while also revealing how her body was identified thanks to a special gift.
Margaret Hunt, Jane’s grandmother, remembered her as a “brilliant” and “precocious” child who “loved life” and “loved everybody.”
Margaret tells PEOPLE that her 9-year-old granddaughter was also a theater fan, and a necklace she gave her after a performance helped the family identify Jane after she died.
“She was in a play in May, and that’s when I gave her the little Janie necklace that she had on when they found the body,” Margaret tells me. “That’s how they realized it was Janie. “She was wearing a necklace with beads spelling out [her name].”
Jane was one of at least 27 campers and counselors who died at Camp Mystic during the recent flooding disaster.
Margaret tells PEOPLE that Jane’s body was discovered alongside Camp Mystic owner Dick Eastland, who died in the floods while trying to save campers’ lives.
According to Margaret, Jane was in her first year at Camp Mystic. She wanted to go to the camp because “she wanted to be with her cousins,” with whom she had been “very close,” Margaret says.
According to the bereaved relative, Jane’s family later discovered that she had provided comfort to other campers while attending Camp Mystic prior to her death.
“We’re now hearing stories about how some of the other campers were homesick, and that Janie was counseling them and telling them not to cry,” Margaret says, before going on to say: “She loved camp for the five days she was there.”
In her obituary, Jane was described as “the heartbeat of her family,” who was “adventurous, kind, and charitable” toward others.
Her family also mentioned that she “will be remembered for her perpetual smile and the sheer joy she brought to everyone around her.”
Margaret says Jane enjoyed art and aspired to be an artist when she grew up. She describes how Jane was chosen from her elementary school class to exhibit her work at an art show, where she submitted a “drawing of hearts” that she was “quite proud of.”
Margaret says Jane also enjoyed singing in her school’s choir, and her favorite song was “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” which her cousins intend to sing at her funeral to honor her.
Jane’s parents, Davin and Anne Lindsey Hunt, are “taking comfort in small things, and the community has surrounded them with love,” Margaret tells PEOPLE.
“It’s hard on them, of course,” she adds. “I tell people when they ask me what they can pray for, I say pray for strength for Davin and Lindsey, not today, but in the days, weeks, months and years to come, because they’re going to need it.”
Margaret adds that her family has found joy in reading letters written by Jane while at camp, prior to the tragedy.
“[Her letters] were all positive,” Margaret says, describing Jane’s messages as “I love camp, I love my friends.” I’m having a great time.
Jane is survived by her parents, seven-year-old brother Henry, and two-year-old sister Julia, as well as several cousins, aunts, and uncles.
Her funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15.
