61: Crashed His Car Driving Home For Christmas… Leaving His Phone & Wallet, Then Vanished | Jason Landry

For nearly six years, Texas State student Jason Landry was missing, leaving his family desperate for answers and the internet flooded with theories about what really happened the night he vanished. Now, his remains have finally been identified near the site of his mysterious disappearance. But with investigators still finding no evidence of foul play, the biggest question remains: was this a tragic accident, or is there more to Jason’s story?

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Annie Elise?

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• 0:58Speaker 02

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• 1:23Speaker 03

  21-year-old Texas State student disappeared while driving home to Missouri City for Christmas break.

• 1:29Speaker 04

  We have very few answers and just the same questions we ask over and over again.

• 1:36Speaker 03

  Search teams have returned to the area multiple times over the years, looking for any sign of him.

• 1:44Speaker 05

  For nearly six years, people have been asking, where is Jason Landry?

• 1:49Speaker 04

  I've never seen law enforcement assassinate the character of a victim. That's what Jason did.

• 1:57Annie Elise?

  Hey, everybody. Welcome back to an all-new episode with me, Annie Elise. First and foremost, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for checking out my podcast, my YouTube channel, whatever platform you're watching or listening on. I really appreciate you checking out the content and especially today's episode. It's one that is incredibly important to me. Before we get started, do me a quick favor. Hit the Like button, the Follow button, subscribe, all the things. It's an easy way to show support for the podcast, and I appreciate it so much. Now, today's case is one that I haven't talked about in quite a few years. However, there were some pretty major updates that broke recently. And because of that, I knew that I needed to dive back into it.

• 2:40Annie Elise?

  It's a case that has had a lot of people online divided, too, and people just stumped on what the truth really is. Now, when I first covered this case, gosh, I think it was four years ago, okay? And if you aren't familiar by now, the case we're going to be talking about together today is the case of Jason Landry. And everybody has been stumped since this first happened back in 2020. Like I said earlier in this episode, just a couple minutes ago, or a couple seconds ago, actually, it's one that has stayed with me for years. I've had the pleasure of speaking with Jason's family at Crime Con multiple years. If you are watching the video version of this, you know that in not only my Tenda Life set, but also in my Serial Ashley set, I've had Jason's picture right up here

• 3:25Annie Elise?

  with the reward and the information where it says, "Bring him home." It's a case that has just really been at the forefront of my mind for years. And while I'm devastated that this is the outcome that we're talking about today and that I'll be sharing with you, I am happy that his family finally has some answers. So that being said, what I want to do today is not just give you the update, but I do want to give you the full backstory. What happened to Jason? Why people were so divided and confused about this? How it's still, to a lot of people, doesn't make a whole lot of sense and has people angry? And especially now that it was found out, what we know, and I'm getting ahead of myself. It's just one of those cases, again, where there is a lot of backstory

• 4:09Annie Elise?

  that is necessary to understand where we're going with this new information. So I'm going to revert back to my previous deep dive. You know the drill with reopened. You will hear and see past tense younger Annie, present tense Annie with the updates along the way, giving you all the new perspectives, the changes, things we've learned, so that you have a full, complete overview of the case in this episode. So that being said, I'm Annie Elise, and today, we are reopening the case of Jason Landry. Let's get into it.

• 4:51Annie Elise?

  So Texas student Jason Landry was just 21 years old when he went missing on Sunday, December 13, 2020. He had set out on a 165-mile drive from San Marcos to head east to his parents' home in Houston. He was planning on going home for the holidays and hit the road. But this Texas college student completely vanished while driving back to spend Christmas with his family. And then later, his crashed car was found in a ditch on the side of the road. Also, belongings found scattered away from his car. But what happened? And was this an horrible accident gone wrong? Could it have been foul play that he was met with?

• 5:36Annie Elise?

  A lot of information to unload here, guys. So let's jump right in. On Sunday, December 13, the 21-year-old student Jason was making his way on a two-and-a-half-hour drive from San Marcos to Houston to visit his family for the holiday break. It's believed that Jason was actually on the wrong road and that somehow he ended up on Salt Flat Road, which parallels Highway 86, which is the road and the route that he should have taken. His car was then found by a first responder, and it was in a ditch near the side of the road. The car got off the road, spun around on the gravel, and the back driver's side trunk bumper and the side of the car took what was most of the impact

• 6:20Annie Elise?

  as it then went into this ditch. Jason's phone, his wallet, and other personal items were found inside the car, along with a small amount of blood. There also was reportedly a small amount of marijuana that was found in his backpack when they found all of his belongings. And some of Jason's clothes were also found, but they were found outside of the vehicle, and they were left in somewhat of a trail pattern. So police officers called Jason's parents at 2:00 a.m. and woke them up to give them this news. The heartbreaking news of not only that they found their son's vehicle abandoned and clearly in an accident in a ditch on the side of the road, but also, what's worse,

• 7:04Annie Elise?

  that the news of their son, Jason, being nowhere near this vehicle and nowhere to be found. Jason was apparently an avid user of the navigation app Waze. And family members say that they think that there must have been a malfunction in that app that caused the rerouting of the system and taking Jason onto that wrong road. They think that this is what caused him to be really led off track. But what's interesting is that it was later confirmed that Jason actually manually turned off his Waze app at some point in his journey back to his parents' house. So could he have been meeting up with somebody, perhaps, off path, and then was planning to restart the Waze journey once he departed from that meetup?

• 7:49Annie Elise?

  Jason's father, Kent, said that he doesn't know why his son was down this road. And his best guess is that his son will follow Waze wherever it sends him, no matter what the route is, and that he was coming home from college, but he was here on this road, and that his dad didn't know if he was trying to possibly avoid a deer or something else in the road and possibly then swerved, hit some trees on the side, and then landed in this ditch. The initial search for Jason lasted nine days, and two different search teams, the Texas Search and Rescue and Texas EquiSearch, searched the surrounding area of this ditch where his car ultimately was found. Scent dogs also had tracked to a pond, and the search team drained the pond completely,

• 8:33Annie Elise?

  but there was still no sign of Jason anywhere. Searchers and law enforcement investigators utilized multiple resources in this search. They were doing everything they could to find Jason. And in this search, they included resources such as helicopters with infrared cameras, drones, searchers on foot, on ATVs, on horseback even, scent dogs, they were using everything they could. And these same tracking dogs also reportedly followed a scent that indicated Jason was walking towards a different town, a town of Luling. And then the scent trail stopped cold. And this was about a quarter mile from the crash site. So when I heard this, my immediate thought was, okay, he got in this accident.

• 9:18Annie Elise?

  He gets out of the vehicle, alive, luckily, and then starts, you know, trying to walk to a town to get help if he's injured, perhaps. But the fact that he had a trail of clothing seems concerning because if you're trying to get help or if you're injured, why are you leaving clothing behind, especially in the dead of winter when it's freezing cold outside and it's late at night?

• 9:44Speaker 05

  Take now on the search for another missing college student, this one from Missouri City. Caldwell County Sheriff's investigators say Jason Landry's digital footprint ended at an intersection in Ludling, Texas that's just outside of San Marcos. This was about an hour before his crashed car was found at a different location in the city. Investigators are now trying to find out what happened during that time period. Landry hasn't been seen since December 13th. He was reportedly driving back home to Missouri City from San Marcos.

• 10:13Annie Elise?

  Shortly after this nine-day initial search, Texas EquiSearch announced that it was suspending its search efforts for Jason, but that they could resume once law enforcement had determined a more specific area to which they could then conduct this search because at this point, they were casting such a wide net, they were using so many resources, and nothing was turning up. And so they said, you know, we can't keep doing this until you have a more specific area that we can search. There's not much we can do. A couple of weeks after Jason's disappearance, investigators released more details about his possible route home, and they released this from using his cellphone data.

• 10:53Annie Elise?

  His cellphone data showed that he left his apartment in San Marcos at 10:55 PM on December 13th for his journey home. Now, here's a timeline of where his cellphone data tracked him according to what was released by the sheriff's office. While on the road, at 11:05 PM, Jason drives his car onto Highway 80. He passes under the I-35 in San Marcos and then continues south. A couple of minutes later, at 11:07 PM, he enters Caldwell County. And then for quite a few minutes, he continues on Highway 80. Then at 11:17 PM, he travels through Fentress, Texas and enters Prairie Lee, Texas two minutes later. Then he enters Stairtown, Texas.

• 11:36Annie Elise?

  So this really just kind of shows his journey as he's coming across. But then this is where it all starts to come to a head. At 11:24 PM, he enters that city of Ludling on the Highway 80, and he goes through an intersection on Hackberry Street. But then Jason stops using Waze. He shuts down the app and he opens Snapchat. Then he continues down on Austin Street, which is what Highway 80 turns into. And then he hits an intersection. And so it's believed that he went through that intersection and then continued on East Austin Street. It's at this intersection that it's assumed the incident takes place, and then Jason's digital footprint stops abruptly.

• 12:18Annie Elise?

  So when we're looking through this, for me, a key piece of information that stood out here is when he turned off his Waze app. And the first thing he did when he turned off his Waze app was open Snapchat. It's my belief that he was planning to meet up with somebody and that he was planning to meet up with somebody from Snapchat. And, you know, we're going to talk about more of what was found at the site and some other evidence. So I don't want to get too much off, you know, on conspiracy theories or what my personal opinion is here. But I had to mention that that's what stuck out in my mind, that he turned off Waze and went to Snapchat immediately, almost as though he didn't need directions any longer, and then he went to Snapchat to tell somebody, hey, I'm here or I'm at the spot. And then unfortunately, the incident takes place.

• 13:03Annie Elise?

  So now going back to that discovery of his personal belongings near his vehicle, there was that small amount of marijuana that was found in his backpack. And if Jason had used some and smoked some marijuana prior to getting in the car that evening, which is not only suggested but testified to later, and we'll get there, that means that he may have been high and impaired at the time of his accident. And the accident may have been caused by his impairment. Another additional detail that I saw that had surfaced was that at the end of that trail of his clothing, a quarter mile down the road, he had put down his pet fish that was in a bowl on the road, very gently, you know, just sitting there.

• 13:46Annie Elise?

  So this led me to suspect that maybe he had a possible head injury in the accident, then began walking for help. And not only walking to help himself, but also trying to possibly rescue his pet and then carefully putting it down. Roughly 10 months after the disappearance, in October 2021, new search images were released. Now, at that point, there had been six searches conducted, spanning across 31,000 acres, all of which yielded no results in finding Jason. Though through all of these searches, researchers named 86 points of interest.

• 14:23Speaker 05

  Family and a community are still waiting for answers after Texas State University student Jason Landry disappeared 10 months ago. Police say the 21-year-old went missing in December after crashing his car on his way home to Missouri City, Texas. That car was found abandoned with his keys still in the ignition. And his father will not stop until he finds his son. News Nation correspondent Markie Martin is joining us tonight, live with a preview of her story. Markie.

• 14:56Speaker 05

  Yeah, good evening, Markie. This is truly one of those mysteries that we may never have all the answers to. And that's exactly why we do these Missing in America segments, to shed light on cases that need explaining. But you're right, Jason went missing last Christmas. He leaves school to drive home for the holidays, and he never makes it there. In fact, authorities found his car in the middle of nowhere. Just wait till you see this story, so far off the main highway, but absolutely no sign of Jason. And here in the past couple of weeks, we have spent ample time with his parents. We went out with a search party that that went out once again with drones, with people, horses, canine units, just to find any shred of evidence that they could.

• 15:38Speaker 05

  And specifically, we've spent a lot of time with Jason's father, Kent Landry. And we went walking down that very road where his son went missing from.

• 15:47Speaker 04

  So I got here early. It was like 5:00 in the morning, and there's no one out. There's no police officers looking because the police officer had gone to bed.

• 15:58Speaker 05

  And are you like, where are the crews?

• 16:00Speaker 04

  It was, it was very weird because I was expecting to, to come to, I mean, I've been to plenty of crime scenes, and I was expecting police and searchers, and there was no one. The thing is, a parent, you visualize your child walking down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, not knowing anyone, looking for help. And, and that's the part that hurts. Yeah. So that's, that, that stays with you.

• 16:34Annie Elise?

  In January 2022, Caldwell County Sheriff's Office released new evidence in this case. Evidence, though, that Jason's family was not made aware of. At the tactical edge, connections can struggle to keep up. Our systems turn information into action so the mission keeps moving, even when connections don't. Lidos, outsmart, outdo. Whoever says saving money is hard doesn't know that new customers who bundle and save with Progressive save hundreds. Because switching your home and auto insurance is way better than cutting down on the things you love, like those iced lattes that help you get ready to face the day. So switch your home and auto to Progressive and see if you could save and keep sipping away.

• 17:19Annie Elise?

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• 17:26Speaker 02

  Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. Start your morning with the $6.00 McRiddles Extra Value Meal, featuring your choice of a sausage, egg, and cheese McRiddles or bacon, egg, and cheese McRiddles, plus crispy hash browns and a small premium roast coffee. Sweet, savory, crispy, and caffeinated, it's everything your morning ordered, all for just $6.00. Promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing at participating McDonald's.

• 17:50Annie Elise?

  Captain Jeff Ferry of the Caldwell Sheriff's Department spent countless hours analyzing a call log, more than an hour of body cam footage from responding law enforcement when they found his car, and a screen-recorded FaceTime call with Jason and his friend.

• 18:07Speaker 03

  News tonight, we're getting a look at newly released videos and evidence in the case of missing Texas State student Jason Landry.

• 18:15Speaker 05

  The 21-year-old disappeared in December of 2020 while heading home to Missouri City from San Marcos for winter break. Our Matt Dougherty has been going through the hours of video evidence that was released today. Matt? The case has garnered international attention. After more than a year of searching, investigators are now releasing the bulk of the case. However, they're still calling it a mystery. Can I just come up on a vehicle that's in a ditch? For the first time, we're hearing. The minutes when the mystery began. A volunteer firefighter calls 911 after spotting a wrecked car off a remote dirt road.

• 18:52Speaker 03

  Did you find a driver? I have not. I went up and down Salt Flat.

• 18:57Speaker 05

  Body camera video shows when the state trooper arrives about an hour later.

• 19:01Speaker 03

  Left keys in there and it's all locked up. His underwear has got some blood on it and I didn't see him anywhere. Probably some college kid. That's what I was saying.

• 19:09Speaker 05

  In the backpack is a wallet containing the driver's license of 21-year-old Jason Landry.

• 19:15Speaker 03

  Hello? Yes, good morning, Mrs. Landry.

• 19:20Speaker 05

  The trooper makes the call that no parent ever wants to get.

• 19:24Speaker 03

  I suspect Jason may have been driving this vehicle. However, we're working on trying to locate him, you know, and I fear that he may be on some type of, you know, substance. Reason being is because I did find some narcotics in his backpack.

• 19:40Speaker 05

  As Jason's car was getting towed, his father was on his way from Houston. The videos Pastor Kent Landry took as the sun was rising are included in the files released by the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office today.

• 19:52Speaker 04

  And this is his foot logs.

• 19:54Speaker 05

  We spoke with Landry about the status of the investigation and the case details that were released.

• 19:58Speaker 04

  It seems to me that they're saying, well, this is just a stupid college kid who does stupid college kid stuff. Like what? He doesn't need to be found? We don't have to work hard to find him? I, I don't know. It's, it doesn't make sense to me.

• 20:17Speaker 05

  In the findings from the sheriff's office are some of the videos, messages and Snapchats Jason shared with his friends the night he disappeared.

• 20:24Annie Elise?

  Jason had gone on FaceTime with one of his friends that he was going to hang out with ahead of that trip. The sheriff said that Jason's friend screen recorded this FaceTime because in his words, he was planning on meeting Jason later that evening and thought, man, Jason is so high right now. He's not going to remember what he's saying. So he wanted to screen record him to, I guess, show him later or maybe give him a hard time later, being like, man, look what we were talking about earlier. Who knows? But he did screen record that conversation. And in the video, Jason is seen rolling the joints that officials later say that state trooper had recovered from his backpack at the scene of the accident. The FaceTime video, however, does not have audio.

• 21:06Annie Elise?

  So the sheriff says that officials are forced to only rely on what Jason's friend says his recollection is of their conversation. And what he says is that they were apparently talking about spiritual awakening and enlightenment and opening Jason's third eye and drug consumption. Now, this could also be why the friend screen recorded this FaceTime because perhaps it wasn't a topic that they discussed regularly. And maybe he thought that, you know, Jason's super high right now. He's talking about spiritual awakenings. He's talking about his third eye opening. I've got to show him this later. And according to the conversation, the sheriff says it's consistent with Jason's internet activity as well

• 21:48Annie Elise?

  in the minutes, minutes, leading up to his disappearance. And he says that Jason was Googling things like, how long can you live in the woods without food? And how long can you go in the wilderness? He was also looking up spiritual enlightenment and practices of spiritual enlightenment. In addition to looking up different strains of marijuana and different ways to combine the strains. He was looking up all of these things in addition to talking about psychedelics with his friend and how they had impacted his life and his perception of spiritual awakening. So the sheriff says that looking at Jason's digital footprint, that he doesn't believe anything nefarious happened to Jason. And he says that searches have completely come up dry.

• 22:32Annie Elise?

  So that the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office hopes these newly released photos, phone calls and footage and all of this other new data will generate new interest and leads in this case. According to the police department, all signs point to them that Jason was in fact under the influence and that he wasn't going to get into that car and try to navigate his way to Missouri City to see his parents because his parents were not expecting him. And the sheriff's office says he wasn't due home and that he was actually going to hang out with buddies, play video games and get high.

• 23:06Speaker 04

  When we look at the totality of things, it really paints a picture on almost a crisis, an internal crisis that Jason's dealing with. And so, yeah, it absolutely is relevant in my opinion. He thinks there's absolutely zero evidence of anything other than Jason wandered off and we haven't found his body. After over a year, shouldn't you at least consider other possibilities? We have to go in the direction the evidence takes us, whether we like it or not. No doubt, again, this is a tragedy, but it's not crime.

• 23:38Annie Elise?

  So because of all of this, the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office has ended its investigation. Captain Jeff Ferry said that there was no evidence that a crime took place. And he says that he thinks Jason, again, was just under the influence, took a wrong turn and then crashed. After that, he believes that Jason stripped off his clothes for whatever reason and started walking in the near freezing temperatures. Then in this part, and it's a bit brutal, to be quite honest. And personally, I feel like it could have been communicated in a better way and a bit differently. But the sheriff says he thinks that he died and was devoured by wild hogs. And then the sheriff also says, and I quote,

• 24:19Annie Elise?

  "I don't think the hogs are what killed him, but hogs are opportunistic. If a hog encounters a meal, especially in December, I don't think he's going to pass it up." Again, possibly the truth, but I do think that that statement, especially being made in such a public way, could have been done with a little more tact and bedside manner for his family. Because his father Kent later said, "We know he got out of the crash okay and he was walking back this way. And that's the last thing that we know for sure." He says, "I have images in my mind of my son hurting, walking away from this car accident, walking down a dark and lonely road looking for help.

• 25:03Annie Elise?

  And I'm not there. I'm not there to help him." But he says, "But I do know who is there, no matter what. I know God was with my son and that God is with my son. We have so many questions and no answers. I know that my son will spend eternity in heaven with me. I pray that he is not there yet because I should go there before him." As I said, the last time that we covered this case was back in 2022. And a lot has happened, yet still there were no answers, few answers. Jason's family had hope, yes, but I also think that they were starting to realize that the truth most likely was Jason was no longer alive. And situations like this, they are always so brutal. It's one of those things where everyone has a theory,

• 25:47Annie Elise?

  but it's the not knowing anything for sure that will drive someone insane. I cannot imagine as a parent only being given little clues and details here and there and having to not only grieve, but also you're coming up with something in your mind as to what happened to your child. But that's exactly what Jason's family has had to endure over these years. Kent Landry is Jason's father and he is joining us live tonight. Kent, I want to begin with just sending you my love and my thoughts and my heartbreaks for you and your wife and what you are going through.

• 26:23Speaker 04

  I know this is emotional, but I appreciate you coming on and talking to us about Jason. And I hope it leads to some answers and some clues as to what happened. I think first of all, where are you pulling your strength right now to keep searching?

• 26:43Speaker 04

  Well, you know, we've got an amazing family. I've got an amazing church family and family and friends in our faith.

• 26:54Speaker 04

  I want to talk about this Salt Flat Road. It stood out to me in the story that Marky just told. What is this road? Where does it lead? What's out there?

• 27:06Speaker 04

  Not a lot unless you like cows and oil wells. It's, it's a road leading out of, out of town. It's blocked up for a little period of time and where the crash for Jason occurred. It's, it's a dirt road that leads back to some other local kind of backroads and state highways. Do you have any theories, Kent, about what may have happened based on what little information?

• 27:32Speaker 05

  What's your gut tell you?

• 27:38Speaker 04

  No, I mean, the simplest answer is that, you know, in the cold and maybe being a little bit injured, that's one of the only few nights you could actually die of hypothermia in central Texas. Unfortunately, it was that night. But outside of that, I'm confident that he was, he is in Luling at about 11:30, where we lost contact with his phone. And I and thousands of other people would like to know what happened in that next hour and the hours after.

• 28:09Speaker 05

  When was the last time you talked to Jason?

• 28:16Speaker 04

  Well, it would have been either the day before or two days before. So it would have been, I don't think it was on 13th, it would have been the 12th or the 11th.

• 28:27Speaker 05

  And what do you remember about that conversation?

• 28:33Speaker 04

  Not much. It, you know, it was just a normal, a normal conversation. That's, that's kind of the, I think, one of the things about this that catch a lot of people is we just go through life thinking everything's going to be okay. And whether it's an accident like this, or a cancer diagnosis, or something else, it's just tragedy strikes when you least expect it and when you're least ready for it. And it's those last conversations and the last time you saw him that, you know, you keep playing that through your head over and over.

• 29:05Speaker 05

  You talk, Kent, about arriving at that crash site and nobody was there, nothing was happening. Why do you think that is? And what do you wish had been done differently in those very first moments and hours after Jason's car essentially crashed?

• 29:27Speaker 04

  Well, I mean, it would have been nice if the police officers had, the highway patrolmen had actually searched for our son and gotten out of his car and told the other officers, you know, that a search was ongoing, that, that there was someone out there that at least needed help.

• 29:46Speaker 04

  And that's the, that's the hardest part of it is, is just that, that first night, you know, when, when he was out there, if they had actually looked for him and more than one person, more than me, were out there looking for him, you know, could we have found him? And that's, that's something that really sticks with you.

• 30:09Speaker 05

  What do you remember about the conversations that you did have with Jason and his mental state of mind, coming home for the holidays? Did he share anything that now, as you look back, becomes more clear, could be a clue?

• 30:25Speaker 04

  No.

• 30:28Speaker 04

  Really, I'd talk more about kind of trying to encourage him to finish the semester strong. How did his test go, getting all his papers in? Kind of the typical thing you do as a parent, you know, when your kid is approaching the end of the semester, just trying to help him to, what little way you can, to encourage them to, you know, finish up strong and make sure they get enough sleep and eat well and all those parent kind of things that they roll their eyes about and don't listen to you about.

• 30:59Speaker 05

  Typical conversation between parent and kid. I hear you, Kent, right? It's the basic stuff, but we cherish it nonetheless. Before I let you go, I want to know what you miss most about Jason, what you think about every day when you think about him?

• 31:26Speaker 04

  What do you miss about seeing your kids? I mean, that's, that's the hard part is when you're left with that you may never see him again. What's the first part you miss? The hugs, the talks, the, all the different things that go into life, seeing your kids? I mean, that's, that's the hard part is when you're left with that you may never see him again. What's the first part you miss? The hugs, the talks, the, all the different things that go into life? It's, you know, I mean, we're, Thanksgiving's around the corner and...

• 32:03Annie Elise?

  That helped lead them to Jason.

• 32:05Speaker 05

  Jason's family says the Texas Attorney General and their private investigator are still working on his case and they are planning another search. His father says he is thankful for the support from people around the world. He believes his son has passed on but holds out hope for piecing together what may have happened.

• 32:23Speaker 04

  After two years, you know, there's a lot, not a lot of good scenarios you can wrap your head around that, that make any sense. So Jason is almost certainly in heaven and now we just want to know how he got there and what happened.

• 32:43Annie Elise?

  His family was doing as best as they could in that situation, knowing that it had been two whole years since they had seen or heard from Jason. That was more than difficult, yet still their focus remained the same, bringing him home.

• 32:58Speaker 05

  As we approach two years, how frustrating is it for you to not have answers?

• 33:06Speaker 04

  You know, I was talking with the family this weekend and, and they've lost their son to violence. And for them, it was a little bit over a month, a little bit over 30 days. And we were just talking about what that's like. And, and they were saying, as hard as the 30-plus days it was for us, I can't imagine, you know, today is day 721.

• 33:33Speaker 04

  In some way, it's, it's all a blur.

• 33:37Speaker 04

  Every day goes on.

• 33:41Speaker 04

  Some days you can squint and, and think nothing's wrong, but it doesn't last because, well, here we are. I mean, we just had Thanksgiving. Our family got together. There were over 20 of us there, but there was one that was not there. And, and here we're just talking before, you know, in a few weeks, right now, you know, college students are finishing up papers, finishing up finals, and then they're going to go home. And, and that's when it's hard because all of our college students are going to come back, but mine doesn't.

• 34:20Speaker 04

  And it's, it, it's, it's, you know, we put up our Christmas tree. There's a whole box of ornaments that are Jason's. And do you put them up or do you not? And, and those are the, those are the holes that, you know, you just, sometimes you just try to push on through it, sometimes you just cry.

• 34:52Speaker 05

  Caldwell County has told us they have no evidence of foul play. Do you think that's fair?

• 35:00Speaker 04

  Fair is a tough word.

• 35:04Speaker 04

  After all of this time, I mean, part of the problem I have with that conclusion is what are you basing that conclusion, that opinion on? I mean, it's, it's, it's certainly a valid conclusion, but what is it based on outside of opinion and conjecture? And at this point, in what I know of investigations, it's certainly, after all of these days, we've, they've searched that same area over and over and over again. We've had, I know, I know over seven major searches and certainly many, and they've

• 35:45Speaker 04

  searched dog teams on foot, horses, ATVs, planes, helicopters, drones, forever.

• 35:56Speaker 04

  So we've searched that space and it's possible he could be there and we haven't found him, certainly possible. But I think at a certain point in investigations, you have to ask, okay, my, what I thought happened may not be true. Let me look at other possibilities. And the frustrating thing for anybody who knows about Jason's case is unfortunately, I think law enforcement has done that from the very beginning, from the very first highway patrolman. And you can, you've all watched the, the body cam footage where he says, you know, to another law enforcement officer, I think this was a drunk college student who wrecked his car.

• 36:40Speaker 04

  And for whatever reason, he had the opinion that drunk college kid wrecked his car, called a buddy, and is probably sitting at home. Well, they had already sent law enforcement officers to check, is Jason sitting at his apartment or anyone that we know of within relatively hours of his car being found? So when did highway patrol ever say, well, it wasn't a drunk college kid who just wrecked his car and got a ride home with his buddy? And the frustrating thing is they found his clothes, you know, right then, you know, I found his clothes. But they, they, they saw his clothes laying there in the middle of the road.

• 37:25Speaker 04

  They didn't even bother to pick it up. They didn't even bother to move it. But they saw his clothes there. And so if you literally think there is a, some college student naked in 30-degree weather with 20-degree, not winds, shouldn't you at least search for him? Shouldn't you get out of your car? But he just rode along his car shining his light on the road. And that lackadaisical, indifferent attitude towards the suffering of people, for there's someone out there that needs to be found and helped, even if they are incapacitated, even if they're stoned or drunk or whatever.

• 38:09Speaker 04

  Part of law enforcement's job is to help those who can't help themselves. And that's the part that is frustrating from the very beginning, that law enforcement has treated this case with indifference, arrogance.

• 38:31Speaker 04

  Frankly maliciousness

• 38:35Speaker 04

  towards Jason and who he is. And that hurts. That is beyond frustrating.

• 38:48Speaker 04

  To be sitting here talking still about my son 721 days later. And here we are. Do we have any more answers as to what happened? In that one hour, early in the morning, late at night? Between December 13th and 14th. You know, what happened to my son? There's, there's not a scenario that I can think of reasonably that we haven't thought about or talked about. We've been preparing our hearts for the worst for a long, long time.

• 39:21Speaker 04

  But to not have those answers after so long. And each day just goes on and on and on. You know, and each holiday gets harder and harder to celebrate without those answers.

• 39:34Annie Elise?

  The day after the two year anniversary of Jason's disappearance, there was an official update from the Office of the Attorney General. And this update supported the conclusion that the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office previously gave, stating that they believed that Jason was in a single vehicle accident.

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• 40:59Annie Elise?

  However, this update also gave some important information that squashed a lot of the initial rumors and speculations. One, that I myself had even believed. After going through Jason's social media and cell phone records, they concluded that Jason was not meeting up with someone that night. More than that, though, they noted, quote, "The lack of credible information pertaining to the purchase or sale of narcotics." Which, that was pretty huge. I know that this was a huge detail that everyone was stuck on. And it was a pretty big reason for a lot of the theories online as well. So I mean, as far as an update goes, it sounded good in theory, like some questions were now being answered. But for Jason's family, it made everything seem just way more confusing.

• 41:41Speaker 04

  On one hand, you think about it all the time. And on the other hand, you try not to think about it too much because the more you think about it, the more you realize we don't, we don't have answers. And then you find yourself spending a lot of time going down rabbit trails and it just hurts a lot.

• 42:01Annie Elise?

  I noticed that when I was going back and doing research on this case, Jason's dad Kent is in a lot of interviews. And each time he's asked the same question. What do you think happened? And that's the thing with this case, there is not one thing or another that Jason's family is stuck on just because of the sheer randomness of it all, the weird details, the unknown. And like I said, with time, his answer changes. All he knew is that something happened to his son.

• 42:29Speaker 05

  I mean, even if it is a crime scene or not, his clothes are strewn about, his car was crashed. He was clearly headed home that night. He had all of his belongings, his fish was in the car. What do you believe happened?

• 42:42Speaker 04

  Yeah, that question I've asked myself a million times. I have no idea. I mean, I guess on one level, we hope that, you know, he had a concussion or laid down in the middle of a field and woke up in the arms of Jesus, but

• 42:59Speaker 04

  we really don't know.

• 43:00Annie Elise?

  Something I do want to mention, though, is that a private investigator did work on Jason's case and their findings were pretty interesting.

• 43:09Speaker 05

  And I know you've gone out there lots of times on that Salt Flat Road, tried to retrace the steps. A private investigator did the same, concluded that they do think a crime was committed. What evidence do they have that leads them to believe that?

• 43:25Speaker 04

  I know they've talked with a bunch of witnesses. They, they haven't told us exactly some of the particular details from what the witnesses have told them, but from what they, their theory of the case is that it's actually a staged accident. And that Jason may very well have never actually been out there on Salt Flat Road. Something happened in Luling in the town. And he may have not ever actually been out there.

• 43:55Speaker 05

  Do you think there's some truth to that?

• 43:58Speaker 04

  I don't know. I think it's one of many possibilities. And that's, that's the hard part, you know, with all the searches we've done in that area. We haven't found anything. So are we looking in the wrong place? Are we just not happened to find him?

• 44:14Annie Elise?

  And then, just a few months later, in February of 2023, there was breaking news. Human remains had been found and just a few miles away from where Jason had disappeared. And honestly, this whole thing was just insane. A family had called law enforcement and they were panicked. They had a dog and this dog would go outside, wander around in the woods and nearby areas, and then would always come back home knowing where they'd get fed. Well, according to the family, who stayed anonymous, the dog had been bringing back bones to the house and chewing on them. Now, I guess that this wasn't too strange because this dog was outside all the time and had apparently done something like this before with animal remains. So they thought nothing of it. I guess, I don't know, free bones, maybe, who knows?

• 45:00Annie Elise?

  However, then they went to move their trampoline to mow the lawn and they found what looked to be a human skull. So needless to say, on February 9th, at around 5:45 PM, they contacted the local police department. Knowing about Jason's case, now coupling that with this new information and these human remains seemingly, and they feared the absolute worst. And to be honest, investigators feared the worst as well. The investigators were able to compare the skull to Jason's dental records and they concluded that it did not belong to Jason. These were not Jason's remains. There was an abandoned building near the family's home with a small tent inside, some food cans, some other belongings. So it seemed like maybe the more likely scenario

• 45:44Annie Elise?

  was that these remains were unfortunately from an unhoused person who died of natural causes. Which, I can't even imagine what that moment was like for Jason's family. I don't know what's worse, hearing that a dog had potentially been chewing on their son's remains or hearing that it wasn't his remains and they were back to square one. And for years, there was silence. The investigators were working behind the scenes, doing everything that they could to find Jason. But Jason's family was living in a nightmare. So much time was beginning to pass and they were starting to wonder, will we ever find Jason? Will we ever learn what happened? And well, some of those questions were answered. Because on September 8th, 2026, Jason's case was back in the headlines.

• 46:29Annie Elise?

  The reason? Remains had been found in close proximity to the crash site.

• 46:34Speaker 05

  A discovery now near Luling is raising new questions in the nearly six year search for missing Texas state student and Houston area native Jason Landry. KPRC 2 News reporter TJ Parker is live this morning. TJ, do we know if the remains found are Jason's?

• 46:52Speaker 03

  Well, Kathy, not yet, and that's the most important part of this update. But Caldwell County authorities did find remains in the same area where Jason Landry disappeared six years ago. There's no confirmation yet that they belonged to him, but this is an active investigation, as you can imagine. Take a look at this map because where these remains were found is why this discovery is getting so much attention. The remains were reportedly found on Biggs Road, close to Salt Flat Road outside Luling, the same rural area where Landry's crashed car was found nearly six years ago.

• 47:24Annie Elise?

  Now, everybody was on pins and needles. Could this really be Jason this time? Or was this yet again, another false lead? Well, on December 23rd, the Attorney General Ken Paxton released an official statement on the remains. And the remains were positively identified as belonging to Jason. The statement read, "On September 8th, 2026, a local resident discovered human remains east of Salt Flat Road, between Soda Springs and Biggs Road. DNA testing conducted by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification confirmed the remains belonged to Landry. The skeletal remains do not provide additional insight into the cause or manner of death and investigators have found no indication of foul play.

• 48:07Annie Elise?

  This development marks a critical moment in a case that has weighed heavily on our hearts for nearly six years. The Landry family has suffered an unimaginable tragedy and they will remain in our prayers, especially during this incredibly difficult time. My cold case unit will continue fighting to solve cases and bring closure on behalf of Texas families and victims. The Landry family has been notified and agencies respectfully request privacy for the family as they navigate this difficult update." The press release also noted that any additional information will be released as appropriate. So as of now, that's really all we know. But of course, this has sparked even more questions. I mean, how do you search over and over and over for six years and not find these remains

• 48:52Annie Elise?

  that are so close to the crash site? I understand rough terrain. I understand the elements and things not being as intact as they once were, or possibly scattered because of animals, whatever it may be. But even starting way from the beginning, when we know search teams were deployed, everybody was out there, and this happening so close to the crash site, how, how did it get missed? And I'm not trying to blame anyone. I'm just truly trying to understand, and I'm not trying to be overly conspiracy theory here, but I will say this, I did see, not a lot, a couple comments online of people thinking that maybe the remains were brought back to that site and then dumped.

• 49:35Annie Elise?

  I don't know if I'm willing to believe that, especially since they are saying they don't believe foul play was involved. But I just still don't quite understand how the search teams somehow missed this. And the biggest question, for Jason's family at least, is, is what happened? Was this a horrific accident? Was there foul play involved? Kent has said many times in many different interviews that he believes anything is possible. The investigators have long said that they don't believe that foul play was involved, but that was also before they ever found a body. And although I know they are still saying that, they haven't determined cause of death, manner of death, or anything, so how can you necessarily jump to that conclusion? I don't know. Will finding his remains change that?

• 50:17Annie Elise?

  Or does that just give them more solid evidence that backs up their claims? No matter the speculation or rumors that are starting to recirculate online, one thing is for sure, Jason has been found, and his family can finally put him to rest. Which I'd be naive to say that they'll sleep peacefully at night, when there are still so many unanswered questions, and there still is that hopelessness of the unknowing, and how did this happen? Why did this happen? What happened? But now that they are able to bring Jason home, bring him to rest, I'm hoping that this will at least serve as some sort of peace within their lives, and also potentially

• 50:58Annie Elise?

  reignite momentum in Jason's case, spark an investigation, figure out if there's anything else. I know sometimes when remains are that old, it's difficult to determine things, but not always. So, will this lead to anything? I hope so, because while yes, on one hand, I would imagine there is peace in kind of closing the door on the unknown of where they are, it doesn't close the door on the what happened. And, I don't know, I'm somebody that I would lose a lot of sleep at night over that, and I just, my heart is with his family right now. I can't even imagine what they're going through, because it's like you close one door, but it opens up 20 more windows, and I just, I don't know.

• 51:39Annie Elise?

  I, it's really tough, especially because they are such great, kind people. They have been advocating for him for years. They show up at every single crime con. They show up at other conventions, at advocacy seminars everywhere, because they just really want to raise awareness, and they wanted to find their son and get answers. And they, they've actually kind of, it sounds so weird saying this, but they've become a pillar in the true crime community. And they're such good people, such kind people, and restlessly just were advocating for him nonstop for years, and I'm just so grateful. They finally received a little bit of an answer here, and I'm hopeful that more is to come.

• 52:22Annie Elise?

  So, as soon as we know more, I will let you know, but it's a tough one, and there is still a lot of division and confusion out there, understandably, of like, how was this missed? What happened? Had it take six years to find remains so close to the crash site, like, what the hell is really going on here? I don't know. I wish I had the answers, but I don't. I am going to keep Jason's picture up here. It still serves as an amazing reminder for all of these cases that we talk about, many unfortunately of which don't always have the same result as finding the remains, many of whom are still missing. But, I don't know, there is a little bit of levity in the sense that his family can now have this answer and a little bit of peace. So, that makes me very happy for them.

• 53:07Annie Elise?

  Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of 10 to Life. Until the next one, stay safe. Bye.

• 53:19Annie Elise?

  At the tactical edge, connections can struggle to keep up. Our systems turn information into action, so the mission keeps moving, even when connections don't. Lidos, outsmart, outdo.

• 53:33Speaker 02

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