The remains of a Texas college student who vanished while driving home for Christmas have been identified nearly six years after his disappearance.
A local resident found human remains on September 8 east of Salt Flat Road in Caldwell County. DNA testing confirmed they belonged to Jason Landry, 21, the Texas Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit announced Wednesday.
Landry was expected to drive 165 miles from Texas State University to his hometown of Missouri City, outside Houston, when he disappeared in the early hours of December 13, 2020.
His Nissan Altima was located at about 12:30 a.m. on a remote road near Luling, roughly 30 minutes from the university campus.
Investigators determined that the vehicle had been involved in a single-car crash as temperatures fell to around 36 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 degrees Celsius.
“The car got off the road and spun around, and the back driver-side trunk, bumper and the side of the car took most of the impact,” Sergeant Deon Cockrell, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman, said at the time.
Landry’s wallet and cellphone were recovered inside the car and in the surrounding area. Investigators also found a small amount of blood, but there was no indication of where the student had gone.
Search dogs followed his scent from the vehicle to a nearby pond. The pond was later drained, but authorities found no trace of the missing 21-year-old.
Texas officials confirmed this week that remains discovered in rural Caldwell County belonged to Jason Landry, 21, who disappeared while traveling home from college for Christmas break
Landry’s wrecked car was discovered along a rural road in Luling during the early hours of December 14, 2020
For almost six years, Landry’s whereabouts remained unknown as his parents struggled with uncertainty over what had happened to their son.
During that time, the Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit said it “conducted repeated ground and aerial searches, reviewed new leads and continually re-examined the case” alongside the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Search and Rescue.
Civilian volunteers also “devoted substantial time, effort and personal resources to the search for Jason,” according to the unit.
Investigators determined that Landry had loaded his Nissan Altima for the journey, bringing a backpack with his laptop and gaming equipment, a Ziploc bag of toiletries, a small amount of marijuana and his pet fish, Sparky. The fish was being carried in a tumbler used as a makeshift container. Landry had also entered his planned route into the Waze navigation app on his phone.
Data showed that Jason’s vehicle entered Luling, an oil and ranching community, at about 11:24 p.m., roughly 30 minutes after he began the drive.
At some point, Landry stopped using Waze. Instead of turning right to remain on the route toward home, he continued straight onto Salt Flat Road.
Sixty-seven minutes later, the Altima was found crashed into a tree. The keys remained in the ignition, while Landry’s phone was still inside the vehicle.
Nearby, his clothes, underwear, shoes and wristwatch had been arranged neatly on the gravel, creating the baffling impression that he had deliberately undressed beside the road before vanishing into the freezing night.
Landry’s parents have theorized that a malfunction in a traffic app may have altered his route and sent him far off course
For nearly six years, Landry’s family was left searching for answers
Family members have since suggested a malfunctioning traffic app caused a rerouting of his navigational system, leading him to veer far off track.
‘I don’t know why my son was down this road my best guess, he will follow Waze wherever it sends him, he was coming home from college, but he was here on this road I don’t know if he was trying to avoid a deer or what, swerved and hit some trees on the side,’ Landry’s father, Kent, said.
His car left the gravel road and ended up in a ditch alongside a fence. Some of his clothes were also found outside of the vehicle.
‘We know he got out of the crash OK, and was walking back, this way, and that’s the last we know for sure,’ said Kent, a pastor, to Fox 7.
His remains were ultimately found just about five miles south of the crash site.
Yet questions still remain, as the skeletal remains do not provide any additional insight into the cause or manner of death – though investigators have said they found no indication of foul play.
Bodycam shows law enforcement finding Jason Landry’s backpack on the road in the early hours of December 14, 2020
Still, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton touted the discovery of Landry’s body as ‘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,’ said Paxton, who is in the midst of a close Senate race.
Meanwhile, in a statement posted to the ‘Missing Person – Jason Landry’ Facebook account, his family said they received the news of his untimely demise on Wednesday.
‘While we grieve his passing, we are so thankful to all of you who have prayed for our family during these difficult years of waiting. We are also so grateful for the members of law enforcement, volunteer search team members and the many individuals that have lifted up our family and the memory of Jason,’ the family said.
‘But most of all, we are so blessed to know that Jason is home with the Lord. We can’t wait to see him again in heaven,’ they continued, concluding with a Bible verse: ‘The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).’
