Caldwell County Sheriff's Office indicated to the media yesterday that they would be releasing information today.
For immediate release:
The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office continues the search for 21 year old, Jason Landry, who is considered a missing person.
The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office has been partnered with the Texas Rangers and a team of retired Federal Agents/ private investigators in attempting to locate of Jason Landry who has been missing since Sunday Dec. 13th, 2020. The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office has utilized and will continue to utilize assistance from other agencies, including the Caldwell County District Attorney’s Office, Texas State University Police, San Marcos Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, and
TEXSAR - Texas Search and Rescue.
Investigators have now gained access to most of Jason’s phone and computer data. Investigators are still waiting for some search warrants from social media/ tech companies to be returned and will immediately process that data upon receipt.
We are asking the public’s assistance with any information which may further the investigation.
Investigators believe that Jason left his apartment in San Marcos at 10:55 PM on 12.13.20 with the intent to travel to the Missouri City Texas area, where his parents reside. At 11:05 PM Jason was driving his vehicle on Hwy. 80 and passes under 1-35 in San Marcos. Jason continued to drive south on Hwy. 80 entering Caldwell County at 11:07 PM. At 11:11 PM, Jason was in Martindale Tx, continuing south on Hwy. 80. At 11:15 PM, Jason passes over SH130 on Hwy. 80. At 11:17 PM he was in Fentress entering Prairie Lea at 11:19 PM and the area of Stairtown at 11:21 PM. At 11:24 PM, Jason entered the City of Luling on Hwy. 80. As Jason goes through the intersection of Hackberry St. where Hwy 80 becomes Austin St., Jason quits using the Waze application, and begins using the Snapchat application on his cell. Jason continues on Austin St. to the intersection with U.S. Hwy. 183 (Magnolia Ave.). It is believed that Jason continued straight through that intersection, continuing onto E. Austin. At this intersection, Jason’s digital footprint essentially stops. It is believed that he continues on E. Austin onto Spruce St. which turns into Salt Flat Road. Jason’s vehicle is found abandoned in the 2300 block of Salt Flat Road at 31 minutes after Midnight on 12.14.20.
The approximate 67 minute window, between the last data footprint at Austin and Magnolia and the discovery of the crash scene, is what investigators are focusing on. Jason’s phone had cell signal and was powered on, investigators are still trying to determine why it doesn’t appear to have been used since the area of Magnolia Ave. and Austin St.
Jason’s vehicle was found abandoned, lights on, with the keys in the ignition, and the front passenger side door locked. The vehicle collision is a single vehicle collision, most likely from over correcting on the gravel road, and spinning off the roadway. The rear driver’s side corner made initial contact with a tree on the east side of the roadway, propelling the front driver’s side into another tree and barbed wire fence. There is no evidence that any other vehicle or outside force was involved in the collision. All of the evidence collected leads investigators to be confident that the contact with the trees and fence line was the only contact the vehicle sustained. The rear window of the vehicle was broken as a result of the impact with a tree. The volunteer firefighter, who discovered Jason’s abandoned vehicle, did not enter the vehicle. The Trooper who responded to the scene, almost an hour later, also did not enter the vehicle. The vehicle was towed from the scene to an impound yard, where the next morning, Jason’s father, the registered owner of the vehicle, entered the vehicle through the unlocked driver’s side door, and discovered Jason’s cell phone between the driver’s seat and the center console. It is unknown if the phone fell as Jason was operating the vehicle through the intersection of Austin St and Magnolia Ave. or during the collision. Jason’s father collected the phone and attempted to locate the scene of the collision. Upon arrival to the area, approximately 900 feet from the collision scene, Jason’s father found articles of his sons clothing (shirt, shorts, socks, underwear, slide sandals and a wristwatch) in the roadway. Those clothes were collected by his father and later released to investigators who have processed those clothes for any evidentiary findings. A single blood smear was detected on the clothes. This blood spot was small and was not indicative of serious bodily injury. It is possible that an injury causing the blood spot occurred as Jason was exiting the vehicle and came into contact with the barbed wire fence or foliage. Upon a review of the Troopers body and dash cameras from his initial response to the crash scene, investigators know that approximately 900 feet from the collision scene, the following articles, belonging to Jason, were discovered in the roadway; a backpack, a ball cap, a plastic bag of personal toiletries, and a tumbler with his deceased beta fish in it. These findings were north of the clothing, recovered the next morning by Jason’s father. Jason’s backpack contained his wallet, a usable amount of marijuana, a laptop computer, gaming equipment, and a few personal effects. Any report stating that the backpack was “filled” with narcotics, is inaccurate. The small amount of marijuana has been seized and is being held. There remains a possibility that the marijuana was combined with an unknown hallucinogenic substance. Those findings are pending. It is believed that the clothing discovered in the roadway was the clothing Jason was wearing prior to the collision occurring. There is no indication that the clothing was removed under duress or threat. There was cold weather during the time Jason is believed to have gone missing, with the low temperature being recorded around 36 degrees F with a high of 43 degrees F.
On Monday, Jason’s father received the backpack from DPS (without the seized marijuana) and released the phone to DPS Troopers when efforts began to access the device and data. DPS continued being lead on the search and initial investigative efforts, until Friday, 12/18/20 when the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office assumed lead. This office has been working with various outside agencies and organizations since assuming lead investigative responsibility.
Jason’s vehicle has been processed for DNA and any blood evidence with the assistance of the Texas Rangers. There was no evidence of blood inside the vehicle.
There is no evidence that Jason was traveling to meet with or had communicated intent to meet with anyone in or around Luling.
Jason’s father, mother and family members have been extremely helpful to investigators. Jason’s ex-girlfriend, who resides out of state, has also been fully cooperative in assisting investigators. Their cooperation has been essential and appreciated. They are not suspects or persons of interest and are not believed to be withholding any information.
The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office will continue to utilize all available methods, techniques and resources to obtain information that will assist us in locating Jason. At this time, there is no evidence that an unknown person of interest is involved in this incident and investigators believe that there is no threat to our community. Investigators believe that this is an isolated event. The Sheriff’s Office and investigators will continue to aggressively seek out evidence in this missing person incident. The Sheriff’s Office will continue to work with Texas Search and Rescue and other search organizations in an effort to discover any evidence of Jason’s location and additional searches are being planned and organized. Investigators at the Sheriff’s Office do not specialize in search and rescue, and defer to the subject matter experts and specialists in these endeavors. Investigators have reviewed hundreds of hours of video from cameras in and around Luling, none of which have produced any evidentiary findings. Members of the public, who have game cameras on private property, or private surveillance video from the area, are encouraged to review that as soon as possible. You may contact our office for assistance in reviewing video, if needed.
Please review the most current missing person flyer, with an updated picture showing Jason within an hour of him going missing.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact any of the following investigators:
Detective Ferry with the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, 512-398-6777 Ext. 4516 or by email:
Jeff.Ferry@co.caldwell.tx.us
Investigator Abel Pena, with PM Investigations by phone: (210) 954-1476 or by email:
pminvestigations9221@gmail.com
Investigator Tuleta Copeland, with Leverage Investigations at
Justice@LeverageInvestigations.com
Source: Caldwell County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page:
Caldwell County Sheriff's Office
