TX TX - Jason Landry, 21, enroute from TSU to home, car found crashed at Luling, 14 Dec 2020 #5

[OutWest]

By taking his backpack and fish, it seems to indicate that he left the vehicle on his own accord with the intent of walking to find help. He probably could not find his cell phone otherwise he would have taken the phone with him as well and/or used the phone to summon help. Only several months earlier (6/14/2020), two teens who were local fire department volunteers were brutally murdered in that general area by a person who "claimed" that he thought the teens were "aliens". I never did hear why the shooter was actually in that area. Does anybody familiar with the area know whether the general location is known for covert drug activities, including meth production & distribution?

The crash could be related to being inattentive, or to avoid an animal, or possible run off the road by an erratic DUI driver. Whatever caused the crash, it appears obvious to me that something very unusual happened shortly after Jason left the vehicle.

 

[Seattle1]

Push for geofence warrant in Jason Landry case | FOX 7 Austin

May 11, 2021

It's been nearly 150 days since Texas State University student Jason Landry went missing while driving home to see his family for Christmas last year. READ MORE: https://bit.ly/3w0R5lq

 

[GMS]

Although we've known about the CCSO timeline since it was originally released, I think many, including myself, assumed JL switched from Waze to SC at the intersection where he should have turned. When I re-read the report and referenced a map, JL turned off Waze almost a half-mile before the infamous intersection.

Does that lend itself more to the belief that he may have been more engaged in SC and truly could have been distracted and missed the turn? Or had time to react to a SC message or conversation and decided to purposely detour and go straight?

 

[renarde]

A Texas State student who also went missing (a few weeks ago) has been found:

Missing Texas State student Harper Garlitos found dead in wooded area

“We were honored to have been requested for this operation, Justin McInnis, TEXSAR President and CEO, as well as the lead on this search. “This is what we train for. Although the outcome was a sad one, we are grateful to help provide closure to Harper’s family.”

Search party finds body of missing Texas State student Harper Garlitos

 

[annpats]

The crash could be related to being inattentive, or to avoid an animal, or possible run off the road by an erratic DUI driver.

I hope LE bought in an accident investigation unit to determine the cause of it?

Was the car actually damaged? Were there skid marks? Which direction, how long? One set or two? Any animal traces on the grille, fur, blood? Anywhere else?

Plenty of questions, the answers to which could help determine cause of the accident, which would be something.......

Right now, we have nothing. Well, not nothing, but very little.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

Just to clarify the car running. Kent was asked on the family page and clarified, it was NOT running.
See here:
Log into Facebook

Kent says in this interview that the engine was running. Did we know that detail?

Not that I recall. To me (since some have speculated about this), if he purposely left the car with the headlights still on so he can see his way back to the road (it was pitch black out), I don't think there was a need to leave the lights on for that. Keys in the ignition, yeah, but the car didn't need to be running.

That's an interesting fact, to be sure.

 

[Gemmie]

Just to clarify the car running. Kent was asked on the family page and clarified, it was NOT running.
See here:
Log into Facebook

My bad! I had worse than a typo anyway! I had the wrong word. lol Should have said 'engine' and not 'lights'!

 

[DeDee]

I wish we knew more about his digital footprint. I feel like that would hold some clues. a Reddit account or something.

My favorite picture of Jason:

LordanArts - John Lordan interviews Jason's dad, Kent:

Interview really begins at about 8 mins in.

Bringing this old article back (from Feb 2021) and reposting the timeline to refresh everyone's memory.

Cell phone data reveals timeline in mysterious disappearance of Texas State student Jason Landry

Dec. 13, 10:55 p.m. - Jason leaves his apartment in San Marcos with the intent to drive to his parents' home in Missouri City, Texas.

Dec. 13, 11:05 p.m. - Jason drives his vehicle on Highway 80 and passes under I-35 in San Marcos.

Dec. 13, 11:07 p.m. - Jason continues to drive south on Highway 80 entering Caldwell County.

Dec. 13, 11:11 p.m. - Jason is in Martindale, Texas, continuing south on Highway 80.

Dec. 13, 11:15 p.m. - Jason passes over SH130 on Highway. 80.

Dec.13, 11:24 p.m. - Jason enters Luling, Texas on Highway 80. He stops using the Waze app and opens Snapchat. He passes through the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and East Austin Street, and that’s where Jason’s digital footprint stops. It’s believed he continued on East Austin to Spruce Street, which turns into Salt Flat Road.

At 12:31 a.m., Jason's wrecked vehicle is found on Salt Flat Road. Investigators say it was a single-vehicle collision, most likely from over-correcting on the gravel road, spinning off the roadway and crashing the rear-end into a tree.

Pictures of Jason from the night he went missing:

Jason Landry update: $10,000 reward offered for missing student | khou.com

The reward money is being offered by Jason’s family and friends.

“I would like nothing better than to be able to reward that money to the person who comes forward and helps us locate our son," Kent said.

He’s hoping this reward will entice someone to fill in the blanks.

“We know our son. We’re a normal family, but we’re also a happy family. He was a great kid. He wouldn’t just run away. That’s not, that’s just not him. He would not stay away. Until we know something, we’re going to keep hoping and praying," Kent said.

Detectives investigating the disappearance of Texas State student Jason Landry face hurdles as physical search ends
As CrimeOnline previously reported, two teen brothers who were student-athletes at Ridge Point High School were fatally shot execution-style on December 12 while parked outside a home in a town neighboring Missouri City. Police have not named any suspects, but have reportedly detained one individual for questioning, ABC 13 reports. There has been no suggestion of any connection between the killing and Landry’s disappearance, or any indication that Landry knew the victims, who would have started high school after Landry graduated. Caldwell County Sheriff’s Sgt. William Miller told CrimeOnline that the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office was unaware of the double homicide near Landry’s hometown, and said that his department would be following up on any and all leads.

Asked about earlier reports of dogs picking up a scent at an abandoned home near the crash site, Miller said canines brought in to search the area were “going back and forth” between the abandoned house and a pond that was later drained and searched, without finding Landry. But investigators are not certain the canine was picking up on Landry’s scent, because a deputy and a trooper had checked the same house just after the wreck was discovered.

Texas Equusearch arrived and searched thoroughly for Jason -

“We will not speculate on what may have happen to Jason, but we feel the vast area surrounding the accident scene has been thoroughly searched … and Jason still hasn’t been found,” the search organization said in a statement obtained by KTRK. “As a result, Texas EquuSearch is suspending our search operations for Jason until law enforcement investigators obtain credible, and sufficient information that would lead our team into a more specific area to search.”

“Our main focus is: Where is he?,” Miller said.

FB Groups dedicated to finding Jason:
Facebook Groups
Facebook Groups
Missing Person - Jason Landry (Official FB Group Ran by Family)

SIDE NOTE 1:
I bolded some interesting wording by the police. Maybe they are suspecting foul play more than they are letting on. The unknown”... an "unknown" person of interest. Maybe they're beating around the bush saying there is a KNOWN person of interest. Idk, just a thought.

SIDE NOTE 2:
His father said that Jason's school has not been helpful and has not even acknowledged Jason's disappearance nor informed the student body (which could lead to someone coming forward with info if done).

SIDE NOTE 3:
LE is testing the weed Jason had with him to see if perhaps it was laced with hallucinogenics. Also worth mentioning that weed can decrease clotting. If he sustained a head injury with bleeding on the brain, weed could have made the bleeding worse, which could explain disorientation.
Related Mayo Clinic link:
Marijuana.

Bumping your marvelous post!

One thing, in particular, that puzzles me is that if Jason was heading home for the holidays when the car accident occurred, wouldn't he have more clothing, jeans, shirts, maybe a sweater, and extra shoes, socks and undies with him, perhaps, inside of a piece of luggage?

It seems odd that he would leave clothing at his apartment knowing he'd be gone for two weeks and longer. Hence, the lack of clothing to wear during Christmas Holidays seems most unusual.

MHO. #FindJasonPlease

 

[DeDee]

So, if Waze was turned off or muted, there would be no obvious, easy to see alert that you should turn rather than continue straight and that road turns to Salt Flat Rd.

That is why the question "Why did Jason turn onto Salt Flat Rd" is not valid in my opinion. Study the map of Lulling.
He did not turn onto Salt Flat Road. He missed a turn which would have kept him on main roads and off Salt Flat Rd. He was just going straight until he was told to turn (and that did not happen). Compare the green line below (correct route) with where he ended up (red line, sorry I didn't curve is as much as the road does). You can see how he could end up on Salt Flat Rd without some nefarious interaction.

Thank you. The ScreenShot map doesn't give distance; however, I fail to understand why Jason would continue driving on an unpaved road for as long as he did. He could have turned around at the drive w/ the cattle guard yet he chose to continue on an unlit and unpaved road for some distance. And, for much longer than I would be comfortable doing at night.

He'd been home from college during Thanksgiving or just a few short weeks prior to this trip. It seems he'd realize there was not an unpaved road involved.

 

[annpats]

He could have turned around at the drive w/ the cattle guard yet he chose to continue on an unlit and unpaved road for some distance. He'd been home from college during Thanksgiving just a few short weeks prior. It seems he'd realize there was not an unpaved road involved.

Yes. This.

 

[wary]

Thank you. The ScreenShot map doesn't give distance; however, I fail to understand why Jason would continue driving on an unpaved road for as long as he did. He could have turned around at the drive w/ the cattle guard yet he chose to continue on an unlit and unpaved road for some distance. And, for much longer than I would be comfortable doing at night.

He'd been home from college during Thanksgiving or just a few short weeks prior to this trip. It seems he'd realize there was not an unpaved road involved.

His father said that he had a blind trust in Waze. I think it’s very likely that he thought Waze was active and giving him directions, but it wasn’t. In that case, he’d have been very likely to just keep driving, believing that although it was obviously not the right road, it would join up with the right road. And the farther he drives, the more the sunk cost fallacy comes into play.

All this just my opinion.

For people who say that he’d have known that the road was taking him in the wrong direction, all I can say is, I’ve known someone with a bad sense of direction.

 

[kelsie]

Bumping your marvelous post!

One thing, in particular, that puzzles me is that if Jason was heading home for the holidays when the car accident occurred, wouldn't he have more clothing, jeans, shirts, maybe a sweater, and extra shoes, socks and undies with him, perhaps, inside of a piece of luggage?

It seems odd that he would leave clothing at his apartment knowing he'd be gone for two weeks and longer. Hence, the lack of clothing to wear during Christmas Holidays seems most unusual.

MHO. #FindJasonPlease

Thank you!
He probably had a bunch of clothes at home.

 

[Gemmie]

Thank you. The ScreenShot map doesn't give distance; however, I fail to understand why Jason would continue driving on an unpaved road for as long as he did. He could have turned around at the drive w/ the cattle guard yet he chose to continue on an unlit and unpaved road for some distance. And, for much longer than I would be comfortable doing at night.

He'd been home from college during Thanksgiving or just a few short weeks prior to this trip. It seems he'd realize there was not an unpaved road involved.

I posted upthread what the distance was. 4.9 miles and 13 minutes.

TX - TX - Jason Landry, 21, enroute from TSU to home, car found crashed at Luling, 14 Dec 2020 #4

 

[Gemmie]

His father said that he had a blind trust in Waze. I think it’s very likely that he thought Waze was active and giving him directions, but it wasn’t. In that case, he’d have been very likely to just keep driving, believing that although it was obviously not the right road, it would join up with the right road. And the farther he drives, the more the sunk cost fallacy comes into play.

All this just my opinion.

For people who say that he’d have known that the road was taking him in the wrong direction, all I can say is, I’ve known someone with a bad sense of direction.

I know people with a bad sense of direction too, but a gravel road is a gravel road, even to them.

 

[wary]

I know people with a bad sense of direction too, but a gravel road is a gravel road, even to them.

True enough, but if they have a blind trust in Waze, they’ll be sure that the gravel road is the best way to their destination.

 

[mlhenn]

True enough, but if they have a blind trust in Waze, they’ll be sure that the gravel road is the best way to their destination.

True.
And for some, a gravel road is nothing more than that...just a gravel road. Whether it was gravel or paved, the distance traveled wouldn’t change IMO. And that’s just from personal experience where paved roads and gravel roads are traveled about the same. Again IMO

 

[renarde]

Some people like gravel roads ...

"I’ve been logging lots of gravel miles since the pandemic hit, crunching over lightly trafficked roads around Central Texas on my mustard-colored gravel bike. Near Luling one day, a snarling dog came barreling out of a fenced-in yard and straight into my path, nearly pitching me off my seat. I just managed to avoid crashing, and I learned a valuable lesson: carry a can of dog repellent to ward off unfriendly pups in rural areas.

Usually, though, I get lost in the solitude—rolling across an old iron bridge outside Luling, stopping to pet a horse near Smithville, checking out a pump jack in Paige."

Texas Cyclists Are Discovering the Joys of Gravel Grinding

Salt Flat Road is actually listed as a "Gravel Grinder" route. This section even shows the part of SFR where Jason's car was found:

Gravel Segment: Salt Flat Rd - Gravelmap

Several different sections of Salt Flat Road are included here:

Gravel Routes in Luling, Texas - Gravelmap

<moo>

 

[Limecat]

Thank you. The ScreenShot map doesn't give distance; however, I fail to understand why Jason would continue driving on an unpaved road for as long as he did. He could have turned around at the drive w/ the cattle guard yet he chose to continue on an unlit and unpaved road for some distance. And, for much longer than I would be comfortable doing at night.

He'd been home from college during Thanksgiving or just a few short weeks prior to this trip. It seems he'd realize there was not an unpaved road involved.

I grew up in a small rural town, and to get to some places just outside of the city limits, it’s all gravel roads. If you’re a “country/farm” region person, I would’ve absolutely gone that far thinking it was just going to come to another intersection at some point, and I’ll figure it out then.

I will definitely add, the road Jason was on is exactly the kind of road I would and did drive down when I intended to smoke weed. And it wasn’t usually in the broad daylight.

All personal experience/opinion/speculation.

 

[BeevoughTX]

Happy Memorial Day you guys and gals.

just joined this site, as I was looking for JL updates and theories.

I live in Houston and on a recent trip to San Antonio a friend and I stopped in Luling to retrace his path through Luling and on Salt Flat Road.

Salt Flat Road (to those who haven’t seen it or driven on it personally:

1. It starts out paved, then as it turns to gravel there are numerous deep pot holes. A right minded person, in my opinion would have turned around at that point, especially in a small Nissan. I was in a Chevy Tahoe. If he was being chased down that road his suspension would have been ****** well before the crash site.

2. Further down the road is well maintained

3. No houses on that road. Nothing but oil wells and oil workers. One worker actually stopped and asked if we needed help when we had stopped at the crash site.

So ya, I think a right minded person would have turned around much sooner. The drive from Luling to the crash site is a good 8-10 minute drive.

anyways let’s keep this discussion going...

 

[swedeheart]

Happy Memorial Day you guys and gals.

just joined this site, as I was looking for JL updates and theories.

I live in Houston and on a recent trip to San Antonio a friend and I stopped in Luling to retrace his path through Luling and on Salt Flat Road.

Salt Flat Road (to those who haven’t seen it or driven on it personally:

1. It starts out paved, then as it turns to gravel there are numerous deep pot holes. A right minded person, in my opinion would have turned around at that point, especially in a small Nissan. I was in a Chevy Tahoe. If he was being chased down that road his suspension would have been ****** well before the crash site.

2. Further down the road is well maintained

3. No houses on that road. Nothing but oil wells and oil workers. One worker actually stopped and asked if we needed help when we had stopped at the crash site.

So ya, I think a right minded person would have turned around much sooner. The drive from Luling to the crash site is a good 8-10 minute drive.

anyways let’s keep this discussion going...

Thank you @BeevoughTX, and welcome to Websleuths! I think there are many of us who still check in on this thread daily, if not hourly (like me ). We have gone round and round with so many theories at this point, trying our damnedest to figure this mystery out. Glad you're here to add a new perspective!