Been following this case for a while. Here’s some quick notes.
Yellow legal pad
At 5:20 into the sixth video on
this Fox7 Austin news article, the Caldwell County Sheriff officer’s body cam shows the officer stop to inspect a yellow legal pad laying in the road. The officer must not have thought it important because he kicks it with his foot as if to see what’s under it, then drives off. I believe this is the location:
29.74407171653296, -97.61232504639271.
It could be nothing, but it could also be something. If it was Jason’s, it could be change his assumed last known location (which I believe is his clothes), affecting search probabilities. It could also be an attempt by Jason to lay down some sort of breadcrumb trail for himself or for people looking for him. If it was someone else’s notepad, it could have fallen out of their vehicle unnoticed when they were in a hurry to help / hurt Jason.
Order of Jason’s items found
This is the order of Jason’s items found in the road based on the body and dash cam footage released. Assuming that the order of the items shown in the video is the order in which Jason discarded them, I believe this to be consistent with paradoxical undressing related to hypothermia.
- backpack
- shirt
- flip flops
- shorts
- underwear
- notepad ? (not sure if this was Jason’s)
Thoughts on hypothermia theory
I believe this to be the most likely cause of Jason’s disappearance. Here’s why:
- Temperature was around 40F and reportedly damp and windy that night.
- Head trauma and internal bleeding from a car wreck can also cause hypothermia.
- Consumption of alcohol increases susceptibility to hypothermia and paradoxical undressing (1).
- Some hallucinogenic and anti-psychotic drugs can increase susceptibility hypothermia (2).
- More than a few people have died from exposure after a wreck and apparent brain trauma.
(1) The volunteer firefighter that first arrived at the scene of the wreck told dispatch that one of Jason’s cups smelled like alcohol and that his car smelled like cannabis smoke.
(2) There’s no evidence or confirmation that I’ve scene that Jason was taking anti-psychotic drugs; however, Jason’s friend’s comments about the video call they had before his disappearance suggest that Jason was high on some sort of substance and that he was definitely interested in hallucinogens. Some people who experiment with hallucinogens take anti-psychotic drugs as "trip killers" to stop bad trips. If Jason was tripping on the phone with his friend and took a "trip killer" before making his drive, or was just taking anti-psychotics by themselves, that could make him more susceptible to hypothermia. Taking a hallucinogen before driving would also make him more susceptible to crashing his car.
Thoughts on why he hasn’t been found
The body and dash cam footage released shows that the officers that arrived on scene looked up and down salt flat road for Jason several times and made efforts to contact family and school regarding his whereabouts; however it was extremely dark and rural and the road is flanked by tall grass that is waste high in places. It would have been very easy for him to pass out in the grass beside the road or in field and not be seen by anyone. His Dad went to search for him in the morning, but as far as I know, there were no large-scale searches performed until weeks or months later -- this is enough time make evidence / remains in that part of TX very, very difficult to find. A searcher also explained that the fumes and gasses from the oil wells in the area interfered with their search dogs’ abilities to find a scent.
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