Cold Case Solved: Texas Student Jason Landry Found Dead

The remains of Jason Landry have been found. He was 21 years old. A Texas college student vanished nearly six years ago while driving home for Christmas. His body was discovered on September 8 east of Salt Flat Road in Caldwell County. The DNA test confirmed the identity. The Texas Attorney General's Office Cold Case Unit announced this on Wednesday.

Landry planned a 165-mile trip from Texas State University to his hometown near Houston. He left early on December 13, 2020. His vehicle was spotted at 12:30 am on a secluded road near Luling. That spot is about 30 minutes from the campus. Authorities say the car crashed alone in freezing weather. Temperatures dropped to around 36 degrees Fahrenheit or two Celsius.

Sergeant Deon Cockrell spoke for the Texas Department of Public Safety. '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,' he said at the time. Landry's wallet and cellphone were found in the wrecked Nissan Altima. A small amount of blood was also there. But there was no sign of the student himself immediately after the crash.

Dogs traced his scent from the car to a nearby pond. When officials drained that pond, they found no trace of the 21-year-old. His whereabouts remained unclear for almost six years while his parents agonized over what happened. The Attorney General's Office Cold Case Unit said it conducted repeated ground and aerial searches. They reviewed new leads and continually re-examined the case. Civilian volunteers devoted substantial time, effort and personal resources to the search for Jason.

Landry packed his Nissan Altima for the trip home with specific items inside. He took a backpack containing his laptop and gaming equipment. A Ziploc bag of toiletries was also in the car along with a small amount of marijuana. His pet fish Sparky sat inside a tumbler he used as a makeshift carrier. He entered directions into the Waze app on his phone.

Data shows Jason's car entered the oil and ranching community of Luling around 11:24 pm. About 30 minutes into the journey, something changed. Suddenly, Jason stopped using Waze. Instead of taking a right turn along the route home, he continued straight onto Salt Flat Road. It was just 67 minutes later that the Altima was found crashed into a tree. The keys were still in the ignition and his phone remained inside the vehicle.

A few feet away, Jason's clothes, underwear, shoes and wristwatch lay neatly on the gravel ground. They appeared as though he had carefully stripped naked by the side of the road before disappearing into the frigid night. His car left the gravel road and ended up in a ditch alongside a fence. Family members have 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,' Kent Landry said. 'My best guess is he will follow Waze wherever it sends him. He was coming home from college but he was here on this road.' His father asked if the boy was trying to avoid a deer or something similar before swerving and hitting trees on the side. The family had been left without answers for nearly six years while government directives and search efforts tried to solve the mystery.

Some of his clothes were also found outside of the vehicle. Kent, a pastor speaking to Fox 7, explained that investigators know he exited the crash safely and was walking back down the road. That moment marked the last confirmed sighting of him alive before they lost track of where he went. His remains were ultimately located just about five miles south of the initial crash site.

Yet questions still remain regarding exactly what happened because 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 footage 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, according to Paxton, who is currently running in a close Senate race.

Meanwhile, the family issued a statement posted directly to their Missing Person Facebook account after learning of his untimely demise on Wednesday. They acknowledged that while they grieve his passing, they 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 statement read.

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 before concluding their message with a Bible verse from John 1:5 about light shining in darkness. The search for answers may be paused, but the weight of this loss continues to settle over the community and forces everyone to reflect on how regulations or government directives affect the public during such long investigations.