The Disappearance of Jason Landry

Hey weirdo's I'm Ash and I'm Alena and this is moment This is more but It is so big red nothing we were just saying that we were hoping it would be a little spooky outside today Yeah, it's a little too many for me liking Still pretty fall though which I kind of love the foliage is on another level this year It is I love it. It's probably for some horrible reason but it is gorgeous this year I'm sure there's some absolutely catastrophic reason for the foliage It's not the worst when you're like, oh my god, Google. Why are the leaves so beautiful this year? It's like because thousands of environments are dying. Yeah, they're like data Thanks so much I find like six articles about it's true the worst things in humanity But you know what right now I'm gonna enjoy the foliage. I like it Cuz yeah cuz I feel like October's going too quickly You know I that's so funny I was literally just doing a little scrolling early and it says we need to romanticize November I love that. I mean, I love November. I love November - but if you think about it We don't do as much in November like no decor. Why like and I'm saying like us like me. Yeah Decor wise and like tradition wise. Yeah outside of Thanksgiving. It's true I think we can't just slip for Thanksgiving. No, you know, we got a slip for November. Yeah as a whole Yeah, we need to put like some leaves places. Yeah, I mean, it's the Burmons. We got to get it together. Yeah, we should celebrate turkeys more I think yeah, I love turkeys. Yeah, they're great. We have so many turkeys around here's a lot at all times Yeah, I've seen like 600 turkeys and a lot of romanticize them. Yeah yellow the would do. I love yeah You're not so weird and cute and then they puff up like I'll bite you and they will they're not friendly Yeah, I like that. They're not friendly. I'm not like good for you. We eat you. I'm Thanksgiving You shouldn't be friendly to us. I kind of aspire to have a turkey attitude. Yeah. Yeah. I mean according to some I have a turkey You have a turkey attitude and I'm not mad at it. I aspire to have that. Yeah, puff up Let's get out of here. I can't wait for your turkey this Yeah, like romanticizing turkeys. Only no cook. It's so good. I can't wait for that in the mashed potatoes The mashed potatoes and the streusel and the streusel and and and the bread and the bread She makes this bread that she puts the pestle in. Oh, yeah, I got it all across the world I'm gonna gain 800 pounds that night. It's gonna be all worth it. Can't wait. Hell yeah. See you there. Let's go. I saw a recipe for what was it? Caramelized onion caramelized onion Scalloped potatoes. Oh, I think I saw that recipe. I bought us that cookbook. Let me shout it out. Hell yeah. I literally just bought it Oh, and I subscribe to this guy's sub-stack too. You say caramelized onion. Yeah I'm in I'm obsessed with caramelized onions and I love the process Yeah, even though it does take 672 years. I'm here for it My used to do that when I would get home from school and she put them on crackers. Yeah, and they were so good So freaking good. So this cookbook is called dinner at my place by I hope I say his last name right Ryan Nordheimer And it has a bunch of good recipes in it. Ryan And one of those is the mashed potato one and then I also got us I meant to tell you this. I'll tell you live on air Teenie is released in my cookbook and I got it for us. I'm so excited. Oh, that is I hope she That's gonna blow up. Yeah, it's called today. We are cooking today. We are and you can pre-order it now And you can pre-order the other one that I mentioned. Yeah, they've I mean teeny I've used so many of her recipes same. She makes a mean everything. Yeah apple apple crisp per recipe for apple crisp I don't really have a way to transition into the episode. Um, no, do you? delicious food Makes us happy and full Enough to sit down and appreciate an interesting tail Okay, that's how I That's that's what we call an attempt. I gave it a shot. All right. It's more than I did It's more than I did. Well today. I have a disappearance for you. Oh And uh, Aiden actually told me about this case. I hadn't heard of this case before and it's Strange and then weirdly enough Aiden told me about this case like two weeks before It got somewhat solved. Oh, yes, so it's like I want to say it's somewhat solved But there are so lingering questions. I will say yeah, there's there's a little bit of resolution But I don't think there's full yeah, there's enough for the family and that makes me happy like they're happy So you know, obviously they're still sad, but yeah, but they got answers. Yeah, so let's get into it So we're going to be talking about the disappearance of Jason Landry today Jason was born July 29, 1999 in Missouri city, Texas the third of three children born to Kent and Lisa Landry According to his parents, he was a lovable goofball Exact words who preferred to take life as it came he tried not to What the more like stressful aspects of life he was kind of just go with the flow He didn't sweat the small stuff. No, he can't good for him after he graduated from high school Jason enrolled at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, but School wasn't always easy to manage Especially when it came to the shift of higher ed, which I think a lot of people can relate to. Oh, yeah His parents definitely had their concerns that Jason wasn't living up to his full potential But also at the same time they assumed that he was going through that adjustment phase of Kind of learning how to manage your studies on your own as an adult. Yeah Like it's so college is so different from high school. It's such an adjustment for everybody So they were like, okay, he's going to find his way sooner or later Now it turned out that their their faith and their son was well placed by the time he reached his third year at Sam Houston Jason was starting to take his education and his future more seriously He transferred from the relatively small Sam Houston University than to Texas State University His grades went up and his interest in general in school seemed to seem to get a little more like nose to the grass. Yeah, he was like focusing a little more. Yeah Unfortunately, though, his newfound seriousness about his future Was profoundly and very unexpectedly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Oh, I happen to a lot of people For Jason who was described by his father as a pure extrovert full of pure optimism Social distancing and quarantine practices were very very frustrating for for Jason I felt bad for extroverts during that whole time. Yeah, as I myself. I'm not an extrovert so I did not feel that way, but like I Can imagine that that would have been not just really annoying, but like truly detrimental to your mental health If you were Someone who very much loved socializing. Yeah, and Jason was one of those people his dad said given his personality Isolating him was one of the worst things you could do. Yeah, some people just do not thrive in that Yeah, situation. I think I found out during the pandemic that I'm an introverted extrovert. Yeah, I always kind of knew that about you I thought I was just a straight-up extrovert. Yeah, but I much prefer being like by myself or just with my people But I can extrovert when necessary. Yeah Yes Very much like you don't get a charge from extroverting. No, not at all I think I used to but I think the old I think you used to for sure. I don't at all anymore. Yeah, I get I get genuinely drained Yeah, by extroverting like to a point of like migraine. Yeah, like it'll tap me. Yeah, it makes sense Well, you're also autistic, so there's so there's that you're masking when you're making an extrovert so it makes sense Yeah, so isolated in his apartment away from all his friends his peers everything like that Jason turned a smoking weed a little bit more as a coping mechanism and kind of like half-heartedly continued his studies because then everything went to like zoom And he had already had a hard time in the beginning managing his studies and then when you move to zoom I like in college. I wasn't in college during the COVID like outbreak But if I took online classes, I learned very quickly that I couldn't manage those myself Yeah, a lot of people were in that very fast and to have that be your only option That's tough and he was struggling with that Then to make matters worse the building that he lived in was mostly empty anyways So he didn't even have neighbors to say hello to or wave to on his way in and out of the building So he was like deeply deeply isolated and really starting to feel terribly alone Now in the weeks leading up to his disappearance family and friends they did start to notice these small changes and his attitude Despite his social media posts about getting his life on the right track and that's a quote His diet had deteriorated to mostly fast food and take out. He was smoking a lot more than he ever had before And he was even now going so far as to avoid sleeping and eating for long periods of time Oh geez To try to intensify the potency of the pop that he was smoking And that's a quote I didn't know that you could do that At the same time he told the handful of friends and family that he had finally found god for the quote first time ever Which was interesting because he was the son of a Presbyterian minister And like came from a pretty religious family Interesting But maybe it was just like the first time he had found god on his own Yeah, you know or like in here - That is a way of God. - Exactly. But the most noticeable change in his behavior was definitely his increased drug use. There was other changes though, including like the budding interest in religion, mysticism, the occult. Jason's friend, Jack Frank, said, it seemed more and more apparent that our conversations weren't making sense anymore. Jason would talk about the rapture coming, aliens, Jesus, Elon Musk, and all these things that he would tie together somehow. - Huh. - Which it's like that's a vast array of things. - But it is, yeah. - Now, even with his new interests and the psychological toll, isolation seemed to be taking on him than his well-being. Nobody thought there was any reason to be like super alarmed by these changes. Obviously, it seemed a little bit weird to everybody, but they weren't gonna, you know, what are you gonna do? - Yeah, I wasn't like concerning like something's gonna happen. - Right. Especially because everyone around the world was kind of going through that same once in a lifetime crisis. And there was not really like a right or wrong way to deal with this, necessarily. Everyone was just dealing with it how they could. - Even his parents who knew him the best saw no reason to be super concerned. His mother said on Saturday, which was two days before he went missing, he sounded just like Jason to me. He was very excited about the next semester, and I remember rolling my eyes 'cause he was talking, talking, talking, but still hadn't got to his point. And that was pretty typical for him. Like he was a high energy person. - Yeah. - Now, on the evening of December 13th, 2020, Jason was at home on FaceTime chatting with a friend while he was rolling a few joints. And his friend actually ended up recording the call because he said he thought Jason seemed messed up, and that's a quote. And he seemed so messed up. He said that he probably wouldn't remember what they'd been talking about. - And that's why he recorded it. - So he recorded it 'cause they were meeting up later. And I think he was gonna be like, do you remember saying this? - Yeah, like like that. - Now there's no audio that is available to the public, but there is video and you can watch it. Some online sleuths and actually even called while County Sheriff's Office Captain Jeff Ferry himself saw the video. And they point to some visible sweat marks under the arms of Jason's shirt on the call. They are pretty significant for somebody who's just sitting down and just like talking and had been on the phone for 30 minutes, just in that one spot. And viewers interpreted the amount of sweat as a quote potential sign of anxiety. And Captain Ferry says, it certainly seems relevant knowing that in less than an hour, Jason is going to be just robing in a very cold, austere environment. - That is valid. And I think it's valid considering what happens next. Taking it on its own, I will say, we'll sit in this room and have like an hour long podcast episode and I am sweating like a pig. - And it's not 'cause I'm nervous. It's just because of like, talking. - It's the way it is. - Yeah, we sweat a lot. I agree with you. And when I first read that I was like, okay, like he has some pit stains. - But taking it in there. - With. - They're very sick. - Are they, I didn't see them. - I'll show you the video. - Yeah. - It's a lot. - Okay. - But again, then that does make you wonder. - It's a little weird. But then also I don't know what he was doing before he got on that FaceTime call. - Or if the heat was up. - Or what the. - Yeah. - What was going on? - Definitely variables, for sure. - But given, like given context, it is a little strange. Now on top of that, the subject matter of the call is pretty interesting. At least based on Jason's friend's memory that he reiterated to the Captain here. He said they were talking about spiritual enlightenment, opening your third eye and how drug consumption plays into all that. - Okay. - And we're gonna get a little bit more into that. - Seems like a deep conversation. - Yeah. But remember his friend was like, he seemed super messed up. So I think he may have been like rambling a little bit. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Just going into different subjects. - Yeah. And a previous friend had said like he'd talk about like Elon Musk, the Rapture aliens, and somehow connect that all together. Like even his friends were like, it's getting a little strange, bro. So the call ended after about 45 minutes. And at that point, and this seemed to be like a quick decision like this wasn't planned. Jason decided to drive home to see his parents. And they didn't know he was coming. Before leaving, he packed a bag of clothes, toiletries, he packed a gaming console, and he even put his fish into a plastic tumbler so that he could take the fish too. - Oh. - Which obviously intended that he was, or obviously suggest he intended to stay with his parents at least for a few days. - Yeah. - 'Cause he like wasn't gonna be home to feed his fish. - Yeah. - So he left the apartment wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals, like slides. And at the time a cold front had just passed through and the nights were especially cold. So it didn't seem like he was planning to spend any significant amount of time outside that night. And he set off on his trip at about 1055. (upbeat music) Now the drive to Missouri City was about 165 miles from school and should have taken around like two and a half hours to get there. - And this isn't like, what time at night? - He left at 1055, which was abrupt because also remember the friend that he was face-timing. It sounds like they were meeting up. I don't know if it was later that night, or like within that week, but they had plans together. - And he wouldn't be arriving home at his parents house to like 130 in the morning. - Yeah. - It'd be, it'd definitely be late. - Why bother? Why wouldn't she just leave in the morning? - Yeah, it'd go to their house. - It's abrupt for sure. - Yeah. Now, along the way, he was chatting with several friends and his ex-girlfriend on FaceTime and other apps like Snapchat, each being logged into the phone, which provided actually a pretty good like accurate timeline of his trip. And according to those, he spoke to that night. He was in a good mood and he didn't exhibit any signs of distress or dread what he was rambling a little bit from the sounds of it. Now, from the moment he got in the car and apparently he was well known to always do this, he always relied on ways like the app to navigate his route. But at 11.24 pm, the app went dark, like he shut it down. Later, when the car was recovered, a check of the internal navigation system showed that, instead of turning on to Interstate 10, which would have brought him to his parents house, he kept driving straight for several more blocks, which took him further from home. Now, he continued on that path for five more miles and then pulled off to the side of the road to send a snap to his ex-girlfriend. In the picture, he seems calm, he seems happy, he doesn't look distressed, confused, anything like that. And that was the last time anyone saw or heard from him. That one photo. - Beautiful. - Now, a few hours later, a volunteer firefighter in Luling, Texas was driving along Salt Flat Road when he spotted what looked like an abandoned vehicle, like left in a ditch just off of the gravel road. And this is like a pretty like isolated area. - Yeah. - Now pulling over to investigate the firefighter discovered that the car's headlights were still on, the doors were locked, the rear window was smashed, and the keys were still in the ignition. - That's weird. - There was no sign of a driver or any passengers anywhere. So, suspecting obviously that there was some kind of accident and the driver might be in some kind of need of emergency assistance, he called the accident to local dispatch and officers arrived a short time later. Now, aside from the fact that there were no people to be found, everything about the scene suggested at least to the officers that it had been a fairly routine accident that had caused the car to skid off of the road. And the theory at that time was that Jason had been driving along the gravel road, made a small error, over corrected, and then the car skidded off the road. According to the Luling Police Department, the rear driver side corner made initial contact with a tree on the east side of the roadway, propelling the front driver side into another tree and a barbed wire fence. - Dang. - So the car was towed away, and officers called Jason's parents to report that the vehicle had been found. - Okay, weird. Yeah, 'cause there's also like clothing that was discovered that we'll find out. And a backpack that was just like strewn in the road. Okay, so it's a little weird to me. - Yeah. - Now, at the time, nobody suspected that he was like missing in any alarming sense, I guess. - Yes. - But when Kent Landry went to the impound lot to look at the car after getting the call, that his son had been in an accident, everything changed. When the car was picked up, the most anybody really did at the scene was put in a neutral so that it could be towed. So that meant that Kent Landry was the first person to actually look inside of the car since his son went missing. And in the console between the front seats, he found Jason's cell phone. - That's weird. - And he was like, I know he wouldn't have left that behind. - Why would he have left the car with that? - Without that. That's the thing. I mean, he's like, he's a young kid. - Yeah. - So the discovery of the phone was concerning enough that Kent decided to visit the scene of the accident in case anything else might have been missed by local officers. - Yeah. - And standing on the side of the road, he scanned the fence along the ditch. And as he did, his eye caught something colorful. About 900 feet from where Jason's car was found, which is about like three football fields. He saw the clothing that Jason was wearing when he left the house right down to his watch, the sandal slides that he was wearing, and even his underwear. - Yeah. - Like what the fuck. - And it was neatly piled by the side of the road. - And the police just didn't see that? - Yeah. - No, no, no, they did. They saw that there was clothing. There's a video of when they arrive on the scene and they are going through a backpack and I'll get into what they find. And they take some stuff from the backpack to be processed, but the officer who's collecting everything says he's not getting the clothing. They're just gonna get it. And then one of the other officers is gonna like drive in a certain direction and see if he sees anybody. I don't know. - Are you good? - No. - Like what do you mean? - I don't know. - What the fuck? - I don't understand it. - That's zero cents. - Because the discovery of the clothing implied one of two things which were both very confusing. - Yeah. - Jason drives off the road, walks for a few minutes, and then for some reason decides to change his clothes, or he got into an accident, walked into the night, at some point strips all of his clothing off, and continues into the night, completely naked. - Yeah, why would that not leave the clothes? - Ring alarm bells. - No, that's crazy. And you don't think he's missing in any significant sense. - Yeah. - He's either changed an outfit, which is a little bit strange after an accident, or he's naked, and one of the responding investigators says, "Oh, is he walking off naked into the night?" - I'm just like, yeah, so he's that check into that. - Cause for concern, right? - Yeah, wouldn't that make you think something's desperately wrong if he's walking off naked into the night? - One would think. - Damn. - If the discovery of Jason's phone was cause for concern, the discovery of his clothing was downright alarming. - Yeah. - So Kent called the police to report it, and found out that they had seen it, or that, I don't know, but what they, so they found that clothing and left it there. They said, "We're not touching that." And they confiscated marijuana that they had found in his backpack. But just straight up was like, "No, we're gonna leave the clothes." We are gonna have to post a link to the video, because I was watching it, and I was like, "What?" - Yeah. - And some of the handling of certain things, I just thought that was a little strange as well, but that's enough on that. So now that Kent had called to report the clothing, and also the fact that there was still no confirm citing as of Jason, they finally bagged up the clothing as evidence, and what was now considered a missing person's case. - Yeah, finally. - But it's like, why did his dad have to go to the scene and do your job? - Yeah. - Like seriously. - Make that make sense, again. - Now at the lab, technicians did find a small smear of blood on one of the items of clothing, but apparently it was nothing so substantial that it suggested a serious injury, and it seems like it might have been left behind when Jason possibly got hung up on the barbed wire on that fence or got scratched by a branch, who knows. But that theory is supported by the fact that when they processed the car, investigators didn't find any blood evidence inside the vehicle, which is interesting to me. - Yeah. - Now, not far from where Jason's clothing was found, detectives also found his backpack, like I mentioned, that contained everything he packed that night, his wallet, joints that he'd been rolling as he talked with the friend on FaceTime, and a few feet away, they also found the tumbler that he had put his fish in for the trip, and it was overturned, and the fish was dead next to it. - Oh, the core fish. - So it's like, that's weird. - Yeah, everything is just scattered. - Yeah. - And you're just gonna, 'cause what happens is they find the weed in the backpack, and they're like, oh my God. And it's like, they're like, I'm going to be taken off. - It's weird stuff that we should be concerned with here. - And the officers like, I'm taking this, but I'm not getting the clothing. - Like, come on, but why, and what about the fish? - So everything was pretty baffling to detectives when the clothing was discovered. It seemed like it had just been cast off. Almost like what you would do at home when you're like taking off your clothes before getting into bed, or like changing into PJs, like, it's neat. - Yeah, so like, it's just thrown everywhere. - It's not strewn, exactly. And there was no indication that it had been removed under any kind of duress or in a particular hurry, like, you know, like he was being held at gunpoint or something. - Yep. - Then there was the fact that the car was completely locked when it was discovered, and the keys were still in the ignition. So that meant that rather than open the door and step out, Jason had climbed into the backseat and out the rear window, which is where I would think maybe some of that blood came from. - Yeah, I would absolutely think about that. - Yeah. Now, sometimes obviously if somebody's gotten some kind of head injury in an accident, they might do something bizarre or out of character, like removing all their clothing and walking into the desert. But with a low temperature of just 36 degrees that night, Jason wouldn't have made it very far on foot without any protection from the elements. And if there had been some sort of foul play, like robbery or car jacking, something like that, why wasn't anything missing from the scene? Nothing was missing. - That's the thing, like his wall was right there. - I was gonna say new and said like his watch he was wearing was there. - Yeah, yeah. - It's so strange. Now, this is the other thing, according to his father, Jason relied almost exclusively on the ways app anytime he drove anywhere. So he thought maybe it was possible that the app malfunctioned instead of taking Jason to the highway and took him to that isolated road where the car was found. He told a reporter, "I don't know why my son was down this road, but my best guess, he'll follow ways wherever it sends him. Don't know if he was trying to avoid a deer or what, swerved and hit some trees on the side." And that's a good theory. But then from the data on his phone, we know that he closed the ways app. So he wasn't directed here. - Oh, yeah, you're right. - And so we don't know why he ended up in this road. - So why did he end up here? - This like rural gravel road that's away from his destination, completely away from his destination, which is leading me to believe that there's some kind of event happening. - Yeah, like a psychological event or something happening. - Right, you know. - Now, later that day after the scene was processed, scent dogs were brought to the scene and they started tracking his scent from the accident site back in the direction of looing. Unfortunately, after about a quarter mile, though the scent disappeared and the dogs couldn't continue. In a statement to the press, Sergeant Deon Cockrell said, right now we have no indication of any foul play at all. We don't know if maybe somebody picked him up or if he just wandered to an area we haven't searched or found yet. So the initial search for Jason went on for several days. Local authorities called in scent dogs, dive teams, helicopter teams, drones, like all of the other like full court press. - Full court press, yeah. But unfortunately, days passed without any sign of Jason or any clue as to where he'd gone. Investigators even had the marijuana in the joints tested to see if it had been altered with any additional substances, like maybe hallucinogens, but that was also a dead end. So within a few weeks, the investigation pretty much went cold and without any new leads or evidence of foul play, the case was sadly moved to the back burner to allow enforcement officials to focus on other more pressing matters. I always feel like such an asshole saying that. - Well, just 'cause that's how they word it. But it's like, I can't imagine being a family. - And it happens to them all the time. - Yeah, like all the time. - And it's like, it's the way it works. - And then they must feel like super helpless. - But it's awful. - Yeah. - So weeks turned into months. And then before anybody knew it, the first anniversary of Jason's disappearance had arrived. And his family was no closer to finding him than they were on the day he went missing. His father said, "Being left a year later without any answers has been difficult. We just want answers. We want to know what happened to ourselves." - Yeah, of course. - Now the best theory that detectives could come up with was that Jason was under the influence when he left his apartment, which they believed explained any peculiarities with the case. Captain Jeff Ferry said, "All signs point to us that he's under the influence. And we know that he's gonna get in the car and try to navigate his way to Missouri City where his parents are not expecting him. He was not due home. He was going to hang out with buddies, play video games and get high." That was his theory. - Yeah. - But when it came to what happened after the crash, he didn't really have a theory. - 'Cause it could be any number of things. - Yeah. - And that's a good-- - Well, that's a family's worst nightmare, though. - Yeah. - The fact that, yeah, it could be anything. - That it's such an open-ended, like, I don't know what happened here. - And then like we always say, your brain's gonna fill in the blank space. And it's like, you're gonna come up with the worst possible conclusions. I feel so bad for them. - I know. - Now while the evidence collected at the scene failed to provide any insights into the disappearance, new theories were emerging from amateur detectives, of course, who are following the case online. A lot of people noted that Jason's newfound spirituality might've had something to do with the disappearance. And that theory actually was strengthened by evidence collected from his computer and his phone. Called well-accounting Sheriff's Office, Captain Jeff Ferry told reporters, and apparently this is some of these Google searches are happening in the minutes leading up to the crash. - Yeah. - He said, "Jason is Googling, "how long can you live in the woods without food? "How long can you go in the wilderness?" He's looking up some spiritual enlightenment practices. He's looking up different strains of marijuana and how to combine those. He's talking about psychedelics and how they have impacted his life and his perception of spiritual awakening. There are communications with individuals where he talks about his intent of reaching the spiritual enlightenment through use of narcotics. So does that play a factor into his disappearance? We think so. - The fact that he was Googling how long can you live in the woods and like all that stuff? - Yeah. - And he's in this rural area. He turned off ways, which he tended to rely on. - Yep. That tells a different, a little bit of a different story that is for sure. - It does. But then on the flip side of things, his dad was saying like, "What if you were reduced to your strangest Google searches "in the hours before you went missing?" - That is such a valid one. - And I was like, you just say. - That would suck for me. - Honestly, because there's times when I will literally just be like, "I have a weird random question." - I'm curious. - I have a randomly Google it and I have thought before like, not if this was my last one, but I'll think like, damn, if somebody looked at my Google search history right now and saw that, they'd be like, "Why did you think of that question?" - Yeah, no, I think a lot of Google can relate to that. So like, with context that he is like, you were just saying in a rural area and it was a little strange. - Yeah. - Like, that feeds into that. - And it's a theory. - But on the flip side of things, I think it's important to look at it both ways. - Yeah, I mean, my search history is insane. - Yeah, we would know. - We're on a list somewhere. - Yeah, exactly. But just because of what we do. - Well, and also just my random curiosity. - It's soundly same. - And my kids' random curiosity. (upbeat music) - Now by the time the third anniversary arrived, the case had been handed off to the newly formed Texas Attorney General's cold case and missing persons unit. - Dang. - I hope they use an acronym. - Yeah. - But at that point, there wasn't a lot of hope for new developments. There are, you know, any promising leaves. - Yeah, there's not a lot to go on. - So meanwhile on social media, the case found new life with thousands of users hoping to solve this mystery. There was like a dozen Facebook groups dedicated solely to Jason's case. And there were roughly 50,000 active users who were just regularly going through every single detail trying to figure something out. - And sometimes that can be really helpful. - I think in this case, it actually was helpful because it like kept the case alive. - Yeah. - In a way, you know what I mean? - And sometimes fresh eyes, man. - Yeah. Now in a lot of cases, the online sleuths put their enthusiasm for the case into action. People were spending weekends researching, participating in searches. One resident from Houston, Jim West, and others interested in helping, even invested their own money in the search activities. Jim West alone invested more than $50,000 of his own money into the search. - Jim. - Jim's a real one. - Wow. - He said it's as if a UFO came down, sucked him up into a beam of light and flew away. The deeper you go, the stranger it gets. - It is a strange case. - It is. It's not cut and dry. - No, it's not at all. Now, each new piece of information that was released to the public only seemed to fuel speculation online. With a lot of people feeling like there was something more nefarious going on than just a missing college student. For example, a few years after Jason went missing, investigators disclosed that the scent dogs had tracked Jason's scent to a small pond on a private property. And they showed no, and this is a quote, no deviation whatsoever on a hot, hot trail. But when the pond was drained and the muddy pit was searched by detectives, there was no sign of a body or any kind of remains whatsoever. - That's so weird. - When it raised the question, why would the dogs be so convinced that there was a target in a pond when there was nothing there? - Did he go there first? - Well, the explanation could actually even be simpler than that. The handler, Sean, Hans Strider said, we've talked to a scientist that has suggested something in the oil production process when mixed with water is creating the illusion of human decomposition. - What? - It's almost like a chemical kind of reaction. - That mimics human decomposition? - Yeah. - Or at least the smell of it. - Narly. - So with not a lot of places to go, eventually the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office reached out to Kim Rosmo, a former homicide detective from Vancouver. And this investigators insights and work actually led to the capture of serial killers like Robert Picton. - Whoa. - And also the identification of Banksy. - What? - Yeah, so I'd say if you're gonna call in any one, this is the guy to call in. So his first step was to recreate the scene where Jason had gone missing. Start right at the beginning. He waited until a night when the temperature was pretty similar to the night that Jason disappeared. And then he removed his own shoes and started walking on the gravel road that Jason was believed to have traveled down. And he said, "I made it 10 steps before I said fuck this. It was too painful." - I mean. - Yeah. - Which makes sense. - It's interesting. Now, it turned out that the unforgiving environment was not the only hazard that Jason might have encountered that night. The area where the car was abandoned is essentially miles of privately owned oil fields. Oh. - I don't know if you know anything about like oil folks. - About oil? - They'll fuck around. - Yeah, I've heard. - So when Rosmo tried to speak with some of the oil workers, he was not with varying levels of disinterest and even hostility. - Awesome. - Especially from one landowner in particular, Stuart Cardo, who literally threatened him with a shotgun. Get it together. - Yeah. - Like get it together. It's just somebody asking questions because somebody disappeared near my property. - Get it off my property vibes. - That's wild. - Serifier. - Rosmo asked around at the sheriff's office and found out that Carter had quite the reputation for violence in the area. - I'm shocked. - He shot a man's dogs. - What? - For being on his property, I guess. - Again, I say get it the fuck together. - There was also an incident where he shot his own son during an argument. - No. - I'm out. - Yes. - I'm out on him. - Not the guy's-- - No. - Not the guy you want to stumble onto his property. - I think he's going to help you with this. - Later on, Carter himself denied pointing a gun at Rosmo and claimed that he thought the man was a drunk trespasser. - Mm-hmm. - I was like, okay. - Okay, whatever you say. - The confrontation really didn't lead to anything, but it did raise new questions about whether Jason might have stumbled onto somebody's living in the middle of the night and was possibly shot and killed as well. - Because if you're willing to do that. - Yeah. Even Stuart Carter himself agreed that that was a distinct possibility. - I mean, here you go. - He himself said, if it was a woman, people would probably think she was in distress. If it was a naked man, I think it's safe to say he could wind up dead. - I mean, yeah. - Which is like, knowing what you know about that. - And that to realize that though, in the middle of the investigation, that's so horrifying. - Yeah. - So after reviewing all the evidence, considering all the possibilities and applying a little deductive reasoning, Kim Rosmo eventually came to a similar conclusion as local investigators though. He figured Jason Landry had almost certainly died of hypothermia. And he believes that after the accident where Jason could have sustained injuries like a head injury, he got out of the car, eventually started walking back toward town for assistance. And given the way he was dressed, because remember, he was wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and like slides. - Slides, yeah. - It wouldn't have taken long for hypothermia to set in. It was between like mid 30s to low 40s, that night, Fahrenheit. During hypothermia, we've talked about this before. Blood vessels in the extremities can strict to keep the body's core from losing heat, but they can't do that for long periods of time. So eventually the blood flows back into the extremities and that causes hot flashes. I think we talked about this specifically when we covered the diet-loved cast. - Yeah, we absolutely did. - And it leads to what's called as paradoxical undressing, where the hypothermic person attempts to combat the hot flashes by removing all of the uploads. And you're not in a typical state as well. - Yeah, exactly. So he noted that Rosmo, that the process of paradoxical undressing is often followed by what's referred to as terminal burrowing, which is a primitive behavior in which warm-blooded animals seek out small enclosed spaces to help keep them out of the cold. - Yeah, which I mean, like they tell you to do anyways, if you're in like an avalanche or something like that, like a burrow, essentially. - Exactly. It's a pretty strong theory. And if the theory was correct, Jason easily could have wandered into the dark. If his brain was likely becoming increasingly numb and fogged, then maybe he found some hidden space to hide in and was still there and they just hadn't found it yet. - Damn. - Once he stopped moving, it wouldn't take long for his body to succumb to the cold though. And if he was in some remote location, like in a section of brush or bushes, it was more than likely that animals could have consumed his remains and maybe scattered whatever was left, which could explain why they hadn't found any bones up to that point. - Damn. - It's a horrible conclusion. - I mean, there's no good conclusion here. - I was just gonna say that. - Now, the thing that drew so many people to Jason's case are the things that drew them to Jason as a person himself. - Yeah. - He was bright, he was warm, he was inviting. According to everybody who knew him, he was quote, "Not afraid, always making friends with people just a good dude." And he was somebody who, no matter what, found himself in an awful situation. And everybody kind of knew someone like Jason, so it wasn't difficult to imagine something similar happening to someone they knew. - Yeah. - And that's what drove people to want to help the family and figure this out. And of course, there were also just people who were drawn to the mystery of the case. In November 2023, just before the third anniversary of the disappearance, the key investigators on the case met for what they called a round table case review. And after a lengthy discussion and a thorough review of the case, they collectively concluded that quote, "All credible leads and investigative steps have been pursued." And although they still publicly expressed their commitment to closing the case, it was being completely shelved at that point for all intents and purposes. - That's hard. - And for his family, that announcement was exactly devastating. - Now, after years of waiting for answers, they pretty much resigned themselves to the near certainty that Jason wasn't alive anymore. But there was a small part of them that held out hope that they would someday receive some kind of information. - Anything. - Now, that day finally came just recently in September, 2026, when a Lulling resident or Lulling resident discovered human remains about five miles from the crash site. - That is crazy to me. - Five miles. - On September 23rd, 2026, the Texas Attorney General's Office released a statement confirming that those remains were Jason Landry's remains. - That's unbelievable. - Now, I said at the beginning of this, and I think I said it throughout, like, there's still questions. Because unfortunately, the degree of decomposition and decay made it pretty much impossible to determine a cause of death. - Yes. - Skeletal remains are tough. But at the same time, the coroner didn't indicate any evidence of foul play because they can't that yeah because even like anything on the bones you could trace back to an animal exactly and after six years I mean come on yeah and also obviously my first thought and probably some of you listening how were those remains sitting there for six years and nobody found them after all those extensive searches drones helicopters dogs yep that was my first response I was like no that makes no sense yeah but there's also an answer for that gene robinson a drone pilot with Texas ecu search I believe I think it's called he assisted in the search and he told reporters that the site where Jason's remains were ultimately found was just about a mile outside of their established site that is yeah that's oh yeah that's so close it's so and to know that like the whole time for six years he was likely right there wow like that's awful when asked for comment Kim Rosmos said I think this is a case we have much to learn from I think for me one of the most important things about this case is how crazy it got with all the wild tangents and theories everything from Mexican cartels to other types of nonsense to there could have been vultures it just got to the point where that might have damaged the ability to find him sooner and I think that's important yeah I think so Jason's mother Lisa said I never thought we would be here I never thought we would have so much support and I never thought that support would be so strong about six years after their son went missing their final the family is finally able to lay him to rest which is at least partially due to the communities of people online and the people in person who showed up to support them which that's a good example exactly exactly so that is unfortunate the end of the disappearance of Jason Landry I'm so glad that they have some kind of closure anything in a place that makes it easier for them visit him that's a thing like not his body yeah not having his body must have been torturous horrific yeah and it's like but I I just like you wonder what actually happened you know like that it's it must be I imagine it must be a little hard to not know what those final moments were yeah I can't imagine but I'm really glad that they have some kind of personally I do feel like the hypothermia theory is it makes the most sense one especially if you think that like if you're open to the possibility that he could have sustained a head injury because I think that would make it that much worse and it could be something as simple and I mean simple in the way that it's not like cracking your head open as like a concussion exactly obviously a concussion is not simple but it can be as as easy to get as your head banging into something or just your head whipping forward right could cause a concussion right and then he's already just oriented then he's going out into the elements where he's going to become more disoriented and then you have like the paradoxical on dressing mm-hmm it makes a lot of sense to me and it's still and it's strange that he was going to his parents house unannounced at that time at night it is weird that's a strange to me but again I don't know if this was something that they would look back on and go like yeah it's just kind of I don't know I don't know if they've ever commented on that I didn't see anything yeah I do wonder if that's something they've ever been like huh I wonder why he was doing that yeah so like that just at the timing like leaving at 11 pm and it's like two and a half hours away yeah I was like and it sounded like he had plans with a friend yeah like why wouldn't you have just waited for the morning if you wanted to go stay with your parents for a little bit I don't know and he obviously planned to stay there for a little bit yeah I mean maybe he liked a night time drive who knows maybe I mean I like a night time drive too so that's why I thought of it yeah I can't really I don't know yeah he was planning to stay for a couple days yeah it seemed like at least with like yeah packed like bringing his fish yeah the fish and everything you know yeah because otherwise you could just kind of feed the fish and leave yeah if you're going for like the day or the night no there's definitely questions that are strange but I'm just glad that there's some kind of cap for the family I agree you know I think we need a fun fact after that because it's case no matter what yeah did you know that the ancient Romans used to drop a piece of toast into their wine for good health and that's why we raise a toast oh my god I've never thought about why it's called a toast I've never thought of that either because they certainly never thought it was legitimately just toast straight up toast damn how fun is that that's cool I like that oh I can't wait to tell my oldest about that oh honey very into Greek mythology and all things like that yeah so I like it she'll be impressed I like it a lot damn I do wonder did they then eat the toast that was wine soaked might be good hey I was like dipping your ice to dip my saltines into waters that's the thing so you really can't and it's it might be you know you dip bread into sauce and stuff and it's like tomato soup it's good yeah good wine great soup I guess I don't know yeah worth a try that's why we call it that yeah that's cool the more you know I like that well people we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird that's weird that you don't put some toast in your drink yeah do that keep it that keep it that weird yeah bye bye (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)