Nearly six years after Texas State University student Jason Landry crashed his car and disappeared, authorities have identified the 21-year-old’s remains.
“This development marks a critical moment in a case that has weighed heavily on our hearts,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a Sept. 23 press release. “The Landry family has suffered an unimaginable tragedy, and they will remain in our prayers, especially during this incredibly difficult time.”
In the days leading up to his disappearance on Dec. 13, 2020, Jason spent time at his apartment filming social media videos, ordering Chick-fil-A and putting together a Christmas list that included “wacky and cool socks,” according to Texas Monthly, which interviewed his parents, Kent and Lisa Landry.
The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office said in a 2021 press release that Jason left his San Marcos, Texas, apartment at about 11 p.m. He was driving roughly three hours to his parents’ home in Missouri City, Texas.
He never arrived.
Less than two hours later, authorities found his car wrecked and abandoned on a remote Caldwell County road. Investigators concluded that Jason likely lost control after overcorrecting, sending the vehicle into two trees and a barbed-wire fence. The headlights were still on, the key remained in the ignition and the rear window was broken.
Later that morning, Kent found his son’s black shorts, marked by a single smear of blood, along with a red T-shirt, socks, underwear, sandals and a watch scattered about 900 feet from the crash site. “It is believed that the clothing discovered in the roadway was the clothing Jason was wearing prior to the collision occurring,” the sheriff’s office said at the time. “There is no indication that the clothing was removed under duress or threat.”
Authorities also said they found no evidence that Jason had been headed to meet someone or had communicated with anyone in the area.
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His baseball cap, toiletries and a tumbler containing his dead betta fish were found along the roadway. A backpack held his wallet, marijuana, computer and gaming equipment, while his phone—still powered on and transmitting a signal—was wedged between the center console and the driver’s seat, according to the sheriff’s department.
Investigators said Jason had stopped using Waze and switched to Snapchat while driving through Luling, Texas. For years, however, the 67-minute period after his electronic activity ended remained unexplained.
“If he was walking down the road to look for help, did he get hit by someone and they got scared and hid the body or something like that? I think it is a possibility, but I do not know,” Kent told CBS Austin in 2025. “All those are the things that run through your mind, all the different possibilities. Those are the things that keep you up at two in the morning.”
Even so, Kent said he never gave up hope that the case would be resolved.
“You’re always trying to chase after another possibility in the hope that the next time you’re out there it will be the answer,” he told the outlet. “They will find something.”
That answer came on Sept. 8, when a local resident discovered Jason’s skeletal remains several miles from the crash site. Authorities said the location was “just outside the search grids.”
DNA testing confirmed that the remains belonged to Landry, the Attorney General’s Office said. His cause and manner of death remain unknown, and officials said there is no indication of foul play.