TX TX - Jason Landry, 21, en route from TSU to home, car found crashed at Luling, 14 Dec 2020

[MsBetsy]

Does anyone have good pictures of the front of the car? Is the theory that he hit a tree, spun out, & then the back of the car hit the tree? I am just not understanding how the car spun out after hitting a tree head on. Wouldn't the tree cause the car's momentum to stop? Maybe I am misunderstanding the theory of the crash. IMO

I think he lost control of the car, spun around, and then the car made contact with the trees. Most of the damage was to the drivers side bumper, trunk, and side of the car. Imo

I was involved in a similar accident except we hit a concrete wall inside a tunnel. The damage was similar. The trunk flew open and everything inside ended up on the road.

 

[Jackielee09]

He might've had an iPhone: if you look at his most recent tweets, they show as being sent via "Twitter through iPhone."

https://mobile.twitter.com/jasonlandry_?lang=en

He also could've had more than one phone and more than one laptop/computer.

I’m thinking maybe burner phone. Maybe he took that one w him. If he wanted to get away from his life and especially if he thought he was in trouble

 

[ElementalLaura]

The backpack was found 100 feet south of the car. Not sure what "filled with narcotics" really means, but a wallet was also in the backpack.

Backpack, Fox 7 News video:

Backpack filled with narcotics found near missing man's car

A couple of notes:

1. The title of the video is “Backpack filled with narcotics...” but the video shows the report, which states “Black backpack found approx 100 feet south of crash location on the road which contained narcotics and wallet suspected to belong to driver of vehicle.” If the report language is the sole basis of the news report, “filled with” narcotics implies a larger quantity than may be the case.
2. At 1:05 in the video, a damaged tree trunk is shown with no reference. Is that the tree that was initially hit by the front of the car?

 

[diggndeeperstill]

The backpack was found 100 feet south of the car. Not sure what "filled with narcotics" really means, but a wallet was also in the backpack.

Backpack, Fox 7 News video:

Backpack filled with narcotics found near missing man's car

I took the liberty of a screengrab from the newscast.


Also quoting the reporter who is discussing Jason's father, Ken.

"Tuesday Ken noted he did not know about the drugs found in Jason's backpack and stated that any parent would be naive to be shocked that a college student had drugs in his or her backpack".

 

[diggndeeperstill]

This brings up questions for me. Unfortunately questions about how this was handled.

1. Why the statement that drugs and alcohol were not thought to be a cause for the crash? How can you say that after finding narcotics in a backpack.
2. When did they find the drugs and was this ever in the possession of the parents? Or was only the items in the car in possession of the parents? Meaning was it missed the night of the accident?
3. Would they have entered the vehicle through the back window? They said they couldn't inventory it because it was locked. Did they look in the trunk then?

I am also wondering in my head how the relationship is between Caldwell County Sheriff's Office and DPS? Might be interesting to look up. (I haven't, but I am curious).

 

[Gemmie]

found this article/video in the media thread in which the father describes the crash:

He also thinks it is possible his son could have suffered from some type of concussion in the crash.

“Oh without a question,” said Kent. “Because [the car] actually ended up going sideways and hitting trees on his driver’s side. [There’s] no side impact airbags on his car, it’s an old car.”

Father of missing Texas State student continues searching for answers

In my opinion the father is speculating, it is NOT "without a question" as he said. I rolled my car down an embankment, and it either had NO airbags, or if it did, they didn't deploy, and I did not have a concussion. I was fine other than confused right after the incident.

 

[You'reTerribleMuriel]

I’m thinking maybe burner phone. Maybe he took that one w him. If he wanted to get away from his life and especially if he thought he was in trouble

I've thought about this scenario. Would that mean that someone was an accomplice and picked him up from the scene?

 

[HouDat]

A couple of notes:

1. The title of the video is “Backpack filled with narcotics...” but the video shows the report, which states “Black backpack found approx 100 feet south of crash location on the road which contained narcotics and wallet suspected to belong to driver of vehicle.” If the report language is the sole basis of the news report, “filled with” narcotics implies a larger quantity than may be the case.

I would be shocked -- SHOCKED, I SAY -- that a gumshoe news type would ever exaggerate in order to help a story bleed.

 

[sunflowerchick]

I haven't followed this case and I have only read a few posts. Is there a reason why we don't think his body will be found somewhere near the wreckage? IIRC there was a recent case in Oregon where they found the young man's body near the crash site weeks after his accident AFTER searching multiple times.

 

[Rosiebones]

This brings up questions for me. Unfortunately questions about how this was handled.

1. Why the statement that drugs and alcohol were not thought to be a cause for the crash? How can you say that after finding narcotics in a backpack.
2. When did they find the drugs and was this ever in the possession of the parents? Or was only the items in the car in possession of the parents? Meaning was it missed the night of the accident?
3. Would they have entered the vehicle through the back window? They said they couldn't inventory it because it was locked. Did they look in the trunk then?

I am also wondering in my head how the relationship is between Caldwell County Sheriff's Office and DPS? Might be interesting to look up. (I haven't, but I am curious).

The wallet, along with scattered clothing was initially reported to have been found outside the car. Now, it is said to have been found in the black back pack with narcotics on the ground nearby. Which is correct? If it was in the backpack, then LE would have known from the first hours that there were drugs at the scene.

 

[Jackielee09]

I've thought about this scenario. Would that mean that someone was an accomplice and picked him up from the scene?

Maybe he called someone to pick him up.

 

[ElementalLaura]

This brings up questions for me. Unfortunately questions about how this was handled.

1. Why the statement that drugs and alcohol were not thought to be a cause for the crash? How can you say that after finding narcotics in a backpack.
<RSBM>

This still bothers me. Even if you didn’t want to mention the narcotics for whatever reason, it seems much wiser to defer the question: “We need to locate the driver to determine the cause of the accident.” (For example).

I could read back and see when the initial statement was made (before the backpack was found, perhaps?). Though the report states it was found “on the road,” which implies it wasn’t in a hidden or hard-to-see-in-daylight location, and this seems to be the initial report, which must have been filed within a day of the accident, I would think Dec 14 or 15).

Reiterating the statement after the drugs must have been found just seems like poor decision making, which I would not expect from experienced LE.

 

[renarde]

This brings up questions for me. Unfortunately questions about how this was handled.

1. Why the statement that drugs and alcohol were not thought to be a cause for the crash? How can you say that after finding narcotics in a backpack.
2. When did they find the drugs and was this ever in the possession of the parents? Or was only the items in the car in possession of the parents? Meaning was it missed the night of the accident?
3. Would they have entered the vehicle through the back window? They said they couldn't inventory it because it was locked. Did they look in the trunk then?

I am also wondering in my head how the relationship is between Caldwell County Sheriff's Office and DPS? Might be interesting to look up. (I haven't, but I am curious).

The firefighters might've caused part of the damage to the rear of the car when they tried opening the trunk. Maybe they also broke the back window in the process.

 

[MntnHiker]

I don't know, I am still so baffled by this. I feel like for the backpack to be 100 feet away (was it in the direction of town/the direction they thought he walked?), he likely would have carried it to that spot. Unless a window was down in the car and it flew out while he started spinning, but I find that unlikely. Why drop the bag there?

1) Maybe someone DID come along on that road and he planned to get a ride with them back to town but was nervous about bringing a backpack with drugs in it in this person's car so he dropped it right there? (Obviously in this scenario, the person would have had to do something nefarious to him because he is still missing).

2) He started walking with the backpack and for some unknown reason dropped it. The weird thing is, why not take your wallet at least? Even if you were worried about walking into a store or something with drugs in your bag, you could leave that at the scene and take the wallet.

3) He just thought better of the situation, maybe nervous he'd run into a cop or something and get in trouble, so he left everything at the scene and vanished.

I don't know. It's just odd to me. And of course we don't know what the "narcotics" are or how much there were of them. Like some have pointed out, technically weed could be described that way ,though it usually isn't. Though if it's illegal in TX, he could still be concerned about being found with it.

All just my own opinions and guessing

 

[HouDat]

This brings up questions for me. Unfortunately questions about how this was handled.

1. Why the statement that drugs and alcohol were not thought to be a cause for the crash? How can you say that after finding narcotics in a backpack.

Sheer speculation here, but given the fact that they did find blood in his car, I would assume A) it was tested to determine that it was his; and B) that there was no evidence of alcohol or drugs in that blood.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

I am sure his father would know if his car had side impact airbags. I am not disputing that. Just noting that side impact airbags were optional on the 2003 model Nissan Altima.
2003 Nissan Altima Press Kit
Other 2003 options and packages include the Convenience Package, Convenience Package Plus, Premium Convenience Package, power glass moonroof, as well as optional side air bags/ABS combination and side air bags/ABS/Traction Control combination.

Responding to myself because I found this article/video in the media thread in which the father describes the crash:

He also thinks it is possible his son could have suffered from some type of concussion in the crash.

“Oh without a question,” said Kent. “Because [the car] actually ended up going sideways and hitting trees on his driver’s side. [There’s] no side impact airbags on his car, it’s an old car.”

Father of missing Texas State student continues searching for answers

In my opinion the father is speculating, it is NOT "without a question" as he said. I rolled my car down an embankment, and it either had NO airbags, or if it did, they didn't deploy, and I did not have a concussion. I was fine other than confused right after the incident.

 

[happyday]

Admittedly, I am only through a portion of the thread but I might be able to offer a view from a college-aged kid. I am in my mid 20's now but I grew up in Chicago and went to school in Iowa. I learned how to drive on well-maintained, lit, and heavily trafficked roads. I always used I80 to travel to and from and never ventured to rural parts of the state to get home.

I literally had never seen a gravel road before moving to Iowa. I drove like a city person. I could see myself driving down a dark gravel-ish road that's not well lit and losing control of my 7 lb Nissan that I do actually drive. My Nissan is a good car for city driving, but that thing does not have great stopping power on anything other than a dry paved road and often fishtails.

If you are not used to unlit, unpaved roads, and 21 ish, I can see having a major issue when it comes to driving. Just my perspective as a city person moving to a state with huge rural areas, no way stating what could or did happen.

I agree it would be easy to lose control on a dark, gravel road, especially if not used to driving on them. My big question though, is WHY was he on that road going so far away from town in the wrong direction in the first place? It would have been clear within seconds that this was NOT the way to IH 10.

 

[You'reTerribleMuriel]

I haven't followed this case and I have only read a few posts. Is there a reason why we don't think his body will be found somewhere near the wreckage? IIRC there was a recent case in Oregon where they found the young man's body near the crash site weeks after his accident AFTER searching multiple times.

Texas EquuSearch seems confident that he is not in the search area. It's entirely possible he was missed or is a little further outside the search area.

 

[happyday]

I haven't followed this case and I have only read a few posts. Is there a reason why we don't think his body will be found somewhere near the wreckage? IIRC there was a recent case in Oregon where they found the young man's body near the crash site weeks after his accident AFTER searching multiple times.

Well I think it’s still most likely that he will be found somewhere nearby. BUT it’s surprising they didn’t find him b/c they brought in the absolute best right off the bat and did very thorough searches of a 2 mile radius. TES, dogs, horses, drones, helicopters. They’re still searching by drone apparently. LE sounded very confident he was not there when they called off the search to investigate his electronics. It doesn’t mean he’s not there, but it is definitely strange.

 

[Mary Ingalls]

Possible, but I have not seen ADHD meds referred to as narcotics. Rather, it’s usually mentioned as ‘controlled substances’ or simply ‘medication’.

Narcotics would typically mean opioids.

jmo

It would be extremely irresponsible for a news station to report ADHD meds as narcotics, but who knows these days.