{"id":445972,"date":"2026-09-24T06:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T06:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/445972\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T06:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T06:58:08","slug":"texas-state-student-jason-landry-remains-idd-nearly-six-years-after-he-vanished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/445972\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas State student Jason Landry remains ID’d nearly six years after he vanished"},"content":{"rendered":"

The remains of a Texas State University student who vanished after crashing his car <\/a>while heading home for Christmas have been recovered nearly six years later.<\/p>\n

DNA testing confirmed that skeletal remains found by a resident in Caldwell County \u2014 about 50 miles outside Austin \u2014 on Sept. 8 belonged to 21-year-old Jason Landry, according to the Texas Attorney General\u2019s Office<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Landry had been missing since Dec. 13, 2020, when he wrecked his Nissan Altima on a rural road in Luling and abandoned the vehicle during his road trip from San Marcos to his family\u2019s home in Missouri City for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Remains found in Caldwell County have been identified as those of 21-year-old Texas State student Jason Landry, who went missing nearly six years ago. Facebook\/Missing Person \u2013 Jason Landry<\/p>\n

Investigators found Landry\u2019s phone and wallet inside the vehicle when they located the crash site. They also found some of the student\u2019s clothing scattered around the area.<\/p>\n

Officials said the remains shed no new light on how Landry died, and that they have found no indication of foul play.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 18, the Caldwell County Sheriff\u2019s Office said it responded to a report of skeletal remains about a 10-minute drive from where Landry\u2019s car was found.<\/p>\n

The resident who found the remains was cutting grass on his property when he spotted what he believed was a ball \u2014 but it turned out to be a human skull, sources told KHOU 11<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Police, search teams and volunteers scoured the rural area on the ground and from the air \u2014 with Texas Department of Public Safety records showing aircraft flew grid searches around Landry\u2019s last known location.<\/p>\n

Landry had been missing since Dec. 13, 2020, when he wrecked his Nissan Altima on a rural road in Luling and abandoned the vehicle during his road trip from San Marcos to his family\u2019s home in Missouri City for Christmas. Facebook\/Missing Person \u2013 Jason Landry<\/p>\n

Despite countless searches, the 21-year-old remained missing for years. TEXSAR<\/p>\n

Landry\u2019s remains were discovered outside the area authorities had established for the search \u2014 despite search teams conducting more than 30 searches over the past six years.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the Texas Attorney General\u2019s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit took over the case.<\/p>\n

Officials said Landry\u2019s family has been notified.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis development marks 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,\u201d Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Cold Case Unit will continue fighting to solve cases and bring closure on behalf of Texas families and victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

A search team looking for Landry in May 2025. Facebook\/Missing Person \u2013 Jason Landry<\/p>\n

Officials said Landry\u2019s family has been notified. Facebook\/Missing Person \u2013 Jason Landry<\/p>\n

Shawn Hohnstreiter, co-founder of TEXSAR \u2014 a nonprofit search, rescue and disaster response service \u2014 said volunteers spent countless hours searching roads and fields across Caldwell County, and that finding Landry had become a big part of many of their lives, KVUE reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been searching for Jason for nearly six years now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After the remains were identified, Hohnstreiter returned to a memorial set up for Landry near the crash site and left a challenge coin \u2014 a symbol of closure for the volunteers and respect for Landry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a big moment in all of our lives on the TEXSAR side for many years,\u201d Hohnstreiter told the outlet. \u201cIt\u2019s one I believe also deserves the respect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The remains of a Texas State University student who vanished after crashing his car while heading home for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7748,863,2474,35517,27,29,28,1927,734],"class_list":["post-445972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-christmas","tag-colleges-and-universities","tag-missing-persons","tag-search-and-rescue","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-state-university","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}