Social Media Cybersleuths

If you get a rainy July 4th holiday or need a break from hosting guests, check out this article in Texas Monthly, “It Was Already One of Texas’s Strangest Cold Cases. Then a Secretive Figure Appeared: Jason Landry’s disappearance confounded the state’s top investigators. When thousands of online sleuths got involved, intrigue turned into obsession,” by Peter Holley.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/jason-landry-missing-person-texas/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ten_tabs&utm_campaign=FIREFOX-EDITORIAL-TENTABS-2025_07_01&position=4&category=fascinating_stories&scheduled_corpus_item_id=43974339-d668-4a99-b7d3-201d88166dc9&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasmonthly.com%2Ftrue-crime%2Fjason-landry-missing-person-texas%2F

You might have to give an email address to read it, but this publication is more generous than most in allowing a free read of one or two articles.

The story is about the mystery of the disappearance of 21-year-old Jason Landry the evening of December 13, 2020, in Luling, Texas as he was driving home from college. His wrecked car was found on the side of Salt Flat Road, which was a deviation from the route home. His clothing, watch, shoes and backpack were found near the car. No sign of him has ever been found.

Holley discusses the days and hours before Jason Landry’s disappearance, the apparent missteps of the official investigation, and the subsequent investigations of citizen sleuths as well as the “true crime fanatics” on social media. At part VII he begins a discussion of the strange interactions between participants from a Facebook group dedicated to Jason’s case. I think some of you might find it very interesting.

A number of things stuck out to me, and one of them was that when the Texas State Attorney General’s Office got involved for a time with the case, they would issue announcements on the anniversary of Jason’s disappearance and reassure the public of their “unwavering commitment” to the investigation.

Does anyone remember any similar announcements by law enforcement in the OCCK case? I remember that when the task force was shut down in December 1978 and every time there was a recorded passing of the torch to a detective or two at the MSP, it was more like–if we get tips, we will investigate them.

I don’t remember any “unwavering commitment” being expressed after December 1978. I do remember a certain MSP detective saying more than once that they were not going to do anything that would stir up “useless tips.” He wouldn’t have known a “useless” tip if if sat across the table from him. In Georgia.