It Was Already One of Texas’s Strangest Cold Cases. Then a Secretive Figure Appeared.

In this piece, Peter Holley provides an exhaustive account of the disappearance of Texas student Jason Landry. But this is more than just a narrative of the event—Holley also explores the fanaticism of the online sleuths who have spent years trying to solve this case. In doing so, Holley edges into the fanatical himself. A study of both a tragedy and a true crime obsession.

Online, Jason’s case is a puzzle to be solved, a tragedy whose befuddling details titillate as much as they trouble. But for the Landry family, it’s a nightmare with no discernible end. For Kent, the torment has lasted so long that well-wishers have begun to sound disingenuous. Sometimes it’s an acquaintance after a church service, other times someone who finds him online, but whenever he hears that his son is “okay” and “going to come home someday,” the compassionate man of God struggles to maintain his composure. “It’s been almost five years since my son went missing,” said Kent, who can always tell you the exact number of days Jason has been gone. “I want to ask them, ‘So is he being held against his will?’ Tell me a scenario that doesn’t make me want to go hurt someone.”