Authorities are still searching for leads in the case of a missing Texas State University student who disappeared last December. Jason Landry, 21, was leaving TSU’s San Marcos campus on December 13, 2020 to drive home to visit his family for the holidays. He never arrived at his family’s home in Missouri City, and the family has been wracked with worry ever since.
The effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic are already more than enough to exacerbate the disappearance of a loved one, but Jason Landry’s family has the additional anxiety of disappearance under dangerous circumstances. Following the report of his disappearance, the missing Texas State University student’s car was found on a gravel road near Luling, Texas, totaled and abandoned. Even more distressing, Jason’s personal items, including his phone, wallets, and keys were found inside the abandoned vehicle. Law enforcement have told media outlets that they believe Jason made a wrong turn as a result of a malfunctioning GPS system and found himself swerving off the roadway in a remote area. “It’s a call that every parent fears. It’s our worst nightmare. To know that our son is out there hurting and we can’t fix it. But not knowing where he is or if he’s okay—it’s confusing and heartbreaking.” Jason’s father, Kent Landry, told Dateline.
Following the report of his disappearance, authorities conducted an initial search of the area for the missing Texas State University student. Roughly 900 feet from the site of the abandoned vehicle, authorities also found clothing items they believe Jason was wearing at the time of his disappearance. The search included the assistance of cadaver dogs, ground and water search teams, and involved the search of an abandoned home near the crash site, but were unable to develop leads regarding Jason’s whereabouts. Texas Search and Rescue responded to the request from the Caldwell Count Sheriff’s Office to assist in the search. Another search was launched only a few days ago, led by volunteers who are concerned for the missing Texas State University student.
Anyone with information about Landry’s whereabouts is urged to call 911 or the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office at 512-398-6777, or email Detective Jeff Ferry at jeff.ferry@co.caldwell.tx.us.
The family of missing UC Berkeley student, Sydney West is now offering a reward of $10,000 for any information leading to her safe return. The 19-year-old college student hasn’t been seen since September 30, 2020, at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. In a statement released by the San Francisco Police Department, Sydney Is described as “at risk” due to depression.
The parental anxiety of sending young adults out into the world is further exacerbated by the pandemic for many with children going off to college. While many parents are dealing with even less contact with their children in these times, Sydney’s family remained close with her while she attended college literally across the country. The missing UC Berkley student was actually very familiar with the town, having lived in the Bay area most of her life before moving to North Carolina. After her family was unable to contact her in the days following her last confirmed sighting, they reported her missing both in North Carolina and San Francisco. After four long months, her family is desperate for answers, prompting them to offer a financial reward for information leading to her safe recovery.
The missing UC Berkeley student has been described by her family as “a bright, kind, caring, talented, and athletic young woman,” who played volleyball and wrote music. Her disappearance was described as uncharacteristic of Sydney, who never would have disappeared without letting her family know where she was going. Sydney’s great aunt told Dateline, “We know someone must know something. We certainly hope it leads to her return. We have received multiple leads for which we are grateful. We hope someone who was on or near the Golden Gate Bridge the morning of September 30th who may have seen something will come forward with information. We need her home safe.”
In a prudent move by the family of the missing UC Berkeley student, Sydney’s family has opted to hire a private investigator to conduct an independent investigation into her disappearance, concurrent with that of law enforcement. The family has reported that they continue to receive tips about her disappearance, but nothing has “panned out as credible.” They also continue to utilize social media as a tool for spreading awareness about Sydney’s story. The “Find Sydney West” Facebook page has garnered more than 8,000 followers, and is populated by posts from friends and loved ones praying for her safe return home.
Sydney is described as being 5’10” tall and weighing 130 lbs. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a sweatshirt, dark-colored shorts, and slip-on blue Vans shoes.
Anyone with information on Sydney’s whereabouts is also asked to call the San Francisco Police Department 24-hour tip line at 1-415-575-4444, text a tip to TIP411
Missing person investigators in Alabama have recently closed the search for a missing mother and her two children following initial reports that they might be in danger. Kadance Cierra Hooper, aged 29, was last seen with her two young sons last seen Tuesday, February 16, 2021.
Kadence and her children went missing after she had picked up her oldest son from school on Tuesday. An already disturbing disappearance was further exacerbated by medical complications related to Kadence’s illness of multiple sclerosis, which is known to cause anxiety and depression. An alert was released by the New Brockton Police Department about the disappearance, stating “Mrs. Hooper is a 29-year-old white female and may be living with a condition that may impair her judgement.” Investigators had additional concerns about Kadance following a report that she had taken possession of two handguns prior to disappearing with her two young sons, leading investigators to believe she was armed and may be a danger to herself or her others. Investigators believed Kadance to have disconnected her phone, making it impossible for law enforcement to track her. Law enforcement placed a BOLO, or statewide alert on her vehicle, and advised the public that she may be armed and her judgement may be impaired.
After eight long days of searching, New Brockton Police were able to report that Kadence and her children were finally located, alive and safe.
When a loved one goes missing, consider hiring a private investigator to conduct a concurrent missing person investigation with law enforcement. This ensures that no stone will be left unturned and your family can get answers fast. Call Lauth Investigations International today for a free quote on our missing person services. Call 317-951-1100 or visit us online at www.lauthmissinstg.wpengine.com.
Have you ever seen a missing person TikTok? As an emerging platform, TikTok has already become a sensation, allowing creators everywhere to spread short content quickly to get likes, views, and subscribers. In recent years, TikTok’s wide audience and ability to share information fast has allowed its creators to also use it for the wide spread of information. In this way, the platform has become an ideal way to quickly circulate information about missing persons.
In 2002, Tiktok user Alicia Kozak was groomed online and subsequently kidnaped by a predator who held her for four days before she was finally recovered. She was 13 years old at the time, and believed the person she was speaking to online to be a boy her own age. In reality, it was a 38 year-old man named Scott Tyree. He groomed her over a year before luring her to meet him. He coerced her into his vehicle, then drover her across state lines from Pennsylvania to Virginia. An anonymous tip came into law enforcement about Alicia’s location. The FBI were able to locate Tyree’s IP address and thus his physical address where they successfully recovered Alicia.
Alica’s story was one of the first high-profile stories on the dangers of the internet and grooming behavior. Predators slide into chatrooms and private messages, ingratiating themselves to minors with the intention of luring them from the safety of their homes and into their captivity, taking kidnapping plots to an entirely different level. It’s a danger that not many parents were aware of at the time, and as a survivor, Alicia saw an opportunity to educate the public about internet safety. She started the Alicia Project, an advocacy group that toured around the nation, speaking to children in schools about remaining safe online.
Since the beginning of her advocacy, Alicia has moved her message online, using the power of the social media algorithm to raise awareness for other missing person cases. By its very nature, TikTok provides concentrated content in a finite amount of time, which can be ideal conditions for spreading awareness about a problem or a cause. A missing person TikTok has the potential to reach thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of people. When someone goes missing, a focused and strategic effort to share their face and story can go miles towards finding answers in their disappearance. You can learn more about using social media to locate missing persons here.
Have you seen missing mother, Crystal Marie Fry? For months, her family has been searching for answers following Crystal’s disappearance amid distressing circumstances in her personal life. After 90 days with no case progression, the family has turned to the missing person investigators at Lauth Investigations International to join the search for Crystal.
Crystal Marie Fry, 31, was last heard from on November 11, 2020. At the time of her disappearance, Crystal was living in Baltimore, MD with her boyfriend, the father of her two youngest daughters. On November 11, Crystal contacted her mother, Teresa Silverman, to explain some of the details of what she called the “worst three days of her life.” Crystal claimed someone had kicked in her front door, damaging it in the process, so she would be staying with the father of her oldest daughter until it could be fixed. It was during this time that Crystal reportedly claimed to be “afraid for her life.” The following day when she was expected to turn up to her mother’s home to explain more about the break-in, Crystal never showed up.
When she spoke to Lauth investigators, Teresa described her daughter as a beautiful mother who was always stepping up to help out, “She’s caring. If anything’s wrong, she steps right in and tries to help take care of people. She loves her girls to death.” Teresa advised Lauth Investigators that Crystal would never have gone this long without contacting her children, claiming that holidays and special occasions were very important to her. Crystal also shared passions for baking and cooking with her girls, who have been missing their mother for over three months.
The last person she was known to have contact with was the father of her oldest daughter, when she told him she got a flat tire on the way to his residence. In the weeks following their last communication, Teresa Silverman hit the streets, trying to find the location of her daughter’s last residence when she didn’t respond to messages. After days of searching, they were finally able to locate the townhouse where she had been staying in Baltimore where her car was parked out front—one of the tires still flat.
Since she reported her daughter missing, Teresa says her perception of law enforcement’s efforts to investigate Crystal’s case have been beyond disappointing, reporting difficulties getting updates on the case and a general feeling of apathy from police. Now she has contracted Lauth Investigations International to conduct an independent investigation concurrent with law enforcement to ensure that no lead is unexplored in her daughter’s disappearance. “The circumstances under which Crystal went missing are troubling, and our team is exploring multiple leads in her disappearance,” said lead investigator, Thomas Lauth. Lauth has over 30 years of experience investigating missing person cases of all types and is considered one of the country’s foremost experts in missing persons.
Crystal Marie Fry is 31 years old, is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weights approximately 135lbs and, has blue eyes and brown hair. You can donate to the GoFundMe for the independent investigation here.
Anyone with information please contact the Baltimore Police Department at 410-396-2221 or call 911.
A Georgia family is still searching for answers in the disappearance of a now 22-year-old mother Jessica Dietzel. Jessica went missing in mid-February last year before nation-wide attempts to lock down the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic began. Now, nearly a year later, law enforcement is reportedly no closer to finding the missing mother.
Jessica Dietzel was reported missing in mid-February, 2020 after losing contact with her family. She had been having problems with her cell phone, but had been using Facebook Messenger and other people’s cells to contact her mother, Kristina Johnson. Recalling their last conversation, Johnson said it was nothing out of the ordinary. “We spoke on the phone and she seemed fine,” she told Dateline, “But over the next few days, I tried to message her on Facebook and…nothing. She just never responded. It’s been a nightmare ever since.”
From the onset of the investigation, getting answers in the disappearance of Jessica Dietzel has been challenging. Due to the nebulous circumstances of her disappearance, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office has stated that the date of Jessica’s disappearance is unknown, projecting it to be any time between February 16 and March 1. According to Dateline, “APD authorities were informed that Jessica had been planning to visit someone who lives in a tent near Radium Springs Road next to the Flint River in Albany.” This lead resulted in LCSO working in tandem with Albany police to interview witnesses and follow up on a reported sighting of Jessica in Albany. In a joint effort between law enforcement and community, a search for Jessica was launched in the wooded area close to the river. Despite these efforts, no evidence was turned up of Jessica’s location.
By July 2020, all available leads in the disappearance of Jessica Dietzel still hadn’t yielded any answers. With so much time passing without answers, members of Jessica’s family began to question whether or not the LSCO was taking her case seriously or not. These family members have alleged that because Jessica has a history of substance abuse issues in the past, law enforcement is not prioritizing her case. Their suspicions are not out of the realm of plausibility—police departments have been known to drag their feet on missing person cases involving persons who have a history of substance abuse. Sometimes it’s the personal bias of the investigator against addicts that slows investigations, but investigators can also develop tunnel vision in cases where addicts go missing. Investigators may assume that the missing person is in the full swing of addict behavior and that they will eventually turn up. Whatever the reason, the amount of resources and attention on cases involving missing persons with any history of drug abuse can be severely lacking.
Chief Michael Parsley of Albany Police wants both the family and the public to know that they have not given up on Jessica’s case, “I would say those allegations are untrue. It doesn’t matter about your past with us. If anything, we want to know about your past. We want to know about any information that you may have so that it can help lead us to Jessica…I don’t want the family to feel that way. I hate that they feel that way, but every lead that they’ve given us, we’ve exhausted. Ms. Jessica, her disappearance is just as important as any other disappearance.” As they continue their investigation, APD has said that they might be re-interviewing relevant subjects in the case with new questions regarding the disappearance of Jessica Dietzel. In September of 2020, APD confirmed that new evidence had come to light that developed additional leads, but were not able to disclose what that evidence was.
In addition to raising a young child, Kristina Johnson also must budget her time and energy to multiple jobs and participating in the search for her daughter. Since her daughter’s disappearance, Kristina has been caring for her three-year-old daughter, Elena. Kristina told Dateline, “She looks exactly like Jessica…the same smile. It’s really heartbreaking. I don’t want her to grow up without her mommy.” It’s a truly wrenching sentiment after a year of missed holidays and special occasions that were punctured by Jessica’s absence. In addition to many other worry-stricken family members, Jessica’s disappearance is also deeply felt by her younger brother Mark, 21. Their birthdays are only a few days apart, and this year Mark was forced to celebrate a special day without his big sister. Despite the hole left by Jessica’s disappearance, the family remains hopeful that she will still be found.
Jessica is described as being 5’7”, 150 pounds with green eyes and long, straight blonde hair. The name “Elena” is tattooed on the left side of her chest near her collar bone. She has a nose ring in her right nostril, and a stud below her lower lip on the right side.
Anyone with any information on Jessica’s whereabouts is asked to call the Albany Police Department 229-431-2100, the Albany Area Crime Stoppers at 229-436-TIPS or the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at 229-759-6012
