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.
Since the disappearance of her two children over a year ago, the nation has been following the updates on “Mommy Doomsday” subject Lori Vallow Daybell. The Vallow Daybell saga has been a rollercoaster punctuated by death and tragedy that is now going to be the subject of a new true-crime podcast by Dateline. It’s the story of doomsday rhetoric, fanaticism, and murder.
People first heard the name Lori Daybell back in 2019 when her children Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were finally reported missing. The children had not been seen for weeks since Vallow elected to pull them out of public school, citing the family’s alleged move to a different state. After her children were reported missing, Vallow and her new husband, Chad Daybell, fell off the grid for weeks. Law enforcement finally tracked the couple down in Hawaii, with no sign of the children. Despite repeated assertions that the children were alive and well, Vallow was finally served with a court order to produce the children in January of 2020. The deadline came and went without any sign of the children and Vallow and Daybell were arrested.
In a heartbreaking development in the case, the remains of J.J. and Tylee were finally located in June of 2020 on Chad Daybell’s Idaho property after a search warrant was executed. “It’s not the outcome we had hoped; to be able to find the children safe. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of J.J. and Tylee,” the Rexburg Police Department stated in a press release.
The tragic deaths of the children are not the only factor in the case against Vallow and Daybell. Vallow’s late husband, Chuck Vallow, was killed in a domestic dispute between himself and Lori Vallow’s Brother Alex Cox, in which Cox claimed self-defense. Cox died in December of natural causes.
The events of the Vallow Daybell case were triggered in the fall of 2019 when Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell were not yet married. Chad Daybell was still married to his late wife, Tammy Daybell, who died only two weeks before Lori Daybell’s children disappeared. Chad Daybell described his wife’s affliction as “a bad cough,” subsequently passing in her sleep. This came as a shock to many who knew Tammy, knowing her to be a healthy individual who was training to run a marathon. Tammy Daybell was buried without an autopsy, and following the discovery of Lori Vallow’s children, investigators reopened the investigation into her death. While Vallow and Daybell await trial on charges related to the deaths of Tylee and J.J., investigators exhumed Tammy Daybell’s body to perform an autopsy. While the autopsy has been completed, the results still remain under seal as prosecutors continue to build a case.
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.
For over two years, the family of missing postal worker, Kierra Coles, 26, have been racked with worry over the disappearance of the missing mother—especially Karen Phillips, Kierra’s own mother. To further exacerbate the uncertainty, Kierra was about three months pregnant when she went missing in a case that has been described by Chicago police as “a high-risk missing person investigation with potential foul play suspected.” The most crucial clue in the case was a surveillance video that was believed to be the last confirmed sighting of Kierra Coles just before she vanished, but new information has come to light that could change the entire context of this case.
The surveillance video that was believed to be the last confirmed sighting of Kierra Coles was dated October 3, 2018 at 11:45 AM. At the time, many believed it to be Kierra, walking down the street wearing her postal worker’s uniform. Following her disappearance, Kierra’s keys and lunch were found on the front seat of her car, which was parked in front of the building where she lived. More than two years later, new information about the case has finally been made public. The neighbor handed over the surveillance video to investigators and Karen Phillips, Kierra’s mother, who was immediately concerned that something was not right about the video. “It’s a mother thing. You just know your child. That’s not her walk. She was a little bit smaller and a little bit shorter.” Phillips informed investigators about her feelings regarding the video, telling them that the woman in the video was not her daughter. Investigators took her concerns seriously, but in order to preserve the investigation, Phillips was asked not to tell anyone that she suspected the woman in the video was not her daughter.
In another twist, Phillips told NBC 5 that there are two more videos depicting her daughter from the night of October 2nd. One video from another neighbor shows Kierra leaving her apartment building with her boyfriend, Josh Simmons, who also works at the post office. They got into separate cars and drove off. That video was also turned over to the police. Another video from ATM surveillance camera showed Kierra withdrawing $400 from her account and giving it to Josh.
Chicago Police have refused to confirm any of the details regarding the additional surveillance videos, or Phillips’ assertion that the woman in the original video isn’t her daughter, Kierra Coles. They only confirmed to NBC 5 that they had a concrete timeline of Kierra’s movements on October 2nd before she went missing. The official statement from CPD states “The Coles case remains a high-risk missing person investigation with potential foul play suspected. At this point, anyone with knowledge of her of her last known whereabouts is asked to contact the Chicago Police Department, as we are seeking any and all information in an attempt to locate her and we won’t stop until we do.”
It has been over ten years since seven year-old Kyron Hormon was last seen. He disappeared on June 4, 2010, and was last seen at his school’s science fair. Kyron’s disappearance has been the subject of journalistic investigations, talk shows, and the largest criminal investigation in the history of the state of Oregon. His face is one of the most recognizable on the growing list of missing children who have still not been found.
At the time of his disappearance, Kryon’s parents, Kaine and Desiree Horman had been divorced for almost ten years. They had shared equal custody until Desiree was diagnosed with kidney failure that prompted medical intervention from the state, giving Kaine full custody. Despite having full custody, Kaine still heavily included Desiree in Kryon’s life.
In 2007, Kaine married Kryon’s stepmother, Terri Moulton. Moulton was reportedly the last person to see Kryon on the day he disappeared. Moulton took Kyron to school that day for his school’s science fair and attended the science fair with him. When it was time for school to start, Moulton left the school and reported that she saw Kryon walking towards his first class. One of the most curious inconsistencies in the case was that despite Moulton reported she saw him headed to class, Kryon was marked absent for that day of school. Law enforcement can confirm that Kryon was at the science fair that morning, because Moulton took a picture of Kyron in front of his project—the famous photo seen around the country when the search for Kyron was launched.
Moulton was able to account for her movements for most of the day, reportedly doing errands and caring for her daughter who had an earache. It wasn’t until Kryon’s father, Kaine, and Moulton walked to the bus stop to get Kyron when he got off the bus that afternoon. When Kryon did not get off the bus, the worried parents contacted his school to ask about his whereabouts. When they could not confirm that Kyron had been in that school that day, the authorities were contacted.
The extensive search for Kyron spanned over ten days and included a thorough ground search of the area surrounding Kryon’s school. By July of 2010, the reward posted for information leading to Kyorn’s safe return was up to $50,000. Despite the large reward, no arrest has ever been made in Kyron’s disappearance. The investigation did however yield several interesting pieces of evidence. Law enforcement was told by Kyron’s father that Moulton had offered their landscaper money to kill him, and subsequently conspired with him to kidnap and kill Kyron. However, police were never able to gather enough evidence to charge Moulton with Kryon’s disappearance.
Kyron would be 18 years old in 2020. When he was last seen, he had brown hair, blue eyes, and wore eyeglasses. If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the local tip line at (503) 261-2847, or your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.
Adults have the right to go missing, but do they have the right to go missing under suspicious circumstances? This is a question Alicia Gazotti has been asking herself for nearly a month since she stopped hearing from her daughter Mercedes Clement. Since the disappearance of her daughter, Gazotti has been pursing every possible avenue to get answers for her family. While investigators, family, and friends do their part to search for Mercedes, Gazotti is left wondering what circumstances must have befallen her daughter.
Mercedes Clement, 25, was last seen on October 11, 2020 around 11:00 in the evening, going into the apartment of an acquaintance on Empire Drive in Dallas, Texas. Mercedes was observed on surveillance footage entering the apartment of a male acquaintance. Due to a technical glitch, surveillance was not recorded between 1:30 am and 8am. It wasn’t until she stopped responding to phone calls and text messages that Alicia Gazotti and her family became worried. Mercedes’ car was found abandoned two days later, with her personal effects, including her wallet and keys, sitting on the front seat. It’s a piece of evidence that deeply troubles Gazotti. “This isn’t like all of the sudden she went to a friend’s house and no one can find her,” Gazotti told Lauth. “This is a girl who vanished into thin air. Cell phone’s gone, girl is gone. The car’s been abandoned. This is a different situation.”
When it comes to missing adults, law enforcement has an unfortunate challenge in terms of distributing investigators and resources. After all, persons over the age of 18 have the right to disappear, if they wish. However, it is unclear to Mercedes’ family why she would voluntarily drop off the grid. Gazotti told Lauth that Mercedes had completed her phlebotomy degree and was looking forward to taking additional courses to get more certifications. She had friends and hobbies she enjoyed, like horseback riding. In addition to parents and extended family concerned for her health and safety, Mercedes is also a young mother to a 5-year-old son. While it’s true that some missing adults have made the conscious decision to disappear from their former lives, Gazotti knew that Mercedes would never just disappear and leave behind her child, “She’s a mom. She just missed Halloween. She never misses holidays with her son.”
While Mercedes has experienced difficulties with mental health issues in the past, Gazotti told investigators that in the weeks prior to her disappearance, Mercedes was making plans for the future, both within her family and with friends. “She has a pair of friends who are expecting a newborn baby, and for the last few weeks, she’s been posting all over Facebook that she was looking for a good car seat for them, and she was so excited to give them that gift after the baby was born.”
Mercedes’ family is currently trying to raise money to fund the search for her and to offer a reward for her safe return. You can donate to the GoFundMe here. To help spread awareness of Mercedes’ case and keep her face in the public eye, you can go follow the Facebook page, Missing Person: Mercedes Clement.
Mercedes Clement is 5’6”, brown hair, brown eyes, and weighs 120 lbs. She has a C-shaped birthmark on her chin resembling a bruise. She has a thin build and was last seen wearing a black, spaghetti-strap tank top and shorts. Anyone with information can call the Dallas Police Department at 214-671-4268 with report number 191586-2020. You can also call the Lauth confidential tip line at 830-253-4070.
