AUSTIN, Texas — At the beginning of February, the body of Jason John was found in Lady Bird Lake. Now his family is pushing to increase safety along the trail.
According to a GoFundMe set up by Rinju John, Jason John's older brother, Jason John was with his friends on Rainey Street on Feb. 5 and left the surrounding area at around 2 a.m. The GoFundMe said he was caught on surveillance cameras shortly after, "though there are no camera trails since."
On Tuesday, City leaders and Jason John's loved ones, along with other family members of people who have disappeared near Lady Bird Lake, testified. They're asking City leaders to improve safety conditions near Rainey Street – and save lives.
"Nobody else should have to live with this lack of closure," said Tara, Jason John's partner. "And it could all have been prevented with cameras and lights on the trail."
Other parents say they want change within the area to stop future deaths from happening.
"It will happen again," said Chris, whose son disappeared back in 2019. "And it's up to you whether you want to have an answer for that next family or not."
Councilmember Zo Qadri (District 9) said he's already having conversations about the next steps. Quadri said he's focused on getting temporary lights installed until The Trail Conservancy completes its safety improvement project by the end of the year.
"The emergency blue light boxes that many folks have mentioned and halo cameras in the vicinity," Quadri added. "Because one thing that I do want to highlight that has been mentioned, is that there were no working cameras anywhere."
While it's unknown if the cameras could've saved a life, having the cameras could've at least answered a lot of questions.