NE NE - Jason Jolkowski, 19, Omaha, 13 June 2001 - #2

[MatthewTyler]

Okay, I have to ask because it's been bothering me a bit, the more I think about the Samuel Sherman case, the more I begin to wonder- is there any actual proof that this guy even existed? I simply REFUSE to believe that someone the same age as Jason and in the same neighborhood disappears only a month later (while Jason's case was still hot) and it gets absolutely NO media attention. Unless law enforcement really is incompetent, there should have been more follow-up on him to some degree:
Who called him in missing? Shouldn't the cops at least have known that? Surely they had to have talked to someone
If they did talk to someone, could they have not gotten any more info? Did this person just let some total stranger stay with them?
Did they not check with any businesses to ask who recently interviewed a Samuel Sherman? They might have still had a resume on file with information on it.

It's odd just how similar Sherman's case is to Jason's. Both 19, same neighborhood, both involved with potential new work, gone within a month of each other, and heck even the initials JJ and SS. To me personally, this seems like either 1) Someone maybe called in a missing person named Samuel Sherman as a joke to ride the coattails of Jason's case because it was pretty famous (even using details similar to Jason's case) and obtain notoriety as a prank, or 2) Maybe someone involved or not tried to report a fake missing person in an effort to distract LE from Jason's case or to delay them by sending them on a goose chase.

Not exactly sure how this Samuel Sherman case even picked up steam at all, but again if someone reported it then there would have been a point to start on. There isn't even a solid address. If you type 3600 Bedford Ave into Google maps it shows a park. I know that they said he was staying on "that block" somewhere, but it's almost like they just needed a basic address to use as a general area so they used the one of the park. Perhaps someone just anonymously posted a missing report online and gave all fake details. Did the cops maybe know it was fake and that's why they didn't pursue it? I do feel bad if this kid is real and nobody cares to look for him, but so many things about his case seems fake the more I think about it.

 

[Alleykins]

Okay, I have a real problem with those disbelieving or discounting Jason's mother's information. I find it very disrespectful and condescending, and saying "no disrespect" doesn't excuse the behavior. If anyone should be in the "know" it would be her, she has been very active in his case. I also want to remind everyone that Kelly is a member of WS. Whether or not she still checks in from time to time, I don't know, I'm sure she's pretty busy with Project Jason, but when posting, please keep in mind that any family member of any one of these threads could be lurking. Please don't post something here that you wouldn't say to her in person; I highly doubt anyone would say some of what I've seen posted here if they were face to face. Thank you.

 

[Picachu]

Very strange to have no suspect in this kind of case. This wasn't some little boy who could be easily snatched or lured into danger, this was a 6'2" grown man.

Jason was described as being very trusting and "not streetwise" and as a person who "preferred to see the good in people". In other words, also most likely easily lured.
He was also described as looking younger than his 19 years, and we must in this regards keep in mind that it generally tends to be young or youthful individuals that the mentioned kind of predator focus upon, rather than a fixed specific age group as such. Hence also the vastly varying age ranges of the victims to the serial killers mentioned above; all ranging from the early teens to somewhere in the 20's and some even in their 30's - the only thing they each had in common was that they were all young.

Also necessary to remember is that factors such as size, age and sex really do not help you much if you are drugged or at weaponpoint, as also kelly pointed out in the interview. A painting example of that and of how easily Gacy subdued a 26-year-old adult male that he had just picked up from the street after having offered him a ride and a joint, you can read about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Rignall

This kind of abduction with dudes rarely happens. It's safe to say that if Jason was met by foul play then it was most likely someone he knew, but with the absence of any suspect or motive we're just going to keep beating our heads against the wall on this one.
Failing that, I think it was some kind of freak accident.

It is likewise statistically rare that heterosexual males abduct, rape and murder a woman, yet that fact is as we know no valid reason to rule out the probability of that type of crime to have happened in cases which contains circumstances pointing to the possibility of that type of crime. Those circumstances can of course then turn out to have been caused by some completely different scenario alltogetherly, but that a crime is less common really does not in itselft mean much.
For this reason, and in addition with known previous cases, it is neither by any means safe to conclude that it must have been someone Jason was acquainted with.

Just wanted to point these things out.^^

 

[John.121]

From what I've seen online, Jason was called into work early and during that same phone call he said he would walk. Then his boss called a few minutes later and told him that they would pick him up, to which I believe he easily accepted. Because he wasn't good with directions Jason arranged to have the co-worker meet him at the high school rather than her try to find his house. Not sure if Jason ever actually spoke to the female co-worker herself, or if this was just all arranged through the boss. I imagine the co-worker was already at Fazoli's when the boss told him they'd get him, and just sent her straight to the High school without her ever actually talking to Jason herself

Interesting. The part about him being bad with directions was why i was interested because i've read on several other threads people from the local area saying that the school and his house were really not far apart at all (6-8 blocks apart roughly) and since he'd walked that route many times before he'd be easily familiar with the directions from the school to the house. So i was wondering why the ride wasn't arranged to collect him directly from his address. But i suppose, yeah, if he was real bad with directions directing a car through the route over the phone would be more of a hassle than walking the route himself to meet them.

If his car had been in the shop for a while i wonder how many times he'd walked to work in the previous days. Could it be possible he'd got into some kind of confrontation on the way to work one of the other days and not told anyone about it because he was painfully shy. Or maybe he was being followed/monitored one of the other days he was walking. I haven't seen much about how he was getting to work the other days when his car was off the road.

 

[John.121]

Okay, I have to ask because it's been bothering me a bit, the more I think about the Samuel Sherman case, the more I begin to wonder- is there any actual proof that this guy even existed? I simply REFUSE to believe that someone the same age as Jason and in the same neighborhood disappears only a month later (while Jason's case was still hot) and it gets absolutely NO media attention. Unless law enforcement really is incompetent, there should have been more follow-up on him to some degree:
Who called him in missing? Shouldn't the cops at least have known that? Surely they had to have talked to someone
If they did talk to someone, could they have not gotten any more info? Did this person just let some total stranger stay with them?
Did they not check with any businesses to ask who recently interviewed a Samuel Sherman? They might have still had a resume on file with information on it.

It's odd just how similar Sherman's case is to Jason's. Both 19, same neighborhood, both involved with potential new work, gone within a month of each other, and heck even the initials JJ and SS. To me personally, this seems like either 1) Someone maybe called in a missing person named Samuel Sherman as a joke to ride the coattails of Jason's case because it was pretty famous (even using details similar to Jason's case) and obtain notoriety as a prank, or 2) Maybe someone involved or not tried to report a fake missing person in an effort to distract LE from Jason's case or to delay them by sending them on a goose chase.

Not exactly sure how this Samuel Sherman case even picked up steam at all, but again if someone reported it then there would have been a point to start on. There isn't even a solid address. If you type 3600 Bedford Ave into Google maps it shows a park. I know that they said he was staying on "that block" somewhere, but it's almost like they just needed a basic address to use as a general area so they used the one of the park. Perhaps someone just anonymously posted a missing report online and gave all fake details. Did the cops maybe know it was fake and that's why they didn't pursue it? I do feel bad if this kid is real and nobody cares to look for him, but so many things about his case seems fake the more I think about it.

Yep, i find it a bit strange too. Happened in 2001 yet there is not a single picture of this guy anywhere in existence online. When you look him up majority of the information on him seems to come from forums and people discussing and giving opinions on his case. Hardly anything official or 'formal' relating to his disappearance. Even the FB account with his name has no pic either. The area he was supposedly staying in doesn't look like the type of area that has drifters and people coming and going either, you'd think SOMEONE local would remember him if he stayed there for any period of time. Seems like an alias that someone local used for a while.

 

[MatthewTyler]

If his car had been in the shop for a while i wonder how many times he'd walked to work in the previous days.

According the podcast with his mother, that was the only time that Jason needed to potentially walk, only because he didn't initially have a ride because of the last minute call into work. She said it was too far and he never walked there before, but that she or his father used to drive him. Not sure how long his car was in the shop for before that day, but it's possible since this was only a part-time job that maybe that was his first shift since being without his car

 

[ekardh]

Jason was described as being very trusting and "not streetwise" and as a person who "preferred to see the good in people". In other words, also most likely easily lured.

None of which is cause to infantilize him.

He was also described as looking younger than his 19 years, and we must in this regards keep in mind that it generally tends to be young or youthful individuals that the mentioned kind of predator focus upon, rather than a fixed specific age group as such.

From the pics I've seen, Jason didn't look especially young for his age.

Also necessary to remember is that factors such as size, age and sex really do not help you much if you are drugged or at weaponpoint, as also kelly pointed out in the interview. A painting example of that and of how easily Gacy subdued a 26-year-old adult male that he had just picked up from the street after having offered him a ride and a joint, you can read about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Rignall

And how was Rignall subdued? Because Gacy had gained his trust with the promise of a free ride and some weed.

Jason was walking a few blocks to catch a ride to work. He had no reason to accept such a proposition from a total stranger.

It is likewise statistically rare that heterosexual males abduct, rape and murder a woman, yet that fact is as we know no valid reason to rule out the probability of that type of crime to have happened in cases which contains circumstances pointing to the possibility of that type of crime.

Young women are at far greater risk of a random abduction than men. Generally speaking, women are more vulnerable and more easily overpowered, notwithstanding the higher % of heterosexual killers.

For this reason, and in addition with known previous cases, it is neither by any means safe to conclude that it must have been someone Jason was acquainted with.

Never said it was. It is, however, the much likelier scenario of the two.

 

[Picachu]

None of which is cause to infantilize him.

Which I neither did? I simply just described him the way he had been described by his family; as trusting, not streetwise and preferring to see the good in people, which is something very different to being infantile. It simply just in varying degrees increases the likelyhood for a person with those characteristics to trust people, included people it might perhaps not have been a good idea to trust.

From the pics I've seen, Jason didn't look especially young for his age.

Also here I am only going by how he has been described to have appeared behaviourwise, and as I have only seen him on pics and never met him, I simply trusted that description of him as hopefully being correct.

And how was Rignall subdued? Because Gacy had gained his trust with the promise of a free ride and some weed.

Exactly, someone accepting the offer of a ride and a joint by an utter stranger, a method which as we see also worked very well, and as we also saw the age of the victim as an adult had no relevence whatsoever and was no match against a sudden and unexpected rag of chloroform showed in the face.

Jason was walking a few blocks to catch a ride to work. He had no reason to accept such a proposition from a total stranger."

Neither had I any reason to accept that earlier mentioned ride when I was only 2 blocks from home and by someone I had no idea who he was. Yet I did.
Thing is, that the viewpoint that Jason would have had no reason to accept a ride by a stranger just because he was so and so near this or that destination and was so and so many years old, is, as we know from known and recorded crime history where specifically this method have been very widely used to entice lone male walkers of a very a wide range of ages to follow utter strangers, simply not a valid viewpoint. If it had been valid, it hadn't been such a repeatedly and successfully used method.

Speaking of which, yet another prime example oi this regard is serial killer William Bonin, who drove around with his van on the lookout for lone walking youngsters who he then offered rides. These youngsters ranged everywhere from age 12 up to the age of 19 (that is, up to Jason's age). However, Bonin also serves as a good example for it not necessarily only being lure that may be used, and not only lone-operating predators, because sometimes he simply just bluntly ordered or forced them into the van with the aid his co-assisting buddies who were accompaning him on his rounds.

In short, there is NO way to say whether Jason would have accepted a ride or not by a stranger just because he had a meet-up waiting 8 blocks away and because he could have walked those blocks.

Also worth to once again mention in this regard, is that being shy can also actually make a person considerably more likely to be "compliant" to strangers than not, something which I can also attest to from personal past experience.

Young women are at far greater risk of a random abduction than men. Generally speaking, women are more vulnerable and more easily overpowered, notwithstanding the higher % of heterosexual killers.

Of course, which is also only natural as there are after all more heterosexual males in the world than bi and gay males, and therefore also more sexually motivated murders towards females. However, in this regards we must keep in mind that these 'statistics' are based on known crime cases - those cases which are on the other hand never solved are instead categorized as either "unsolved" or filed under the traditional old category "runaways". For example, Dean Corll's victims were all categorized as "runaways", too, and would also have remained in that category if Corll's crimes had never been discovered, something which undoubtedly also affects the statistics in these regards.
In addition to that, the numbers of both unknown as well as suspected further victims to known killers whose victims nevertheless remains unknown as they were never found, will likewise very often remain uncategorized as such murders/sex crimes and instead remain listed in any of the above categories; which again will inevitably affect the statistics.

In other words, just as other until just very recently widely believed "truths" such as that non-white serial killers are very rare (Not true), or the until only recently just as widely held view that female child molesters are extremely rare to non existent, likewise this category of crime is certain to be very different to its statistics in actual reality, as it is widely reliant on both how it is reported, categorized, and not the least also how widely informed the general public is by the media. And we do know that the media do have a varying recurring bias on preferring to report attractive female victims before male ones.

All this are factors who affect the registered so-called "likelyhood" regarding this type of crimes, and for which reason we, as said, can consequently also take for granted to be very different in actual reality.

Never said it was. It is, however, the much likelier scenario of the two.

Perhaps, but it could for the above reasons just as well also have been a total stranger, which could neatly explain the utter lack of any suspect and traces and be a fully possible alternative scenario to the theory of an hitherto undetected local acquaintance to Jason. Although the previously suggested scenario of a resident living in any of the homes along the road luring him into the house is definitely perfectly likely, too.


To add:
Maybe this is not the case, but it almost felt as if you took my previous post as an attack, which is unfortunate if such is the case because that was not how it was intended at all.

 

[ekardh]

To add:
Maybe this is not the case, but it almost felt as if you took my previous post as an attack, which is unfortunate if such is the case because that was not how it was intended at all.

Not at all. Everything's cool, brah.

 

[neesaki]

None of which is cause to infantilize him.



From the pics I've seen, Jason didn't look especially young for his age.

Maybe not so much young for his age, but he has a sweet innocent expression in the photos I've seen of him, which may cause some to describe him as looking young for his age. JMO

 

[Vital Forces]

My hierarchy is a Gacy-like predator followed by freak accident followed by workplace conspiracy.

If police look into predators who lived in the area around that time, whether they were registered as sex offenders at the time or not, they'll likely find their man.

 

[Picachu]

My hierarchy is a Gacy-like predator followed by freak accident followed by workplace conspiracy.

If police look into predators who lived in the area around that time, whether they were registered as sex offenders at the time or not, they'll likely find their man.

Well, according to the interview with Kelly, all the people at the work were 'definitely cleared' already early on into the investigation as having nothing to do with his disappearance. I know that it is not always a 100% guarantee that someone is cleared, but I think it at least gives a very promising hint.

As for offenders/predators, I don't know whether the police looked up each and every one of those who were registered and who resided in the area, but they evidently at least gave the scenario considerable thought given that they did at least one house search of a neighbor's home. It is however possible that they only looked into those whose registered offences they felt fitted or could fit the profile, so to speak.
Hmm....Should almost ask Kelly about that if ever having a proper opportunity. It is not exactly something to just drop her a mail about out of the blue.

 

[Vital Forces]

Well, according to the interview with Kelly, all the people at the work were 'definitely cleared' already early on into the investigation as having nothing to do with his disappearance. I know that it is not always a 100% guarantee that someone is cleared, but I think it at least gives a very promising hint.

I'm not a fan of the run-of-the-mill 19 year old pizza baker being the target of a workplace conspiracy to abduct and murder him theory either, but it can't be 100% discarded. It's only a step away from the "he left on his own" theory, though.

If he was the target of a predator, this person was likely a neighbor, a former teacher/school official, or someone he knew from church.

 

[MatthewTyler]

If he was the target of a predator, this person was likely a neighbor, a former teacher/school official, or someone he knew from church.

I'm curious if it could have been a former teacher. It's someone that Jason would have known and trusted. The teacher could have stopped to make small talk, Jason could have mentioned he was heading to the school and the teacher could have said he was heading there as well. Even if school was out for Summer, teachers might still have to go in for cleaning/meetings. So Jason gets in the car thinking he's going to the school with the teacher and then the bad things happen.

ETA: I wonder if there were any male teachers that left the school district shortly after Jason's disappearance...

 

[ekardh]

Still amazes me that there are no sightings of Jason, other than the neighbour who saw him taking in the trash. His journey took him through a residential area and possibly past a public park, but there weren't even unconfirmed sightings of a man matching Jason's description. Follow the route on Google Maps, look at all the houses Jason had to walk past to get to the school, but no one had even a vague recollection of seeing him? This would suggest that Jason was intercepted fairly early into his walk to the school.

 

[MatthewTyler]

Still amazes me that there are no sightings of Jason, other than the neighbour who saw him taking in the trash. His journey took him through a residential area and possibly past a public park, but there weren't even unconfirmed sightings of a man matching Jason's description. Follow the route on Google Maps, look at all the houses Jason had to walk past to get to the school, but no one had even a vague recollection of seeing him? This would suggest that Jason was intercepted fairly early into his walk to the school.

Well again, LE waited 10 days til after the disappearance to start questioning neighbors, so honestly even if they did see something they probably weren't sure what day or what the person even looked like. And also nobody was really paying attention or knew to be on the lookout for him at that point. I like to take walks around my neighborhood sometimes, and I pass some people but don't pay much mind. Even if I briefly look at them I probably wouldn't be able to recognize a photo of them if the cops showed me and asked if I've seen that person. I just simply don't store it to memory.

 

[Vital Forces]

Still amazes me that there are no sightings of Jason, other than the neighbour who saw him taking in the trash. His journey took him through a residential area and possibly past a public park, but there weren't even unconfirmed sightings of a man matching Jason's description. Follow the route on Google Maps, look at all the houses Jason had to walk past to get to the school, but no one had even a vague recollection of seeing him? This would suggest that Jason was intercepted fairly early into his walk to the school.

Does anyone stand around watching everyone who walks by in case their appearance might be relevant to a crime?

No one knew a crime/disappearance was occurring Wednesday morning June 13, 2001. Most people were at work and those who were at home weren't on the lookout for any kind of suspicious activity.

 

[ekardh]

Does anyone stand around watching everyone who walks by in case their appearance might be relevant to a crime?

No one knew a crime/disappearance was occurring Wednesday morning June 13, 2001. Most people were at work and those who were at home weren't on the lookout for any kind of suspicious activity.

There doesn't need to be a crime taking place in order to make a mental note of someone. Granted, many passerbys we see throughout the day don't register on our radar but often these details can filter through to the subconscious and be recalled with the right stimuli. There are countless missing person cases with unconfirmed sightings after the fact. A large number of those sightings might be false but the eyewitness still recalled seeing someone who matched the missing person's description, and they weren't looking for them at the time.

 

[Picachu]

I tend to agree with Ekardh on this. Of course I don't know about others, but had I been a neighbor looking out, or been walking on the road and just happened to cross track with Jason with so few other people, I had definitely remembered it even many years later, although perhaps some minor features had been a bit hazy when thinking back at the sighting. I had especially remembered the combination of black dress pants and black dress shoes + T-shirt and a Cubs cap.

I think the reason no one recalled seeing him after that initial sighting at the begining of the street, is simply because no one saw him after that. Depending on ho far he came along the road, it might either have been because most people were at work or occupied with something inside their houses, or, because he was intercepted early on and already during the first block(s).

 

[neesaki]

I'm curious if it could have been a former teacher. It's someone that Jason would have known and trusted. The teacher could have stopped to make small talk, Jason could have mentioned he was heading to the school and the teacher could have said he was heading there as well. Even if school was out for Summer, teachers might still have to go in for cleaning/meetings. So Jason gets in the car thinking he's going to the school with the teacher and then the bad things happen.

ETA: I wonder if there were any male teachers that left the school district shortly after Jason's disappearance...

Re: the bolded, I was just wondering the same thing. I was just thinking that yes, it could be someone from the neighborhood, or a former teacher, etc. But, that type of predator is typically a repeat predator. Hard to believe it was a one time occurrence. If they had stayed in the area there would have been other cases. So, where are they now?