NE NE - Jason Jolkowski, 19, Omaha, 13 Jun 2001 - #3

[CountSnap]

I know the middle school cameras were checked for sure, but not sure about high school. I would assume the high school cameras were checked too, but don't know for sure.

I'm not even sure if the cameras back then were good enough to check cars that drove by. Don't think license plate readers were a thing. Cameras back then were probably grainier. Plus a lot less places/homes had cameras compared to now, so doing any sort of vehicle tracking would be difficult, if not impossible.

It helps just knowing the middle school cameras were checked.
That narrows down the length as is because though his destination was the high school, he "could" have made it to the middle school. So that "should" conclude that he didn't.
Though as you said, old cameras can be extremely grainy. Most things are just like blobs moving around and you have to be an expert to make sense of any of it.

Anyway, that cuts it down a tiny bit.
We're at random houses and intersections. To LJ park, and his direct corner.

 

[CountSnap]

I know it's dreadfully pessimistic but I have a nasty feeling this one will never be solved. After almost 20 years, there hasn't been a single lead or piece of evidence to go on. Project Jason is now defunct and the case has gone cold. With respect to everyone (myself included) we're clutching at straws due to the lack of evidence. Not that I think we should ever give up. Quite the contrary, I keep coming back to Jason's chance on the off-chance there's a breakthrough. But I guess I'm coming to terms with the fact an answer looks unlikely. If it was foul play, whoever did it has obviously been able to cover their tracks. It would take a confession or Jason's remains being found on someone's property to blow it right open, but after all this time, what are the odds of that?

I hear you....
It looks unlikely.
But this one bothers me far too much to actually give up on.
We may be grasping at straws. But underneath that surface there are some things going on.
We have a couple of devoted people to this one that I think are going to get it done.
I'm hopeful. But I do hear you.
Never say die. Don't give up the fight...
Live the dream. Be the best you..
All that jazz
We're going to do this.

 

[kmiller2665]

I know it's dreadfully pessimistic but I have a nasty feeling this one will never be solved. After almost 20 years, there hasn't been a single lead or piece of evidence to go on. Project Jason is now defunct and the case has gone cold. With respect to everyone (myself included) we're clutching at straws due to the lack of evidence. Not that I think we should ever give up. Quite the contrary, I keep coming back to Jason's chance on the off-chance there's a breakthrough. But I guess I'm coming to terms with the fact an answer looks unlikely. If it was foul play, whoever did it has obviously been able to cover their tracks. It would take a confession or Jason's remains being found on someone's property to blow it right open, but after all this time, what are the odds of that?

I completely agree. It's going to be a deathbed confession or remains being found. And, I highly doubt remains will be found. I'm also pessimistic.

Since I'm from Omaha, lived in the area, attended that catholic school, played at at parks in the area, some of my childhood friends lived around there, plus all my dad's buddies from the men's club live around there... It just hits close to home so it's always in the back of my head.

 

[CountSnap]

Heck, for all we know he could have just got to walking and then decided not to go to the high school all together on his own.
No ride.
No friend right there.
Just got to walking and said heck with it.

Somewhat reminds me of my last day at a retail store.
Last day.... My boss called me and asked if I could come in early (so eerily similar to JJ)
I was a litttttle busy at the moment, and I think the boss picked up on that. But I said I'd come in...
When I got there the place was locked up with a note saying closed for the day.
I took it the boss didn't think I'd actually show up so just closed up.
This has always struck me with the JJ story.
I'm not entirely sure he was going to go in just then.

 

[kmiller2665]

I also think of the possibility that he was jumped or something. That could have happened too. The thing about getting jumped is, usually you don't go missing. That being said, if he was injured or became disoriented, could see him getting lost and go missing that way, especially if he had a head injury or something. Again....I keep going back to how long it took for the police to start investigating. Not a lot of people are necessarily going to remember seeing someone after that length of time.

But, like one of the previous posters said... There's no evidence to go off of and we are all pretty much grasping at straws. There are endless possibilities and no way to narrow it down. I really, really hope the family gets closure.

 

[CountSnap]

I also think of the possibility that he was jumped or something. That could have happened too. The thing about getting jumped is, usually you don't go missing. That being said, if he was injured or became disoriented, could see him getting lost and go missing that way, especially if he had a head injury or something. Again....I keep going back to how long it took for the police to start investigating. Not a lot of people are necessarily going to remember seeing someone after that length of time.

But, like one of the previous posters said... There's no evidence to go off of and we are all pretty much grasping at straws. There are endless possibilities and no way to narrow it down. I really, really hope the family gets closure.

It is rare that a body isn't found when someone is jumped, though it does happen from time to time. Or as in a case recently, the body was thankfully found in a dumpster.
So, that does happen, though rare.
Many of those are cases where someone was lured to a destination, though. So this on the surface doesn't fit the ones I know of.
And, from all I am hearing of the surrounding area, it doesn't fit the bill so to speak.

I'm on the someone close by team...

 

[kmiller2665]

Yeah, I tend to lean away from that theory too. But since it really is a mystery... Who knows.

The area really isn't that bad. There are plenty of worse places in Omaha. People from the west end of Omaha tend to think that everyone that lives east of 72nd st are violent drug addicts that stand on street corners with guns waiting to mug, carjack, or shoot people. Far from it. Especially in that neighborhood, there are lots of families-it's a normal neighborhood for a city.

That being said, my fiance was jumped at Fontenelle Park about two years ago. In the middle of the day. It isn't that far from this neighborhood.

But..I am more convinced it was someone he knew.

 

[MatthewTyler]

If Jason was lured inside by someone, say a close neighbor, and was subsequently buried in a crawl space or backyard (Ala Gacy style) then it could be someone who still lives in the same house, and that's why no new occupants have discovered the remains yet. Personally I don't think it was someone further along on Bedford or near the school. Those people were less likely to know Jason, and even if they had seen him around or knew him from church, that's a brazen move to just lure a grown man into their home as he walked by their house. A neighbor would know him, know his family, and know that his parents weren't home. There were many families living on Bedford, and Jason's block had more residents that were older, or even lived alone.
In regards to his younger brother, his parents stated on the Montel Williams show that Michael had heard Jason moving the trashcans from inside, and looked out the window and saw Jason doing it. So I do not think Michael was actually outside with Jason, and doesn't make a credible witness to seeing Jason heading towards Bedford. When people say Jason "helped his brother with the trashcans" they probably just mean that Michael was supposed to do it but Jason did it instead.

ETA: In regards to it being a dangerous area or not, I don't think that's really relevant here. It's not the M.O. of a street gang to make people disappear. Street violence would likely end up with a body being left on the street or dumped somewhere nearby. Not to mention all the witnesses there would be on a summer morning. The other theory of "Maybe Jason saw something he wasn't supposed to see and was silenced" also doesn't make sense. Some criminal was sloppy enough to get caught doing something (stupidly in broad daylight) but then flawlessly got rid of the witness? And what crime could be so bad that they'd be willing to trade up to a murder charge over it?

 

[kmiller2665]

That helps clarify.
Another point maybe you know the answer to. You seem to know a lot about this case!! Do we know for sure that he left at 10:45? The reason why I am asking is because there's is an older news article I found that says he was last spotted at 10:15am. Missing teen's parents help other families cope - CNN.com

Let me know if that link works.

So, I'm just curious, is there also any confirmation from his family on the last time he was seen? I'm sure there is. Charley Project says 10:45, and I know I've seen another news article that says 10:45 as well. Curious if maybe it was just wrong information.

 

[MatthewTyler]

That helps clarify.
Another point maybe you know the answer to. You seem to know a lot about this case!! Do we know for sure that he left at 10:45? The reason why I am asking is because there's is an older news article I found that says he was last spotted at 10:15am. Missing teen's parents help other families cope - CNN.com

Let me know if that link works.

So, I'm just curious, is there also any confirmation from his family on the last time he was seen? I'm sure there is. Charley Project says 10:45, and I know I've seen another news article that says 10:45 as well. Curious if maybe it was just wrong information.

The time kind of varies depending on what article you read, but the article I posted months back says that work called him at 10:30 that morning and that he left his house around 10:45. That article was from him being missing for only one month, so I'm more inclined to believe that information, as it was still fresh. Due to many years passing, sometimes details get mixed up or forgotten. For example, many articles you may read will say that Jason was "currently" attending school and was starting a job at a radio station. Neither of these are true. Jason had to drop out of school and his job was going to be a customer service rep at a company called SITEL. It irks me how those details keep getting repeated (even in podcasts about the case) because everyone is reading from the same inaccurate article

 

[kmiller2665]

Yep good points.
In a case as Jason's with such a small timeline, I wish they all had the correct information. Because if it was 10:15...I mean, that kinda opens the door for many other possibilities rather than a 10:45 time, in my opinion. But 10:45 is the time I see most often, so I would lean towards that being more accurate.

 

[CountSnap]

Exactly.
If he has only 15 minutes to get to the school that closes things off a bit.
And that makes sense as a whole that he would have left around 10:45... as opposed to 10:15.
If he would have left at 10:15 it may have been obvious he was stopping somewhere along the way.
10:45 says he was pretty much headed straight to the school.
Possible of course there was something right along the way, but it couldn't have been too far off if he still intended on going to Fazoli's that day.

 

[?unknown?]

I saw a comment (which has since been deleted) and had a few replies on one of the older Jason YouTube videos last week claiming they knew what happened to Jason. It was worded kind of poorly with awful grammar and I assumed it was just someone trolling but I can remember more or less what it said. This person was essentially claiming that Jason was kidnapped by a gang because he been making passes towards a girl who had a boyfriend which was acquainted with this gang. The white guy who the commenter described as a “wigga” dealt drugs with this mainly black street gang and was always trying to impress them. The girl told him about Jason flirting with her to make him jealous. 3 guys from this gang (including the white “wigga” dude) kidnapped Jason in a car and drove him to a house where they sold drugs from, Jason was shot by mistake by a member of this gang and taken and buried out of state. They didn’t intend to shoot him dead and just wanted to intimidate him according to this person. The comment had a few replies asking “how do you know this” “are you trolling” etc. The person replied once stating something like “nope, the girl doesn’t even know it happen n that she might b responsible 4 it that’s what’s so crazy!”. I’m trying to remember this off the top of my head because the comment is nowhere to be found.

Personally I’ve always felt the gang thing is extremely unlikely because it would have had several people involved most of which would surely have come into contact with police since then and usually someone will offer up some info for a lighter sentence. It’s very unlikely that a bunch of people involved in that would have no further contact with police and could keep completely silent about that for decades. Also, why would some gang just happen to target him at that time of day and the exact same time he happens to be called into work and his car is off the road etc. In the middle of the day?

 

[CountSnap]

If you know the exact YouTube video please report this to the police.

It could, cccccccould be legitimate.
Or it could be what it seems.

But please, to make sure we turn over every leaf, this should be looked at.

And if it is a hoax, then I hope 5-0 knocks on a door and says "what the f#**")
If it is real then it would fit. It wouldn't have been so random. They live nearby and could have been walking along when, "Hey. There's that guy."

 

[retrometro]

Meh. There have long been rumors about gang activity in the case, but count me skeptical about this particular story. It doesn't really seem plausible to me that three active gang members would be hanging around Jason's neighborhood at 10:30-10:45 in the morning looking for trouble. It also doesn't really fit with what we know about Jason's social life. By nearly all accounts, he was a shy kid, and though I've seen Reddit posts by people who claimed they knew him personally, I've never seen anyone claim to be a close friend. Just my $.02.

It does feel like we're grasping at straws, but I still think it's worth keeping the thread active. In my time on Websleuths, I've seen enough cold cases solved that I hold out some hope that one day there will be answers.

 

[ekardh]

Personally, I wouldn't take it seriously. And I'm not sure what the police can do about random Youtube comments?

 

[MatthewTyler]

I don't believe that particularly story, BUT I will note that the coworker who was picking Jason up does (at least now) have some friends in a gang. Or at least one. Her profile picture on Facebook is a man who was shot dead in 2015 in Chicago. According to an article about his death, he was a documented gang member. Couldn't figure out their exact relationship, but I Imagine they were close if she still has his picture after 5 years. Of course I don't know what her life was like when she was 19 or who she was friends with at that time, just thought I'd bring it up since the notion of gangs came up.

 

[?unknown?]

Meh. There have long been rumors about gang activity in the case, but count me skeptical about this particular story. It doesn't really seem plausible to me that three active gang members would be hanging around Jason's neighborhood at 10:30-10:45 in the morning looking for trouble. It also doesn't really fit with what we know about Jason's social life. By nearly all accounts, he was a shy kid, and though I've seen Reddit posts by people who claimed they knew him personally, I've never seen anyone claim to be a close friend. Just my $.02.

It does feel like we're grasping at straws, but I still think it's worth keeping the thread active. In my time on Websleuths, I've seen enough cold cases solved that I hold out some hope that one day there will be answers.

That’s my perspective as well. I follow a lot of missing person cases and the gang theory is always mentioned every time as one of the main possibilities. Most of the time it’s just not a good fit and especially in Jason’s case it doesn’t seem to mesh. What we know of his personality type for a start seems to point away from that. Also how often does this even happen that an amateur street gang kills someone and makes them disappear entirely for decades with zero trace? We aren’t talking about the mafia and professionals here. Surely someone would have let something slip or there would have been a hint of something after all these years . If he was taken in a car away from the area my belief is that it was probably someone he knew, just one man in a car who he felt comfortable with asked him if he wanted a ride down the block to the school or perhaps a neighbor that asked for his assistance with their car but had another agenda in mind and harmed Jason

 

[CountSnap]

I agree on the surface of all that it doesn't seem legitimate.
In the interest of seeing how interested the police are in responding to leads I'm curious how they would reply on that one.
Also, I'm more than a little tired of people doing this kind of thing on comments. It happened to Brian Shaffer and many, many others. People that put those comments in think it's funny. Probably laughing with their friends or who knows what?...
Would like just once for an officer to track a person down and make an example of this kind of thing.
People who do this kind of thing don't realize what they're affecting.
People may chase down that lead.
It may create a "boy cried wolf" type of situation. "Yeah. We heard that one before. Gangs... right....."
Then, it turns out (of course we'll never know) that it was actually for some strange reason, gang related.

I just like every stone flipped over. Every leaf looked at.
Job of a very dedicated detective to try to get that information from Google. Who made that comment?
If it is a Nigerian Prince HAHAHA, well then we know.

But, I'll say this; there was a young man in I believe Detroit who was out buying soup for his sick girlfriend when he was mugged and carjacked by a couple of gang members. They murdered him and left his body in a vacant house.
It was pure luck that police checked the house they did and found his body.

I have other examples of people's bodies being discarded but won't mention them here.
So on face value it seems like a cruel, heartless, completely unfunny, witless, comment from a bored person in quarantine.
I wouldn't mind at least reporting it

 

[CountSnap]

Another thing... was just looking through old articles and found this excerpt: "a nearly four-mile walk for Jason would not have been unusual, his mom said."

Where was he walking?
That is now comments from both his mother and father saying similar things.
He was a walker....