NE NE - Jason Jolkowski -19 - Omaha - 13 Jun 2001 - #4

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''Jolkowski, circa 2001; Age-progression to age 36 (circa 2017)

  • Missing Since06/13/2001
  • Missing FromOmaha, Nebraska
  • ClassificationEndangered Missing
  • SexMale
  • RaceWhite
  • Date of Birth06/24/1981 (41)
  • Age19 years old
  • Height and Weight6'1, 160 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA white Chicago Cubs or Sammy Sosa t-shirt, a blue or black Chicago Cubs baseball cap, black dress pants, and black dress shoes.
  • Medical ConditionsJolkowski has learning disabilities related to speech and language. The disabilities may make him appear to be mildly mentally disabled, but he is actually of above average intelligence.
  • Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Jolkowski's nickname is JJ.

Details of Disappearance​

On June 13, 2001, Jolkowski was called into work early. He worked at a Fazoli's restaurant on 80th and Cass Streets in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. His car was in the shop for repairs and he initially said he would walk there, but then called back and made arrangements for a coworker to pick him up at Jolkowski's old school, Benson High School, eight blocks from his home.

Jolkowski carried his red work t-shirt with him at the time of his disappearance. On the way out the door of his family's residence, he decided to help his younger brother take trash cans into the garage. A neighbor saw him carry the cans into the garage at his house in the area of 48th and Bedford Streets.

This was at 10:45 a.m. Between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m., Jolkowski's coworker called the house to find out why he hadn't met her at the high school. This is when his disappearance was discovered. A later check of security cameras at Benson High School show he never arrived on campus.

Jolkowski has never been heard from again. He left $650 behind in his bank account, which has not been touched since his disappearance. He has not cashed any of his paychecks, used his cellular phone or ATM card, or picked up his car from the auto repair shop since his disappearance.

Jolkowski was supposed to start a new job a week after he vanished, and was excited about it; he never showed up to begin work there. He had no more than $60 on his person on the day he disappeared, and no personal items were missing from his room. He did his household chores as usual up until the time he disappeared.

Jolkowski's loved ones suspect foul play may have been involved in his disappearance. They say he is too responsible to have left without warning, and he was not having any problems at the time of his disappearance. He is described as a shy person who was not involved with drugs or alcohol and was close to his family at the time of his disappearance. He has no known enemies.

Jolkowski was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. At the time of his disappearance, he was attending community college part-time and had gotten into the radio broadcasting program.

His mother founded Project Jason, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the families of missing people and publicizing missing person cases, after her son vanished. His case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency​

  • Omaha Police Department 402-444-5657

Source Information​

 
Concerning the woman from Tik Tok - just remember that it's easy to pretend to be someone you aren't on the Internet. I'm not saying that's necessarily the case here, but always take messages posted on forums and comments sections with a grain of salt.
 
I haven't thought about Jason in awhile now, but being someone 'bumped' his thread, it got me thinking about it again. And now here we are starting a new thread, which I find a bit emotional, strangely enough. Especially considering the latest development re. the Delphi case, where I doubted there would ever be a suspect arrested. Wish there would be a new development re. Jason as well. As I mentioned awhile back, I did write to the Omaha contact for his case to see if the cold case detective had any news at all. But I was told he had moved on.
 
Vital Forces said:
Concerning the woman from Tik Tok - just remember that it's easy to pretend to be someone you aren't on the Internet. I'm not saying that's necessarily the case here, but always take messages posted on forums and comments sections with a grain of salt.
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Agreed, though this woman has tiktoks up of her family, including taking her grandson to the Omaha Zoo so I'm inclined to trust her. Though she may feel she has a credible tip, I'm not sure how likely it was that it was Jason for a few reasons:
1) The dynamic she described seemed odd for an abduction of a grown man- JJ nervously walking away and then the man pulling him back; that seems more like something a kidnapper would be able to do with a little kid and not a 6'1 man.
2) Not sure where "checkout" was, but assuming a store, there would hopefully have been some security footage of it.
3) Witnesses. Nobody reported ever seeing Jason after he left his house, so you'd think that more people at a store would have noticed him, especially in a baseball shirt and hat.
 
Andreee said:
I haven't thought about Jason in awhile now, but being someone 'bumped' his thread, it got me thinking about it again. And now here we are starting a new thread, which I find a bit emotional, strangely enough. Especially considering the latest development re. the Delphi case, where I doubted there would ever be a suspect arrested. Wish there would be a new development re. Jason as well. As I mentioned awhile back, I did write to the Omaha contact for his case to see if the cold case detective had any news at all. But I was told he had moved on.
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Same here. It's always welcome to see ANY update in this case, but I do take posts on social media with a grain of salt. They could be attention-seekers or it could simply be a case of mistaken identity. I don't believe Jason got particularly far before he vanished, and I doubt the person behind it would risk taking a chance like this.

Also, the Delphi case had an unidentified suspect from the get-go, so there was always hope it would one day be solved. In Jason's case, there's nothing. As far as we know, the police haven't had a single solid lead in this investigation for over 20 years. If this was not a voluntary disappearance (and there's no evidence to support that), whomever was responsible staged the perfect crime.
 
ekardh said:
Same here. It's always welcome to see ANY update in this case, but I do take posts on social media with a grain of salt. They could be attention-seekers or it could simply be a case of mistaken identity. I don't believe Jason got particularly far before he vanished, and I doubt the person behind it would risk taking a chance like this.

Also, the Delphi case had an unidentified suspect from the get-go, so there was always hope it would one day be solved. In Jason's case, there's nothing. As far as we know, the police haven't had a single solid lead in this investigation for over 20 years. If this was not a voluntary disappearance (and there's no evidence to support that), whomever was responsible staged the perfect crime.
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I feel like the clue is either within the neighbourhood or someone Jason met and kept in touch privately, how? we don't know maybe those long walks he would take, or through instant message, forums.
 
MatthewTyler said:
Though she may feel she has a credible tip, I'm not sure how likely it was that it was Jason for a few reasons:
1) The dynamic she described seemed odd for an abduction of a grown man- JJ nervously walking away and then the man pulling him back; that seems more like something a kidnapper would be able to do with a little kid and not a 6'1 man.
2) Not sure where "checkout" was, but assuming a store, there would hopefully have been some security footage of it.
3) Witnesses. Nobody reported ever seeing Jason after he left his house, so you'd think that more people at a store would have noticed him, especially in a baseball shirt and hat.
Click to expand...

Agree with all of this. I believe this "sighting" of JJ is a red herring. It doesn't make sense that JJ would walk to work & then along the way go with someone he doesn't feel comfortable with. And, later be seen at a check-out - which was presumably @ a grocery store or other business.....then try to get away from this person. In the unlikely event that the person had actually taken JJ by force (i.e., a weapon) and that was him at the check-out - he should easily have been able to get away from the perp while in public & in full view of others.

Also agree that it doesn't appear JJ has ever been seen by anyone (that we know of) other than the close-by neighbor(s) after he left his home that morning @ started on his walk to work.

The person reporting the sighting may have seen something/someone, but I don't believe it was JJ.

retrometro said:
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this case will probably never solved. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m not optimistic.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I agree with this. This case is truly baffling. I don't believe JJ vanished of his own volition. However, there is nothing that points to anyone/anything as having caused his disappearance. It's as if he literally vanished into thin air - which obviously did not occur.
 
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Sonny Crockett said:
Unfortunately, I agree with this. This case is truly baffling. I don't believe JJ vanished of his own volition. However, there is nothing that points to anyone/anything as having caused his disappearance. It's as if he literally vanished into thin air - which obviously did not occur.
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Really makes me wonder if he did actually just end up falling down a manhole. It used to be a ridiculous theory that was instantly dismissed, but it may just be inching ever so slightly up the list of possibilities. I'd beleive that over the "hit by car and body dumped" theory that's for sure.
 
hannah246 said:
I feel like the clue is either within the neighbourhood or someone Jason met and kept in touch privately, how? we don't know maybe those long walks he would take, or through instant message, forums.
Click to expand...
You're on the right track, imo. There are breadcrumbs here. Jason's evening strolls, the arranged meeting at the school, Jason's Catholic upbringing and lack of social circle.
I don't buy that there was anything random about this disappearance. There was a only a short window for anything to happen, and it occurred coincidentally when Jason was without his car and his plans got changed.

For me, there's two scenarios. Jason either got intercepted by someone he knew, who offered him a ride to the highschool and abducted him, or Jason visited them en route to the school. My biggest question has always been WHY? What was the motive for abduction and murder that day? I think the suspect will be an adult male, slightly older than Jason, probably living alone and involved with the church.
 
ekardh said:
You're on the right track, imo. There are breadcrumbs here. Jason's evening strolls, the arranged meeting at the school, Jason's Catholic upbringing and lack of social circle.
I don't buy that there was anything random about this disappearance. There was a only a short window for anything to happen, and it occurred coincidentally when Jason was without his car and his plans got changed.

For me, there's two scenarios. Jason either got intercepted by someone he knew, who offered him a ride to the highschool and abducted him, or Jason visited them en route to the school. My biggest question has always been WHY? What was the motive for abduction and murder that day? I think the suspect will be an adult male, slightly older than Jason, probably living alone and involved with the church.
Click to expand...
Good points apparently the girl that was meant to drop of Jason said "you better be there" something along those lines not like it means anything but interesting nevertheless the police did interview everyone at Fazioli and found nothing suspicious, there used to be a pervy man that used to work there aswell. Another plausible explanation is him doing a detox while on his way to meet up with his colleague and met his demise, just find it strange why Jason didn't say to the girl to meet up with him at his house, unless he was afraid of people finding his home maybe intimidated by the girl who knows
 
hannah246 said:
just find it strange why Jason didn't say to the girl to meet up with him at his house, unless he was afraid of people finding his home maybe intimidated by the girl who knows
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The reason given (from Jason's mother? brother?) is that Jason wasn't good at directions, so rather than navigate the driver to his house he picked a convenient meeting spot. This was taken as gospel for a long time until someone suggested that Jason used that as an excuse to make a detour.
 
ekardh said:
The reason given (from Jason's mother? brother?) is that Jason wasn't good at directions, so rather than navigate the driver to his house he picked a convenient meeting spot. This was taken as gospel for a long time until someone suggested that Jason used that as an excuse to make a detour.
Click to expand...
i wish the police used this angle and questioned every person between Jason House and the school I always wondered if the police checked his computer that would be the biggest clue to his disappearance that's if he knew his perpetrator, maybe the clue was on his fone but is missing? if he didnt know the perpetrator well than the clue is definitely within the neighborhood maybe someone Jason would say hi to sometimes and somehow that day helped this particular neighbour with something I honestly don't think it was a random abduction given his size, I'm more leaning towards the Jason meeting up with someone secretly, we just don't know why that individual would harm him unless there's something we the public don't know
 
ekardh said:
You're on the right track, imo. There are breadcrumbs here. Jason's evening strolls, the arranged meeting at the school, Jason's Catholic upbringing and lack of social circle.
I don't buy that there was anything random about this disappearance. There was a only a short window for anything to happen, and it occurred coincidentally when Jason was without his car and his plans got changed.

For me, there's two scenarios. Jason either got intercepted by someone he knew, who offered him a ride to the highschool and abducted him, or Jason visited them en route to the school. My biggest question has always been WHY? What was the motive for abduction and murder that day? I think the suspect will be an adult male, slightly older than Jason, probably living alone and involved with the church.
Click to expand...
I think either scenario is very possible. Whenever tv shows or media and other investigations ask for possible disappearances to cover, I am always going to suggest JJ's case. I know it has been covered umpteen times on utube and in general articles, crime groups online, etc. but still...
Who knows, maybe this case will be solved inadvertently the way many disappearances are solved, by a hunter in the woods, a farmer in his field or hiker. Or by new construction getting started or new home owner in the area. There is always hope?
 
Since this thread has gotten renewed interest, I've been thinking about this case (again). As has been discussed in previous threads - JJ was definitely not someone you would think could vanish like this:

1) He was an adult male.
2) He was not at risk - i.e., he wasn't homeless; wasn't a drifter without a fixed address; he didn't appear to have substance abuse issues, etc.
3) He wasn't someone who would typically just "run away" due to having goals and a structured life (work, school).
4) By all accounts, he had a good family/home life, etc.
5) By all accounts, he did not appear to be depressed/despondent, etc.
6) He vanished during the day in a suburban neighborhood.

I thread #3, I agreed that the idea of JJ having been hit by a car (accidentally or on purpose) and then the body being disposed of later was an unlikely possibility - at best. But, in thinking about this more - is this possibility that unlikely?!

Based on the distance that JJ had to walk in order to get to the high school & the video (also in thread #3) recreating the possible path(s) JJ had to walk down - I now think this possibility is plausible. I.e., JJ could have been walking to meet his co-worker at the H.S. & then a car could have hit him & knocked him out (or possibly worse) - without necessarily causing much damage to the car and also not necessarily causing a lot of blood loss to JJ. If there were no neighbors around to have seen this happen, then I can see the person/persons in the car - in a panic - quickly bringing JJ into the car & then taking him to parts unknown - without being seen. If this is what happened, the whole incident could have occurred in under 5 minutes.

Going along with the above, in thread #3 there was also mention of a possible sweet sweeper that went through the neighborhood(s) where JJ would have walked - possibly after he went missing. So, even if there was blood/other evidence that remained in the street - that could have been cleaned/swept up before anyone noticed this.

Without any other leads to go on, I do find this plausible.
 
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MatthewTyler said:
Really makes me wonder if he did actually just end up falling down a manhole. It used to be a ridiculous theory that was instantly dismissed, but it may just be inching ever so slightly up the list of possibilities. I'd beleive that over the "hit by car and body dumped" theory that's for sure.
Click to expand...
I feel the same way at times. Often, the simplest explanation is the right one.

I don't know if anybody has been watching the new season of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix, but the episode covering the disappearance of Josh Guimond made me immediately think of Jason.
 
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