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

[MadMcGoo]

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Thanks!
Mad

 

[siliconrod]

I suspect his family still had a land line ATT, given that cell phones were relatively new & somewhat expensive tech. in 2001. And, JJ did have a cell phone - that he had with him when he vanished.

If JJ had his phone with him was it ever pinged or was that technology not availabe or to primitive at a that time.

I noticed upthread that JJ was wearing a Chi Cub baseball cap and a Chi Cub/Sammy Sosa t-shirt whiled carring his work work shirt in his hand. If JJ was involved in some type of altercation I believe JJ's cap and shirt would have been discarded but neither have been located. This suggest to me that maybe JJ was lured by someone he knew under false pretenses and maybe foul play occured later for reasons unknown. If foul play is involved in JJ's disappearance then it would be the perfect crime and I don't believe that it happened in this case. I believe that LE has some information that they are withholding from the public but not enough to move the case forward.

 

[Vital Forces]

If JJ had his phone with him was it ever pinged or was that technology not availabe or to primitive at a that time.

I noticed upthread that JJ was wearing a Chi Cub baseball cap and a Chi Cub/Sammy Sosa t-shirt whiled carring his work work shirt in his hand. If JJ was involved in some type of altercation I believe JJ's cap and shirt would have been discarded but neither have been located. This suggest to me that maybe JJ was lured by someone he knew under false pretenses and maybe foul play occured later for reasons unknown. If foul play is involved in JJ's disappearance then it would be the perfect crime and I don't believe that it happened in this case. I believe that LE has some information that they are withholding from the public but not enough to move the case forward.

This gets me wondering why he took a baseball cap and T-shirt with him to work in the first place. He would presumably get a ride home straight after work so why the need for the extra clothes?

Did his brother or neighbor see him with these or were these articles simply missing from his room?

Edit: According to the Charlie Project, "Jolkowski carried his red work t-shirt with him at the time of his disappearance."

 

[studebkr]

This gets me wondering why he took a baseball cap and T-shirt with him to work in the first place. He would presumably get a ride home straight after work so why the need for the extra clothes?

Back in the day when I worked fast food we kept our uniforms at work unless they needed to be laundered. Or we swapped a set back and forth.

I never liked walking in my uniform and I often had plans after work. I don’t find it unusual but I never thought of the after work plans angle.

 

[MatthewTyler]

This gets me wondering why he took a baseball cap and T-shirt with him to work in the first place. He would presumably get a ride home straight after work so why the need for the extra clothes?

He may not have wanted to sweat in his uniform on the walk to Benson. It was a Summer day after all.

 

[studebkr]

In the past few months, a lot more of the Omaha World Herald has been made available online through the Omaha Public Library. Prior, only articles older than the 1980s were available. Now many of the newer have been digitized and OCR into text.

This is the first article in the OWH to talk about the missing Jason:

Family Seeking Clues In Son's Disappearance
June 23, 2001 | Omaha World-Herald (NE)
Author/Byline: NATHAN ODGAARD; WORLD - HERALD STAFF WRITER | Page: 52 | Section: News

This week was to have been one of celebration at the Jolkowski house in north Omaha. Kelly Jolkowski's birthday was Friday, and her son, Jason, turns 20 on Sunday.

Instead, the family has agonized over the disappearance of Jason, who has not been seen by family or friends since June 13.

On that day, a Wednesday, Jolkowski was called in to work at Fazoli's restaurant at 80th and Cass Streets. His car was being repaired, so he arranged to meet a co - worker at 11 a.m. at Benson High School for a ride.

He told his little brother to have their parents pick him up from work, then he started walking to Benson, eight blocks away. Jolkowski never showed up at work.

"It's like he disappeared off the face of the earth," his mother said.

Police are investigating Jolkowski's disappearance.

Kelly Jolkowski said there's no trace of her son.

Jim Jolkowski, Jason's father, said he thinks that foul play is involved.

Both have ruled out the possibility that their son ran away.

They said he hasn't used his cell phone since he has been missing, and he hasn't withdrawn money from his bank account.

Jason Jolkowski had just landed another job and had plans to return to Iowa Western College to become a disc jockey. He had worked part time at radio station KIWR, which is known as 89.7 FM, the River.

"He's a very responsible, good kid," Kelly Jolkowski said.

A Benson graduate, Jason Jolkowski has a learning disability that may have played a part in his disappearance, she said.

With the help of co - workers and members of Holy Name Catholic Church, the Jolkowskis have passed out hundreds of fliers with his picture.

Jason is about 6 - feet - 1, 160 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing black pants and black shoes, a white Chicago Cubs shirt and a blue Chicago Cubs hat.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 444 - 7867.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

From everything I've read over the years, Jason was a very responsible young man and would not skip out on work. As for that alleged sighting near the gas stn. (I was surprised to read about it on another site 9 months ago), it sounded like it could be the case from what the poster wrote IMO.

Agree completely that it doesn't sound like JJ would avoid going to work after having not only committed to going early, but planning to walk to the H.S. to meet his co-worker. And, he had previously volunteered to walk all the way to work that day (which is apparently why the co-worker decided to pick him up, so he wouldn't have to walk that far). I.e., IMHO these are not the action(s) of someone who was irresponsible & would just skip work.

I am still skeptical about the possibility that JJ made it all the way to the aforementioned gas station, however. I also remember reading about this alleged sighting on another site; i.e., someone claims to have seen JJ at (or near) the gas station on that particular day, and they allegedly remember him because he was wearing the Cubs shirt & carrying his work shirt/clothes. However, if he had made it that far - what happened between the gas station & the H.S.?! I don't think they were that far from each other. IMHO it's more likely that he vanished within 5-10?! minutes of leaving his house, given that no one (that we know of, at least) saw anything suspicious. Just my take on this, obviously.

Going along with this, IIRC this alleged sighting occurred at the same gas station (I think) where the co-worker used the pay phone to try to find JJ, after he didn't show up @ the H.S. within a reasonable amount of time.

 

[Andreee]

Agree completely that it doesn't sound like JJ would avoid going to work after having not only committed to going early, but planning to walk to the H.S. to meet his co-worker. And, he had previously volunteered to walk all the way to work that day (which is apparently why the co-worker decided to pick him up, so he wouldn't have to walk that far). I.e., IMHO these are not the action(s) of someone who was irresponsible & would just skip work.

I am still skeptical about the possibility that JJ made it all the way to the aforementioned gas station, however. I also remember reading about this alleged sighting on another site; i.e., someone claims to have seen JJ at (or near) the gas station on that particular day, and they allegedly remember him because he was wearing the Cubs shirt & carrying his work shirt/clothes. However, if he had made it that far - what happened between the gas station & the H.S.?! I don't think they were that far from each other. IMHO it's more likely that he vanished within 5-10?! minutes of leaving his house, given that no one (that we know of, at least) saw anything suspicious. Just my take on this, obviously.

Going along with this, IIRC this alleged sighting occurred at the same gas station (I think) where the co-worker used the pay phone to try to find JJ, after he didn't show up @ the H.S. within a reasonable amount of time.

I tried to research info about that gas stn. area and found that there was a tunnel under the main street near the gas stn. I also tried to find info. on local crime stats but havent found too much yet for those years. When I read the poster elsewhere (not supposed to mention name of site I think) it sounded like a legit recounting and so I messaged the poster but havent heard back. Perhaps when JJ got to the school his coworker had already left to make the phone call and he needed to use a restroom so headed to the gas stn and they missed each other. Just a thought on my part. At any rate, I do intend to rewrite to the contact person in this case in future again to see if they have id'ed via dna whose skull that was that was found in the park
half hr away. (Not to be confused with the other remains north of Omaha)

 

[Andreee]

As for as that skull I mentioned in previous post, I'm not sure if I have posted this particular article but it was updated in Nov.2023.

Sheriff's Office gives new information on human skull found outside Omaha

Experts believe the skeletal remains found two weeks ago in rural Douglas County are those of an adult man.

theindependent.com

​

 

[Andreee]

As for as that skull I mentioned in previous post, I'm not sure if I have posted this particular article but it was updated in Nov.2023.

Sheriff's Office gives new information on human skull found outside Omaha

Experts believe the skeletal remains found two weeks ago in rural Douglas County are those of an adult man.

theindependent.com

​

Never mind. Article is blocked to subscribers only but it just basically reiterates that forensics think the skull is of a male with European background and that it has been there for quite awhile. At least the process is ongoing and being updated to the public.

 

[Emerold]

Hi. I've just recently came across this thread regarding Jason. After reading a little about him, I was wondering.... does anyone think it unusual to be cutting his time so short from leaving his home to getting his lift for work at his old High School? It's very last minute to be making haste to get there in time, unless he knew of someone in the neighbourhood that might give him a ride to school so he wouldn't miss his lift? It might explain why nobody else seen or heard anything. What people in the neighbourhood was he familiar with that he felt he could trust and ask for assistance between the route from home to school? Obviously, he isn't to know whether they'd be home or not, available or not - which could be why he left a slim window for himself to make the rendezvous.... with jogging. Maybe his brother, parents, or friends know of people he has mentioned that fit this 'familiarity'?

 

[Alleykins]

Hi. I've just recently came across this thread regarding Jason. After reading a little about him, I was wondering.... does anyone think it unusual to be cutting his time so short from leaving his home to getting his lift for work at his old High School? It's very last minute to be making haste to get there in time, unless he knew of someone in the neighbourhood that might give him a ride to school so he wouldn't miss his lift? It might explain why nobody else seen or heard anything. What people in the neighbourhood was he familiar with that he felt he could trust and ask for assistance between the route from home to school? Obviously, he isn't to know whether they'd be home or not, available or not - which could be why he left a slim window for himself to make the rendezvous.... with jogging. Maybe his brother, parents, or friends know of people he has mentioned that fit this 'familiarity'?

The short time frame from the first phone call to Jason leaving the house has always bothered me. Fifteen minutes (approximately) is cutting it very close, to me, anyway. Those two phone calls took time, in addition to possibly showering, possibly shaving, getting dressed, grabbing everything, heading out the door, and bringing up the trashcans. Then starting toward the high school. It leaves no wiggle room for any delays, like bringing up the trashcans. Me, personally, I need more than 15 minutes just to wake up, let alone deal with things. And never in my life have I taken a quick shower, but, some people are better at getting ready to go places than I am. Much better. Like, one of my sisters can take a complete shower in the time it takes me to wash my hair. I don't know how she does it. And this is assuming Jason did shower.
And if I were called into work, as in doing my boss a favor, it would be on my terms, like, I'll get there when I get there, take it or leave it. But, again, that's also me. At Jason's age, I clearly remember telling my manager I could come in early, but not until XYZ o'clock, it was the best I could do. They either said see you then, or let me see if I can find someone who can come in earlier, because we need someone now.
But the jaunt to the high school did appear to be doable in 15 minutes, even taking a circuitous route. According to a recently posted video where the person filmed themselves walking the route, it took her exactly fifteen minutes. It may have been an even shorter trek for Jason, as he had long legs, knew the area well, including any shortcuts, if there were any, and he was a frequent walker.
As far as knowing people in the neighborhood who he may have been familiar with, some neighbors were interviewed. And, according to his mother, two things she said stood out to me: Jason is very shy, and that she sounded confident that everyone and anyone who knew Jason was interviewed, including his coworkers. They were interviewed several times. Also, one neighbor's house was searched. But I've never been able to figure out which one. Was it the neighbor who saw him last, or a different house along his possible route?
To me, personally, it doesn't sound like the neighborhood was canvassed/interviewed thoroughly, though, and being shy, it sounds like Jason may not have been familiar with many neighbors. There was also that 10 day delay, which I feel may have impacted the interviewees' recollection of that day.
The above is just my take on things.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

I tried to research info about that gas stn. area and found that there was a tunnel under the main street near the gas stn. I also tried to find info. on local crime stats but havent found too much yet for those years. When I read the poster elsewhere (not supposed to mention name of site I think) it sounded like a legit recounting and so I messaged the poster but havent heard back. Perhaps when JJ got to the school his coworker had already left to make the phone call and he needed to use a restroom so headed to the gas stn and they missed each other. Just a thought on my part.

When I first heard of the alleged sighting of JJ @ the gas station on the day he was last seen, I felt it was a mistake/error & that the person(s) had mistaken someone else for JJ; had gotten the day wrong; etc. That being said, in re-evaluating this again very recently - the gas station sighting does seem slightly plausible. The person(s) who allegedly saw him does specifically mention the Cubs shirt & possibly the work shirt he was holding, etc.

Though I find it odd that he may have made his way as far as the gas station before he vanished, there's obviously no way to know for sure.

Note that it seems definitive that he did not enter the H.S. parking lot that day, given that the school cameras were apparently viewed & he wasn't seen at all.

 

[Alleykins]

When I first heard of the alleged sighting of JJ @ the gas station on the day he was last seen, I felt it was a mistake/error & that the person(s) had mistaken someone else for JJ; had gotten the day wrong; etc. That being said, in re-evaluating this again very recently - the gas station sighting does seem slightly plausible. The person(s) who allegedly saw him does specifically mention the Cubs shirt & possibly the work shirt he was holding, etc.

Though I find it odd that he may have made his way as far as the gas station before he vanished, there's obviously no way to know for sure.

Note that it seems definitive that he did not enter the H.S. parking lot that day, given that the school cameras were apparently viewed & he wasn't seen at all.

If he truly was seen at the gas station, I'm thinking it means he may have gotten a ride there, as that's where the person driving him was going, or it was easier to drop him off there than at the school. But, wouldn't they have seen a hint or glimpse of him on camera, like they did the coworker? I'll concede it's possible he wasn't caught on camera because of where he ended up on the premises. It could have been outside of the range of the camera. I would hope while looking for the coworker, they kept an eye out for Jason on the footage as well, but who knows?
So, I'm on the fence about the sighting at the gas station, but I don't discount it entirely.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

If he truly was seen at the gas station, I'm thinking it means he may have gotten a ride there, as that's where the person driving him was going, or it was easier to drop him off there than at the school. But, wouldn't they have seen a hint or glimpse of him on camera, like they did the coworker? I'll concede it's possible he wasn't caught on camera because of where he ended up on the premises. It could have been outside of the range of the camera. I would hope while looking for the coworker, they kept an eye out for Jason on the footage as well, but who knows?
So, I'm on the fence about the sighting at the gas station, but I don't discount it entirely.

Good point(s). I suspect that the authorities reviewed the camera footage from the H.S. & probably saw the co-worker enter & leave the parking lot in her vehicle. I also suspect they reviewed the same footage for roughly the same time period & didn't see JJ at all.

That all being said, we don't know what the limitations were re: the camera footage - and whether it captured the entire parking lot or just a portion of the lot. Going along with this, since this disappearance happened in 2001 - the tech. at the time wasn't nearly as advanced as what we have access to now.

 

[cloverfield]

Hi from across the pond. 1st timer here, and I'm generally new to the whole sleuthing thing because I usually find it pointless and because subreddits on mystery cases tend to be terrible. But this board seems to be a lot more graceful. JJ's case along with Asha Degree's has quickly become one of my "favourite" (for the lack of a better word...) due to the sheer weirdness of it all and the near total lack of any evidence whatsoever.

I refuse to entertain with any speculation that his family was involved.
Fazoli's has been cleared from the start and I assume the police did a good job researching into them since the staff was pretty much the only known connection to Jason's disappearance and the most obvious lead one could think of. Additionally, if they ever wanted to hurt him in any way, it wouldn't have made any sense for them to orchestrate such a convoluted plan instead of just getting rid of him after one of his late night shifts, or whenever else they had Jason at their complete disposal. Including during the drive itself.
Hit and run, drug deals etc. don't make sense for a myriad of reasons, primarily the fact that it was 11 AM in a quiet middle class suburban residential neighbourhood, and because the whole theory would require such a sequence of completely nonsensical decisions and scenarios one after the other that you might as well assume he got kidnapped by the government or went into witness protection.
Suicide or voluntary disappearance are equally illogical, simply because even assuming he somehow managed to hide it all and pretend everything was normal, he'd just have drove off into the sunset at any other time instead of choosing that particular day and place.

So that leaves us with two scenarios, which are both highly unlikely, but might make sense in this specific case where something unlikely MUST have happened anyway.
1. something completely random which simply cannot be explained because it was random. I'd rule out any kind of struggle which would have most likely caused commotion and witnesses. So the idea would be that a neighbour along the way spotted Jason, lured him into their house with some excuse ("hey I need to bring this table into my living room and it's heavy, could you please lend me a hand?"), and proceeded to attack him with a blunt weapon and dispose of his body later on. Why, would you ask? Again, random.
In that case there's not much to speculate on because by definition random acts are random and don't necessarily have an explanation.*

2. a theory I just came up with. Again, highly unlikely, but we're talking about a 1-in-a-million missing person case so pretty much anything short of alien abduction goes.
I listened to that brief snippet of Jason's radio talk, and the very first thought floating into my brain was "that sounds kind of a gay voice".
Again, that's just what I thought. No judgement on that.
So my mind started to wander...he was a shy, quiet, apparently nice and lovable young man who didn't have a lot of friends nor an expanded social circle, and pretty much lived his life between his family, his job, and the church. What if the reason why he didn't have a lot of friends was that he was gay, and struggling with his sexuality? What if he had just met someone who he was seeing? What if his habit of going for a walk late of night was him sneaking about to this person's house? Christian families in the Midwest could be...awkward around homosexuality, especially back in 2001. If I were gay in that context, I'd probably keep it secret or at least low key. Plus, he had his own cellphone, which couldn't be inspected because he vanished with him.
There is no evidence he ever had any romantic female interest, which would also be unusual for a 19 year old boy (although by all means not unique).
So in this scenario, maybe this person was in fact a predator who made advantage of this sweet young boy struggling with his sexuality. This person lived along the way to the high school, or close to it. Jason was supposed to meet him later in the day as usual, but then his plan got disrupted, and while on his way to high school he stopped at this person's house to tell him. Something happened, and Jason got killed.
Did his mother or brother ever discussed his sexuality?

Again, I realise just how wild this kind of speculation is while I'm writing it, but again, in the absence of any other lead I can't rule it out definitively.

*by the way, something being random doesn't mean it has no logic or doesn't make sense.
I've seen a lot of "sleuths" on the internet (especially reddit) just plainly dismissing the evidence available and starting to create the most unbelievable theories just because random things happen. Sure, random things happen, but they still make sense, they still have their own internal logic.
E.g. you can imagine Jason running into a shady drug deal (even though it would be exceedingly unlikely at that time and place!), but why would these people ever attack Jason on the spot instead? Why would they ever go after a 6' guy who probably doesn't even know who they are instead of just running away? Why would they kill him and therefore risk leaving evidence (or being witnessed by someone) and being incriminated for a much worse crime? Finally, why and how would they ever dispose of the body without leaving no trace at all?

 

[cloverfield]

*would have driven, whoops, sorry for the bad grammar!

EDIT: I also wanted to add that this hypothetical person might have been stalking him and just waiting for him to be alone (but not at his house or any other place where there could be evidence linking Jason to him). He might have seen him leaving the house on foot, and there he went. He'd have approached Jason as soon as he was out of sight from his house, let him somehow into his car, and sped off.

Again, it sounds wildly absurd, but at least it would be a chain of events with some kind of logical coherence and would also explain the tight timeline. It would also require a relatively low number of unlikely assumptions compared to other theories.
Somehow I cannot picture a random sexual predator just driving about in a residential neighbourhood on mid morning on the lookout for adult males to abduct. Even odd cases like Gacy or Dahmer most often would lure their victims in with some excuse or sexual promise, or would target pre teens, drug addicts or lone hitchhikers.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Cloverfield, Thanks for your opinions/insights. This case fascinates & disturbs me, and so I appreciate it whenever I see the thread get bumped. To follow-up on several of your points:

I agree 100% that JJ could have been the victim of foul play due to being lured into a home along his route. If this is indeed what happened, the perp. could have been fixated on him due to seeing him in the neighborhood for a while (he had been walking as a pedestrian for some time before he vanished). Or, it could have been a spur-of-the moment crime. If it happened this way, it could easily have been a first & only crime by the perp. I.e., I don't necessarily think this was the work of a serial killer.

There are obviously a lot of sick & twisted people out there - and some of them live in suburbia.

Side-note: Your username seems to be based on the well-done & underrated monster/horror/disaster movie Cloverfield (2008). The other two films in the "de-facto" series were fantastic as well. If so, great reference!

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Re: JJ's preferences, I suspect he was straight. Obviously, this is IMHO only. Note that I base this opinion on a series of posts on another forum. These were posted at least 12-14+ years ago, and I don't even know if the site(s) are still up. Specifically, these were from a woman who said that she knew JJ when he was in college - in the months?! leading up to his vanishing. She mentioned that he was definitely romantically interested in her, though she wasn't interested in him (in that way) & didn't reciprocate. So, they were just friends. She even mentioned that she wished that he had called her for a ride that day - and that if he had, he would probably still be around.

Note that I'm not naive enough to believe everything I read online - especially when the source can't be verified. However, after spending an extensive amount of time researching this case - this woman's posts hold true. I.e., she knew a lot of personal info. about JJ & about the case, some of which I hadn't read anywhere else. And, in one of the threads she even answered questions from some other posters re: JJ.

As far as JJ being single @ age 19, I don't find that unusual/suspicious at all. A lot of young women in JJ's age range may have been mainly interested in dating the "bad boy" types & may not have been interested in him ATT - and that's not a criticism of JJ. Also, note that he had a mild learning disability in that he wasn't able to "process" a lot of information quickly. Going along with this (and I'm just speculating here), but I wonder if this may have made it more difficult for him to date?! I.e., everyone who's been out there is obviously aware that successful dating/relationships rely on being able to "read" social cues/signals/etc. - this is especially important in the initial stages. So, someone who was not able to do this successfully would certainly have had a rougher/more difficult time navigating the dating scene.

 

[Ciriii57]

I wouldn't like to speculate on Jason's preferences, but I don't think it's relevant in this particular case. I don't think Jason's preferences would matter particularly to someone who was obsessed or stalking him.
In my own opinion (for what it's worth...maybe nothing) I think the answer lies in the neighbourhood, particularly with one specific neighbour who killed himself not too long after. As for motive; on that i have no clue. Perhaps it was an accident.