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

[Alleykins]

Well, that was interesting, reading those posts from 2016. Dont know how I missed them, maybe it was before I was properly following this case. I think that the release of that man on death row was a coincidence, and didnt have to do with Jasons disappearance, IMO. But it was worth mentioning anyways, dotr!

I think it bears looking into, if investigators haven't already. It truly may be a coincidence, but people are still extremely upset (and rightly so) about the crime, and still believe JS was responsible for it to the point where it's very toxic and vitriolic.

 

[MysteryMaven]

While I think the church needs to be looked into more, particularly fellow members of the congregation who knew Jason because i think the family dissauded LE from following this angle, I don't really see the links in dates and readings at all I'm afraid.

It must be quite common for people to go missing on the same weekday they were born. I have no numbers but i dont think its significant. I was born on Friday, if i disappeared on Friday its not really suspicious is it? Its just one day of 7. And there's nothing significant about him last being in church on Sunday, that's obviously when he was in Church. It would be odder if it was a different day, surely?

I can't see a significance in the bible verse either. There must be literally hundreds of verses about suffering, its one of the main features of Christianity. This verse was about finding strength through adversity in your faith. Not about dying.

Although Saint Anthony is a funny coincidence, I think that's all it is. There must be a tonne of people who disappeared on this date?

I just can't see anyway this was planned in advance to make use of all these dates etc. How did they know there'd be a hailstorm to damage his car? How did they know he'd be called into work early? How did they know his Co worker would come and collect him, how did they know Jason would suggest meeting at the school?

While I think it's worth while looking into the church, I don't think this was some ritualistic murder planned specifically with these dates etc.

Where does it say the family dissuaded LE from looking into church members?

 

[MysteryMaven]

Totally willing to change my thoughts and angle on this. But I still don't think we can rule out someone from the church. From what I understand, law enforcement never checked out people who attended church. If true, I think that was a mistake.

Where is it reported that LE didn’t look at church members?

 

[MysteryMaven]

That's the first time I've heard about JJ making it near to the gas station. If that was the case, then Jason would have more likely walked on Maple St, down from N 48th St (near the Church). That would certainly open up possibilities....but were cameras pointing down Maple St from the school, so if Jason did go that route, he didn't make it to the gas station I wouldn't have thought.

But that is actually interesting...because now I look at the map, if Jason did the route I attached to this post (route1.png), he could have had to go past the Church to get onto Maple Street (depending on if he was walking straight down N 48th St).

Maple Street is actually the more logical road you'd want to walk on; because Benson High School is nearer Maple S than Bedford Ave. hmm. On this route, you go past Fontenelle Blvd, which has the Church car park exposed. If someone was at the Church and offered him a lift...that could be a possibility, but we don't know if A) that's the route he did or B) he made it that far

I always found the neighbour's comment very strange - about Jason "walking towards Benson". How the heck would the neighbour know where Jason was walking towards??? you couldn't possibly know where Jason was heading. The only thing you could say with certainty was that; "I saw Jason walk out of the road he lived on". Just because you saw Jason walking out of the road you live on, you cannot possibly tell if he's walking towards Benson...UNLESS the neighbour saw Jason walk down Pinkney St, which would look like route2.png (attached to post).

If Jason did walk the route showed on route2.png, then I'm running out of ideas and would probably fall back on the "neighbour" theory, where a semi-random neighbour has done something.

Without knowing the exact route he would have taken, no witnesses, no clothing left behind/dropped, and no CCTV, it makes this extremely difficult.

I also read about the gas station sighting. The person who commented mentioned the jersey and that they had a concern for the jersey wearer’s safety.

 

[MatthewTyler]

Going through the people who commented and publicly "shared" the FB Omaha PD post about JJ's anniversary, it seems there are a few people who were friendly with him and actually have memories with him. Interesting that these people haven't seemed to pop up until now. There were a couple people that were in the radio program with him, a couple Fazoli workers, and a handful that knew him from HS. One thing I noticed was that most of the people who were friendly with him in school were from Westside HS- the school that JJ attended for grades 9 and 10 but had to transfer out of due to bullying. Seems he did have some social connections there. Looking through some of these people, I also believe I have finally found the manager at Fazoli's at the time.

 

[Andreee]

Where does it say the family dissuaded LE from looking into church members?

I doubt very much that the family dissuaded LE. I certainly have never read that anywhere.

 

[Valiant]

Going through the people who commented and publicly "shared" the FB Omaha PD post about JJ's anniversary, it seems there are a few people who were friendly with him and actually have memories with him. Interesting that these people haven't seemed to pop up until now. There were a couple people that were in the radio program with him, a couple Fazoli workers, and a handful that knew him from HS. One thing I noticed was that most of the people who were friendly with him in school were from Westside HS- the school that JJ attended for grades 9 and 10 but had to transfer out of due to bullying. Seems he did have some social connections there. Looking through some of these people, I also believe I have finally found the manager at Fazoli's at the time.

if I was a friend of someone who went missing I'd never speak publicly. That's because people on forums such as this one would immediately make you a suspect. With absolutely zero evidence, people here have speculated that Fazolis and even the girl that was supposed to give him a ride were responsible for or connected to the disappearance.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Obviously, this is all IMHO only:

Note that not everyone who follows this thread believes that Fazoli's and/or JJ's co-worker (who was scheduled to pick him up at the H.S.) had anything to do with his vanishing. I've studied this case extensively, and nothing points to anyone at the restaurant as having anything to do with whatever happened to JJ.

As has been discussed, they called him in early due to being short-staffed. There is absolutely nothing suspicious or odd about this. As someone who used to work at a restaurant when I was roughly JJ's age (though over 12+ years earlier) this type of thing would happen on a semi-regular basis. I.e., an employee would either not come in when they were scheduled or would unexpectedly quit, etc. - and they needed someone to fill in quickly. I suspect this is why they were trying to expedite him getting to work. I.e., since he didn't have his car ATT, they set it up so that the co-worker would go & pick him up - since they presumably really needed him there at that time

Well, that was interesting, reading those posts from 2016. Dont know how I missed them, maybe it was before I was properly following this case. I think that the release of that man on death row was a coincidence, and didnt have to do with Jasons disappearance, IMO. But it was worth mentioning anyways, dotr!

I also believe that the man being released on the same day JJ vanished was just a coincidence, and had nothing to do with whatever happened to JJ. The theory that someone mistook JJ for this guy is far-fetched, especially since we don't know where the prison was (where he was released from) in relation to where JJ was walking, etc. I also don't believe that JJ resembled this guy to any great extent - other than possibly having a similar build/height.

 

[dotr]

Obviously, this is all IMHO only:

Note that not everyone who follows this thread believes that Fazoli's and/or JJ's co-worker (who was scheduled to pick him up at the H.S.) had anything to do with his vanishing. I've studied this case extensively, and nothing points to anyone at the restaurant as having anything to do with whatever happened to JJ.

As has been discussed, they called him in early due to being short-staffed. There is absolutely nothing suspicious or odd about this. As someone who used to work at a restaurant when I was roughly JJ's age (though over 12+ years earlier) this type of thing would happen on a semi-regular basis. I.e., an employee would either not come in when they were scheduled or would unexpectedly quit, etc. - and they needed someone to fill in quickly. I suspect this is why they were trying to expedite him getting to work. I.e., since he didn't have his car ATT, they set it up so that the co-worker would go & pick him up - since they presumably really needed him there at that time



I also believe that the man being released on the same day JJ vanished was just a coincidence, and had nothing to do with whatever happened to JJ. The theory that someone mistook JJ for this guy is far-fetched, especially since we don't know where the prison was (where he was released from) in relation to where JJ was walking, etc. I also don't believe that JJ resembled this guy to any great extent - other than possibly having a similar build/height.

What is your best theory on what may have happened to Jason?

 

[dotr]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>
Lots of church chatter on this thread..

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

Does anybody know, if the police made any research in that church at Fontenelle Boulevard? I don't mean just people who worked there but the building itself. One could have easily hide a body in that building, at least for a couple of days. The police started a serious investigation only after...

www.websleuths.com

 

[MysteryMaven]

Definitely odd, I agree.


Well that's very interesting. After JJ went missing, that same Rev said only that Jason was a "prayerful kid, very friendly, very quiet". Now, i don't want to insinuate anything, but that struck me as.....strange. For someone who had a close relationship with the Rev, to say just 6 words about him after he disappears, and then you move away (now granted, that could be for legitimate reasons), just sounds, on the surface, a bit odd (JMO).

As you say, anyone in Omaha at that time could have been a suspect, but I think the very, very limited details about the case point to the idea that it was most likely someone Jason knew, trusted and someone who was extremely quick with the "trap" or possible abduction too.

I think thats a really really far reach.

 

[MysteryMaven]

if I was a friend of someone who went missing I'd never speak publicly. That's because people on forums such as this one would immediately make you a suspect. With absolutely zero evidence, people here have speculated that Fazolis and even the girl that was supposed to give him a ride were responsible for or connected to the disappearance.

I wish I could give you a million thumbs up for this.

 

[MysteryMaven]

I doubt very much that the family dissuaded LE. I certainly have never read that anywhere.

There is a poster here who keeps asserting that Jason’s family did so but will not provide a source for that.
Jason’s family are considered victims. Saying that they dissuaded lines of investigation is victim blaming.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Totally willing to change my thoughts and angle on this. But I still don't think we can rule out someone from the church. From what I understand, law enforcement never checked out people who attended church. If true, I think that was a mistake.

Do you have a source for this? That is a pretty big assertion to say law enforcement “never” did something.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Ok, this might get interesting...

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but Jason was born on a Wednesday (24th June, 1981). He vanished on a Wednesday (June 13th, 2001).

His last appearance in the Church was Sunday (10th June, 2001) and his birthday (24th June, 2001) was set to fall on a Sunday.

To me, that's much more than a little strange. Could this disappearance have a religious angle to it? You might say I am looking too in depth for this, but i'm not sure I am. This case hasn't been solved, so absolutely nothing is off the cards and it's more than time for "out of the box" thinking.

Speaking of the last appearance in Church 3 days before he went missing, Jason was said to have done a reading (as a lector) at 9am on Sunday Mass. On that Sunday, Jason read Proverbs 8, verses 22-31 and Romans 5, verses 1-5.

Notably, Romans C5 V3-5 says: "3 But that's not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. 4 And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope 5 that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love."

I am now thinking Jason was very possibly targeted by someone from Church who knew Jason intimately - intimately as in very well. Someone who presented themselves as trustworthy, but underneath the veil, they were anything but trustworthy. They will have knew Jason well enough to know his birthday, age, even his address etc. The question is: who.

Well, someone didn't want him to see his birthday, meaning it had to be someone who knew him well enough to know his birthday / date of birth. Someone in a trustworthy position e.g in Church.

It makes me wonder whether Jason picked those bible verses to read, or someone else had him read them. It's very curious to me that the specific verse he read in Romans talks about suffering being character-building and effectively dying (in layman's terms: suffering is preparing you for heaven).

To pick that extremely specific verse tells me that it's possible someone told Jason to read that under the veil that it's just a nice, positive message, when in actual fact, it was effectively a bad omen. I would call into question whoever told Jason to read that verse.

This is why I am thinking the person behind this likely attended the Sunday Mass prior to Jason disappearing.

When the reverend moves away within a short timeframe after the victim goes missing, and you combine that with verses being read, it does raise eyebrows. I've actually worked on a case during my time in LE which had this kind of theme, so it's extremely plausible.


Totally respect your opinion, but I have worked for police and solved many, many crimes using my methodology/methodologies. I'd rather check every angle and find an answer than miss an angle and not find an

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>
Thanks, but its not like the family or the public have a checklist of every single person LE talked to. I don’t think anyone can say that LE did not speak with even one person from church.

I don’t think it is fair to his family to insinuate they somehow blocked avenues of investigation. The investigation is up to LE not the family. Sure they will ask the family about his lifestyle but I would bet they asked his small friend group and classmates too. LE is not stupid they aren’t going just take his parents’ word for everything. They know parents don’t know every aspect of their child’s life.

 

[puzzleworldplanet]

I think thats a really really far reach.

Far reaches aren't impossible and to be honest - look where we are now. Nowhere. No suspects. Nothing. Far reaching is needed. Different ideas are needed. New theories are needed. Old theories need re-visiting etc you get the idea.

<modsnip>

 

[MysteryMaven]

My theory is that he ran off to join the circus. So everyone needs to entertain that theory even though no one in Jason’s life ever mentioned his love of the circus and as a matter of fact the circus was not even in town.
Does this make sense? Just because you can think of a scenario doesn’t mean it’s likely.
There is not much to go on here so I understand speculation but the majority of speculation I see is either not based in any evidence or it is contrary to what we know about Jason.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

The below is an encapsulation of what has been previously posted on here. However, since we have new posters on here & since it's a hassle to go read all of the previous posts - IMHO this is worth bringing up again:

What is your best theory on what may have happened to Jason?

IMHO one of two things happened to JJ: His disappearance is connected to either voluntarily going into a house or voluntarily getting into a car - on the way to the H.S. At this point, I don't know which is more likely - i.e. the house or the car possibility. As I stated (or at least implied) in previous posts, there are unfortunately plenty of freaks/sickos in suburbia.

I don't believe that JJ:

-Voluntarily ran away from home & hasn't contacted his family since June 2001.
-Was accidentally hit by a car & quickly removed from the scene by the panicked driver.
-Accidentally fell into a crevice/gap/hole & subsequently died.
-Was the victim of a robbery/drive-by shooting in which the perps. then immediately removed the body.
-Was assaulted due to mistaken identity & then removed from the scene.

It's true we don't know what happened here & that there are 0 clues. However, I just don't find the above 5 theories plausible - for reasons I went over in previous posts.

 

[puzzleworldplanet]

The below is an encapsulation of what has been previously posted on here. However, since we have new posters on here & since it's a hassle to go read all of the previous posts - IMHO this is worth bringing up again:



IMHO one of two things happened to JJ: His disappearance is connected to either voluntarily going into a house or voluntarily getting into a car - on the way to the H.S. At this point, I don't know which is more likely - i.e. the house or the car possibility.

As I stated (or at least implied) in previous posts, there are unfortunately plenty of freaks/sickos in suburbia.

So, I don't believe that JJ:

-Voluntarily ran away from home & hasn't contacted his family since June 2001.
-Was accidentally hit by a car & quickly removed from the scene by the panicked driver.
-Accidentally fell into a crevice/gap/hole & subsequently died.
-Was the victim of a robbery or drive-by shooting in which the perps. then immediately removed the body.
- Was assaulted due to mistaken identity & then removed from the scene.

It's true we don't know what happened here & that there are 0 clues. However, I just don't find the above possibilities that plausible - for reasons I went over in previous posts.

Let this post be the return to common sense in this thread!!

I agree. It's the best theory I've got after a lot of time spent reading up on everything available on the web. I think Jason was most likely lured into a house/car by a neighbour, or someone who knew him from the church etc. Either that, or I still find something off with the story that the mother/brother told, which was discussed a few pages back. All my opinion of course.

 

[MatthewTyler]

Any chance we can swerve this back to a discussion. Many things about this case have been misconstrued over the years, so honestly who even knows who was looked at and who wasn't. Either way no POI was ever discovered.