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

[RiddarX]

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 ten days from Jason's disappearance. It gave someone a plenty of time to think, where to take a body from there. Sorry, I am very suspicious about church in general.

 

[MatthewTyler]

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 ten days from Jason's disappearance. It gave someone a plenty of time to think, where to take a body from there. Sorry, I am very suspicious about church in general.

Kelly said that everyone in Jason's life was interviewed at least once, so presumably that included members of the church. It's never actually been confirmed though. As for police searching the actual premises- doubtful. Not sure the actual church would be a good place to store a body, even for a couple hours. There would be too many people going in and out. The perp didn't know they would have 10 days to get rid of evidence, so I doubt they were wasting any time at all. The body was likely hidden the same day.

 

[Andreee]

Kelly said that everyone in Jason's life was interviewed at least once, so presumably that included members of the church. It's never actually been confirmed though. As for police searching the actual premises- doubtful. Not sure the actual church would be a good place to store a body, even for a couple hours. There would be too many people going in and out. The perp didn't know they would have 10 days to get rid of evidence, so I doubt they were wasting any time at all. The body was likely hidden the same day.

Yes, and have you heard anything about the park/lagoon route he could have taken, and if the lagoon was searched?

 

[RiddarX]

Kelly said that everyone in Jason's life was interviewed at least once, so presumably that included members of the church. It's never actually been confirmed though. As for police searching the actual premises- doubtful. Not sure the actual church would be a good place to store a body, even for a couple hours. There would be too many people going in and out. The perp didn't know they would have 10 days to get rid of evidence, so I doubt they were wasting any time at all. The body was likely hidden the same day.

Perhaps not the actual church where people come and go. I was thinking about a quiet room. If it was a person, who worked at the church, he (apparently it was a man...) knew which rooms were not at use at that hour. Just watched a doc. about a man, who was killed in his own house. His body was hidden under the floor. His mother and sister didn't know about that space and couldn't find him, let alone the police. Dogs were not used, I suppose. Eventually his body was found, but the killer's identity stays unknown. No, I am not suggesting that Jason's body is today under the floor in that church. It's a big building, though. The perp obviously couldn't know that it would take ten days before the investigation really started. He didn't need that long, anyway. As I believe it wasn't planned, he just might have had some kind of obsession about Jason, hoping to have some private time with him. And when he suddenly noticed Jason walking alone, he took the chance. He lured Jason to the church using some kind of excuse and things got out of control. He might have hit Jason, who hurt his head and died. He then hid the body in the room that was rarely or not at all visited. He must have been in the state of shock and wasn't even thinking rationally. He was just lucky and took the body in the evening to better place. No suspicious digging, but he had to have good luck again as he wasn't seen carrying Jason's body to his car. Nor could he imagine that after about 20 years this case is still internationally discussed. If he is still alive, I hope, some day his nerves will break down!

 

[retrometro]

It could well have been someone connected to the church and I concede it's possible that they met at the church building to go somewhere else, but I highly doubt that the church itself was the crime scene.

An active urban parish would have quite a few people coming/going from the building during the day: for Daily Mass, to pray in the sanctuary individually, for pastoral counseling, church committees, etc. Most urban parishes typically have at least 2-3 employees around during the day, sometimes more (1-2 priests, a parish administrator/secretary, possibly a director of religious education, maybe a deacon or nun working on outreach ministries, plus any musicians or janitorial staff who might drop in for specific purposes). In short, unless it was a dying parish, a Catholic church would not be a great place to hide a body even temporarily.

Also, based on what has been reported about the Jolkowski family, I would venture a strong guess that they reached out to people at the church in the immediate aftermath of the disappearance. So even though it took police 10 days to start investigating, people at the church were likely clued in before then that the disapparance had happened.

 

[RiddarX]

It could well have been someone connected to the church and I concede it's possible that they met at the church building to go somewhere else, but I highly doubt that the church itself was the crime scene.

An active urban parish would have quite a few people coming/going from the building during the day: for Daily Mass, to pray in the sanctuary individually, for pastoral counseling, church committees, etc. Most urban parishes typically have at least 2-3 employees around during the day, sometimes more (1-2 priests, a parish administrator/secretary, possibly a director of religious education, maybe a deacon or nun working on outreach ministries, plus any musicians or janitorial staff who might drop in for specific purposes). In short, unless it was a dying parish, a Catholic church would not be a great place to hide a body even temporarily.

Also, based on what has been reported about the Jolkowski family, I would venture a strong guess that they reached out to people at the church in the immediate aftermath of the disappearance. So even though it took police 10 days to start investigating, people at the church were likely clued in before then that the disapparance had happened.

Thanks for the information about Catholic church and its daily routines. I am not religious and therefore don't know much about that area. Perhaps I am having prejudices and think badly about people within Catholic church. There has been so many child molestation cases that I am tend to assume that everything is possible. But I don't understand, why Jason would have sit in anyone's car, when he didn't have a long way to walk. Let alone stay in that car, when he realized that they were not heading the Branson high school. So many open questions! Anyway, I can't help thinking about different more or less plausible scenarios. It's always interesting to hear comments from other people.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Oh no now we are onto the church being involved? And a gay angle? It seems like when there are no new developments in a missing persons case these 2 theories start cropping up.
There is zero evidence Jason was struggling with his sexuality. There is zero evidence of literally everything in this case so I know the argument about anything being possible, etc. but I can’t get on board with any of that.

Many of people who knew Jason were spoken to. These people have commented on other sites and none of them have said anything to suggest church or being homosexual as a reason for Jason going missing. One girl in fact said she felt bad because she rejected him romantically. For a shy person Jason was in contact with a lot of people and it sounds like law enforcement interviewed a ton of them.
I think whatever happened to Jason had to do with his personality and his reported cognitive issues. I don’t think he was part of a long con by a predator from church or that he was gay and struggling. I think he may have gotten distracted and gotten lost. From there who knows. I think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Did police search wooded areas, ponds, lagoons, in the vicinity? Someone a while back brought up searching drainpipes. I am more inclined to think he wound up somewhere like that. There is still that uid skull from Camp Joy Holling that could have gotten there via waterways.

MatthewTyler screen snapped a newspaper article earlier in the thread from 2001 that mentioned a possible sighting of Jason in Mahoney State Park which is also where the skull was found.
The only other sighting I have read about was an online comment by a guy who said he saw a tall guy in a Cubs jersey going into a convenience store around the time/area Jason went missing. It was in a rough area outside of Jason’s route.

It stood out to him becaise he thought to himself that guy better watch out he is going to get jumped. Online comments need to be taken with many grains of salt. However these are the only 2 sightings I can find.
I can’t find anything about any issues w/sexuality or problems with church. If the church was a source of abuse he would want to get away from it and probably not entertain joining the seminary.

 

[RiddarX]

Oh no now we are onto the church being involved? And a gay angle? It seems like when there are no new developments in a missing persons case these 2 theories start cropping up.
There is zero evidence Jason was struggling with his sexuality. There is zero evidence of literally everything in this case so I know the argument about anything being possible, etc. but I can’t get on board with any of that.

Many of people who knew Jason were spoken to. These people have commented on other sites and none of them have said anything to suggest church or being homosexual as a reason for Jason going missing. One girl in fact said she felt bad because she rejected him romantically. For a shy person Jason was in contact with a lot of people and it sounds like law enforcement interviewed a ton of them.
I think whatever happened to Jason had to do with his personality and his reported cognitive issues. I don’t think he was part of a long con by a predator from church or that he was gay and struggling. I think he may have gotten distracted and gotten lost. From there who knows. I think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As far as I understand the "gay angle" doesn't suggest Jason being gay or struggling with his sexuality in any way. The person who harmed him is completely another thing: Jason wasn't into drugs or any kind of criminal activity, nor was he involved in any kind of scandal or going to steal someone's girlfriend. He didn't look like carrying a lot of cash. Personally I don't see any reason, why Fazoli's would have been involved in his disappearance. After all he was about to start a new job. That's all I can think is sexual motive. And when it comes to Catholic Church there have been a lot of weird sexual motives in there. Celibacy doesn't make all of them saints. Sorry, if I have hurt someone's feelings, but church has been involved in too many hush hush things. But again, having so little information about Jason's personality (he was friendly, polite, trusting, shy, interested in sport, family oriented, somewhat religious, had a handful of close friends,...) and his connections with people and stuff there is very little to say for sure. All I can do is to speculate with different possibilities and listen, what you guys have to say.

 

[MysteryMaven]

In regard to a gay angle previous posters have suggested either grooming or ambush by a male. I think that could be possible. Could that person be from church, sure. But I don’t by that he was pulled into church, killed, and hidden there. That is too far fetched.

More recently the phrase “struggling w/his sexuality” was mentioned and that to me is just not a likely reason for his disappearance. If he had disappeared after cashing a paycheck and picking up his car from the shop I would say yes, he could have been struggling with his sexuality and started a new life.
The circumstances just don’t point to that.

 

[ekardh]

I’m one of the members who speculated that Jason might have been closeted gay. I also admit that I have nothing to substantiate that theory but I think it’s an enquiry worth pursuing.

I suspect foul play in Jason’s disappearance and struggle to see a motive other than a sexual one. Jason was an 18 year-old, 6 foot dude. He wasn’t a child. It’s hard to believe a random predator targeted him on the short walk to the school. I also think the “cognitive issues” that you refer to are overstated. AFAIK, Jason had a speech impediment but he was not intellectually disabled.

Therefore, it would suggest Jason was taken by someone he knew. It could be someone had unrequited gay feelings for Jason. We also have evidence that Jason was disappearing for long periods on ‘walks’ which may have been an excuse to duck off and secretly meet someone. For me, I think there’s more involved to this case than meets the eye.

There’s also the fact that Jason asked to be picked up at the school, ostensibly because he sucked at directions. It’s a detail taken at face value but it might hold the key to this mystery.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I think whatever happened to Jason had to do with his personality and his reported cognitive issues. I don’t think he was part of a long con by a predator from church or that he was gay and struggling. I think he may have gotten distracted and gotten lost. From there who knows. I think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This just seems very unlikely imo. Jason was not a 90 year old with alzheimer's. He drove, worked, and had attended school. His cognitive issues were likely mild. This was a short walk which he had done many times before; I don't see how he would get lost. The article I posted about the possible park sighting was about a week after he disappeared. Not sure how he would have been lost for an entire week when it wasn't that far from home. But you do raise a good point with the skull. I really wish they would update on that, but it's probably sitting in an evidence locker and will not be touched again. If he did end up in the waterways, it's probably because someone put him in there.

 

[MatthewTyler]

Going on what @ekardh said, regardless of what actually happened, I think it is very likely related to him wanting to be picked up at the school. Everything about that day is far too coincidental to have happened all by accident.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Apparently he wanted to be picked up at school because he had a hard time giving directions to his house. This has been stated in various descriptions of his disappearance.

He had problems with directions, possibly spatial skills. I believe I read that he had arranged this type of pick up in the past but I need to find a source on that.

His mother was very proud of what he was able to accomplish in spite of his difficulties, she emphasized this in an interview for the Unfound podcast.
I think it’s an important factor to remember that Jason wasn’t the “typical teenager” to an extent. I think he could have wandered off route. I also think he could have gotten in the car with the wrong person, or been lured into someone’s house under the pretense of helping that person.
I don’t think the church or him being gay and afraid to come out are factors.

 

[MysteryMaven]

If Jason’s own mother said he had cognitive issues, I believe he had cognitive issues. Mild or not, they were issues. People that knew him describe him as shy, naive, had a hard time making eye contact, had trouble understanding speech when experiencing a lot of other stimuli, had trouble with directions, bullied at school due to perceived learning disabilities, able to accomplish a lot despite having these issues. I 100% believe this made him a target or got him into a situation he couldn’t get out of.

 

[dotr]

Jason is included in this extensive list of NE missing persons.
https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-...s/documents/ne.missingpersons.report.data.pdf
''Jason Jolkowski6/13/200119MWhiteOmaha PDYYY''

 

[RiddarX]

If Jason’s own mother said he had cognitive issues, I believe he had cognitive issues. Mild or not, they were issues. People that knew him describe him as shy, naive, had a hard time making eye contact, had trouble understanding speech when experiencing a lot of other stimuli, had trouble with directions, bullied at school due to perceived learning disabilities, able to accomplish a lot despite having these issues. I 100% believe this made him a target or got him into a situation he couldn’t get out of.

 

[RiddarX]

If Jason’s own mother said he had cognitive issues, I believe he had cognitive issues. Mild or not, they were issues. People that knew him describe him as shy, naive, had a hard time making eye contact, had trouble understanding speech when experiencing a lot of other stimuli, had trouble with directions, bullied at school due to perceived learning disabilities, able to accomplish a lot despite having these issues. I 100% believe this made him a target or got him into a situation he couldn’t get out of.

Does anyone know, what Jason actually did at Fazoli's? This question has been asked before, but apparently without answer. Whatever cognitive issues he had, he could work in that kind of environment despite his difficulties with processing information. They have said, he was a good worker.
Anyway, no scenario should be excluded as so little is known. This case has no clues. This might be, because not all was told to the public. Jason's mother said in an interview that sometimes they (police and immediate family) tell more, sometimes less. That's why I am with ekardh: if nobody has said that was struggling with some issues, it doesn't mean that he wasn't. Maybe he was, maybe wasn't. We don't know. I have read about Jason's romantic approach to that girl. It may be a proof of his sexuality or perhaps it doesn't mean anything. He wouldn't be the first young gay man, who has romantic feelings towards a girl. As far as I have understood Jason wasn't fooling around. He might have had feelings about girls or boys as it sometimes happens in teen years. He hardly had practiced any kind of sexuality. Or maybe he had – we don't know for sure. His mother hardly would come to public with any of those thoughts. I didn't know about his walks, that he could go out for walking for a long time.

I came to thoughts about the church's involvement, because there was no discussion about it. One shouldn't think it's IMPOSSIBLE, because it's the Holy Church. The church is a community of people and there are various people within as we all have learnt. There's nothing outrageous about that thought. Being a religious family Jolkowski's surely didn't suspect anyone in that community, I think.
Police surely was more open to various possibilities. What about that skull? I read about it but have heard nothing afterwards. Don't even remember, when they found it.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Despite the speculation, which I don't believe is all fair to him, and knowing it's more likely someone he knew, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of someone who just happened to be on the street and chose him as a "random" target. JMO.

Also if there's a skull that matches as far as age / male / dates / plausible location, why can't they do a comparison of dentals or a DNA test? Seems not impossible?

 

[RiddarX]

Despite the speculation, which I don't believe is all fair to him, and knowing it's more likely someone he knew, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of someone who just happened to be on the street and chose him as a "random" target. JMO.

Also if there's a skull that matches as far as age / male / dates / plausible location, why can't they do a comparison of dentals or a DNA test? Seems not impossible?

That's what I have been thinking too, Comparison of dentals or a DNA test. Hope, it's not one of those cases when someone has forgotten something. Must say, I was amazed after learning about Samuel Sherman – he wasn't missing at all, but was still on that list of missing people.