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

[dotr]

If Jason was not called in to work that day, what other plans might he have had?

 

[ekardh]

If Jason was not called in to work that day, what other plans might he have had?

Good question. It might be the key to solving this mystery.

If Jason was making a detour that morning, it had to be a brief one and somewhere local, as he was due at the high school. Perhaps Jason went to inform this person that there was a change of plan and they couldn't hang out today? Although, Jason had a cellphone, so why wouldn't he use that? Unless, they had agreed not to use their phones, for some reason?

Perhaps, this person was always planning to do away with Jason that day? I'm thinking there was some sort of tryst going on with an older man. This might explain what Jason was doing when he went "walking" for hours.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I'm thinking there was some sort of tryst going on with an older man. This might explain what Jason was doing when he went "walking" for hours.

I'm still curious about this gay neighbor that lived a block over. Again, I hate to even scrutinize like that, but if this theory is to be looked at, it's definitely an angle. He was 31 at the time. All I know about him is that he still lives in Omaha, is married to a man and that they've been a couple since 2002.

 

[neesaki]

I'm still curious about this gay neighbor that lived a block over. Again, I hate to even scrutinize like that, but if this theory is to be looked at, it's definitely an angle. He was 31 at the time. All I know about him is that he still lives in Omaha, is married to a man and that they've been a couple since 2002.

You’re referring to the guy, neighbor of Jason’s, that moved out of the neighborhood not long after Jason went missing? If so, Yes, I’m curious as well.

 

[Valiant]

If there is a gay angle here, and I'm not necessarily convinced there is:
I'd be more suspicious of someone who wasn't known as being gay rather than a known gay guy in the neighborhood. Someone who might have a secret relationship with a young guy, but was otherwise "normal" appearing with a wife and kids. Someone who might resort to desperate measures to protect a secret lifestyle.

 

[ekardh]

If there is a gay angle here, and I'm not necessarily convinced there is:
I'd be more suspicious of someone who wasn't known as being gay rather than a known gay guy in the neighborhood. Someone who might have a secret relationship with a young guy, but was otherwise "normal" appearing with a wife and kids. Someone who might resort to desperate measures to protect a secret lifestyle.

That's why I suspect it may have been someone who was part of the church congregation.

 

[MatthewTyler]

It's not impossible that Jason could have stopped by the church on his way to the High School. According to Google Maps, there's a route that would have taken him past the church. From there he could have continued on Maple St. right to the high school. Maybe he was planning on doing extra prayer hours that day, which we know he did a couple times a week, but had to reschedule because of the call into work. Maybe he was stopping by to let them know this? Usually the clergy in a church live on campus in a dorm style kind of housing, and I believe this was the case here because there's a housing unit next to the actual church. Not sure if Jason could have been lured into a place like that since it isn't exactly discreet. However, the church also founded Holy Name Housing Corp, which studebkr mentioned was the church's project of renovating abandoned houses and selling them to low income families around North Omaha. This makes me wonder if there were maybe some abandoned houses near the church that a worker of the church had access to. Land records show that at least a few houses right near the church are owned by that corporation.

Also to note: not neccesarily inscrimnating or anything, but the head priest there, who spoke about Jason in the article, left the church around 2001/2002. He has bounced between quite a few places in the past 19 years (though not unusual for a priest) and is currently in Tuscon, Arizona.

 

[ekardh]

Jason was seen leaving at 10.45am and his ride was picking him up from the school at 11? That route would be cutting it a little fine, especially if he stopped briefly, but I guess it's doable.

 

[retrometro]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know which Fazoli's he worked at? Google Maps shows three Fazoli's locations in Omaha as of 2020. I'm guessing it was the one on Cass Street (4.5 miles away), but given that Fazoli's closed about half their locations in the late 00s, I don't want to assume anything. [To be clear, I don't think that anyone from Fazoli's was involved. I'm just trying to understand which places/routes in Omaha would have been familiar to Jason].

 

[MatthewTyler]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know which Fazoli's he worked at? Google Maps shows three Fazoli's locations in Omaha as of 2020. I'm guessing it was the one on Cass Street (4.5 miles away), but given that Fazoli's closed about half their locations in the late 00s, I don't want to assume anything. [To be clear, I don't think that anyone from Fazoli's was involved. I'm just trying to understand which places/routes in Omaha would have been familiar to Jason].

Yup, it was the one on Cass Street

 

[ekardh]

There's often a tendency to take the facts of the case at face value. I made that mistake when first investigating the case in my signature. Teenagers often lead double lives and withhold secrets from their parents. When you work from the assumption that Jason had an ulterior motive for meeting at the school, it opens up possiblities. I believe Jason was involved with someone/something which ultimately led to his disappearance.

 

[MatthewTyler]

There's often a tendency to take the facts of the case at face value. I made that mistake when first investigating the case in my signature. Teenagers often lead double lives and withhold secrets from their parents. When you work from the assumption that Jason had an ulterior motive for meeting at the school, it opens up possiblities. I believe Jason was involved with someone/something which ultimately led to his disappearance.

Which then just begs the question of why he had to do this before work. Whatever he was doing (if this in in fact the case)would have had to have been quick and right on the way. Maybe he owed someone money and he was going to pay them? Or maybe he was picking up money from someone? We know he had financial problems. His mom said he had about $60 on him at the time. Could just be emergency money, but that's a decent amount for someone with no social life. Could have maybe been buying something as well.

 

[ekardh]

Which then just begs the question of why he had to do this before work. Whatever he was doing (if this in in fact the case)would have had to have been quick and right on the way. Maybe he owed someone money and he was going to pay them? Or maybe he was picking up money from someone? We know he had financial problems. His mom said he had about $60 on him at the time. Could just be emergency money, but that's a decent amount for someone with no social life. Could have maybe been buying something as well.

There had to be something going on. A crime of opportunity doesn't sit well with me. Jason wasn't a little boy. He couldn't be grabbed off the street or lured away. And I think the size of him would deter a lot of would-be sexual predators.

If Jason was involved with someone, why did they choose that particular day to get rid of him? Why not wait for a day where his absence wouldn't cause a stir?

 

[retrometro]

I usually don't like to project motives into my speculation, but I don't rule out a crime of opportunity, as unusual as it would have been. It's not totally unprecedented for serial killers to target teenage men (John Wayne Gacy comes to mind).

If Jason did not work out regularly and was not athetically well-coordinated, I find it believable that he could have been overpowered by someone stronger. As I've mentioned previously, I'm about an inch shorter than Jason but was almost exactly the same reported weight (165 pounds) at age 18-19. People usually left me alone, but a high school bully who was a swim team member was once able to restrain me based on just his upper body strength. I put up a fight, but because he weighed 15-20 pounds more than I did, it was futile.

I've also read mixed things about Jason's cognitive abilities/demeanor. Some accounts have claimed that other than a slight speech impediment, he was of normal intelligence and even street smart. Others have said that he was normal but came across as slow to others based on his manner of speech. Still other accounts have said that he was socially awkward and might not have immediately recognized danger. If it was one of the latter two, it reinforces my belief that he could have been easily overpowered. (In the snippet of Jason's college radio DJing that a podcast replayed a few years ago, his speech pattern sounds like a normal teenager to me, so it's hard to say).

All that having been said, I don't think that "killed on intentional errand" is necessarily wrong. In some ways it fits. But I do think "random crime of opportunity" fits too.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I usually don't like to project motives into my speculation, but I don't rule out a crime of opportunity, as unusual as it would have been. It's not totally unprecedented for serial killers to target teenage men (John Wayne Gacy comes to mind).

If Jason did not work out regularly and was not athetically well-coordinated, I find it believable that he could have been overpowered by someone stronger. As I've mentioned previously, I'm about an inch shorter than Jason but was almost exactly the same reported weight (165 pounds) at age 18-19. People usually left me alone, but a high school bully who was a swim team member was once able to restrain me based on just his upper body strength. I put up a fight, but because he weighed 15-20 pounds more than I did, it was futile.

I've also read mixed things about Jason's cognitive abilities/demeanor. Some accounts have claimed that other than a slight speech impediment, he was of normal intelligence and even street smart. Others have said that he was normal but came across as slow to others based on his manner of speech. Still other accounts have said that he was socially awkward and might not have immediately recognized danger. If it was one of the latter two, it reinforces my belief that he could have been easily overpowered. (In the snippet of Jason's college radio DJing that a podcast replayed a few years ago, his speech pattern sounds like a normal teenager to me, so it's hard to say).

All that having been said, I don't think that "killed on intentional errand" is necessarily wrong. In some ways it fits. But I do think "random crime of opportunity" fits too.

It's true that killers have targeted teenage men before. But those victims are 99% of the time runaways, hitch hikers, druggies, or escorts. I don't know how many of them were lured off the street in broad daylight while just walking by. Though Jason could always be the 1%.
I don't think any real "fight" happened. None where Jason was having to use brute strength; that would simply draw way too much attention. If it was crime of opportunity, I can't believe anything besides lured into a car/house by someone he knew. And the fact that nobody saw anything makes me think it could have been on his block.
But the intentional errand theory is appealing because it would explain how this could all happen in such a small timeframe and to go off without a hitch. It also explains the coincidence of him not showing up after HE initiated the different meeting point.
Crime of opportunity just has too many coincidences and "whys":
Why did it happen to be on the day that his schedule got changed?
Why did it happen to be when he didn't have a car?
Why did it happen to be when he was meeting at a place that he arranged?
But seeing as every theory has more questions than answers, you really can't go wrong with one

 

[retrometro]

But the intentional errand theory is appealing because it would explain how this could all happen in such a small timeframe and to go off without a hitch. It also explains the coincidence of him not showing up after HE initiated the different meeting point.

That's a good point that he initiated the alternate meeting spot. I'll grant that it fits witht the known facts about that day in a way that a random crime of opportunity doesn't.

Assuming it was foul play, I feel like whoever was responsible either was an expert who knew what they were doing or got very lucky.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Still waiting for an ID of the skull found in Ashland, NE in 2017. There is a thread for it here, I brought this quote over from the thread. I can’t find a list of rule outs. Also I can’t find anything that says Jason’s DNA is in CODIS and has been compared to DNA from the skull. I think we are all assuming that it has but I can’t find confirmation.

The skull combined with the witness sighting at Mahoney State Park makes me think it could be him. Although the witness said they “weren’t sure” after all-from the screen shot a couple of pages back.

“A forensic dental autopsy was performed on June 10 and excluded several "cold cases" in Nebraska. Teeth from the skull were extracted and sent to the UNMC lab where DNA was collected. The DNA results were entered into CODIS (a DNA indexing system). The skull and dental information was then entered into National Crime Information Center as an unidentified person.”

Namus:
Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP17032Male, White / Caucasian
Date Body FoundJune 7, 2017
Location FoundAshland, Nebraska

 

[MysteryMaven]

I still want to know under what pretense a neighbor’s house was searched.
Also someone pointed out in a previous thread just because LE says someone is cleared that isn’t always the truth.
Fazoli’s has been investigated and cleared per Kelly but what if LE is just keeping it to themselves? They may have a suspect but they don’t even have to tell the family.
I bounce around between thinking it was a neighbor, someone at Fazoli’s or else Jason got lost and died by misadventure (accident, a fall, random foul play) and just has never been found.

 

[MysteryMaven]

Also I am going to look for the source for the neighbor’s house search. It came from Kelly but I don’t know if she posted it here or if she said it in an interview.

 

[retrometro]

Also I am going to look for the source for the neighbor’s house search. It came from Kelly but I don’t know if she posted it here or if she said it in an interview.

I could have sworn she said it in her interview on the "Unfound" podcast, but re-listening to it now, all she says is that police "looked into" two sex offenders but never had any strong suspects or persons of interest (relevant discussion starts around 28:30). Let us know if you ever find the original reference to a house being searched; I'd be interested to know.

One interesting detailed I picked up from the interview (at about 22:31) that I didn't previously remember was that Kelly says none of the security cameras at the middle school along the route picked up Jason either. From that, we can infer that Kelly believes the route Jason took would have been to have walked along Bedford Avenue to 52nd street. I re-traced the likely route using streetview on Google Maps to try to get a sense of the neighborhood. A few things stood out to me:

• The area is residential. It has significantly more trees than I remembered, especially along 48th Street.
• 48th Street looks somewhat narrow for a residential street. The houses are relatively large (I see several homes that appear to have walkout basements) and are set back relatively far from the street. 48th Avenue is wider and has fewer trees. Those homes also have large front lawns. Some of them don't look as well-kept as the houses on 48th Street, though it's sometimes hard to tell on streetview.
• The houses south of Bedford look smaller and are closer to the street, especially east of Lake James Park.
• I don't see any locations that strike me as having potential for an accidental fall. Manhole covers look pretty well-sealed. There are very few storm drains in the neighborhood (although there are a few around Lake James Park), but none of them look like particualrly large openings. This again makes me doubt the accidental fall idea.

Anyway, none of the streetview stuff gives definite answers. But putting myself in Jason's shoes, it's hard for me to imagine him willingly getting into a stranger's car or going into a stranger's house without reason, which would reinforce the idea that he either stopped somewhere with a specific purpose in mind or encountered someone he somehow knew or recognized.