Wishful thinking, and knowing the family a little, I used to hope this was a possibility. I had heard rumors that Jason's dad had wanted him to join the seminary, and that Jason might have revolted against that idea, but that was just neighborhood gossip.
It was estimated that Jason had $60 in his pocket, a debit card that he never used, and a cell phone that made no calls. In those days, a lot of people didn't know that your phone could be tracked to the cell tower it might have pinged off of. (now it's in every crime show, every case on the evening news, and with GPS, they can track your location)
He would have needed help to cover his tracks that well, financially and coaching. Had he been robbed, however, I would think the perps would have tried to access his card and phone. They would have had to have been wise to that as well.
Jason had a paycheck at Fazoli's that he never picked up. Maybe that check was not going to be cut for another week, but you would think he would have needed that cash to run on his own.