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

[MatthewTyler]

Could it be possible he told Jason to read those verses during the Sunday mass?

Not entirely sure how lectoring works, but best guess would be yes, the pastor would likely be the one to pick the bible verses to be read.

 

[Ciriii57]

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.

 

[puzzleworldplanet]

It's possible it could all be a giant coincidence, but I highly doubt it. The chances of it being a coincidence are slim, in my opinion. I think you've misunderstood the verse. The verse is about preparing you for meeting "God", aka dying after all of your humanly suffering making you "worthy" to meet "God". Catholic/religious killings usually have symbolism/highly religious themes and texts. It could be our only real lead.

I've spent a massive portion of time on Catholic websites confirming the verse is about this - and the fact Jason read it 3 days prior to going missing seems much less of a coincidence and rather eerie in that context. I cannot discount the dates, they're too important.

I don't believe the bible verse was an accident, especially if Jason was told to read it by the reverend at the time. If he read it 4-5 weeks earlier, then perhaps it wouldn't mean much and we could move on to another theory... But not 3 days after it's read, Jason goes missing.

Again, like I say, the perp is highly likely someone who knew Jason's car was in the garage. And who was Jason likely to tell his car was going in to be repaired? And that someone most likely used that as the ruse: as Jason walked by, they offered him a lift to the school or simply asked for help with trash cans etc and when Jason was asked for help, the chances are, according to his family, he'd help every time, thus falling for the ruse.

I personally believe that this was a crime of opportunity. The perpetrator had been waiting for the perfect opportunity for this to happen (this = Jason alone, at a time of day when there's few witnesses, people are at work etc).

Now, it raises the question, was anyone at the church ever questioned by LE? Were any houses checked? Did anyone move away shortly after Jason went missing? Did anyone ever move away then return to the area? Was anyone at the Church ever in trouble with the law? There's a million and one questions off the back of this and I'm not sure we know all the answers.

 

[puzzleworldplanet]

To clear any confusion - here's a website that delves deeper into the verses, What does Romans 5:3 mean? | BibleRef.com

One of the verses Jason read at Sunday Mass, 3 days before he went missing was Romans 5:3 - which is broken down as: "For those in Christ, our suffering matters. It counts for something. For those who die without Christ, suffering is merely suffering. It is pain and loss and frustration, resulting in no particular benefit, and coming to no resolution. For those in Christ, however, suffering has a point, since we're destined for something higher. It accomplishes great good in us, in fact."

criii57, you attack my theory and say that the bible verse Jason read doesn't mean anything and isn't relevant? You said it doesn't talk about dying? Wrong on both counts, as demonstrated above. I think it's very much relevant, and clearly does infer suffering & dying as a Christian is rewarded by God. Please read my posts properly in future rather than just attack them without proposing a significantly better theory.

 

[Valiant]

I hate to shoot a conspiracy theory down but:
June 10, 2001 was Trinity Sunday and Romans 5:1-5 is a common Trinity Sunday reading. Also notice that Proverbs is also listed for Trinity Sunday as well.
June 2001 Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) Calendar (a Catholic page)
Reverse Lectionary (an Episcopalian page showing this Romans verse as a Trinity Sunday reading)

 

[puzzleworldplanet]

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.

 

[Andreee]

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.

Yes, someone attending the church could very well be a suspect.

 

[cenazoic]

I mean, let's look at this closely, this cannot be a co-incidence can it?

Of course it can.

the pastor would likely be the one to pick the bible verses to be read

Incorrect.

As others have mentioned, the Catholic Mass follows the liturgical calendar and the various readings are pre-programmed - and there are printed booklets (called misselettes) for attendees which show the order of readings and the readings themselves. For 10 June 2001.

I mean, the entire Bible is about human suffering and redemption through Jesus, so a particular reading referencing suffering is not unusual in the least.

1. he was born on a wednesday, went missing on a wednesday
2. he acted as a lector on a mass on a sunday, and his birthday was the following sunday

This smacks of “Kennedy and Lincoln both have seven letters, and their assassins both had five letters in their surnames.” Absolutely insignificant.

None of which is to say that a church member isn’t involved (or anyone else, for that matter), but this kind of logic isn’t the way to get there, IMO.

 

[studebkr]

Anyway, let's get back on topic. Does anyone know if it's true that the people in the Church were not investigated?

Unless we get access to the police records, I don't think we can know. I can tell you I was one of the 3 closest neighbors, and the police never came and asked me any questions. That has always struck me as odd. (why I keep mentioning it here)

I dawned on my when I read the July 2001 article in the Omaha World Herald, that JJ did have a close relationship with Rev. E.V. I don't buy into all of the stuff with dates and numerology, but if his parents bothered to mention that the priest and Jason had discussed priesthood, and Jason had looked into a seminary in St. Louis, that the two had been in contact with each other on a regular basis. This contact is more frequent than any we have established so far with JJ. Remember, he is a loner. We haven't uncovered even a best friend, let alone GF, or work buddies.

The Rev. E.V. does not show up on the list the archdiocese recently released of clergy sex offenders in the Eastern Nebraska area, but I suspect only 1/2 of them have ever been exposed. I spent 12 years in Catholic schools, and never experienced any sort of thing, but I read about it frequently these days. Recently Omaha seems to have an epidemic of woman teachers getting caught with underage boys, but the priest thing is always creepier because those men are placed in a sense of "power", and an offense is quite confusing to the victims.

He was a missionary priest, so his movement around the world does not alarm me. When I was young, I had a priest approach me about the priesthood. I was not interested though. Nothing wrong with any of that, but E.V. is as suspect as anyone. (All of Omaha is suspect?)

 

[Alleykins]

Unless we get access to the police records, I don't think we can know. I can tell you I was one of the 3 closest neighbors, and the police never came and asked me any questions. That has always struck me as odd. (why I keep mentioning it here)

I dawned on my when I read the July 2001 article in the Omaha World Herald, that JJ did have a close relationship with Rev. E.V. I don't buy into all of the stuff with dates and numerology, but if his parents bothered to mention that the priest and Jason had discussed priesthood, and Jason had looked into a seminary in St. Louis, that the two had been in contact with each other on a regular basis. This contact is more frequent than any we have established so far with JJ. Remember, he is a loner. We haven't uncovered even a best friend, let alone GF, or work buddies.

The Rev. E.V. does not show up on the list the archdiocese recently released of clergy sex offenders in the Eastern Nebraska area, but I suspect only 1/2 of them have ever been exposed. I spent 12 years in Catholic schools, and never experienced any sort of thing, but I read about it frequently these days. Recently Omaha seems to have an epidemic of woman teachers getting caught with underage boys, but the priest thing is always creepier because those men are placed in a sense of "power", and an offense is quite confusing to the victims.

He was a missionary priest, so his movement around the world does not alarm me. When I was young, I had a priest approach me about the priesthood. I was not interested though. Nothing wrong with any of that, but E.V. is as suspect as anyone. (All of Omaha is suspect?)

I always found it odd no one reached out to you, too. Maybe it was because your house wasn't on a possible path he would have taken to the HS, but didn't the house have a view of their backyard, driveway, and/or the house across the street from them? Wouldn't you have been able to see him taking up the trash cans had you been looking out a window facing that direction?

 

[puzzleworldplanet]

Unless we get access to the police records, I don't think we can know. I can tell you I was one of the 3 closest neighbors, and the police never came and asked me any questions. That has always struck me as odd. (why I keep mentioning it here)

Definitely odd, I agree.

I dawned on my when I read the July 2001 article in the Omaha World Herald, that JJ did have a close relationship with Rev. E.V. I don't buy into all of the stuff with dates and numerology, but if his parents bothered to mention that the priest and Jason had discussed priesthood, and Jason had looked into a seminary in St. Louis, that the two had been in contact with each other on a regular basis. This contact is more frequent than any we have established so far with JJ. Remember, he is a loner. We haven't uncovered even a best friend, let alone GF, or work buddies.

The Rev. E.V. does not show up on the list the archdiocese recently released of clergy sex offenders in the Eastern Nebraska area, but I suspect only 1/2 of them have ever been exposed. I spent 12 years in Catholic schools, and never experienced any sort of thing, but I read about it frequently these days. Recently Omaha seems to have an epidemic of woman teachers getting caught with underage boys, but the priest thing is always creepier because those men are placed in a sense of "power", and an offense is quite confusing to the victims.

He was a missionary priest, so his movement around the world does not alarm me. When I was young, I had a priest approach me about the priesthood. I was not interested though. Nothing wrong with any of that, but E.V. is as suspect as anyone. (All of Omaha is suspect?)

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.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

To follow-up on some of the last posts, here are some observations re: this case. I know these have been posted before, but we are getting new members/posters & I also know that not everyone wants to go through all of the previous posts/threads. Please correct me if I'm wrong re: any of this:

-The authorities didn't take this case seriously at first & thought that JJ just "ran away from home". He was over 18 & and adult. So, there was not much of an investigation regarding JJ vanishing - at first. My understanding is that the investigation didn't really begin until 10 days after he vanished.

-IIRC, at least some of the outdoor physical areas/spaces that would have been on JJ's general walking route to the H.S. were searched (to some extent) by the authorities & also by members of the community.

-Some of JJ's neighbors were interviewed, but not all of them. I also read that the authorities interviewed his family/acquaintances/co-workers/others/etc.

-As far as we know, there were never any POI's or suspects re: this case.

-There has been mention about someone's house possibly being searched. However, since no one has been charged (or even suspected?!) re: this case, I understand that this hasn't been made public due to privacy issues, etc.

-Other than the cameras at the H.S., I don't remember any other cameras/video footage being mentioned on JJ's walking route. Since this occurred in 2001, it makes sense that homes wouldn't have had CCTV/ring cameras ATT.

IMHO, it would have been beneficial if the authorities had reviewed JJ's phone records & his computer usage/records in the months leading up to the disappearance. Sure, that may not have yielded anything useful/relevant - but it definitely wouldn't have hurt. I.e., it's possible/plausible that whoever he was communicating with prior to his vanishing may have had something to do with the case. However, it's not clear if this was ever done.

 

[Gilderoy Lockhart Jr]

I'd be interested in knowing if either the brother and/or neighbor know the exact time he left or close to it? It's normal for them to remember how he was dressed, but there wasn't any reason to especially note the time. Maybe they're certain, maybe not. The stories all say about 10:45 but what's the source on that? When was he expected to arrive at the school? Maybe he left 10 or 15 minutes earlier? The minor changes in the facts depending on source are strange, but some people aren't meticulous in their story-telling and nobody thinks it's important for us randos to have the facts. It's too bad Mrs. Murphy/Jolkowski isn't here to let us know specifics anymore but it seems she wanted to move on from the missing person's activism and that's understandable. btw I take the person's account of having seen Jason that morning near the gas station across from Benson High School much more seriously than everyone else, it seems. Clearly the person was an Omaha resident and knew the area well based on their comments.

If Jason had not been called in for work early that day, he would not have vanished. True of false? What do you think?

 

[Sonny Crockett]

btw I take the person's account of having seen Jason that morning near the gas station across from Benson High School much more seriously than everyone else, it seems. Clearly the person was an Omaha resident and knew the area well based on their comments.

I'm still on the fence about the gas station appearance. This is due to the fact that no one claims to have seen JJ after he starts on his walk (beyond his neighbor & brother). I.e., you would think that if he had walked all the way to the gas station that someone would have reported seeing him on the way - given all of those who were allegedly interviewed about this. That being said:

1) He could have gotten a ride to the gas station, been dropped off, and then vanished sometime after that. And, if he got the ride very soon after he started his walk, that would account for no one claiming to have seen him that morning. Or...

2) I guess it's plausible that no one saw him (or at least didn't mention seeing him) walking all the way to the gas station.

If this JJ gas station appearance on that morning is legitimate, it's possible he wanted to make a pit stop there before going to the H.S. This could have been due to needing to use the restroom and/or to get a cold drink because it was a hot/warm June day, etc.

If Jason had not been called in for work early that day, he would not have vanished. True of false? What do you think?

IMHO this is completely 100% true. JJ's going to work early that day/his car being in the shop/needing to walk to the H.S., etc. to get a ride all contributed to a 'perfect storm' that resulted in his vanishing. I.e., if he had been called to work early & had his car, he would presumably just driven to work.

Or, if he hadn't been called to work early, one of his parents would have driven him later that day for his regularly scheduled shift - after one of them got home from their respective job(s). IIRC, that had always been the plan that day.

 

[puzzleworldplanet]

This witness near the gas station - is this the witness who police showed a photograph to and the witness suddenly wasn't sure if they'd saw Jason? Not a reliable witness I'd say (MOO).

 

[Sonny Crockett]

This witness near the gas station - is this the witness who police showed a photograph to and the witness suddenly wasn't sure if they'd saw Jason? Not a reliable witness I'd say (MOO).

Not sure about this. On another site several years ago, I did read an anecdotal account of someone who claimed to have seen JJ @ the gas station that morning. This person allegedly remembers JJ due to his clothes. I.e., JJ was allegedly carrying his work shirt/clothes & wearing his Chicago Cubs shirt when he was last seen.

Obviously, note that without any kind of video footage proving this gas station sighting either way - this is sheer speculation. But, without anything else to go on - all we can do is speculate.

 

[puzzleworldplanet]

Not sure about this. On another site several years ago, I did read an anecdotal account of someone who claimed to have seen JJ @ the gas station that morning. This person allegedly remembers JJ due to his clothes. I.e., JJ was allegedly carrying his work shirt/clothes & wearing his Chicago Cubs shirt when he was last seen.

Obviously, note that without any kind of video footage proving this gas station sighting either way - this is sheer speculation. But, without anything else to go on - all we can do is speculate.

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.

 

[Gilderoy Lockhart Jr]

There's nothing suspicious about the neighbor. He, like everyone who has looked into JJ's vanishing, knows he was headed to the school as the main end destination to meet his ride for work. And the neighbor was no doubt in contact with the family right away and with LE 10+ days later.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

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

Yes. And, note that even if we knew the exact route JJ was planning to take, that wouldn't help here - unless there were CCTV/Ring camera footage somewhere proving (or disproving) that he passed by a specific street at a specific time. And, it's obvious that CCTV/Ring camera technology wasn't really used back in 2001. So, without this our theories are just that, theories.

I.e., even if it was known that he was planning on going on a specific way ahead of time, that could have changed. He could have walked 2-3 minutes away from his house until he was out of sight of his brother/neighbor, and then immediately afterwards could have either gone into a house or been picked up by a car.

 

[Valiant]

Yes. And, note that even if we knew the exact route JJ was planning to take, that wouldn't help here - unless there were CCTV/Ring camera footage somewhere proving that he passed by a specific street at a specific time. But, without this our theories are just that, theories.

I.e., even if it was known that he was planning on going on a specific way ahead of time, that could have changed. He could have walked 5 minutes away from his house until he was out of sight of his brother/neighbor, and then immediately afterwards could have either gone into a house or been picked up by a car.

Ring and most other home security cameras did not exist in 2001.
Even business and municipal cameras were far less common and recorded on much shorter loops back then before overwriting.
It's not surprising no video existed,