NE NE - Jason Jolkowski, 19, Omaha, 13 June 2001 - #2

[ekardh]

Jason disappearance must have started either by entering a house or a car. But don't forget that the car poses two great risks for the perpetrator:
1) He (or they) could be stopped by traffic police for a usual check
2) He (or they) could have a car crash (not necessarily serious)

Hello Jim,

That might be true but either scenario has its fair share of risks. If they kept the body in the house, there's always the chance that a neighbour might spot something suspicious or people might complain about the smell of decomposition. If the body's found on your property, you're bang to rights, as opposed to transporting a body in a vehicle. Once the body's been dumped you can put as much distance as you want between yourself and the victim.

At any rate, we're not necessarily suggesting that Jason was killed in the car. We're just speculating as to the events leading up to his disappearance. Personally, I don't think Jason was run over or forcibly abducted.These things attend to attract attention. I think Jason either visited the home or got into a car of someone he knew. Probably a car because he was catching a ride to work. What happened after that is anyone's guess.

 

[ekardh]

The problem with the Fazoli’s connection is that under normal circumstances this was nothing out of the ordinary. People working at restaurants are often called in to cover shifts. But nonetheless I can’t help suspecting someone at the workplace. They were the ones who changed Jason’s schedule that day. His car was out of action, which made him an easier target, and he was starting a new job the week after he vanished. If it was someone at Fazoli’s this was the best chance they had to get him. Jason would also be more willing to go along with someone from work.

 

[dotr]

Someone could have driven past Jason, asked if he wanted a ride and persisted until out of politeness, he accepts and gets in.
He is offered food/drink " just to taste " and is drugged and quickly he is not feeling well and woozy.
They continue to" drive him to the work appointment" so that they can " tell them he is sick and must return home".
Jason is driven elsewhere and obviously does not make it back home.
speculation, imo.

 

[Jim1981_GR]

Hello Jim,

That might be true but either scenario has its fair share of risks. If they kept the body in the house, there's always the chance that a neighbour might spot something suspicious or people might complain about the smell of decomposition. If the body's found on your property, you're bang to rights, as opposed to transporting a body in a vehicle. Once the body's been dumped you can put as much distance as you want between yourself and the victim.

At any rate, we're not necessarily suggesting that Jason was killed in the car. We're just speculating as to the events leading up to his disappearance. Personally, I don't think Jason was run over or forcibly abducted.These things attend to attract attention. I think Jason either visited the home or got into a car of someone he knew. Probably a car because he was catching a ride to work. What happened after that is anyone's guess.

As for the body smell, it seems risky indeed. But I really don't know how far the odor of just one body buried deep in a cellar could be noticed at a nearby home. I noticed from google maps that there is considerable distance between some houses in Jason's neighborhood. It is not a dense neighborhood with blocks of flats sticking the one right to the other. If the perpetrator used some kind of chemicals or some other crazy stuff or even a freezer he could abate the smell.

I agree with you about the car scenario. An accident does not seem probable at all. If he got into a car he probably did it on his own will trusting the person or persons inside even if he didn't know them.

 

[MatthewTyler]

The problem with the Fazoli’s connection is that under normal circumstances this was nothing out of the ordinary. People working at restaurants are often called in to cover shifts. But nonetheless I can’t help suspecting someone at the workplace. They were the ones who changed Jason’s schedule that day. His car was out of action, which made him an easier target, and he was starting a new job the week after he vanished. If it was someone at Fazoli’s this was the best chance they had to get him. Jason would also be more willing to go along with someone from work.

Another kink in the Fazoli's theory I have is that it was Jason's idea to meet at the school. I'd believe them to be more guilty if it was their idea for this, because that would make sense with an interception plan. However, if they were originally planning to just pick Jason up at his home, then I don't think they'd go through with an abduction/murder because that would make them the prime suspects right off. I realize that a Fazoli's connection is far from perfect, but it does fit the criteria: 1) they knew Jason was without a car, 2) They knew his schedule 3) They were people that he would willingly enter a vehicle with

 

[MatthewTyler]

Someone could have driven past Jason, asked if he wanted a ride and persisted until out of politeness, he accepts and gets in.
He is offered food/drink " just to taste " and is drugged and quickly he is not feeling well and woozy.
They continue to" drive him to the work appointment" so that they can " tell them he is sick and must return home".
Jason is driven elsewhere and obviously does not make it back home.
speculation, imo.

Interesting, but I simply don't see that happening. Even with his slower mentality, I'm sure Jason was old enough/wise enough to realize that a persisting stranger was a red flag for danger. Maybe if he was younger I would believe this. Also, he definitely was never excused from work for not feeling well, because that would have most definitely been in police reports. He just merely vanished with no explanation at all.

 

[MatthewTyler]

The problem with this case is that there was an extremely small window of time for everything to happen in. If we go by the times given in the account of what happened, the time frame is about 10:45 (Jason is seen taking in trash) to 11:15ish (Girl calls Fazoli's to say Jason didn't show) But we can presume that he vanished well before that. That's about 30 minutes Maximum for someone to lure Jason into a car (supposedly) and drive away. Ignoring the possibility of the world's luckiest opportunistic random sex offender, then there are only 5 known people who knew where Jason would be in this short window of time: Jason, Jason's brother, the neighbor, Fazoli's manager, and the girl who was meeting him. If we rule out a Fazoli's connection, then that leaves just the neighbor. I don't know the extent of Jason's relationship with this neighbor, or if it was the same one whose house was searched, but it does throw them into the narrative as a wildcard. A neighbor would also know Jason's schedule, know that his parents weren't home, know he didn't have a car, would likely be trusted by him, and also know that Jason was mentally hindered. A random kidnapper would most likely not go after a grown 19 year old man, but perhaps someone who knew that he was a little slow would do so- something only someone close would know about him.

If you google map the Jolkowski house, you can see that there's really only one house that would be able to see Jason in his driveway from the home. The one right across the street from their driveway. I wonder if that's the one that got searched

 

[John.121]

Interesting, but I simply don't see that happening. Even with his slower mentality, I'm sure Jason was old enough/wise enough to realize that a persisting stranger was a red flag for danger. Maybe if he was younger I would believe this. Also, he definitely was never excused from work for not feeling well, because that would have most definitely been in police reports. He just merely vanished with no explanation at all.

This is why I think he was offered a ride (down the block to the school) by a neighbour as a return favor for helping them with something. The neighbour may have asked him if he wants a ride to work or how he was getting to work and he tells them he's already arranged to be picked up from the school so the neighbour says "ah that's only 5 mins away i'm going that way anyway" etc and that's why he's never seen on the walk to the school either. Without knowing more about the neighbours or which one was searched it's hard to figure what their motivation would be to just suddenly abduct him. And on the one day his schedule was different too.

 

[dotr]

This is why I think he was offered a ride (down the block to the school) by a neighbour as a return favor for helping them with something. The neighbour may have asked him if he wants a ride to work or how he was getting to work and he tells them he's already arranged to be picked up from the school so the neighbour says "ah that's only 5 mins away i'm going that way anyway" etc and that's why he's never seen on the walk to the school either. Without knowing more about the neighbours or which one was searched it's hard to figure what their motivation would be to just suddenly abduct him. And on the one day his schedule was different too.

This is what i meant about being picked up in a car by " someone "- the someone being a neighbour or other person whom Jason knew at least by sight.
That person would tell Jason that he was driving him to the meeting place or wherever, then go elsewhere.

 

[ekardh]

This is why I think he was offered a ride (down the block to the school) by a neighbour as a return favor for helping them with something. The neighbour may have asked him if he wants a ride to work or how he was getting to work and he tells them he's already arranged to be picked up from the school so the neighbour says "ah that's only 5 mins away i'm going that way anyway" etc and that's why he's never seen on the walk to the school either.

That's a solid theory. It's been posited before that Jason might have been asked to bring in a neighbour's trash cans. Neighbour offers to repay Jason with a ride to the school, but Jason never actually leaves the house.

 

[leilarose68]

I think that an older male neighbor or someone whose house was along Jason's route faked an emergency in the home or asked for urgent help with something, & Jason, always being a good samaritan, rushed inside to help him. Once in the house the perp locked the door and drew a gun. It's much more likely that Jason went to help a neighbor than got in someone's car IMO because he would have had to wait for his ride at the school anyway and I don't think he would inconvenience his ride by having a neighbor take him to Fazioli's. The perp would have felt more in control within his house as Jason was 6'2 and preventing him from leaving the car would seem physically risky, from the perp's perspective. I also feel like he probably would have refused a ride saying 'Thanks, but this person is going to be there in the time it takes me to walk.' I think the motive was probably sexual and it's possible the neighbor had been planning for this kind of opportunity to arise. The perp was possibly retired, seemed harmless, and looked out his window all day.

Sorry if I'm misremembering but did Jason do this same walk days before? I know he didn't have his car for a bit.

BTW, I talked to Jason's old friend on reddit awhile ago (PM me for the link if you want?) & she definitely didn't think he was actually slow, just could maybe give off that impression with his speech. But he wasn't mentally slow or stupid and could reason just like anyone his age.

 

[leilarose68]

The problem with the Fazoli’s connection is that under normal circumstances this was nothing out of the ordinary. People working at restaurants are often called in to cover shifts. But nonetheless I can’t help suspecting someone at the workplace. They were the ones who changed Jason’s schedule that day. His car was out of action, which made him an easier target, and he was starting a new job the week after he vanished. If it was someone at Fazoli’s this was the best chance they had to get him. Jason would also be more willing to go along with someone from work.

Yeah, I can't get over how damn coincidental the Fazioli schedule change is along with the fact that Jason was just about to change jobs. We can never discount the Fazioli theory for these reasons, as much as I think a neighbor could have done it. The only thing I can think of is that Jason knew something about shady money stuff that he shouldn't have. Does anyone know if Jason confirmed to his brother that he was the one who wanted to meet at the high school?

 

[leilarose68]

The problem with this case is that there was an extremely small window of time for everything to happen in. If we go by the times given in the account of what happened, the time frame is about 10:45 (Jason is seen taking in trash) to 11:15ish (Girl calls Fazoli's to say Jason didn't show) But we can presume that he vanished well before that. That's about 30 minutes Maximum for someone to lure Jason into a car (supposedly) and drive away. Ignoring the possibility of the world's luckiest opportunistic random sex offender, then there are only 5 known people who knew where Jason would be in this short window of time: Jason, Jason's brother, the neighbor, Fazoli's manager, and the girl who was meeting him. If we rule out a Fazoli's connection, then that leaves just the neighbor. I don't know the extent of Jason's relationship with this neighbor, or if it was the same one whose house was searched, but it does throw them into the narrative as a wildcard. A neighbor would also know Jason's schedule, know that his parents weren't home, know he didn't have a car, would likely be trusted by him, and also know that Jason was mentally hindered. A random kidnapper would most likely not go after a grown 19 year old man, but perhaps someone who knew that he was a little slow would do so- something only someone close would know about him.

If you google map the Jolkowski house, you can see that there's really only one house that would be able to see Jason in his driveway from the home. The one right across the street from their driveway. I wonder if that's the one that got searched

Jason wasn't mentally hindered, he just had very minor speech issues.

 

[ekardh]

Yeah, I can't get over how damn coincidental the Fazioli schedule change is along with the fact that Jason was just about to change jobs. We can never discount the Fazioli theory for these reasons, as much as I think a neighbor could have done it. The only thing I can think of is that Jason knew something about shady money stuff that he shouldn't have. Does anyone know if Jason confirmed to his brother that he was the one who wanted to meet at the high school?

At the moment I'm leaning towards the neighbour scenario. The last sighting we have of Jason was him taking in the trash cans. This was witnessed by his younger brother and a neighbour. Was it the same neighbour whose home was searched? We don't know. However, if this neighbour did have any involvement with Jason's disappearance, why did they admit to seeing him? It might have behooved them to keep quiet.

I also considered the same thing as you, that Jason might have been privy to some illegal shenanigans at the restaurant. We have to be careful here because it's venturing into conspiracy theory territory. But that does seem a likelier motive for Jason's disappearance than a sexual attack. Not that young men aren't targets for sexual predators, it's just much rarer compared to women & children.

 

[leilarose68]

At the moment I'm leaning towards the neighbour scenario. The last sighting we have of Jason was him taking in the trash cans. This was witnessed by his younger brother and a neighbour. Was it the same neighbour whose home was searched? We don't know. However, if this neighbour did have any involvement with Jason's disappearance, why did they admit to seeing him? It might have behooved them to keep quiet.

I also considered the same thing as you, that Jason might have been privy to some illegal shenanigans at the restaurant. We have to be careful here because it's venturing into conspiracy theory territory. But that does seem a likelier motive for Jason's disappearance than a sexual attack. Not that young men aren't targets for sexual predators, it's just much rarer compared to women & children.

The neighbor might have been engaging in a bit of reverse psychology in mentioning the garbage cans, thinking that LE would perceive him as forthcoming & thus with nothing to hide... why would he come forward with information if he were guilty? so that people would ask that exact question maybe? I mean, the neighbor knew he'd be questioned, knew that his house was in direct view of Jason's house, got paranoid about that, & and the neighbor probably wouldn't have been able to credibly hide the fact that he was home. Hiding in plain sight and throwing LE a tiny bone could have been his strategy and eased his nerves because he was telling a partial truth.

I guess you could say that the Fazoli theory is conspiracy-ish but it would mostly be silly to dismiss it out of hand given the specific and unique coincidences that are pretty much the only details we have in the case. Most dudes like Jason are killed by someone they know and a few people at Fazoli knew a lot about Jason's current situation. But I get what you're saying and I don't know too much about money schemes the restaurant hypothetically might have been engaging in. And Jason was a nice, harmless guy so it's hard to imagine that this was a random coordinated attack by co-workers for no reason at all.

I'm curious about how long Jason's co-workers had worked at Fazolis for. Was this a longterm situation for many of them or a like a transient student type of gig for them? A very far out conspiracy theory would be that Fazolis had a cult-like atmosphere and they considered Jason leaving to be a betrayal or an 'oh he thinks he's better than us' kind of thing but I definitely don't personally believe this was the case, just throwing stuff out there! I think that only one person killed him. Either way it would be nice to get a better sense of the workplace vibe and dynamics and the type of people who worked there.

 

[ekardh]

The neighbor might have been engaging in a bit of reverse psychology in mentioning the garbage cans, thinking that LE would perceive him as forthcoming & thus with nothing to hide... why would he come forward with information if he were guilty? so that people would ask that exact question maybe? I mean, the neighbor knew he'd be questioned, knew that his house was in direct view of Jason's house, got paranoid about that, & and the neighbor probably wouldn't have been able to credibly hide the fact that he was home. Hiding in plain sight and throwing LE a tiny bone could have been his strategy and eased his nerves because he was telling a partial truth

Good points.

I am definitely favouring the neighbour angle.

I just wish we had some development on this case. There hasn't been a single tidbit of new information in the 16 years since he vanished. That's very peculiar for a high-profile missing persons case where the person vanished in a suburban area. Had someone at Fazoli's been involved, I think something would've been leaked by now. Gossip, rumours, something. But if it was just some loner neighbour who intercepted Jason before he got to the school, it's a lot easier to keep under wraps.

 

[leilarose68]

Good points.

I am definitely favouring the neighbour angle.

I just wish we had some development on this case. There hasn't been a single tidbit of new information in the 16 years since he vanished. That's very peculiar for a high-profile missing persons case where the person vanished in a suburban area. Had someone at Fazoli's been involved, I think something would've been leaked by now. Gossip, rumours, something. But if it was just some loner neighbour who intercepted Jason before he got to the school, it's a lot easier to keep under wraps.

I know, my heart breaks for his family. I have a hard time believing this one will ever be solved.

 

[MatthewTyler]

So I was looking at some of the publicly accessible house records of some of the homes, and interestingly enough, according to redfin.com, The Jolkowski's next door neighbor sold their house on August 2001- 2 months after Jason went missing. Another neighbor, a little bit up the road and not on Jason's route to school (noted on a map I've attached) sold their house in December 2001, but LISTED their home on June 26, 2001- 2 weeks after Jason disappeared. Now if we assume that the numbers are right and that the cops waited 10 days to question neighbors, that means this house was placed on the market 3 days after LE started investigating. I don't know if it means anything, but it's interesting. I don't know if other homes went for sale in 2001, but these 2 are what I found, both within easy eyesight of Jason.

NOTE: Red tack= Jolkowski house
White dot= House that listed on June 26, 2001
House on the right of the Jolkowskis (Above Google logo) sold in August 2001. This house was next to them on the side that had their driveway. Was this the neighbor that saw him I wonder?

Unfortunately I couldn't find the previous owners' names of these homes

 

[ekardh]

So I was looking at some of the publicly accessible house records of some of the homes, and interestingly enough, according to redfin.com, The Jolkowski's next door neighbor sold their house on August 2001- 2 months after Jason went missing.

Great find, Matthew! Although it might be perfectly innocent, I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up already.

 

[MatthewTyler]

A couple of houses in the area also sold in 2002. I don't know if this just happens to be a neighborhood where people come and go frequently, but certainly the next door neighbor caught my attention immediately. I'm gonna try to dig to see if I can find some past record of who owned the house at that time