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

[CountSnap]

And another, another thing...
Apparently he did have a cell phone back in that day. I wonder if they ever checked the pings like they did in the Serial case (Adnon).
I know they could do it back then....
Dear Lord I hope that if they could have, they did...
Wonder if it is still possible now if they didn't back then?

 

[MatthewTyler]

Interesting find! Sure wish we could have her perspective on this whole disappearance here.

I always fuss with the idea of reaching out to her, but I just worry that she was grilled so much at the time that it would just annoy her

 

[kmiller2665]

And another, another thing...
Apparently he did have a cell phone back in that day. I wonder if they ever checked the pings like they did in the Serial case (Adnon).
I know they could do it back then....
Dear Lord I hope that if they could have, they did...
Wonder if it is still possible now if they didn't back then?

I have never even heard too much about the cell phone although I do remember that he had one. I'm not even sure if he had his cell phone with him at the time. This is just speculation too but I'm not sure that he used it much, just because when his coworker or work called him between 11:15-11:30 they called the home phone. That being said, it's possible that tried to call a cell phone first, but I've never read that anywhere so I'm leaning towards they didn't.

I've never heard anything about the cops checking the cell phone, so I would lean towards him not having it with him. Speculation though.

 

[Valiant]

I have never even heard too much about the cell phone although I do remember that he had one. I'm not even sure if he had his cell phone with him at the time. This is just speculation too but I'm not sure that he used it much, just because when his coworker or work called him between 11:15-11:30 they called the home phone. That being said, it's possible that tried to call a cell phone first, but I've never read that anywhere so I'm leaning towards they didn't.

I've never heard anything about the cops checking the cell phone, so I would lean towards him not having it with him. Speculation though.

Cell phones were still somewhat expensive back then, especially if you went over the minutes in your plan. So most people used the home phone primarily and the cell phone more of an emergency contact to conserve minutes

 

[CountSnap]

Truth. Cell phones were expensive and like a big, not so tasty candy bar.
But they could also ping off of cell towers just like they do now.
That is a huge potential loss on the evidence end of things.

 

[kmiller2665]

If they did have the ping information, that would be amazing. But I doubt it. I think after 20yrs they would have said something about it. Granted, they really haven't said either way.

 

[CountSnap]

Exactly. Twenty years... unreal. But yeah, probably gone unless they got that info at the beginning. Which they should have, I would think?
I'm hoping that they do and are just holding it back as evidence. Hoping it indicates something that they are thinking happened.

 

[Andreee]

I don't believe that particularly story, BUT I will note that the coworker who was picking Jason up does (at least now) have some friends in a gang. Or at least one. Her profile picture on Facebook is a man who was shot dead in 2015 in Chicago. According to an article about his death, he was a documented gang member. Couldn't figure out their exact relationship, but I Imagine they were close if she still has his picture after 5 years. Of course I don't know what her life was like when she was 19 or who she was friends with at that time, just thought I'd bring it up since the notion of gangs came up.

Interesting find! Sure wish we could have her perspective on this whole disappearance here.

I always fuss with the idea of reaching out to her, but I just worry that she was grilled so much at the time that it would just annoy her

Yes, I wouldnt chance it!

 

[kmiller2665]

Exactly. Twenty years... unreal. But yeah, probably gone unless they got that info at the beginning. Which they should have, I would think?
I'm hoping that they do and are just holding it back as evidence. Hoping it indicates something that they are thinking happened.

Yeah, I guess I'm not too optimistic about it. I feel like investigators usually release that info in an effort to help find the person. Not sure what OPDs policy is for sure but I would assume it would fall in line with that. Camisha Hollis is another missing person in Omaha-in that case, they did release info right away on where her boyfriends cell phone pinged, which they used in search efforts for her body. They released it publicly right at the beginning and asked the public if they saw anything to come forward. So, I'm not sure why this would be different, especially after all this time.

As far as I know, leads on this case I think dried up years ago. So... I'm not sure of any good reason why they would not release that info if they did have it.

And actually.... OPD has said very, very little about this case. Almost nothing at all in 20yrs. Mainly because I don't think there is really much for them to go off of.

I'm also going to use my library card to go through the digital Omaha World Herald online tonight to see if there's anything I can find in there that isn't already widely known. Maybe I can find an old article or something to see if they talk about this at all.

I really, really hope there is a renewed effort by the local media and OPD soon. It'll be 20yrs in June. It's sad, and I really feel for the family.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I'm also going to use my library card to go through the digital Omaha World Herald online tonight to see if there's anything I can find in there that isn't already widely known. Maybe I can find an old article or something to see if they talk about this at all.

.

Do Nebraska residents get the Omaha World Herald archives for free? I took a couple articles from there but had to pay a couple bucks for each. Most articles on Jason's case there are about prayer vigils being held on the anniversaries, but there are definitely some on there I didn't look at.

 

[kmiller2665]

Do Nebraska residents get the Omaha World Herald archives for free? I took a couple articles from there but had to pay a couple bucks for each. Most articles on Jason's case there are about prayer vigils being held on the anniversaries, but there are definitely some on there I didn't look at.

I think because of coronavirus there was an effort to make them available on the Omaha Public Library website. I only heard about this since coronavirus, and previously I didn't even know residents could look up stuff online with a library card. Really, I'm not 100% sure when it started, but I heard a rumor it was because of covid . All I know right now for the time being is I can go to the Omaha Public Library website, enter in my library card number, and search and read archived articles for free. I've actually used it several times this past year but never even heard of it before this.

 

[Alleykins]

Never.

Just gotta hope for one major break in the case for the ball to get rolling again. IMO, that break is finding out why Jason wanted to meet at the school. Still don't buy the 'bad at directions' story.

I don't believe it was a matter of Jason wanting to meet his ride at the school.
From the Montel Williams show, 2004, direct quote from his mother: "They arranged to meet him at a local high school which is 7 blocks from our home, just simply because the girl that was coming to pick him up knew where that was, versus trying to tell her how to get to our house."
The coworker who was supposed to meet him was interviewed by the police and cleared.

 

[Alleykins]

Another thing... was just looking through old articles and found this excerpt: "a nearly four-mile walk for Jason would not have been unusual, his mom said."

Where was he walking?
That is now comments from both his mother and father saying similar things.
He was a walker....

Actually, back in 2004, they told Montel Williams he liked to walk.

 

[Alleykins]

How far away was/is Fazoli's from his house? Would he have tried to walk, since he liked to walk?

 

[Andreee]

[

How far away was/is Fazoli's from his house? Would he have tried to walk, since he liked to walk?

He was walking to meet a coworker who was going to pick him up at a local school.

 

[MatthewTyler]

How far away was/is Fazoli's from his house? Would he have tried to walk, since he liked to walk?

It was about 4 1/2 miles from his home. And yes, supposedly he was going to walk it before Fazoli's contacted him again saying they'd give him a ride instead. Different articles give different versions of this: some say Fazoli's offered him a ride, some say he was the one that arranged to be given a ride. It's more likely that they wanted him there ASAP so they said they would just come get him instead of waiting for him to walk all that way.

 

[Alleykins]

[

He was walking to meet a coworker who was going to pick him up at a local school.

Yes, I'm aware of that, but I asked this question on the off chance he decided to walk there instead of meeting up at the school.

 

[Alleykins]

It was about 4 1/2 miles from his home. And yes, supposedly he was going to walk it before Fazoli's contacted him again saying they'd give him a ride instead. Different articles give different versions of this: some say Fazoli's offered him a ride, some say he was the one that arranged to be given a ride. It's more likely that they wanted him there ASAP so they said they would just come get him instead of waiting for him to walk all that way.

Thank you. I didn't know he'd contemplated walking to work originally. I wonder if he misunderstood what was going on and set out to walk there. Sounds like there may have been some confusion.

 

[CountSnap]

Actually, back in 2004, they told Montel Williams he liked to walk.

Exactly what I was referring to. ☺
Parents said it then and in the paper.
Seemed he walked a bit.
To where, though?

 

[retrometro]

As I've mentioned before, one the reasons I have such a strong interest in this case is that I'm exactly the same age as Jason and can see several similarities between his life and mine. (As a teenager, I was painfully shy, had some minor cognitive issues, identified as devoutly Catholic, and worked in college media). I try not to project my own life experiences onto the case--I've never met the Jolkowski family and I'm not from Nebraska--but the case haunts me because I feel like it could have just as easily been me who vanished.

Anyway, two things I wanted to add to the discussion:

(1) As for where he walked, it's possible that he wandered with no particular destination in mind. I used to do this when I was in high school and college to clear my mind and to get exercise. I could envision Jason being the same way. I grew up in an upper-class neighborhood with no crime problem, so I never an into trouble. But given what's been said about Jason's neighborhood in 2001, I could imagine someone with malicious intentions noticing him on such walks and perhaps engaging him in idle conversation to gain his trust over time.

(2) A friend of mine recently bought a house in Omaha, about three miles away from the Jolkowski's house. Looking at a map, I was surprised at how many ponds and lakes there are in/near Omaha. I wonder if any of those could have been a disposal site for the body. I know that's just pure speculation on my part, but it happened to cross my mind now for some reason and just figured I'd throw it out there as a possibility.

It's hard to believe that we're now less than three months away from the 20th anniversary of Jason's disappearance. I feel terrible that the family hasn't gotten any answers about what happened to him, and I hope they will one day be able to have some sense of closure.