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

[Gilderoy Lockhart]

Studebkr,

Thanks for sharing all the info here with us. You and MatthewTyler have been the MVP's of the JJ discussion.

 

[Alleykins]

Twenty years after son disappears, his family is still praying and hoping - Catholic Voice

RBBM for focus

“That was something I was really proud of,” said Murphy, who retired from Project Jason in 2018. “It was like, now I’m making people’s lives better. I’m not necessarily solving their case, but I’m helping them live a more normal life.”

So, Jason's mother retired from Project Jason, does that mean the organization was dissolved or did someone else take over? Because the website has been down for a bit.

 

[Andreee]

We moved into the house behind Jolkowski’s in December of 1998.

in all that time, I really only met them a couple times. Jason and his dad pushed me out of the snow once. They all seemed nice, but they were loners.

Jim was very very Catholic. I don’t remember what he did for work Kelly worked at DTN. Kelly was morbidly obese and after Jason disappeared she decided to make some health changes and bought a bicycle. They say Jason would never recognize his mother today.

The first website they constructed was very gothic Catholic, with pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and hymn music.

There was talk I can’t confirm that Jim had been putting pressure on Jason to join the seminary.

I should have went to the memorial. I totally forgot about it. Robert’s Park is just across the creek from Fazzoli’s. I was not aware Jason was a skate boarder.

What has struck me recently is that in all of these boards and Reddit, I am never seeing a post where someone says they went to school with, worked with or hung out with Jason.

I did see several posts, I think on Reddit and in one other place, where several people who knew Jason made comments, and it was all good. Thanks to you as well for your insights.

 

[ekardh]

There was talk I can’t confirm that Jim had been putting pressure on Jason to join the seminary.

Do you remember where you heard this?

 

[spearhead1030]

Happy 40th birthday to a very special kid taken from those who love him far too soon. Praying for you, JJ.

 

[Alleykins]

If it's true Jason might have been under pressure to make a life choice like joining a seminary, he could have been planning to leave home. He was an adult and could have made that choice, without consulting his parents or getting their consent. He wouldn't have had to share his plans with him if he didn't want to. So, if this is true, it could change things up a bit.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I attached another article I found in the archives of the Omaha World Herald. I shared it with a couple people on here but I'll upload it here for anyone who wants to read it. It does reveal a couple new things I did not know previously about the case:

1) Jason had to drop out of college the winter before he disappeared due to financial issues. This was supposedly going to be solved with the new job he was starting at SITEL.
2) Jason had been in contact with a seminary in St. Louis and was considering the priesthood. Studebkr mentioned this, but this confirms the rumor.
3) This article did name the female coworker that was picking Jason up, however I have blackened out her name to give her privacy.

I'm replying to an older comment I made with the article containing some information on the Seminary thing. The priest at Holy Name gave a statement saying that Jason was thinking of joining and that he was in communication with an organization in St. Louis.

ETA: This reply was a complete fail because I was thinking it was going to have the article screenshots accessible here but guess not, my bad. I'll re-add the screenshot with this statement.

 

[Alleykins]

Based on that article, it appears Jason might have had his phone with him?

 

[studebkr]

Do you remember where you heard this?

Jim and Kelly volunteered for the Saint Vincent DePaul Society. My parents knew them from there. Mom is kind of a gossip. One of the other members said something to her.

Like this place, all kinds of things were speculated.

 

[Alleykins]

Jim and Kelly volunteered for the Saint Vincent DePaul Society. My parents knew them from there. Mom is kind of a gossip. One of the other members said something to her.

Like this place, all kinds of things were speculated.

Interesting. According to Ms. Murphy in one interview, police interviewed everyone and anyone who ever knew Jason. Which I took to mean people past and present, and including folks he knew at church. Do you know if other parishioners, like your parents, were interviewed?

 

[Shimno]

Will say this, though, it is incredibly possible this was on his radar. It would have been VERY large news around town.
Maybe Studebrk can confirm, or anyone else who lived in the area at the time:
---> "June 8, 2001: George W. Bush throws out the first pitch at the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium. “President Bush was the first sitting president to attend the College World Series in 2001"
Also, would have been a lot of people in town who normally weren't. Maybe not in his specific area of Omaha, but who knows.
Now makes me think, on a smaller scale of the likely murder of Joey LaBute.
The Arnold Expo is enormous, tons of people around town who aren't normally there.
I dunno.

Bush was in town? hmmmmm. That would be "people who where not usually in town." Continuation of Franklin? The Franklin Coverup Scandal The Child sex ring that reached Bush/Reagan Whitehouse

 

[unicornmom145]

Bush was in town? hmmmmm. That would be "people who where not usually in town." Continuation of Franklin? The Franklin Coverup Scandal The Child sex ring that reached Bush/Reagan Whitehouse

College World Series was huge that year. Nebraska’s baseball team and President Bush were there… President Bush threw out opening pitch June 7. He left that night though. I was in the stadium and remember watching the motorcade drive away during the game. Nebraska was eliminated opening weekend also. CWS was still going on, but much of it was over by June 13 when Jason went missing.

 

[MatthewTyler]

Bush was in town? hmmmmm. That would be "people who where not usually in town." Continuation of Franklin? The Franklin Coverup Scandal The Child sex ring that reached Bush/Reagan Whitehouse

Key word there being CHILD though. Even if that stuff was legit, Jason is definitely out of the parameters for what they'd be looking for.

 

[Andreee]

Based on that article, it appears Jason might have had his phone with him?

Yes, I assume it was turned off, unless LE isn't sharing with us any 'pings' or whatnot from it. Although, I don't know if the technology was the same regarding tracing in 2001.

 

[BethAnn777]

But it's been suggested before that Jason made the rendezvous at the school in order to take a brief detour. Personally, I place a lot of stock in this. Jason meeting at the school because he sucked at directions sounds innocent enough, but if we assign it an ulterior motive suddenly this looks a lot less random than we thought.

The detour would most likely have been a short one, but what if it was on route to the school? What if that person had offered him a ride the rest of the way?

Did he have any neighborhood friends that lived between his house and the high school? Maybe he wanted to stop and say hi to a friend he hadn’t seen for a bit. Maybe that friend hadn’t returned his phone calls or something to that effect and Jason wanted to pop in and make sure he was okay?

Was the church he attended between his house and the high school? Maybe he wanted to stop for a prayer or confession (was he catholic?) before going in to work?

So many questions and what if’s!

 

[studebkr]

Interesting. According to Ms. Murphy in one interview, police interviewed everyone and anyone who ever knew Jason. Which I took to mean people past and present, and including folks he knew at church. Do you know if other parishioners, like your parents, were interviewed?

My parents represented (and still do) St. Bernard's Parish for SVDP, the Jolkowski's were with Holy Name. They knew each other, but not extended family members. When I told my mom recently that they had split up, she was kind of surprised, but told me they had left SDVP quite a long time ago. Everyone figured it was to put their energy into Project Jason.

As far as interviewing people, I've mentioned a few times that nobody knocked on our door. We didn't know them well, but you would have hoped they'd asked around a bit more. I feel like they treated it as a runaway case from day one.

 

[studebkr]

Yes, I assume it was turned off, unless LE isn't sharing with us any 'pings' or whatnot from it. Although, I don't know if the technology was the same regarding tracing in 2001.

I remember three troubling things about this case that wrecked my belief that this was a runaway situation. (unless he had help to cover his tracks, because in 2001 I wouldn't think about not using my cell phone. I only had a pager then myself.)

1. There was not record of him using his cell phone. (making a call)
2. He did not access his bank account.
3. He did not pick up his last paycheck at Fazolli's.

Cell phone pings might not have been a reliable thing then. I remember in about 2006 we had a methed out young couple die of exposure in the county South of us, because they were lost and the 911 operator could not pinpoint their location. That prompted an upgrade to the system.

 

[Andreee]

I remember three troubling things about this case that wrecked my belief that this was a runaway situation. (unless he had help to cover his tracks, because in 2001 I wouldn't think about not using my cell phone. I only had a pager then myself.)

1. There was not record of him using his cell phone. (making a call)
2. He did not access his bank account.
3. He did not pick up his last paycheck at Fazolli's.

Cell phone pings might not have been a reliable thing then. I remember in about 2006 we had a methed out young couple die of exposure in the county South of us, because they were lost and the 911 operator could not pinpoint their location. That prompted an upgrade to the system.

Ah, yes, that all makes sense re. possibility of running away and limitations of cellphones back then. All along, IMO I've thought this is a case of foul play. Interesting to hear from your perspective, as a neighbour at the time!

 

[deadinthewater]

Hello, everyone.

I just read about this case about a week ago over at Reddit (20 year anniversary, so incredibly sad...), and I couldn't get Jason's picture out of my mind. He was nineteen. He had his whole life ahead of him and someone just.. took it. Your guys' insights have been great to read, but it's all just so baffling. I honestly believe he didn't even make it out of his street/suburb.

 

[MatthewTyler]

Hello, everyone.

I just read about this case about a week ago over at Reddit (20 year anniversary, so incredibly sad...), and I couldn't get Jason's picture out of my mind. He was nineteen. He had his whole life ahead of him and someone just.. took it. Your guys' insights have been great to read, but it's all just so baffling. I honestly believe he didn't even make it out of his street/suburb.

Welcome to the rabbit hole! We can only hope that whoever did it is given a stinging reminder of what they did 20 years ago, and the the guilt eats them up- even if it's not enough to confess.