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

[ekardh]

There is a certain amount of latitude needed to theorize how Jason upped and vanished into thin air. There is no evidence of foul play, no evidence of misadventure, no evidence of suicide. Nothing.

I don't believe that he was randomly targeted. At 6'1 and 160lbs, Jason would not have looked like easy prey. Most predators target someone they can physically overpower, and killers who target men pick up sex-trade victims or use alcohol/drugs to lower resistance. It's possible someone lured Jason into their home under false pretenses and got him when his guard was down, but it would be awfully opportunistic seeing as no one knew Jason was headed that way.

The problem is that we don't know a lot about Jason. Everything we know about him comes from his family, and family can often be unreliable narrators. Does it tell the whole story? I personally believe gaps in knowledge like this hold the answer to his disappearance. Like I've said before, if Jason was thinking of joining the seminary, was there someone in his life guiding him? Such as an older male within the catholic community?

 

[ErinC]

i'm newish here and just wanna say this case puzzles me to no end. it's like brian shaeffer and a few others in the way it defies explanation.

with most mysteries, you can imagine lots of possibilities and the challenge is figuring out which one is true. with a few, it's hard to even imagine possibilities. this is one of the latter.

I call it my "I have no bleeping clue what happened" list. Brian Shaffer and Jason here are two of the (not all that many- I think having no clues at all is fairly uncommon) cases on the list.

 

[Andreee]

There is a certain amount of latitude needed to theorize how Jason upped and vanished into thin air. There is no evidence of foul play, no evidence of misadventure, no evidence of suicide. Nothing.

I don't believe that he was randomly targeted. At 6'1 and 160lbs, Jason would not have looked like easy prey. Most predators target someone they can physically overpower, and killers who target men pick up sex-trade victims or use alcohol/drugs to lower resistance. It's possible someone lured Jason into their home under false pretenses and got him when his guard was down, but it would be awfully opportunistic seeing as no one knew Jason was headed that way.

The problem is that we don't know a lot about Jason. Everything we know about him comes from his family, and family can often be unreliable narrators. Does it tell the whole story? I personally believe gaps in knowledge like this hold the answer to his disappearance. Like I've said before, if Jason was thinking of joining the seminary, was there someone in his life guiding him? Such as an older male within the catholic community?

I don't think just his family are giving us everything that we know about Jason. I've also read comments about Jason from neighbours, school friends, and college colleagues over the years in various bits of interviews and online comments on forums about their interactions with him. It has all been positive, and generally it gave me the impression Jason was shy, naive but friendly and helpful with others. And of course he had that slight learning or comprehension issue. All in all, he may've gotten taken advantage of by someone.

 

[CaliforniaScheminPod]

It almost seems like it would be a good idea for investigators to start over from the very beginning (and sadly, I'm sure they've done this before!) to go through every lead and tip they've received. The answer could be so simple and just have been overlooked. This was definitely an opportunist murder. It was a deviation from Jason’s typical schedule for him to cover this shift. I also believe that Omaha police and the FBI aren't sharing everything - and with probably good reason. Other than that, we are kind of left to grasp at straws and what may be totally outlandish ideas.

 

[Andreee]

It almost seems like it would be a good idea for investigators to start over from the very beginning (and sadly, I'm sure they've done this before!) to go through every lead and tip they've received. The answer could be so simple and just have been overlooked. This was definitely an opportunist murder. It was a deviation from Jason’s typical schedule for him to cover this shift. I also believe that Omaha police and the FBI aren't sharing everything - and with probably good reason. Other than that, we are kind of left to grasp at straws and what may be totally outlandish ideas.

Unfortunately, the local LE delayed by about 10 days their investigation into Jason's disappearance. Maybe they thought he was a runaway or something at first. At any rate, I really think they came up with zero to go on, after interviewing his coworkers, neighbours and local SO's. The last cold case investigator has since moved on (I wrote to find out). I honestly don't think they have come up with anything whatsoever and one LE officer said it was one of the most frustrating disappearance he has ever investigated. (can't recall who exactly, all we can do is bring back old info repeatedly lol).

 

[Lebowski]

There is a certain amount of latitude needed to theorize how Jason upped and vanished into thin air. There is no evidence of foul play, no evidence of misadventure, no evidence of suicide. Nothing.

...

that's the thing. any theory of what happened to him has to make unsupported assumptions, because there's nothing to go on. and no simple, ordinary theory fits this fact pattern. you either need a far-fetched assumption, or multiple ordinary assumptions. either one is inherently unlikely. but SOMETHING happened to him, so one of the unlikely things has to be true.

...

I don't believe that he was randomly targeted. At 6'1 and 160lbs, Jason would not have looked like easy prey. Most predators target someone they can physically overpower, and killers who target men pick up sex-trade victims or use alcohol/drugs to lower resistance. It's possible someone lured Jason into their home under false pretenses and got him when his guard was down, but it would be awfully opportunistic seeing as no one knew Jason was headed that way.

...

(snipped by me)

well, i'm not sure i'd dismiss the random targetting possibility. as you say in the second point, no one knew jason was headed that way, and that's a problem for planned abduction / murder. (though of course not a show-stopper...) and if we stick with the foul play assumption, that leaves unplanned. ... i agree he wouldn't look like easy prey, but size and strength are easily negated by a gun. and if a SK likes young men, he likes young men.

one possibility here is a SK offered him a ride. that might look unremarkable and forgettable to people in the neighborhood, and not be terribly high risk behavior for a SK. believe this is actually a common MO for them. jason was trying to get to work / the high school, so he might have shrugged and accepted. especially if he was trusting.

JMO and sorry if this one has already been discussed to death.

 

[ekardh]

I don't think just his family are giving us everything that we know about Jason. I've also read comments about Jason from neighbours, school friends, and college colleagues over the years in various bits of interviews and online comments on forums about their interactions with him. It has all been positive, and generally it gave me the impression Jason was shy, naive but friendly and helpful with others. And of course he had that slight learning or comprehension issue. All in all, he may've gotten taken advantage of by someone.

Did Jason have many (any?) close friends? Most of the anecdotes I've read from his 'friends' have been sparse and sounded more like casual acquaintances.

If Jason's disappearance wasn't random or accidental, there had to be more to Jason's personal life than what we know. I'm not necessarily suggesting that Jason was up to anything nefarious, but there was clearly a reason someone wanted him gone.

 

[Andreee]

Did Jason have many (any?) close friends? Most of the anecdotes I've read from his 'friends' have been sparse and sounded more like casual acquaintances.

If Jason's disappearance wasn't random or accidental, there had to be more to Jason's personal life than what we know. I'm not necessarily suggesting that Jason was up to anything nefarious, but there was clearly a reason someone wanted him gone.

Whether he had close pals or not, he did go to school with and grew up around people who knew him quite well. Jason's disappearance could have been random, accidental or yes, he could've got involved with someone who meant him harm. Not much more to be said at this point, sadly enough.

 

[LisMarit]

Maybe he was secretly involved in a relationship with someone, and he might have crossed paths with that person on the day he disappeared. Or lured into a home along the path to the H.S.

 

[ekardh]

Maybe he was secretly involved in a relationship with someone, and he might have crossed paths with that person on the day he disappeared. Or lured into a home along the path to the H.S.

I believe lured into a car/house or visiting someone is most likely. I don't believe there was any kind of altercation in public, as someone would have likely seen or heard something.

 

[JSolt1210]

I believe lured into a car/house or visiting someone is most likely. I don't believe there was any kind of altercation in public, as someone would have likely seen or heard something.

I agree—I just can't decide if it was a car or a house.

Just looking at the route below, my gut tells me Jason was lured into a house instead of into a car. Jason was last seen helping out a neighbor with trash cans. Maybe the offender saw this and decided to use the same pretext. No one noticed because it just looked like someone entering their own house, so it's the perfect cover. And once inside, that was it.

But with a car, I feel like there's a higher chance of someone seeing a driver pull over to the curb and seeing a teen climb in. The offender would then have to drive to a secondary location, increasing the chances of more witnesses. Plus Jason was already meeting a friend at Benson High School for a ride to work. Would he have gotten into one car to be driven to another car? Possibly, but to me it just sounds like too much.

Whatever happened, happened on Bedford Avenue between North 48th St and North 50th Ave.

Sources:
• The Omaha Police Department's Facebook page lists Jason's home as "near N 48th St and Pinkney St."
• Jason's page on the Charley Project says he helped a neighbor "in the area of 48th and Bedford Streets" and that he was headed for Benson High School.

 

[Lebowski]

I agree—I just can't decide if it was a car or a house.

Just looking at the route below, my gut tells me Jason was lured into a house instead of into a car. Jason was last seen helping out a neighbor with trash cans. Maybe the offender saw this and decided to use the same pretext. No one noticed because it just looked like someone entering their own house, so it's the perfect cover. And once inside, that was it.

But with a car, I feel like there's a higher chance of someone seeing a driver pull over to the curb and seeing a teen climb in. The offender would then have to drive to a secondary location, increasing the chances of more witnesses. Plus Jason was already meeting a friend at Benson High School for a ride to work. Would he have gotten into one car to be driven to another car? Possibly, but to me it just sounds like too much.

Whatever happened, happened on Bedford Avenue between North 48th St and North 50th Ave.

View attachment 630312
Sources:
• The Omaha Police Department's Facebook page lists Jason's home as "near N 48th St and Pinkney St."
• Jason's page on the Charley Project says he helped a neighbor "in the area of 48th and Bedford Streets" and that he was headed for Benson High School.

bbm. i thought he was last seen by a neighbor, helping his own brother take out the trash. and of course his own brother also saw him at this time.

JMO, i find lured into a car more likely than lured into a house. they both explain him disappearing from the street without anyone noticing, because neither would look suspicious. but a car has a lower chance of being identified by a witness later if they happened to remember it. unless the witness happened to know the driver or thought it looked suspicious enough to write down the license plate number, all you'll get for a lead is something like "a guy resembling jason got into a green sedan driven by someone with hair". but if someone saw him go into a house, they would probably remember which house it was, or at least which block and side of the street. and a perp's not going to know for sure that they're not being watched and won't be memorable. so i have to think picking someone up and then continuing driving feels lower risk than luring someone into your home. i believe it's historically a more common MO for serial killers, for that reason.

now, a lot of what i'm saying about cars is dated, because now you have traffic cameras, security cameras, doorbell cameras, and dashcams all over the place. plus everyone's phone tracks them everywhere, etc. but we're talking about 2001 here. all those things existed, but were not nearly as widespread.

 

[JSolt1210]

bbm. i thought he was last seen by a neighbor, helping his own brother take out the trash. and of course his own brother also saw him at this time.

Yes you're right—Jason was helping out his own brother to take out the trash at the family's residence, and this was seen by a neighbor. I read it too fast—my mistake!

 

[Andreee]

I agree—I just can't decide if it was a car or a house.

Just looking at the route below, my gut tells me Jason was lured into a house instead of into a car. Jason was last seen helping out a neighbor with trash cans. Maybe the offender saw this and decided to use the same pretext. No one noticed because it just looked like someone entering their own house, so it's the perfect cover. And once inside, that was it.

But with a car, I feel like there's a higher chance of someone seeing a driver pull over to the curb and seeing a teen climb in. The offender would then have to drive to a secondary location, increasing the chances of more witnesses. Plus Jason was already meeting a friend at Benson High School for a ride to work. Would he have gotten into one car to be driven to another car? Possibly, but to me it just sounds like too much.

Whatever happened, happened on Bedford Avenue between North 48th St and North 50th Ave.

View attachment 630312
Sources:
• The Omaha Police Department's Facebook page lists Jason's home as "near N 48th St and Pinkney St."
• Jason's page on the Charley Project says he helped a neighbor "in the area of 48th and Bedford Streets" and that he was headed for Benson High School.

Actually, he was last seen helping his brother in with the trash cans. But I have had the same thought over the years that you did, that for him to get into one car to be driven to the coworker's car would seem a bit much. UNLESS he had pre-arranged before that to meet the person and they were for some reason still coming to meet him somewhere. As in, maybe he hadn't remembered to cancel on them.

 

[NOLandsMan]

I don't find the car scenario very likely, because (as others have said) it was a short walk on a nice day to get to the high school to meet his coworker. I think if he got into a car, it was at gun point. I think he was probably lured into a neighbor's house.

 

[jennytrevor]

The walk to the school was almost 20 min and he was rushing to leave. Is it possible he had to pee at some point while on the walk and so ran off into some strange hidden area where he met a freak accident? Or did he pee near a neighbors yard and get into a confrontation that way?

 

[Andreee]

The walk to the school was almost 20 min and he was rushing to leave. Is it possible he had to pee at some point while on the walk and so ran off into some strange hidden area where he met a freak accident? Or did he pee near a neighbors yard and get into a confrontation that way?

As far as that goes, I too thought he may've needed to do that, and went to the gas stn. just across from the front of the school. Your scenario didn't occur to me, but that is possible too.

 

[Andreee]

I don't find the car scenario very likely, because (as others have said) it was a short walk on a nice day to get to the high school to meet his coworker. I think if he got into a car, it was at gun point. I think he was probably lured into a neighbor's house.

Yes, this is the thing that has been pondered here for years, that it is one or the other thing. I keep changing my mind on that.

 

[LisMarit]

I believe lured into a car/house or visiting someone is most likely. I don't believe there was any kind of altercation in public, as someone would have likely seen or heard something.

I believe lured into a car/house or visiting someone is most likely. I don't believe there was any kind of altercation in public, as someone would have likely seen or heard something.

Yes, I don’t believe there was a public altercation, but rather that this person may have driven by and offered Jason a ride to school, and from there it escalated into a conflict that ended badly.

 

[LisMarit]

As far as that goes, I too thought he may've needed to do that, and went to the gas stn. just across from the front of the school. Your scenario didn't occur to me, but that is possible too.

It is said that Jason had a friendly and helpful nature, so he may have simply accepted out of politeness; whatever it was, it happened in a matter of seconds and in a very "usual" way.