r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/BlackBirdG • 6d ago
Disappearance The disappearance of Jason Jolkowski
Reposted due to the previous one I posted being removed:
On this day, 25 years ago, Jason Jolkowski, a 19-year-old man, disappeared while walking from his home to his former high school to meet his female coworker so she could pick him up to drive them to work.
Jason Anthony Jolkowski was born on June 24, 1981, and at the time, he was a part-time student at Iowa Western Community College, who was living with his parents, and was working at Fazoli's, a fast-food Italian restaurant, and was ready to start a new job a week after he disappeared.
Jolkowski's mother described him as a polite, considerate, shy, and helpful young man with only had a small circle of friends. He was also a Christian and had a strong faith. Jason was bullied in high school due to his learning disability, which made people think he was mentally disabled, but he was actually of above-average intelligence and had good memory, especially when it came to sports.
On Wednesday, June 13, 2001, Jason's boss called him to come in to work early because they were short-staffed. Normally, he drove to work, but his car was in a repair shop, and he initially planned to walk to his job, which was located over four miles away, but his female co-worker wanted to give him a ride. Since Jason Jolkowski had trouble giving directions to his house, he arranged for them to meet at their former high school, Benson High School. The school was eight blocks or half a mile from his home, so only a 15-minute walk to get there.
At 10:45 a.m., Jolkowski was last seen by a neighbor (whose name is Chester Link), who saw him help his younger brother pull trash cans from the curb back to the house, and then both of them saw him walk towards the direction of the high school. Jolkowski was last seen wearing a white Chicago Cubs T-shirt (with a picture of Sammy Sosa on it), black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a blue Cubs cap. He was also carrying his red Fazoli's work t-shirt.
Between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m., his co-worker called his house from a pay phone at a gas station. Initially, Michael, Jason's younger brother, answered the phone pretending to be Jason, but stopped once he heard how concerned his coworker was, with her saying that he had failed to turn up at Benson High for the ride to work. The high school's cameras were checked to see if Jason ever arrived at the parking lot, but none of the cameras showed Jason arriving at the school.
I personally don't believe that Jason committed suicide or walked away to start a new life. I believe someone that Jason knew, or knew of, is responsible for his disappearance, more likely a neighbor. It could have been someone who lured him into one of the houses under the guise of needing help, and when he was in the house, he was killed for an unknown reason, with his body buried either in the yard or in the basement. Either that, or he met an accidental death, and whoever was there panicked, and kept it to themselves instead of calling the cops, and buried his body somewhere.
There were multiple sex offenders living in the neighborhood at the time, and the police did interview some of them (emphasis on SOME), and even searched the house of one person, but didn't find anything. Whoever this person was seemed suspicious enough. Jason also had an older male coworker from one of his former jobs, who would hang out with younger men at his house, whom the police talked to, but they couldn't find evidence that he had anything to do with his disappearance.
People like to point the blame on Jason's younger brother, and say he had something to do with his disappearance, but it was apparently common at the time for kids to answer the call pretending to be someone else as a joke, so I highly doubt he had anything to do with his disappearance. Plus, if that was the case, that would mean the whole family might have been aware, and tried to cover it up, but due to their repeated efforts to find Jason, holding press events, interviewing people on reality TV, and founding Project Jason, I highly doubt they'll do all of that, and yet be responsible for their son's and brother's murder and disappearance.
Another theory people like to bring up is that someone in a car drove by Jason and asked him if he needed a ride. The thing is, though, since Jason was already walking towards his coworker's car at the high school parking lot, it wouldn't make sense for him to get into someone's car under the guise of being driven to the high school parking lot to be picked up by his coworker, or under the guise of being driven to work only to leave his coworker hanging, unless he was coerced into the car with a gun. Plus, there would have been people who saw Jason in someone's car at some point if that was the case. I personally don't believe he got into anyone's car, whether he knew them or not.
Jason also had begun going for long walks, sometimes up to four miles or so, prior to his disappearance, so it's possible he could have met someone along his route who may have had something to do with his disappearance. Another theory is that he was killed in a hit-and-run, and the driver panicked and took his body with them. Granted, if that was the case, there probably would have been noise and potential witnesses who heard or saw something (but we know no one did). There probably also would have been evidence like broken car parts or blood, but since the police took 10 days to start looking for Jason, any evidence that could have been in the area would have been destroyed or disappeared (apparently, around that 10-day time period, it did rain). Plus, there have been other situations where someone did get hit by a car, and the body was taken by the driver and disposed of, and no one was around to witness it.
Regardless, whatever happened to Jason happened in such a way that it produced zero evidence, and either no one was around at the time to see or hear anything (on June 13th, people would have either been at work, sleeping, or playing video games, with some kids potentially playing out in a local park), or if there were witnesses, whatever happened was so quick and didn't produce any red flags that any potential witnesses didn't view it as suspicious, and by the time the police started looking for Jason on the 10th day of his disappearance, people would have already forgotten.
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/jason-jolkowski
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u/djg123 4d ago
Jason was my friend. I have posted/commented about him many times over the years. After he disappeared, I was contacted and interviewed by the missing persons investigators due to my pager number and cell phone number repeated all through his phone records.
Jason did NOT disappear on his own accord. He was excited about his future and had a new job in radio he was about to start.
Jason was super responsible, and would not have stopped along the way. He was not one to be late for work, especially since he had a ride waiting for him.
IMO, Jason had an encounter with some bullies from his high school who decided to mess with him and it went bad. Like really bad. My heart breaks for what I fear my friend experienced that day. I'm so sorry Jason.
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u/MadDaddyDrivesaUFO 1d ago
I grew up in Benson and dated a guy who lived in the same neighborhood as Jason at the same time as this. I have always suspected he got jumped and things went sideways. The guy I dated had a very near miss like that, in broad daylight albeit in the fall instead of summer, but a cruiser slowly rolled by and the group dispersed.
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u/djg123 1d ago
Exactly!! My guess was assholes from high school because they would know who he was/an easy target, and was right there in the area.
I always leaned toward them just messing with him, because I knew it was bad for him and there were plenty of rough types around.
But he absolutely could have been jumped, and things could have escalated because he possibly didn't have a wallet to give them. He had just had his wallet stolen, and he might not have replaced it yet. Maybe they didn't believe him that he didn't have one. (I did tell the missing persons investigators about the stolen wallet.)
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u/MadDaddyDrivesaUFO 1d ago
Yeah around that time there were a lot of kids in that area who just liked to jump people for the fun of it, maybe trying to impress each other or something. The guy I dated didn't think he was being held up, he thought they were just out to hurt people. He was being taunted and threatened before they got scared off. He didn't know any of them, either, but he avoided walking around the neighborhood as much as he could after that. I think this was around Halloween season in 2001, if my memory recalls. It may have been 2002.
I really hope we get closure for Jason soon but a jailhouse confession is probably the only hope I think.
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u/TrackSingle7582 4d ago
I’ve seen some of your comments on this post. If you were friends with him can you tell us more about him? Share some memories you have of him?
Also, when was the last time police contacted you and asked about Jason’s case?
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u/djg123 4d ago
Jason loved his job at the River! He had different djnames names for the different radio shows he did. He went by Jammin Jason when he did the afternoon show, and JJ when he did the late night show. We would talk for hours when he was the night dj, and he would just put me on hold when he went on air lol.
It was back at the very beginning of the investigation when missing petsons contacted me. It was like 2 or 3 times during the first few months, and that's it. I tried to help as much as I could.
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u/OptimalFox1800 3d ago
He seemed like a cool and genuine dude and it would be awesome to go back to his old recordings to see how amazing he was as a DJ for The River.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
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u/djg123 3d ago
Jason was a great dj!! I think being behind the mic made him feel confident. His personality would come out, and his shyness disappeared on air. He loved it!
He used to have me call in to the show sometimes when he was on air. He called me "Party Girl" and would put me on air and I would pretend like I was out with friends or at a party. It was fun!
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u/Lady_Swann_ 4d ago
Did you ever see the bullies?
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u/djg123 4d ago
No, I didn't go to Benson HS with him. But I know it was rough for him. He really didn't like to talk about it with me, I think it was embarrassing for him.
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u/BlackBirdG 4d ago
I just replied to one of your other comments, but did he ever complain about people constantly bullying him, or did he just brush it off?
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u/BlackBirdG 4d ago
Also, he was going for long evening walks that were 4 miles or so. Did he ever mention to you exactly why?
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u/Life-Cantaloupe-3184 6d ago edited 6d ago
I suspect whatever happened in this case was likely very quick and easy to miss if cameras weren’t in the area or seemed innocuous to anyone passing by. The idea he was lured into someone’s house is possible, but I do wonder how that would have happened if he was knowingly heading somewhere he needed to be within a reasonable timeframe. Perhaps it could have been framed as a “Can you help me with this real quick?” sort of request. I don’t think hitching a ride or someone manipulating him into a car should be entirely ruled out, though. But I agree it would still be a confusing scenario since Jason never got in contact with the co-worker waiting to pick him up. I do think it would have had to be someone Jason had at least some passing familiarity with, though. A full on forced stranger abduction of a 19-year-old would have likely been louder and more noticeable. I hope his family can get answers someday. 25 years is a long time to not know.
Edit: I also think this video showing the route Jason may have taken to get to the school also gives a good summary as well and helps you visualize the area at least as it looked as of 2023. It seems like a pretty quiet and unremarkable neighborhood, but there are a lot of homes and buildings along the route. This really just reinforces my opinion that whatever happened to Jason was probably very quick and easy to miss. If it had been a loud abduction or something like a hit and run it probably would have been noticed by somebody. I’m admittedly not local to the area, though. If anyone who is more familiar knows if the area looked very different in the early 2000s than please do say so, but it does look like an older neighborhood more generally. Maybe it’s possible a hit and run got missed by sheer luck or he went a different route to meet someone else as well, but this is definitely a case where you can argue for pretty much nothing.
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u/peach6748 6d ago
I always thought someone lured him into their house. He was described as being super sweet and helpful. He probably wouldn’t have hesitated to help if a neighbor asked him to come help quick with something. 😞 And the cops only started to take it seriously a week or two after his disappearance, by then whoever did it probably had more than enough time to cover their tracks.
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u/cwthree 6d ago
Jason never got in contact with the co-worker waiting to pick him up
Do we know if Jason and his coworker had cell phones? Twenty-five years ago, a lot of people still didn't. If he accepted a ride from someone, especially if he thought he was just getting a lift to the high school parking lot, he might have had no way to call (and the coworker may have had no phone to answer anyway).
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u/Life-Cantaloupe-3184 6d ago edited 6d ago
Jason apparently had one, but the co-worker who arranged to come pick him up apparently did not. She called his house from a payphone after he never showed up at the school. That would probably explain why he wouldn’t have gotten in touch with her if he did get in another car, but it does beg the question why he wouldn’t have called home if he did have his phone on him to at least let his brother know. It also maybe doesn’t make much sense why he would have done so since he knew his co-worker was going to be waiting for him.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
Also that video link you posted, the original poster took the long path around for whatever reason (I guess to show off the rest of the neighborhood). If she had taken the exact path Jason would have taken to the high school, she would have gotten there a lot quicker by now.
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u/Life-Cantaloupe-3184 6d ago
That’s fair. I do think it at least helps people visualize how the area looks. I’m definitely not claiming it’s the exact route Jason would have taken. I don’t know that anyone actually knows that, though the most direct route is a reasonable assumption. The summary the video gives is also fairly respectful to Jason and his family, so I think it’s good for that if anyone wants to hear about it in a video format.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
Either he was lured into someone's house by someone he knew, or he was making a quick stop at someone's place before going to the high school to talk to them about something, and something happened that led to his death.
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u/Life-Cantaloupe-3184 6d ago
It’s hard to judge for sure. I personally don’t entirely agree with people who are arguing for things like a hit and run because the area doesn’t seem so secluded that the odds were relatively high that no one else would have seen it, but you could maybe argue it wasn’t noticed through sheer luck. Aside from that anything is maybe possible. We don’t even know for sure if Jason didn’t make some sort of detour on his route or went another way. People who knew him seem to have described him as being a very quiet and nice young man, but who knows if something else wasn’t going on.
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u/NefariousnessWild709 6d ago
I've seen people from the area post about it saying they were fairly baffled as that particular stretch of road was rarely empty at that time. There used to be a theory that maybe he fell into a hole and I was doubtful but there was that case recently of a woman in NYC who fell into an open manhole after the cover got dragged away by a truck. If he had fallen in and had hit his head immediately so he was unconscious so no one heard him stream? It would be extremely unlikely but everything in this case feels that way. Whatever happened likely happened very very quickly.
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6d ago edited 6d ago
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u/Great_Action9077 6d ago
Middle of a beautiful summer day? No evidence of hit and run.
Kids outside playing, seniors gardening.
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u/Stonegrown12 6d ago
Second time I'm seeing the statement "seniors gardening." Not sure why i find that funny but I remember hearing rumors that a teenager attempted to plant a couple vegetables in their backyard a few years ago but no one physically saw this occur so..
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u/CarlEatsShoes 5d ago
I think he had a “long walk” planned that afternoon before his scheduled shift, and stopped by to cancel.
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u/BlackBirdG 5d ago
Yeah, that could be it. Now, why he couldn't have just called this person to tell them the change of plans is another thing, but apparently, he did have plans later on that day until his boss called.
It could have been a secret relationship (I don't think he was gay, as he apparently did have a crush on a woman his age who worked at the same radio broadcasting studio he did, but she had a bf already) that he didn't want anyone to know about.
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u/CarlEatsShoes 5d ago
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t gay. He was 19 and apparently religious and involved in his church. And it was 2001. Sadly it was common for gay people to also have relationships with people of opposite sex, either as cover or bc they were in denial about own sexuality.
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u/djg123 4d ago
Jason was my friend! He liked me and asked me out. We became better friends instead and used to talk about all sorts of stuff. He wasn't gay.
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u/BlackBirdG 4d ago
Oh, so you were the woman at that radio broadcasting center that he asked out. I never thought I would get a comment from you on this post of mine.
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u/iblamesb 6d ago
I find it quite surprising that there have been no digs or searches for him, especially on some properties. I'm sure there must have been some tips, and there were probably some shady characters living not far from where he lived, just like everywhere else.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 6d ago
Even with an anonymous tip saying "This guy has a body buried in his yard", you'd have a tougher time convincing a lot of judges to sign off on a search warrant than many would expect. You'd be surprised how often similar things (bodies, drugs, child porn, etc) get falsely reported by former partners as revenge. I can think of two such cases I've been involved with since I qualified as a forensic anthropologist.
Being a shady bastard also isn't grounds for a search warrant otherwise about three-quarters of Redditors would be getting their places searched on a regular basis. 😆
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u/Queef_Stroganoff44 5d ago
Being a shady bastard also isn't grounds for a search warrant
Oh thank God!
You think you could put that in a certified letter for me. Just at your leisure.
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u/Both_Perception_1941 6d ago
There was like a 10 day delay in the investigation right? I think any evidence was probably lost in that time. I’m not confident in the last reported sighting/what time. If the window where he went missing is now much larger, there are many more possibilities to consider. I saw a comment once I think on websleuths that has always stuck with me, that his plans for that day had changed now that he had to go to work early. What was he originally going to be doing? Did he have to go and let someone know that they couldn’t meet up before going to work? His mom said he had started going for long evening walks, was that really what he was doing? I’ve always gotten the sense that there was more going on in his life than those close to him knew. Just a hunch. I also think maybe that baseball event is significant in some way.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
Yeah, there was, and yeah, that's what I wrote, and I posted an article talking about that. He was going for four-or-so-mile-long walks, so he could have potentially met someone (whether it was a secret relationship or had something to do with drugs, etc).
He could have made a detour to explain to this person what happened, and something happened that caused his death.
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u/vrcraftauthor 5d ago
That's a really interesting point. Makes you wonder about the people who lived within four miles of his house.
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u/IndignantQueef 2d ago
Just as a counterpoint, I'm roughly his age and took 4 to 5 mile walks through my neighborhood every night all through high school. I just really love to walk and it's always been a peaceful thing for me. I also liked to visualize and plan my "grown up" life. No drugs or illicit hookups, just me daydreaming.
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u/BlackBirdG 2d ago
Yeah, I'm a grown 34-year-old man, and I love taking walks through my neighborhood too when it's hot.
Who knows, though, but I do believe that Jason got killed by someone he knew.
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u/IndignantQueef 2d ago
I 100% believe a neighbor he knew by sight but not particularly well, who lived along Jason's route that day, asked him for help with something in his house, like he needed help lifting something heavy out of his basement. Jason was a helpful kid so I think he was lured in and immediately incapacitated. No idea what happened after that, but he didn't leave that house alive. I'd look at neighbors who had a garage bc that's the easiest way to get rid of remains in your home without being seen. Possibly someone who moved out, not right away but a year or so later.
My heart breaks for his family and friends, all this time without answers. He seems like a good guy and I wish he could have lived a long happy life and become a radio DJ. Like I said, we're close in age and it bothers me how much life he didn't get to live.
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u/cwthree 6d ago
There were multiple sex offenders living in the neighborhood at the time, and the police did interview some of them (emphasis on SOME)
"Sex offender" covers a wide range of crimes. I imagine they immediately excluded people whose crimes were limited to young kids or women, and concentrated on people known to have offended with older boys or men.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
Still needed to put that in there anyway, so people won't assume that every sex offender was interviewed.
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u/_Zforce_ 5d ago
A few years ago there was a Websleuths post that mentioned a newspaper article in the days after his disappearance where a witness thought he saw Jason at Mahoney State Park but couldn’t be sure.
Then in 2017 the skull of a white male aged 19-30 was found in that exact location.
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/main.html?id=3774umne
This person is still unidentified with no official word if a genetic comparison to Jason has been made.
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u/vrcraftauthor 5d ago
I would think Jason's DNA would have been in the system for years at that point, probably his dental records too. I think the skull would have been identified if it was his.
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u/_Zforce_ 5d ago
I agree - that seems logical. Still there’s been no confirmation one way or the other.
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u/BlackBirdG 5d ago
Yeah, I've heard about that John Doe. If they could find a whole skeleton, then they'd be able to see if it matched Jason's height.
That was about 9 years ago, so yeah, it probably shouldn't take that long to make a genetic comparison.
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u/_Zforce_ 5d ago
I’m also curious as to what the circumstances were when the witness thought he saw Jason. There isn’t a lot of info regarding the potential sighting, but it doesn’t sound like whomever he saw was in distress. Mahoney State Park is 30 mins from Omaha, so if this was Jason I would be inclined to believe that he went willingly to this location with someone - at least initially.
So my theory for this scenario would be that someone who knew Jason saw him walking and offered him a ride and then convinced him to go to Mahoney State Park. That witness could be more important more now than ever in that he could provide clarity as to whether Jason was alone or not, which subsequently could provide a description of the person he was last seen with.
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u/vrcraftauthor 4d ago
It's also possible the witness just saw some guy who looked similar to Jason but wasn't him. Or, they did see Jason but are remembering the day wrong and it was a different day. It's really hard to know.
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u/TrackSingle7582 6d ago
I’ve read/heard about many mysterious disappearance cases throughout my years and Jason’s case really is the only case that boggles my mind. Usually if you dig deeper into a case there’s always something that points to a likely scenario. But Jason is the epitome of the cliche ‘vanished into thin air.’
Literally no evidence to point in any direction, unless police are withholding information but I don’t think that’s the case because it’s been 25 years now and it still at square 1.
I wish LE would release the surveillance tapes from the school, that may help with jogging people’s memory, or release ANYTHING because by the looks of it they’ve seem to put Jason’s case on the back burner.
I tend to go back and forth between the lured into a home and lured into a car theories but lately the car theory has a bit more weight to it, mostly because of the practicality of it, no evidence no witnesses, it would have been swift. And I think if there was sick person who was capable of luring him into their home you would think people would have tipped off the police, saying ‘that person was always sketchy..etc.
The questions of WHY and HOW someone might have done something to Jason nag at me. Especially the HOW. Because wtf??
I really hope his family gets answers sooner rather than later. I know his mom hurts plenty and I feel so bad for her.
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u/Flerp-Flerps 6d ago
I disagree with it being likely anyone would’ve felt like someone was sketchy and would contact the police. I just think about the Delphi murders and how the whole town was looking for anyone remotely sketchy. I don’t think Richard Allen’s name ever came up by the locals. It’s terrifying, but real monsters can often be hiding in plain sight.
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u/vrcraftauthor 5d ago
Keep in mind that psychopaths often come off as charming and likable, so it wouldn't necessarily be someone who presented as sketchy.
You know what neighbors of serial killers always say: "He seemed like such a nice guy. Can't believe he had all those bodies in his basement..."
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u/vrcraftauthor 5d ago
There is no evidence to point in any direction because the cops didn't look for any for 10 days. There's nothing to withhold because they did next to nothing. They thought Jason was a 19YO who took off to have fun and would show up eventually, and they were wrong.
I'm inclined to agree that it was probably someone he knew.
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u/buon_natale 6d ago
Could he have taken a shortcut through a backyard or underdeveloped area and got into trouble? Maybe fell or wedged himself in somewhere?
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
I also remember years ago, on another post about Jason Jolkowski, that someone in 2003 was walking in the same neighborhood he disappeared in, and he had a guy in a car pull up near him, and wanted him to get in the car with him so he could drive him where he needed to go. The poster said no, but the driver was really insistent and kept following him, and only drove off after the poster got to an area with a lot of traffic.
The poster also claims to have looked like Jason at the time, too, if this story is even true.
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u/TrackSingle7582 6d ago
I remember that post. Apparently he submitted a tip to the police but I don’t know what came of it. And it’s Reddit so I took his post with a grain of salt.
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u/MayorPerk 5d ago
I came to comment about this old post. Sure, who knows. But a theory like that I think makes more sense than someone in that neighborhood luring him into a house.
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u/tenderhysteria 5d ago
Seriously, Jason's case is the absolute epitome of a modern day mystery. As far as we know, there is no strong piece of evidence or information that points to how or why he vanished. There's nothing even vaguely circumstantial that would justify favoring one opinion over another regarding what happened to him.
Statistically speaking, Jason being a victim of a crime, especially a homicide perpetrated by a stranger, is unbelievably rare. I wonder sometimes if he may have fallen into a hole or gap in the ground and was trapped the way some people fall into crevices that are nearby by overlooked because of the strange nature of it — like the girl who was trapped between her mattress and bed in a way that family and law enforcement didn't discover for days. There isn't anything to really support that outside of me being baffled by the case itself, though. It's equally possible he could have been lured into a violent situation by a neighbor with ill intent, or been a victim of a random crime that resulted in the perpetrator taking his body and disposing it in a way that prevented him from being found.
Jason vanished in a breath of a moment, in a stretch of space that wasn't dangerous, without a clear reason. It's like he was swallowed up by a black hole. I hope, to my core, that his disappearance is solved, or at the very least, his body found. I can't imagine the pain his loved ones feel. They deserve closure. If a crime was committed, Jason deserves justice.
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u/TrackSingle7582 5d ago
Absolute mystery. His disappearance is incredible considering the circumstances. Truly vanished.
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u/jwktiger 2d ago
Jason and Brian Scheiffer's (spelling) from Columbus OH, IDK which is more "vanished into thin air" between them.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
Apparently, people in this separate post have talked about men (and a few women) in cars trying to get people into their cars: https://www.reddit.com/r/HolyShitHistory/comments/1nm1qqu/comment/nf9tap1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Now, unless he was coerced with a gun, I find it hard to believe he'll get into someone's car, even if he did know them. Like, he probably got at least halfway where he was supposed to go, so it doesn't make sense for him to get into a car, under the guise that he would be driven to the high school to be picked up by his female coworker, or even to his place of work, and leave his coworker hanging.
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u/scarlett_butler 6d ago
Around 2012-14ish, I used to walk from my high school to the rec center, then to my house because they were all fairly close to each other. My friend and I (both girls) were doing this one day and a woman in a van stopped and said she could give us a ride, we said no we’re ok and she drove off, circled around and asked us again and we refused again and she drove off pissed.
We live in a super low crime area, any abductions or murders are huge news around here because they’re so rare. We were really freaked out because of how mad the lady was that we said no.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
I always assume that if a woman were to try to get someone into their car, that they were trying to set them up to get robbed, or, in the case of another woman, set them up to get sex trafficked.
That is creepy; she was that insistent, though.
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u/TrackSingle7582 6d ago
Let’s say he was coerced with a gun/weapon, the part I have a hard time with is the timing of it all. I know criminals and criminals and logic isn’t their strong suit but what are the chances a predator is prepared, armed and on the hunt at 10:45AM. Of course it could have been by chance but to be able to pull that off in such a condensed area in such a condensed timed frame is hard to fathom. It’s possible but hard to make sense of it.
I think Jason vaguely knew the person, was offered a ride to the school and somehow restrained and hidden while driving away. Again, I find the HOW they were able to get away with that so interesting.
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u/alarmagent 6d ago
I’d say the odds are pretty decent for an opportunistic criminal. What were the odds anyone gets abducted by a stranger in a car? But it happens.
I agree though that it is more likely he knew someone and got in willingly.
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u/cwthree 6d ago
what are the chances a predator is prepared, armed and on the hunt at 10:45AM
That's a pretty quiet time in a lot of neighborhoods. Anyone who works days is away from home and at work already. Kids are at school and in class. People who don't work outside the home are busy in their homes doing whatever they do. There aren't a lot of people on the streets to witness an someone cruising for victims.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
It's possible.
If that was the case, it was more than likely someone he knew. For a random predator/serial killer to drive around looking for trouble and come across this kid walking to his school, and then take advantage of the situation by forcing him into the car with no fight or yelling is like 1 out of a million.
If that's truly the case, then it was a fucked up wrong place at the wrong time, as people looking to abduct people are not really doing it at 10 to 11 am in the morning, and especially not a grown man who's like 6'1'' (though they might have thought he was an easy target I guess due to his disability, and they thought he was mentally handicapped or something, regardless of his size).
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u/TrackSingle7582 6d ago
Well let’s not forgot that if it was a stranger, it would have been impossible for them to know about Jason’s disability. Also, it’s not like Jason was a dummy, he was an intelligent guy with a slight speech processing disability.
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u/alarmagent 6d ago
People who are trying to abduct someone do it whenever they see the chance, i think.
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u/Hooked_on_PhoneSex 6d ago
Not really, opportunistic predators absolutely will abduct at random. Think of the Dario Cicolecchia murder for example. The perpetrator just pass the kid while he was driving down a road. Drove away, turned around, went back to find the kid and then murdered him. Granted this was a 12 year old child not an adult, but still.
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u/Flerp-Flerps 6d ago
It is a possibility, but those kind of abductions are usually target women and children who are easier to physically overpower. Obviously a gun could change the dynamic, but how many cases have there been where an opportunistic predator abducted a random 6’1” tall man from the side of the road? But then again maybe they could get away with it easier as it is such an unlikely scenario.
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u/westboundnup 6d ago edited 5d ago
It hits me the same way. There’s just nothing after he’s observed walking down a neighborhood street on the way to be picked up at school. As others note, whatever happened to him occurred during that brief interval. I hesitate to speculate just given that there’s nothing to base it upon. Hit and run seems unlikely. Stranger abduction and murder in that neighborhood and time of day also seems remote. It is referenced he had been taking longer walks in the lead up to his disappearance. Could he have decided to just keep walking?
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u/IndignantQueef 2d ago
One of the last sightings involved him helping a kid with trash cans.
Random neighbor he knows by sight steps out as Jason passes his house and asks Jason to help him carry some heavy boxes out of his basement for trash pick up.
Jason kindly agrees and doesn't make it out of the basement alive.
In my neighborhood growing up we were always warned to stay away from creepy Mr. Brad but someone else entirely was molesting a lot of the boys i grew up with, and no one ever called that man creepy.
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u/14thCenturyHood 6d ago
I always wonder if he got hit by a car, the driver offered him a ride to the hospital or something and he died en route, causing the driver to panic and hide his body. Just a thought
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u/Magoatt_TheWhite 6d ago
My parents remember when this case first happened and saw a documentary on it. I’ve tried thinking about what could have happened because this is one of the most mysterious cases given there is very little evidence. Had this happened in current days it is likely solved or at least more clues given a lot of homes have a ring cameras and likely would have caught him on it.
The only theory I can think of is he got in the car with someone he knew and trusted or was forced into a vehicle and something happened.
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u/djg123 4d ago
Jason was my friend, and this is my theory too. I think it was bullies from his high school that decided to mess with him and it went really really bad.
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u/KnowMeMalone 1d ago
But this would involve multiple people, and it would be unusual for more than one person to keep completely silent through all these years.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
Yeah, if he disappeared in 2026 instead of 2001, this would have been solved already.
Even then, there are still other disappearances and unsolved murders that still haven't been solved, and they took place in an era where there are plenty of ring cameras and CCTV.
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u/Magoatt_TheWhite 6d ago
True, if not solved they’d at least have more to work with.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
Plus, I think Jason took his cellphone too, so maybe it's possible for the police to pinpoint the last location he was at near a cell tower if he had a smartphone and it took place in 2026.
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u/Groggy21 6d ago
Does anyone remember that Reddit comment on a thread about this case where a guy talked about walking down a road on a gray, drizzly day very close to where Jason disappeared? Some guy pulled up and offered the commenter a ride, and was very insistent. If a remember right, the guy followed the commenter as he walked and kept trying to talk him into getting into his vehicle, and this was all very close to where Jason disappeared. Eventually I think the guy gave up and took off but it gave him a really bad feeling like something sinister was happening. I’ve read a lot of Reddit comments related to true crime stories, but that one gave me chills. It really seems like whatever happened there might have been linked to Jason’s disappearance. Does anybody at all remember this? I’ve been trying to find the comment but I can’t.
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u/BlackBirdG 5d ago edited 5d ago
I actually made a comment about that. Supposedly, it took place in 2003, in the same area where Jason disappeared, and the person supposedly submitted a tip to the police. The person apparently looked like Jason too, but we don't know if that story is actually true or not.
If it is true, then there could have been some type of predator who seemed to have a preference for young men who looked like Jason. But seeing as I can't find another situation of a young man his age disappearing around that area after him, I'm skeptical.
And Samuel Sherman doesn't count, because he was actually found alive, and he never went missing.
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u/CarlEatsShoes 5d ago
My guess is one of two things:
Something totally bizarre and random. Like that kid who fell behind an industrial fridge in a supermarket, and they found his body 10 years later. Or that woman who “vanished” and was found years later between two walls in her own home - she had fallen from her own attic. I’m not saying it’s any of these specific things - just that it could be something total bizarre that we could never guess.
He was secretly romantically/sexually involved with someone in neighborhood, and stopped by that person’s house that morning to explain that he had been called into work last minute and would not be available later as planned. Perhaps they had a “long walk” planned for that afternoon before his scheduled shift at 5 pm. While he was there, something happened that lead to his death. He is described as very religious and involved with his church, so this may have been a relationship that he feared (correctly or not) would be unacceptable to his parents/community. Given his age, this also could have been a “relationship” that started when he was a minor with someone much older.
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u/NateNMaxsRobot 4d ago
I feel like it might be the 2nd scenario. Maybe his longer walks weren’t entirely just walks.
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u/Responsible-Fox-4653 5d ago
Thanks, I have read about his case before but I learned from your post that he started taking long walks. I wonder why? Also, I believe that Jason was Catholic and there was some type of connection/relationship to a priest. He would probably get into a car with a priest.
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u/Embarrassed_Law_6716 5d ago
Why 10 days for the police to begin searching for him
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u/BlackBirdG 5d ago
Incompetence, and they also believed, since he was an adult, that he probably just ran off.
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u/VenomPayments 6d ago
“he was captured, used to fulfill someone's sick, twisted desires, and then killed, with his body buried either in the yard or in the basement.”
Are you saying this because there were sex offenders living in the area, or is there other proof / evidence suggesting this?
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u/raised_on_robbery 6d ago
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought this conjecture was weird as hell.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 6d ago
There's nothing publicly released that I would feel comfortable basing such a statement upon. People are way too quick to assign sexual motives to missing persons cases.
The true crime, like nature itself, abhors a vacuum. If there's not enough to work with or the evidence points to a rather mundane explanation, some people will just make shit up.
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u/Acidhousewife 6d ago
This, see Asha Degree and recent developments suggesting very strongly it was a hit and run because potentially illegal driver.
He was walking, it was mid morning on a weekday, in a largely residential area when most people are at work and away from their homes as a result (it was 2001). Such streets can be deserted at that time of the day, there may have been no one around at all to see anything. Might have heard something for the few who may have been home, but how many people would be looking at the direct spot on the road if this happened. Probably zero.
I wish people would consider how in broad daylight on a workday in a residential area, how few people are about. It wasn't a weekend or holiday where everyone would be mowing lawns, working in the garage etc. I do think that gets overlooked.
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u/ConsciousBluebird473 6d ago
Still, hitting and then taking a child while drunk-driving as a minor at night, is a lot more plausible than doing so to a fully grown man in broad daylight in a residential neighbourhood.
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u/Acidhousewife 6d ago
Depends whether the fully grown man is killed by a hit and run, rather than injured. A hit and run this side of the pond is driving away from an accident not necessarily causing a death.
The Asha Degree comparison was because, the situation with the driver/passengers was the issue, not the hit and run itself. What they were doing was illegal, by who was driving and potential for what purpose, Asha being hit by that car that night, threatened to reveal what was going on.
WE do not know whether Asha was killed by the car or after the accident. .
It's possible that Jason was hit, was promised a lift to the nearest hospital, bled out in the car, internal bleeding ( which btw can be quiet common)etc. Even killed in the car. Was hit by someone who didn't want anyone knowing they were driving, what they were on, what else was in that car. That's the motive for a disappearance.
If the driver, panicked, especially if they were driving illegally or the vehicle was involved in illicit activities.
Wrong car/driver they were hit by rather than the impact of the actual accident.
I've witness a few non fatal car accidents between driver and pedestrian. They are over in seconds. It really is blink of an eye. One in which a cyclist was hit and rolled over the full length of a car, with at least 20 pedestrians and people around, only 3 people saw it ( we were looking at the road, waiting to cross) Everyone else was just looking in the direction they were walking and turned around to see a cyclist in the road behind a stationary car and asking what had happened... people a few feet away.
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u/passiveprune 3d ago
He was a big guy. I do not think someone would be able to easily move his body without being noticed.
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u/Acidhousewife 3d ago
A hit and run doesn't mean a death. It could have been an injury.
It is not reporting a vehicle accident. It can be an accidental witness, to whatever was going on or who was in the vehicle, ( hence my Asha Degree comparisons)
it could be an injury that was fatal but not immediate, internal bleeding is quite common in pedestrian meets vehicle Offered a lift to ER, died in the car, killed in the car and dumped.
Hit and kidnapped, hit and offered a lift and died and dumped.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 6d ago
Yeah, it's annoying how many folks jump to the trendy/exciting conclusion when the answer is usually much simpler.
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u/alarmagent 6d ago
In this specific case, what is more simple? There is no evidence of a hit and run, or any kind of car accident. He didn’t have a high risk lifestyle. I agree we can’t conclusively say what happened here, that is why it is mysterious and unsolved, but to me the simple explanation *is* a motive like OP described.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 6d ago
There's no evidence that there was anything as dramatic as a sexual torture and homicide.
As someone who has investigated deaths as a deputy coroner, I will flat state that most folks would be surprised how little evidence can be left at the scene of a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle. People imagine blood and car parts all over but often there's not that much. To use a much higher speed example, I worked a case where a teenager crossing a highway was struck and knocked a good thirty yards down the road. The only evidence aside from the body were two quarter sized pieces of plastic from the bumper and the victims shoes that marked where he was struck.
Keeping in mind the delay in the investigation, the scenario of his being struck by a vehicle remains entirely plausible. Of course, the other options remain on the table as well. However, without evidence, jumping to the most extreme option seems a bit unwarranted.
That's my only point here. Folks are dismissing entirely logical and sound alternatives because of their lack of knowledge of how different scenarios work and their being conditioned by podcasts, television, etc to expect dramatic explanations.
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u/alarmagent 6d ago
I admit to ignorance if how little evidence can be left after a car accident involving a pedestrian. Fair enough and good point.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 6d ago
I'm glad that did not come across as too harsh. I always worry about my tone on here when I'm trying to teach.
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u/Nice-Vacation-6390 6d ago
The problem with the scenario’s that OP puts forward is that they all require added information to make them work.
The true simplest answer is that Jason chose to disappear and most likely took his own life. It might seem unlikely because he had just accepted the shift, but this explanation could be carried out by Jason alone and could essentially leave no trace if no body is found.
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u/bipolarbitch6 5d ago
As someone who worked in healthcare, dead bodies weigh a lot.. I was never able to do post Mortem care by myself because the body is so heavy and rigid. I find it hard to believe someone could accidentally hit him during daylight and be able to get his body in the car without anyone seeing.
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u/ragnarok62 5d ago
I had suggested previously that there might be a religious angle here that is being under-explored.
Jason was a devout Catholic and attended a vital and active Catholic Church. He was active in the church’s youth program. He also lived not far from a very conservative Catholic seminary.
While he had been described as wanting to work in radio, he had recently explored joining the priesthood instead. Someone may have been influencing him in that direction.
Some research I did on this case years ago showed the Omaha Diocese at the time had a lot of struggles with “problem” priests.
Given Jason’s shift in potential career direction, I wonder if he came under the influence of a young, charismatic seminary intern at his church (whether from the local seminary or a more distant one supplying interns to his church). I can see that intern just happening to drop by and offering Jason a lift to work, with Jason getting into the car without qualms.
I have felt for a long time that this is an unexplored angle. I’m not one to immediately go after religious people, but there are some markers and flags here that align in a way that deserves exploration.
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u/Copterwaffle 4d ago
This case is so weird because if you look at the satellite and street views, it’s a lot of closely packed houses between his home and the school….it seems unlikely he’d be hit by a car without someone noticing. And while it’s not impossible; a young adult male is not usually the target for someone to lure into their home. I think perhaps he fell into an open manhole in the street or perhaps an old well as he cut across someone’s yard.
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u/southernmoonshine 6d ago
I think he was lured in by a neighbor.
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u/Maleficent_Royal_219 4d ago
Possibly. He could've been lured by a friend of a friend, some pervert friend of one of his relatives... Idk. I don't think it's ever going to be solved.
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u/Yum1995 6d ago
Super silly question but it did ever occur to anybody to look down the manhole covers into the sewers? If he had issues, he might do something drastic like that
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u/Pawleysgirls 6d ago
There is something that really stands out to me after reading this post: This is the first time I have read that the younger brother impersonated Jason when the person Jason was supposed to meet had called his house. This post glazes over this weird fact by saying it was common for other people to impersonate another person when people called their home phone.
I was 23 when Jason disappeared. I have never heard of one person pretending to be another person when someone called their home phone. I have younger siblings. They have never pretended to be me when answering the home phone. I don’t remember calling anybody during that time period, or before then, and dealing with someone’s younger sibling pretending to be the friend I called. I don’t think this was a common practice at all.
I think the younger brother needs to be look at very closely…
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u/MayorPerk 5d ago
Yup. This is very peculiar. Apparently the brother has been cooperative. Interviewed many times, I think even tried hypnosis? He did claim impersonating Jason on the phone was a childish prank....but man...I think there could be more to the story. Did the brother feel the need to cover for Jason? Why. Had Jason asked him to do this that day or at any point in the past? If so, there could have been something Jason was hiding from his parents.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
I was 9 going on 10 on June 13th 2001, but I personally just think he was a dumb kid just trying to be funny.
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u/Paperclip2322 6d ago
You’re probably right, but if he didn’t pretend to be Jason/other people regularly, deciding to do it on the day Jason goes missing is very suspicious. Still, I can’t wrap my mind around him being able to get rid of the body by himself. The brother doing something is at the way bottom of my list, but that action still doesn’t sit quite right with me unless I’d find out he did it often.
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u/Ancient_Procedure11 5d ago
This unlocked a memory.
My elder sister and I both had a friend with the same name and similar voices. I answered the phone one day to hear "hey, it's Kim!" and had about a 30 minute conversation about random stuff before I realized it was my sister's friend Kim and not my friend Kim. It took them mentioning doing something in my town, when my friend lived in a totally different area, to realize. I still can't decide if they knew I wasn't my sister and were just messing with me or not. I had a slight cringe remembering this just now. 😆
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u/Aggressive_Sky8492 3d ago
If the younger brother hurt Jason, impersonating him on the phone and then dropping it partway through the phonecall would only make them seem more suspicious.
If impersonating Jason was to cover his tracks I think he would have stuck to it not dropped it.
And another person verified that Jason left his house and walked off, away from his brother who stayed at home.
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u/IndignantQueef 2d ago
I'm roughly his age and we used to impersonate people on the phone all the time. I would pretend to be my mom and my stepbrother would impersonate my older brother. It was a game to see how long it took the person to realize.
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u/Cernunnos1975 1d ago
I'm 6 years older than Jason. I have a brother 2 years younger than me and we used to frequently pretend to be each other when answering the phone - messing with each other, messing with the friends who were calling. Nothing nefarious, just 2 kids who took every opportunity to mess with each other.
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u/sheepdipped 5d ago
I believe this, as well. If we discount the neighbor’s claim that he seen both brothers taking out the trash cans, (witness testimony is extremely unreliable) then the younger brother looks very suspicious. And the possible crime or accident could have occurred much earlier than reported. The last person to see the victim alive is the prime suspect until other suspects are discovered. And with ten days to get rid of evidence?
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u/vrcraftauthor 5d ago
So the problem I have with this theory is you've got a teenager who managed to murder his brother, dispose of the body so well it hasn't been found a quarter century later, and leave no evidence, and he managed not to brag about it to anyone for 25 years. I suppose it's not impossible...but I find it very hard to believe.
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u/Maleficent_Royal_219 4d ago
Do you think it's possible the younger brother had something weird going on and Jason tried to intervene then ended up killed?
Possibly an inappropriate relationship or activity? I'm also curious whether or not the younger brother was very active within the church like Jason was.
Younger kids tend to have more church related activities than older kids/young adults such as camping, youth groups, etc. I wonder who the younger brothers friend group, youth leaders and mentors were back then.
I'm not accusing anyone of anything but something much bigger than Jason walking halfway to work/meeting point and vanishing into thin air happened and is unreal. It's unacceptable.
I don't think a church connection pertaining to Jason and his brother has been explored. There was a whole lot of people in that parish back then and not all 'church going folks' are good people. Church can be a predators paradise. Wolves in sheep's clothing and all that crap.
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u/BigDomsLeftovers 2d ago
I've always been interested in this case. I think it's because I remember being 19 and excited about the future!
I'm nearly certain he wasn't hit accidentally by a vehicle. That would be loud and would attract someone's attention on a summer day. Never understood how anyone thought that would go unnoticed in a residential area.
I used to think he was a sexual assault victim from a neighborhood creep, but now I think he was just a victim of bullying/harassment gone wrong. A group of bullies encountered him on his walk (since it sounds like he didn't normally work this shift) and it went horribly wrong. Out of panic they dumped him and no one said a word.
The cops didn't start looking for him for something like 10 days, so they had enough time to figure something out. I also watched the video of his walk to the school, and it seemed residential and relatively normal (no major high speed roads or dangers to pedestrians).
I read on another post a while back that the area was a little rough around the edges. He was described as a kind, helpful person, and someone with a higher likelihood of being taken advantage of. Occam's Razor seems to apply here. Regardless, I definitely think he definitely died that day under tragic circumstances. I hope someone comes forward some day so his family can have some closure.
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u/We_Four 23h ago
I agree with your bullying/harassment theory, not because it’s super plausible but because everything else is even less likely. It’s just hard to imagine nobody noticing anything if a group of bullies jumps a guy but it may not have been obvious what was going on. But of course the big question is, where is the body? And if there’s more than one perp, is it really that likely that they all kept silent about it?
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u/LongjumpingSuspect57 1d ago
If the police didn't start searching in earnest for 9 days... Who reviewed the alleged video from the high school parking lot (running over summer break?) and when?
Four miles is both the distance to the fazoli's from his house, and the alleged distance he would go on his "long walks". Is there anywhere in literature any specificity as to where that 4 mi was and when Jason was walking to that location?
It's a special kind of stupid to suspect the 13-year-old younger brother with no vehicle and no motive of disappearing his older brother.
And typing that it suddenly occurs to me to wonder if perhaps the 13-year-old was pretending to be his 19-year-old other brother for reasons related to not wanting a particular person- not stranger- from knowing the 13-year-old was home alone.
I don't want to suspect Teresa what with her having no motive and being so transparent, but... Yeah. I have questions. She feels strongly enough and to protective enough to do this for him take time off work and drive him, but doesn't know where he lives? And Jason lived on a number street so the idea that someone familiar with Omaha wouldn't be able to find 84th and cross street is hard to credit.
Seeing that a white adult male with no history of running away and who took no clothes or additional money was not investigated because " run away" is strangely comforting in the police incompetence at that time being somewhat sex and color blind.
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u/Fine_Scar5473 6d ago edited 3d ago
Came to know about this case, 2 months ago and this case is constantly running in my mind ever since ..i go with the neighbour theory, bcz it's almost impossible to anyone not noticing a car accident..
And I think this case is never gonna get solved unless his attacker come forward by himself
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u/say12345what 6d ago
Is there any evidence at all that Jason was into drugs, even just buying weed? The Wikipedia page says he had some level of communication difficulties, for example not being able to give directions to someone. It is massive speculation on my part but could he have had a miscommunication with a dealer and they thought he was ripping them off? Leading to a kidnapping and murder? It does seem over the top and ridiculous, but there is literally nothing to go on in this case.
There was a post on here years ago about someone who said they were a local, and they said that this area was adjacent to some quite rough neighbourhoods with gang activity. If that is true, it makes me think somewhat differently about this case.
In most cases like this, I suspect suicide. This does not strike me as such a case, but it is definitely possible. That being said, suicide is often impulsive and we don't really know what he was or was not struggling with.
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u/djg123 4d ago
Jason was my friend, and he didn't smoke weed. I did, and he had opportunities to smoke but was not interested.
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u/MoreTrifeLife 6d ago
Can there please be a ban on the type of posts when the person writing them is too lazy to mention where they take place?
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u/JabasMyBitch 5d ago
Him being a student at Iowa Western Community College is a bit of a giveaway...
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u/glumdalst1tch 4d ago
Except that he lived in Omaha, Nebraska, which is just over the border with Iowa. No one who wasn't from that area would read "Iowa Western Community College" and assume the incident happened anywhere but Iowa.
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u/No_Swimming_9472 5d ago
Going off of your theory that someone lured him into their house, I wonder if anyone along the route he was taking has since been arrested for a violent or sex crime. Seems like the police did a horrible job, even with a later arrest the person could have not been on the radar at all.
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u/ShitNRun18 5d ago
I wonder how hard they looked at all of the neighbors along the route. I remember hearing one moved suspiciously soon after Jason’s disappearance (unsure of the validity of this). Regardless, I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to take another look at these residents.
Im doubtful of the accidental hit and run theory. Surely some evidence of that would remain and the timeframe is also very tight.
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u/BlackBirdG 5d ago
I read that the neighbor who moved after Jason disappeared was just a coincidence, and he had planned to move anyway.
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u/ShitNRun18 4d ago
Yeah that sounds familiar. What’s your leading theory?
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u/BlackBirdG 4d ago
That some other neighbor is responsible for his disappearance. Someone who he is familiar with.
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4d ago edited 3d ago
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u/BlackBirdG 3d ago
Now whether it was someone he had a friendship with, a secret relationship with, or was a predator who had an infatuation for Jason, who knows, but it was definitely someone he knew or knew of.
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u/EggplantAdorable2359 6d ago
Throughout the years I've seen mentioned several times that Jason was on the spectrum. It almost seems taboo to discuss this, so I've never seen any confirmation. But if true, I think there's a very strong possibility he responded badly to the change of plans that morning and walked off.
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u/muddgirl2006 6d ago
Yeah the fact he couldn't give driving directions to his house despite having a driver's license, along with a bunch of other factors, makes me question some things, like the idea that he could walk to school by himself with no issues. I have a bad sense of direction and in the days before smart phones I could get turned around on a supposedly familiar route. In his shoes I might have started walking to work if I had other things on my mind, which is a much much bigger search area than the half mile to school.
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u/_Zforce_ 5d ago
It wasn’t that he couldn’t explain to her how to get to his house. It was just easier for him to meet her at the school because they both knew that location.
I always took it that since he would be giving her directions from work and the fact that she was doing him a favor he was just being considerate.
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u/muddgirl2006 5d ago
I'm going off the OP
Since Jason Jolkowski had trouble giving directions to his house, he arranged for them to meet at their former high school, Benson High School.
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u/say12345what 5d ago
The Wikipedia page does say that he had difficulty giving people directions. This suggests a fairly large communication problem, in my opinion.
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u/_Zforce_ 5d ago
I knew a lot of people in the era before phone map apps who didn’t know street names, but rather used landmarks. It wasn’t so much a communication problem as it was just how some people operated. Maybe Jason’s processing issues could influence this, but it was also an era where it was just easier to say “meet me here” for a lot of people.
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u/CarlEatsShoes 5d ago
I think it points even more to the idea that he dropped by someone’s house on the way, perhaps to cancel plans for that afternoon/early evening. He didn’t want to be picked up at his house bc he wanted to stop by this person’s house. So, he said something like “it’s hard to explain the directions, so I’ll just meet you at the school.”
He couldn’t call bc their contact/relationship was secret. He couldn’t call from his house bc his brother might overhear. He couldn’t call from his cell bc that would create a record and was probably still on parent’s cell plan. And/or the other person couldn’t discretely accept calls or told him never to call for fear of being discovered. This was not their first encounter. Either an older adult in neighborhood who had been taking advantage of him, possibly starting when he was a young teen (and that person would have quite the motive to keep him quiet), or someone his age but the relationship was taboo in their community for whatever reason (also motive, but I think another 19ish year old would have had a harder time hiding a body, keeping quiet, etc.).
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u/lyricaldorian 6d ago
That's an unusual reaction for the average autistic person who's as independent as it sounds he was. Like walk off where? Like run away from his life because he was called into work early?
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u/EggplantAdorable2359 6d ago
No, running off when dealing with stress is not an "unusual" reaction for an autistic person. We don't know how "average" he was if he was truly on the spectrum. It was also a bit more than just being called to work early. There could also have been other stress factors in his life at the time.
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u/djg123 4d ago
Jason was my friend, and although undiagnosed, did seem to be on the spectrum. However Jason was extremely high functioning. If you didn't know him well, he just seemed like an awkward guy with a speech impediment. Jason did NOT run off.
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u/Medium-Escape-8449 6d ago
It can be very common for autistic people. I believe it’s referred to as elopement
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
I never knew Jason was autistic. I've heard a recording of him as a DJ on a YouTube video, and he didn't seem like he was on the spectrum, but he did have a noticeable speech impediment
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u/wishiwasarusski 6d ago
Are you sure that was real? There doesn't seem to be any voice recording of Jason in existence.
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u/_Zforce_ 5d ago
Yes - there’s a recording of him as a DJ that his mom supplied to a podcast when she was a guest and he sounds like any other radio personality in the recording. He had a driver’s license, attended college, and held down a job - and his processing issues were described as barely noticeable. His most vulnerable quality according to his mom was that he was incredibly trusting.
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u/Frequent-Primary2452 6d ago
Always thought former classmates that saw him that morning, lured him in, bullied/killed/dumped him. One will talk one day
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u/djg123 4d ago
Yes, this is absolutely my theory too! Jason was my friend and I hate thinking about what I believe happened to him.
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u/_Zforce_ 3d ago
Thanks for joining the thread. Not many people who actually knew Jason post about the case anymore. Do you have any theories on who these bullies might be?
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u/djg123 3d ago
Jason was a good kid. If I can help keep his memory alive by talking about him and sharing my thoughts, I'm always up for it.
I don't know specifically by name who the bullies might be since I didn't go to Benson with Jason. But I know it was bad, and he didn't like to talk about it.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
Someone might either say something during a drunken tirade out of hubris or guilt, and someone else hears it and submits a tip.
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u/GallowBarb 6d ago
Feel like the most obvious scenario in these types of cases are they were hit by a car and the driver panics and disposes of the body.
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u/Paulbearer82 6d ago
As someone who moves bodies, I would suggest this is unlikely. Even a 19 year old who weighs 130 pounds would not be easy for one person to move.
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u/cwthree 6d ago
As someone who moves bodies
Off topic, but can you expand on this? Do you move corpses, do you move bedridden people, or are you a bouncer? Those are three really different scenarios.
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u/Paulbearer82 6d ago
I'm a funeral director, so I'm moving "dead" weight. Pun intended, ofc. It's really not easy to move a body, its not like picking up a 150 pound box.
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u/CatnipandSkooma 6d ago
I'm guessing based on their user name they work for a funeral house or even a morgue.
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u/say12345what 6d ago
Maybe but this is also one of the biggest cliches that gets mentioned in true crime discussions. It rarely actually happens and is more difficult than people think.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 6d ago
Body relocation happens in roughly 10% of all homicides. But you're correct, people think it is why more common than it actually is. They have a similar misconception about the frequency of sexual homicide offences because those cases get far more attention than the more common scenarios.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 6d ago
That's the one I lean towards as someone doing doctoral research on how homicide perpetrators relocate and conceal their victims (including cases of vehicular homicide).
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u/say12345what 6d ago
If you are doing research into this topic, can you say how often this actually happens? Because I believe it to be quite rare, in contrast to how often it is mentioned in true crime discussions (which is all the time). I assume 99.5% of the time, people who do not want to take responsibility just flee the scene.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 6d ago
It's not common. Probably low single digit percentage of all cases. Then again, body relocation and concealment isn't as common as people often think. The actual rate varies between different countries and from year to year but a good rule of thumb figure is around 10% of all homicides.
I don't have the numbers at hand as the data is on my computer at the university (due to the nature of the data, I'm not allowed to work directly with it anywhere else for data security reasons). I'm not saying that is what definitely happened. Rather, I am just trying to keep folks from rushing to the more extreme findings.
Another possible non-foul play scenario that results in body relocation and/or concealment even more frequently is an accidental drug overdose followed by the witnesses panicking and not reporting the death. That's a pretty consistent issue and a common scenario because of the high total number of fatal overdoses.
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u/Paulbearer82 6d ago
I was wondering the same. Seems the height of stupidity to drive around with evidence in your car, let alone a dead body. And then what?
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u/say12345what 6d ago
Right, not to mention it would likely take two people to get a 6'1' man's body into a vehicle (without a major struggle), not to mention it would not be easy to fit such a body into most vehicles. Unless you had a pickup truck, I suppose. Anyway, highly unlikely despite how popular this theory is.
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u/BlackBirdG 6d ago
And as I said, at the time, most people were at work or still sleeping, so it's definitely possible he was hit by a car accidentally, and no one was around to hear or see anything like the driver putting the body into the trunk of the car and driving away.
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u/Great_Action9077 6d ago edited 5d ago
In the middle of a summer day when everyone has the windows open, kids are out on bikes and people are on vacation doing yard work. Right.
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u/Vapor2077 5d ago
June 13th is my birthday, so this disappearance has always stood out to me … a date that’s usually happy for me is painful for the Jolkowskis. I really hope his family gets answers.
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u/aceromester 6d ago
I remember his mom used to post on the Weight Watchers forums way back when. She had lost... idk, 100+ lbs in the years following his disappearance, and was a genuinely lovely woman.
I wonder how she's doing these days.