Jason Anthony Jolkowski, born on June 24, 1981, in Omaha, Nebraska, grew up in a quiet suburban neighborhood. He was described as shy, polite, and introverted, known for being calm, respectful, and deeply family-oriented. Jolkowski had speech- and language-related learning disabilities. These disabilities may have made him appear mildly mentally disabled, but he was actually of above-average intelligence.
Jason attended Benson High School, where he participated in radio/communications activities and worked behind the scenes rather than socially in the spotlight.
After graduation, he still lived with his parents, working a part-time job at a Fazoli’s restaurant while taking broadcasting classes at Northeast Community College.
He did not use drugs, did not drink, and wasn’t involved in risky behavior. His family reported no signs of depression or desire to run away.
Jason didn’t own a car at the time — his old one was in the shop — so he frequently walked to work or arranged rides.
Disappearence
On the morning of June 13,2001, Jason received an unexpected call asking him to come into work early.
His boss arranged that a coworker would pick him up at Benson High School, only 8 blocks from his home — a short 10-minute walk in a calm residential area.
At 10:45 AM, a neighbor saw Jason outside, helping his younger brother bring trash cans in. This is the last confirmed sighting of him.
Jason left shortly after to walk toward the school without his phone, wallet, or any belongings, expecting a quick ride. School security cameras showed no footage of him arriving, and no neighbors reported seeing or hearing anything unusual.
When he didn’t show up by 11:30 AM, his coworker called the house, alerting Jason’s family.
Police initially believed he may have left voluntarily, causing a delay in active investigation.
Within days, it became clear this was not a runaway case:
his bank account was untouched
he never collected his paycheck
his car remained at the repair shop
no calls, no sightings, no activity of any kind
More than 20 years later, Jason’s disappearance remains completely unexplained — no suspects, no physical evidence, no confirmed sightings.
This case has always left me perplexed, because he vanished within such a short window of time, while on his way to a commitment (a ride to his workplace — something that couldn’t wait), in broad daylight, and in a residential neighborhood. What exactly happened on that day, 24 years ago?
SOURCES-
I think about this case so often. Just 8 blocks in broad daylight and he disappeared. It's so odd.
Not many men nabbed off residential streets in the afternoon. Totally crazy case.
Plus he was very tall
Somebody would have to quickly overtake and somehow subdue him. Really crazy and very sad. He has such a kind face.
This is my number one pet case. I think about it all the time. I feel like no big media outlets cover it because there is nothing to go off of.
I believe somebody mentioned here about a body found not far from Omaha in 2017. Jason has not excluded. I wonder why?
Or he knew them.
I think about it often too.
I think about this case all the time. I had zero faith the Austin Yogurt Shop murders would be solved and I was proven wrong.
That gives me hope. Someday, I pray Jason's family is able to learn the truth.
I think they were only solved because the documentary brought attention to it and made the politicians in Austin look bad. I remember on the show, the guy who got out of jail's lawyer said they had been begging to get some of the evidence tested for DNA for years. They could have done that at any time in the last two decades, but they chose not to. They tested the DNA and boom - solved.
They only had a small partial dna sample. They literally had to wait for the technology to be created to adequately test that sample.
The documentary had no effect on the timing of the dna testing. While I’m not a fan of Austin PD they never stopped working the yogurt shop murder case.
They tested the sample in 2019 and the tech wasn't good enough then it wasn't till advances in 2023 made it possible for them to get a match.
Which is generally how things only get done. Which is why the media is important and one of the first things authoritarians always try to do is control the media. It's why people never quit when it comes to cases like this. Just keep pressing, and don't give up until you get answers.
I'm reminded of a case involving a woman who hired her ex-husband to murder her then current husband. The plan was for the two men to go on a fishing trip in the Florida Everglades, the ex-husband then rocked the boat enough to get the other man off balance and into the water, he beat him to death with an oar, and left his remains to be eaten by alligators. The cops at the time concluded the man was killed in a boating accident and his body probably sank to the bottom of the swamp somewhere, and they put no further effort into solving it. Well, his mother didn't give up. She refused to be quiet, kept pressing the case, eventually got the attention of the governor. And what a shock, once the cops actually bothered to do their jobs, they very quickly got to the truth. Even better, the ex-husband testified against the woman, giving him immunity in exchange for her getting life. She then begged for release just a few years later, claiming she was a good Christian who had found Jesus and wouldn't kill anyone ever again.
They say they're close to solving Jennifer Kessse now too. And Asha Degree was solved.
I thought they didn’t fully solve Asha yet, although we have a family who appears to have the guilty party/parties in it.
I wish they could or would announce solving Amy Mihaljevic thru dna
They never found a body. Just evidence pointing to that one family.
Asha Degree has not been solved. They came out with new evidence over a year ago and exactly ZERO has happened since.
I’d love to see Jennifer Kesse’s case solved!
Can you elaborate on this? I'd love for this one to be solved.
I’ve always thought he was either picked up in a car or lured into a neighbours house. Both of which could’ve taken 10 seconds and would have been easy to miss. Only possible explanation I can think of
This case has always reminded me a bit of Leah Croucher’s disappearance. People had all sorts of outlandish theories about what happened to her, but in the end it was just a case of a sexual predator luring her into a house as she passed him during her walk to work. I could see something similar in this case.
This is why Occam's Razor is very important in cases like this. So often, what really happened ends up being something very mundane and simple. It's most often in anything that goes "so and so went hiking, was never seen again." 99.9% of the time, it's nothing more than them getting lost and dying from exposure. And yet so many people will jump to cults, aliens, a murderer, etc.
It's been well known that completely random crimes are exceptionally rare. More often than not, the victims know their assailants. Given what we do know about this case, it seems very likely someone Jason knew lured him into a car, on the guise of "oh, lemme just drop you off where you need to go, it's on my way!"
Lured into a neighbour's house is my top theory. I have no idea what the motive would be but the method could be as simple as asking him to help carry garbage cans into the garage and then closing the garage door. Reports say he was a friendly, helpful guy. It wouldn't be that difficult for a predator to take advantage of that
This is what I think as well. John Wayne Gacy comes to mind, he got away with that for years.
There was a true crime case involving a man who killed his neighbor. He was helping the neighbor for years (he was disabled), and then one day the neighbor came onto him in full drag (both men were closeted gay). He tried to claim he killed his neighbor in self-defense, but the carnage was so severe (and he took the time to drive the neighbor's remains into a lake and weighed it down) that it was obvious it was effectively a hate crime. (He got life w/o parole).
That has nothing to do with this case, of course. But I think Jason was likely lured into either a car or a house based on some kind of secret, or maybe someone he had confided in. He probably became friendly and trustful of someone, who turned on him. I dunno, but this case reminds me so much of you never truly know what someone else is thinking, or what secrets they might harbor.
Yeah. I think this is the only thing that makes sense.
You would think that all of those suspicions would have been thoroughly investigated and if true would have uncovered some evidence.
They didn't investigate right away. So, maybe they weren't all that thorough?
Yea exactly, whoever did it had a few days head start, which is more than enough to clean up or move him or whatever. And if we’re counting on police being thorough, well, I’m not holding my breath. His route was short, about 8 blocks and a 10-15 minute walk. Still, that leaves dozens of homes that he could’ve been lured into. Did they do a big search of every single house? Of course not, they legally couldn’t for one, and at most basically just knocked on doors and questioned the occupants.
Police departments thoroughly investigate?
Maybe a group of teens from his school were joyriding around and saw Jason walking. They offered him a ride to work but it didnt end that way.
While in the car they might've tried to bully him or something? Jason tried fighting back and one of the teens pulled a weapon (knive or gun) and might have killed him accidentally. They drove him to a wooden area and buried him and never spoke about it to anyone.
That's my theory.
This and plus potentially someone connected to his workplace. I feel this was sexually motivated and he was targeted somehow.
I really think so too. He went with someone he knew
This youtuber had an audio fragment of Jason as a radio DJ. First time I heard this:
https://youtu.be/gk3rEqyHwtk?si=lh7mab5MNWAIuu-t&t=2m14s
He doesn’t sound mentally disabled at all.
On the Unfound podcast interview with his mother I believe she said you wouldn’t necessarily know he had a disability from a short conversation with him. I need to go back and confirm though. I think it’s certainly an interesting aspect of the disappearance and who Jason is/was. Such a horribly sad case, as they all are.
You can listen to this recording of his voice (2:15) and get a sense of what he sounds like.
I would need to go back and listen to it again also it's a great podcast.
Its the best about the case I have ever heard just because his mom in on it.
I know his charlie project page says he might appear to be mildly mentally disabled if you talked to him.
And from what I remember I think his mom said his main issue was he would struggle to perhaps take in information correctly if you were trying to talk to him. That would perhaps lead you to pick up on his disability.
This is my 80-something dad right now with early dementia, and it's so sad. I will tell him something, and he either didn't hear me, or he'll do the exact opposite and say it was what you told him to do. Like, I'll tell him "the thing you need is on your desk," and he'll walk outside to his car and ask why he couldn't find it :(
Sorry its a really horrible disease, my favourite aunt has it, it started when she was in her 50's its a brutal and horrible disease.
Yeah, it's just one of those things that gets progressively worse. Doesn't do much except watch TV anymore.
Most mentions of this case that I've seen claimed he had a speech impediment, but that doesn't seem to be the case at all. It sounds like his impairment may have been aphasia or something else less noticeable.
He really doesn’t.
Medical knowledge has advanced so rapidly that I wouldn't be surprised if what passed for mentally disabled in 2001 would be better diagonosed today. (Ever notice how kids hardly get Ritalin anymore, when it seemed like everyone was getting it in the 90s?) And like someone else said, it's such a broad term that there are a lot of people who have very mild cases and can otherwise talk and function normally. I'm reminded of the Yuba 5 case, where all the men were said to have mild mental issues, but it was more them lacking common sense, and not them talking oddly or anything like that.
Well written OP.
I've for years thought it was someone Jason knew, and trusted to some level of degree.
Have often thought someone along the path to his pickup location may have asked him to assist in a small task/chore along the lines of 'Hey Jason, can you help move something? It'll only take a minute ...".
I'm fairly certain it was someone he knew, that still lives there or has relatives there. It's been almost a quarter of a century and nothing tangible or credible leads have come up.
I think it has to be something like this. (And this was famously how Ted Bundy often got his victims). He seemed like a really trusting guy, and it was broad daylight. I mean, I take walks around my neighborhood and older people will ask me to help them with small tasks, usually just picking up a box and putting in in their car or w/e. Someone Jason knew probably asked him for "a quick favor," and that would have been all it took.
This case reminds me of Leah Croucher here in the UK. She went missing on her way to work, her remains were found three years later in the house of a know sex offender. I think that is what happened to Jason sadly.
Link to Leah’s case
Same. I live in Omaha only a couple of miles from that neighborhood. I still drive through it on a semi-regular basis and I sometimes just look at the houses as I drive by and wonder if he's buried in a crawl space or hollowed out wall or basement somewhere. Or perhaps a garage, shed or other outbuilding in someone's back yard. John Wayne Gacy was doing the same creepy shit over 45 years ago in suburban Chicago and they're still identifying some of his victims.
In all fairness, those cases are in no way similar.
That’s fair, I just happen to think that what happened to Leah could have happened to Jason also.
He's either
On a property in that immediate area
He hitched a ride and that was that
It's the only plausible hypotheses
People who bring up car accident, 1 those are loud and it was broad daylight in a residential area plenty of people wouldnhave looked outside and 2 moving a body is insanely hard and 3 those often leave a ton of evidence behind people would have noticed in the days
I thought I read somewhere, might've been someone with inside information, that someone who lived in the neighborhood who was considered sketch moved away soon after the disappearance. Idk of the validity but it would be worth a look to see if anyone in the neighborhood suddenly moved after Jason went missing.
IMO getting lured by a local is the only theory that makes sense in this case.
I live in Omaha and only a couple of miles from the neighborhood Jason vanished from. I agree this is the most plausible explanation. I think Jason, being the helpful and friendly person he was, was lured into a home by a neighbor with bad intentions but with innocuous moves, such as pretending to need help bringing in groceries or moving/hauling a large object into the house, a la Ted Bundy. Police never found so much as a drop of blood or fingernail or any other physical evidence to tie Jason to a location. It's as if he vanished into thin air. It didn't help that the Omaha PD did not start a serious investigation into Jason going missing until a week later. During that time there was a heavy rain that could have washed away any physical evidence or it just gave whoever disappeared him a whole week to hide or move any clues.
It just hits home for me because this happened the very first summer I moved to Omaha. I ended up dating and marrying a guy (we're divorced now) who grew up right in the same neighborhood, attended Benson High School (as did the majority of his family) and whose grandma and great aunt lived only 2 blocks from the actual school. In fact a couple of my ex-husband's younger cousins were around the same age as Jason and I believe even casually knew him from Benson HS. I don't see them as much as I used to but next time I do happen to see them I will try and pick their brains about the case.
Search dogs tracking his scent--I think the rain completely eliminated that possibility sadly.
I'd be curious to know what the local rumours are if there are any
The basic feeling i get from people is that a RSO in the neighborhood snagged him.
Were there any ones the locals suspected?
Not that I know of by name. I just feel like if in fact Jason is buried away somewhere in a house, basement or yard it would have to be a major remodeling and/or demolition of the structure before anything would be discovered.
It's certainly a plausible thought. I wonder if LE searched neighbours houses or gardens?
Doubtful unless there was a valid tip or reason to believe a particular house was involved.
I also live in Omaha. And, sadly, I don't think many people are even aware about this case anymore.
I graduated high school in 2001, so it's always stuck with me.
All I can think of is Silence of the Lambs, "would ya?"
Jeez :( That really does seem like the most plausible explanation. Neighbor asking for help and luring him in somehow. How sad they didn’t investigate sooner.
This is what I think too.
There were several registered sex offenders living in the area at the time of Jason’s disappearance, including one who resided across the street from the Jolkowski home.
Police interviewed him as well as other RSOs in the area and conducted a search of the home of one of them however all were cleared.
I still lean this direction though as it seems most plausible to me.
Why it needs to be a sex offender? Jason was a man, not a child or teen. In my opinion, a crime of opportunity makes more sense.
I kinda wonder if it was someone who assumed, like many people assumed, that Jason had intellectual disabilities.
They would’ve gotten more than they bargained for, but Jason was a regular guy going about his day, so they may have prevailed in a struggle with him anyway.
This makes a certain amount of sense. Lured by a neighbor who thought he was going to be able to assault an easy-to-control or confuse intellectually disabled kid. Instead gets a non-cooperative adult that they end up killing, either in the struggle for control or afterward when they realize they can’t just let him go. It’s tragic that they were able to clean up and hide him so successfully for so long.
yeah, it’s definitely one possible explanation for why he vanished.
He was also working at the restaurant, so it could’ve been someone he met there.
Also could’ve been through friends or at college, but it would be less likely for someone to believe he was intellectually disabled if they knew him socially or met him in class.
or maybe he ran off, or had some weird accident, or it was about a girl, etc.
It’s not that it needs to be one, but if for example a RSO with a history of preying on young males lived in the neighborhood, they should be considered.
At least one RSO had their home searched relating to this case so LE evidently had some reason for doing that.
It could still be a sex offender. Sex offenders do not only target children/teens.
Can't have sex with a man? What's a crime of opportunity?
I guarantee you that most men are not scared of being kidnapped, sexually abused and murdered while walking alone.
An example of a crime of opportunity is Kelsey Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kelsey_Smith She went to a Target store and was kidnapped from the parking lot by a man who saw her alone. I bet that man didn't wake up that day thinking he was going to kill someone, it just happened.
Where did you hear this information if you don’t mind me asking
I’ve read one of the houses in the neighbourhood went up for sale shortly after Jason vanished
tbf, if a grown man vanished in broad daylight in my neighborhood and no one saw or heard a damn thing, I would also want to move.
I think it’s an extremely hard reach to think a house going up for sale is related.
You’re right but most of the case is pretty much grasping at whatever bit of info we have as there is practically nothing to go off of
houses go up for sale all the time
I remember reading the same thing that I believe was a Reddit post. I would be interested to learn if anyone in that immediate area put there house up for sale after that.
I understand a 8 block radius could contain a lot of houses but come on. Let’s say someone cross referenced those sellers with having charges that are violent or sexual in nature??
I’m spitballing, but this case really bothers me
I’ve read about this as well
I recall that too but cannot find a source.
I just watched this video in which they walk the 8-block route that Jason likely took.
I find this very helpful to better understand (rather than rely on imagination) what the area actually looks like.
I also found it helpful to hear Jason’s voice (2:15).
He went to work without his wallet? That seems really weird to me. I didn't remember that detail in this case. Phone I'm not surprised, it was 2001, did he even have his own cell phone? But going to work without your wallet just seems really strange.
He got called in unexpectedly, which may have thrown off his usual routine. I myself have managed to go to work with only my car keys, leaving my purse and everything at home.
Or maybe he was just a disorganized guy.
One time I drove all the way to the grocery store and in the parking lot I realised I had left my wallet at home. Sometimes people forget stuff.
I do this often tbh
Being a late call in to work I'm not shocked he forgot his wallet.
One time I went to Wendy's, ordered my usual, got my drink, and drove home. And forgot my entire meal. Because at that Wendy's, they always gave me the order first and then the drink. So my brain was just "you got the drink, you must have gotten the meal."
I remember a comment here on Reddit from someone who said that in 2001 (or in the 2000s in general) a man persistently followed him by car, asking him to get in, in Omaha, the same city where Jason lived and disappeared. If that’s true, it’s possible that Jason crossed paths with this man, and unfortunately, things didn’t end well.
Yah I remember that post, It does kinda sound like a hoax though like someone looking for attention. Like would they really be on reddit posting about it. Seems too suss.
Yeah it seems very hoaxy
My theory involves reports that Jason had recently considered changing career goals from radio to possibly becoming a Roman Catholic priest or some other type of actively ministering trained RCC lay person. He lived not far away from a very conservative fringe Catholic seminary but had talked of possibly going out of state to one, which seemed unusual given how close a seminary was.
All of this happened suddenly. This might imply Jason coming under the influence of a particularly charismatic individual who might be new at his church, such as a summer intern seminarian-in-training, someone who might have attended that more remote out-of-state seminary.
Jason was evidently a very devout Catholic, and his church was quite conservative but active, one of those places that had a revivalist mentality, with a good reputation in the community and a vibrant outreach.
I can see a young, particularly magnetic seminarian working temporarily at the church with youth and young adults, who might have inspired Jason, and who may have influenced him to shift into religious work as a career.
The Diocese responsible for Omaha had some “issues.” I did a deep dive several years ago into the Catholic leadership community in the area Jason lived, and there were more than a few defrocked individuals or priests who were “disciplined,” and I can see small cabal of these folks preying on susceptible young adults.
I can imagine such a charismatic summer youth worker or young visiting priest who might have been wrapped up with some hinky cabal offering to drive Jason to work after “just happening” to drive by.
This is not an angle I have ever seen explored in this case, but I believe strongly that someone with some clout needs to look into it.
That’s what old dude thinks from YouTube, the dude with the Bigfoot theories.
The first time I read about this case it reminded me about the crime of a teen boy but I couldn't remember his name. I finally found it.
14 year-old Tristan Jensen left his home one afternoon during summer break and never returned. His body was found in a sewer 7 weeks later. Turns out the culprit was a classmate, a 15 year-old who lured him to his house to supposedly show him a knife collection.
What made me think this could be the same case with Jason, is that probably happen the same, he was lured to the house of a neighbor or a classmate.
Link with info about Tristan: https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2010/08/12/murder-revisited/
Reminds me of a similar case involving a missing girl. She was on the way to her cousin's house and never made it there, or returned home. After about two days (this was still during the bullshit "you need to wait 24 hours before reporting people missing" era), she was finally reported missing. Her body was found about a month later. From what I recall, she met her cousin halfway, they got into some argument, and the cousin hit her with a rock and killed her by accident. He panicked (they were both 12 or 13, IIRC) and hid her body and didn't tell anyone.
It was another case with a fairly simple explanation, and her body was just a few feet from the street. But somehow between late reporting and people just assuming she was abducted or w/e, no one bothered to check all that closely.
Never heard of that case. Do you know the girl's name? or at least the place where it happened?
This case bothers me so much. Is there anywhere on the walk that near a body of water? Victims have been found in water or in wooded areas years after disappearing. That seems more likely than getting hit by a car to me.
If you Google the last name in Omaha, you can get the address; from there, just find Benson High School. It’s purely residential all the way to the school, other than a small park that he likely would’ve walked by (but not through). The only water nearby (and it is VERY close) is in the other direction - a pond.
I think people mentioned that pond was drained later and there was no evidence of a body or bones. Very strange case
No body of water along the 8 blocks that he would have walked.
I just watched this YT video in which they walked those blocks so you can get a good visual of the area.
I think there are a few keys to this case: 1.police didn’t investigate for at least a week. 2. His plans changed that day. He wasn’t supposed to work. Did he have original plans and was he on his way to notify someone that he wouldn’t be able to make them? Is that one of the reasons he asked to walk instead of being picked up? 3. He had been going on long walks in the evenings. Where was he going? Was he meeting up with somebody? 4. There was some sort of baseball event that day. Was that involved in his original plans? 5. How reliable was the eyewitness who saw him walking away? Is it possible that the time frame is much larger than what’s been believed? 6. His online activity. I get the sense that he was a private person and may have hid a part of him his family had no idea about.
My theory, with absolutely nothing to back it up, is some man he knew as a neighbor, or just someone he knew driving by, asked him in or picked him up. He propositioned Jason and Jason freaked out to the he point that the man was worried about his secret being discovered and he panicked
Or there is a lot of the story or things about Jason we don’t know
I think this is one of the more plausible theories.
Very perplexing.
This is the type of case I wish Netflix's new Unsolved Mysteries would feature instead of Jack the Ripper and cryptids. It's so fascinating because it's such an unlikely, bizarre thing to happen in broad daylight, and I'm sure his family would love any sort of clue that could jumpstart a new investigation.
I've thought about this case a lot. my three best guesses:
1) he was offered a ride by someone who then murdered him
(him accepting a ride wouldn't look suspicious and maybe not even memorable to anyone who saw it. and he had a long walk ahead, so he'd want to accept.) not sure on random or acquaintance.
(walking in the wrong direction wouldn't look suspicious to anyone who saw him. family says no way, but family is not objective and you never know what's going on inside someone's head. dad did say he was "having a rough time lately.")
It wasn't a long walk, it usually only took him ten minutes. Seems odd to accept a lift for such a small distance.
Not if you know the person who offers the ride.
or if they get really insistent.
my sense is that men are often less on their guard than women are, so he might’ve just been like “wow, Will is being weird. whatever, it’ll save me a couple minutes.” where a woman may have thought “okay my neighbor Will is being super creepy, i’ve got to be firm.”
not blaming him, ofc, you should be able to accept a ride from someone you know without being attacked, and 99 percent of the time nothing goes wrong. in this scenario, Will the creepy neighbor is the only party at fault for anything.
Or if the driver holds a gun or knife to him.
There was a story I remember seeing some years ago about this kid in Detroit who kept being asked by a friend of his for a ride to an area he knew was shady. He refused, but his friend just kept asking and asking. He offered $10, then $20. He finally accepted and he took his friend to wherever. It was broad daylight and there were houses all around him, so he felt safe. Then, his friend shot him in the back of the head and stole his car.
Turns out his friend joined a gang, and his initiation was he had to kill a "random" person. The guy made a full recovery and he only lived because the slugs or w/e ammo you put into a shotgun either misfired or it had enough spray it only sort of grazed him. He went to court, testified against the friend, and put him away for at least 40 years or so (they were minors at the time).
He said his biggest mistake was not listening to his instincts. While he did indeed know the friend for a long time, he just knew that area he wanted to take him to wasn't a good place to be.
If you want to hear the story from the kid: https://youtu.be/elfQk7o7ezk
you might still accept a ride if its early in the walk. probably depends on the person, how lazy they're feeling, etc.
your point makes me inclined to think that if he did accept a ride from someone, it was probably earlier in the walk. somewhere between block 2 and block 4 or 5.
I would accept the ride based on how hot it is outside. If its nice out..Im walking. If it is miserably hot and humid? Shotgun!!
Storm drains? I was wondering about the landscape, and if there was any construction at the time, or weird features like that. Also wondering if he was the type to help a stranger or animal in need.
Slipping into a hole trying to rescue a kitten would be in my top five list of freak accidents likely to kill me.
I know my "storm drains" might sound silly, but I was brainstorming hard for a way to make him disappear from the street without attracting notice. I looked at Google Street view of his neighborhood, and noticed the storm drains stick out weirdly into the street. like a good foot or more. I started picturing some kind of weird flaw or failure mode where one corner of the grating can't support weight but overall still looks ok. Jason steps on it and falls right in, suffers a fatal injury, and the grating settles back into place.
when I spell it out, I know it sounds ridiculous. also, after some googling, I couldn't find any record of any storm drain ever failing in that way.
but again ... the guy vanished into thin air. how could he disappear from the street and leave no trace or lead? some kind of freak accident (if not this then something else) might be one way to do that.
Heh, I was picturing something similar, but with a manhole cover. It sounds cartoonish, but that's why they're called freak accidents. They happen all the time, in weirder ways than that.
I think his having fallen into a storm drain or sewer (or other type of freak accident) is as plausible a theory as any of the others.
Is it typical for no one to look in a storm drain for 20 years? Like, they NEVER need maintenance, or get clogged, or anything?
I have no idea! You’d think there would be regular maintenance of them/workers accessing them but I honestly don’t know.
Yes there is a company called Corgill that gets contract jobs all over Arkansas and Oklahoma to go down into storm drains and manholes and spray this water proofing gel like substance all over the walls and roof of the drainage system. I guess to make them last longer??
I suggested this sort of thing once re Jason's case and got downvoted into oblivion. I think it's certainly possible given there's zero evidence of what happened to him
Surely this possibility was checked into?
It doesn't sound ridiculous at all. A freak accident like this is the hill I will die on as to what happened to Jason. A few years ago I went way down the rabbit hole on this case and it's the only thing that makes sense based on my research.
I was thinking this too. I’d definitely accidentally die trying to pet or help an animal. Just a few weeks ago I drove my car into a ditch trying to save a skunk. The time before that I ran into the road for a turtle.
I am familiar with the area as I live in Omaha only a couple of miles away. It was speculated his body could have ended up in the lagoon at nearby Fontenelle Park (just a couple of blocks from Jason's house but in the opposite direction of the high school) I don't recall if OPD ever checked the lagoon (it's only 3 or 4 feet deep) at the time he went missing, but I know a couple of years back they drained it for renovation/sewer work in the park but nothing was ever found in terms of a body or skeletal remains.
I kinda wonder if someone pulled up and tried to lure him over, and he went “oh, did [Boss] send you? I thought he was sending bob?” and they went “oh yeah, change of plans, Bob’s super busy, [Boss] sent me, sorry about that. btw, can you help me get this in the trunk?” and then kidnapped him.
Sort of like how people get kidnapped when they either approach or get into cars when they’re looking for their uber. maybe whoever did it just got crazy, crazy lucky that they pulled up to someone who was expecting to be picked up close by.
I’m starting to lean more towards 1
I am inclined to believe 2.
I think it’s case 2 as well. Somebody here mentioned how he wanted to quit his job and become a catholic priest and something about that just makes it seem like it could be a mental health crisis and he also left all his belongings behind like he didn’t want to be found or had any use for them
Pure speculation but I personally think he took a shortcut to get to the school, maybe crossed through a backyard or some private property and had some type of freak accident, like fell into a hole or something along those lines.
That’s my theory, too.
You can check the actual route, there is no where to take a shortcut or a hole to fall into.
Yep. This is the hill I will die on regarding this case, based on all the research I've done over the years.
The problem is this wasn't like the Brandon Swanson case where it was night and he was in an unfamiliar rural area. This was smack dab in suburban Omaha, where there are houses everywhere, parks, schools, it's a very well developed area and there aren't "shortcuts" you can take.
Did they ever get a scent dog to walk from his house to the school? I always wondered if he was grabbed by a neighbor and taken into a house on his route.
By the time the cops got off their asses and did ANY investigation, over a week had passed and it had rained. A scent dog might have been useful prior to that, but not after. Also, scent dogs usually lose the scent when a person gets in a car and drives away.
Right, but if they’d tracked him up to a point and then lost the scent, it might more definitively tell us if that’s what happened. Personally, I think it was a neighbor. They should have gotten dogs on it right away!
I agree. I watched the video today and it was TEN DAYS they waited before investigating. Any evidence or scent was long gone by then, along with any chance they had of finding him.
i have two guess: my first guess is that someone struck jason with their car, and the person behind the wheel took his body from the scene to hide the accident, but that would still probably leave behind trace evidence, or someone would have seen the hit-and-run since he disappeared in a residential area sometime during the morning in broad daylight.
my second guess is that he was lured into someone's home and met his fate there. If that's the case, it would probably be a crime of opportunity that carries a lot of risk for the perpetrator since jason was a six-foot-tall young man who could probably defend himself, unless it was a duo or group that targeted him.
this is truly one of the most baffling disappearances i've ever read about, and i think about it often.
incredibly puzzling
I don't like "hit by car" because perps usually leave the body where it is and get the hell out of there. and dragging a giant body into your car in the middle of the day, in a neighborhood, would be unbelievably risky for the perp. odds that no one would have witnessed and remembered the accident are also low.
don't like "lured into someone's home", because like you say it's high risk. also high risk that someone would have seen Jason go into the house.
BUT both are still possible. and SOMETHING happened to him. so who knows.
I can’t make a solid case for anything in my head. He was a grown man. Daytime. Crowded enough area. He was in a rush so he wouldn’t really have stopped anywhere.
being offered a ride would save him time and not look suspicious or memorable to anyone who saw it
Yeah, that’s true. Or if someone vulnerable looking needed help for “just a sec,” I could see him doing it.
Every time I see theories that involve a random person hitting someone with their car and then taking the victim with them my head explodes. In what world has that ever been shown to have happened?? I guess it’s possible but the odds are extremely low. People either call authorities or they take off. And I believe Jason was not a tiny, slight person. To be blunt, putting dead weight in your vehicle is HARD! Especially a grown man.
Plus, at 6’1”, he is/was not a small person. It’s tough to imagine that someone would attempt to take him under those circumstances and risk being seen rather than just fleeing the scene.
I can maybe find it plausible with a small child, but hitting a grown-ass man and hauling him off and hiding the body and never getting caught seems really dubious. And exactly what you said, has this ever happened at all? People either call the cops, or they flee. They don't have a genuine accident and then leap to hiding a body.
it happened I believe in germany.
Now, that victim was on a bike, and my recollection was it was a forest at night and that two adult men (brothers) were involved in disposing of his body.
I suppose that the car that would’ve hit jason here could’ve had two or more people who could carry him.
but I agree that it’s not likely, even though it is possible
edit: it was scotland, one brother hit the poor man, left him to die, and then returned with his brother to hide the body. poor man was cycling to raise money for charity and was only found because one brother showed his ex girlfriend the burial site and she told the police. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-66614488
There is also a case of a drunk driver hitting someone then drove home with them stuck in the windshield to die in her garage. Then her and a friend dumped his body in a park. She would have probably got away with it if she didn’t brag about it months later at a party.
https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/murder-of-gregory-biggs-case-shocked-the-nation/507-eaeada3e-a3b0-41e3-9a52-538ae1d49958
I'd never heard of this Scottish case (2017), but the story seemed somewhat familiar. It's the plot of the initial series Guilt (2019) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9644058/
It happened to this 63-year-old cyclist in Scotland: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg71k7ww47o
In the middle of nowhere, a desolate area of Scotland... in the dark.
Big difference.
Yes and also in the first instance THEY DID FLEE and come back later. So this case still re-enforces the immediate reaction of a hit and run is to flee
I'm in agreement with you.
Also, there would likely be evidence left behind.
I think we recently found out this is likely what happened to Asha Degree, although taking a little girls body in your car is a lot different than Jason
Wow really? I hadnt heard this about Asha. I have just come off a true crime vacation of sorts though.
Two cases immediately come to mind. Both victims were taken from the scene, but the reasons were very different.
Gregory Glenn Biggs https://people.com/crime/chante-mallard-2017-movie-about-homeless-man-murder-windshield/
Mickey Shunick https://abcnews.go.com/US/mickey-shunick-killer-pleads-guilty-court-document-reveals/story?id=17029059
It has happened. Look at the current theory for Asha Degree. Tony Parsons case in Scotland. It definitely does happen but it's uncommon
Asha Degree was a tiny child, and it was the middle of the night in a storm. Also, didn’t the Tony Parsons case happen in a fairly undeveloped, remote area?
I agree but my point is that it does happen. Not saying it definitely happened in this case
Yeah it seems a lot less likely though one of those cases was at night and the other in a remote area. This was in daylight. And there would have been people about at that time of day. But its still possible of course.
Hey, so, I don’t mean to be rude but I have to bring something up.
You say that he didn’t “own” a car and then in the same sentence say he had a car “in the shop”. Later you say “his car remained at the shop”.
It is this kind of inattention to detail/misinformation that causes so many issues in true crime reporting. Clearly he owned a car, yes? Or he couldn’t have a car in the shop. So you should say he didn’t have access to his car at the time, rather than making a false claim that he didn’t own one.
When people misspeak like this, it often creates a domino effect down the line.
It annoyed me as well. He did own the car and he used it to drive to work and school, but he didn't have access to it bc it was in the shop
Were telephone records checked to see who it was who actually called Jason?
It was his boss.
I think about this case a lot, too, and it must have been some sort of accident, fell in a construction site or something like that, where they never found the body. Why would anyone abduct a tall teenager in broad daylight?
I read a Reddit comment a little while back introducing the idea of a connection between Jason's disappearance and Mattieo Condoluci. Somewhat compelling imo but of course there's next to zero concrete evidence of any correlation that I'm aware of.
He must have been abducted.
I lean toward the belief that he was taken and I wonder if the person who took him still has him in some physical capacity.
I hope not. I honestly feel a scenario like that is a fate worse than death.
Not to say he is still alive. But I think his remains could still be with the person who is responsible for his disappearance.
ahh got it.
That a body has never been discovered really irks me in this case. Your comment sends chills down my spine. Alive or dead. Truly a Jeepers Creepers scenario.
I think this was a crime of opportunity and maybe someone in his neighborhood? HE was called unexpectedly, there was some one waiting to pick him up. How far did those camera's reach? Must have happend between his house and the first house on the recording. I never found a map of the neighborhood. Was this with actual blocs of houses or a street with unattached housing?
It feels possible that he took a ride with someone he knew, but he was walking the 10 minutes to get a ride to work, so it seems like if someone pulled up and asked if he needed a ride, he really didn’t because someone was already waiting to drive him. The frequently walking to work makes me think someone was bad intentions watched him walk by often, formulated a plan and on that day carried it out.
I wonder if there is a way to check records or Trulia/other real estate sites to see houses in the area that went up for sale after his disappearance, that maybe could be cross referenced with sex offender registries.
Jason doesn’t fit the profile of usual kidnapping/abduction victims (older, male, tall, non-custodial, in public during the daytime, etc.) but I find the idea of randomly getting hit by a car or falling into a ditch somewhere to be highly unlikely.
What if he never left his house?
to add to this, the neighbor saw Jason taking the trash cans FROM the curb. The neighbor did not see Jason take a step beyond the driveway. It gets a little hazy what exactly the neighbor saw but yes Jason was seen by the neighbor in the driveway. im not entirely sure about the detail about “jason was walking towards the school” since the neighbor never saw him walk past the driveway.
not implying anything but just that detail gets missed a lot
And the brother pretending to be Jason when someone called on the phone?
His brother was 14 and answered the phone pretending to be Jason just to mess with the coworker who was calling to ask Jason why he didn’t meet her at the high school where she was supposed to pick him up. When the younger brother heard how genuinely upset the coworker was, he admitted he wasn’t Jason and said that he’d seen Jason leaving the house and going toward the high school. This last sighting of Jason was also confirmed by a neighbor. Unless you think the neighbor and the 14-year-old brother are both lying for some reason, his younger brother pretending to be Jason is not some nefarious deception—it’s a 14-year-old being a jackass because 14-year-olds sometimes behave like jackasses.
This comment reminded me of an old friend's little brother doing this to me whenever I called him. Got me so many times! Definitely typical 14-year-old behavior, at least back in the landline days.
I saw an interview with the neighbor who was a senior citizen and imo would not have been physically able to overtake Jason.
The brother is a total innocent nerd type.
Both have been cleared.
I thought the neighbor last saw him helping the brother bring trash cans in, not walking away?
[deleted]
Smol clarification: Jason disappeared in 2001.
This case has bothered me for so long. It's one I would really, really like to see solved!
This case has always bothered me due to the obvious tragedy but also the sheer maddening lack of evidence. How in the world does a teenage boy just go missing in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood?
While it’s possible he was lured into a house along the way, I still think it’s possible this was some sort of hit and run. Yes, moving a body is incredibly difficult but not impossible if there are multiple people in the car.
Of course, it seems likely that a neighbor would have witnessed something, right? Yes, but not necessarily. In 2001, there were no ring cameras or smartphones or widespread work from home. Moreover, this was a regular suburban neighborhood where most likely the adult residents would have been at work during the day. All it would take would be a car driving recklessly with 2-3 occupants and enough neighbors at work in the immediate vicinity to put a body in a car and speed off.
That being said, it’s just as likely a nefarious person lured him somewhere or he had an incredibly freak accident.
as an SLP, thank you for including that speech and/or language difficulties ≠ IQ. IQ is different many people who have speech/lang difficulties actually have above average IQs :)
Could it be possible he was hit by a car and it was covered up?
In the middle of a suburb on a summer day with kids playing outside and people walking their dogs? He was 6 feet tall.
I only say this because this happened in my area and there just happened to not be anyone around and the person left. The kid wasn’t found until later in the day in a ditch off an extremely busy road.
I have a theory that I have not seen anyone else post yet so here goes. What if Jason DID make it to the school that day? Let's say he makes it to the back of the high school or even the neighboring middle school. He cuts through one of the campuses or maybe jumps a fence as a shortcut to get to the meetup spot with his co-worker.
While doing this he is confronted by a cop or security guard while on campus. The campus would likely have very few people on it as it is summertime. The cop/security guard could easily get him into cuffs and in the back of a police or security car. They would do this by telling him he is being detained for trespassing.
This happened to me as far back as the early '90's. I was with some friends and we went onto our high school campus during the weekend. We were stopped and grilled by a cop who was patrolling the neighborhood. We were students at the time so he let us go.
Maybe Jason ran into the wrong cop/security guard and well...
There was a crooked cop in Naples, FL who probably got away with killing two men in 2003 and 2004 Felipe Santos and Terrance Williams.
One last thing is that they said he was never seen on camera. I highly doubt that a high school in 2001 would have had cameras covering the entire campus like they do today.
This is plausible, if he made it to the school ahead of his coworker who drove to meet him there.
The problem or dead-end with that and other theories is, so far, there is no proof that supports it. I hope LE did check out the school and anyone who might’ve been on the grounds, in case he did make it there.
Unless Jason fell somewhere and became trapped or incapacitated as some have theorized, someone likely knows something about what happened to him and we would all sure like a break in this bizarre case.
I'm one of the few who believes he probably left on his own accord. Although NOT stated officially by anyone involved in the case, some have mentioned Jason was on the spectrum and may have felt distress about all the changes in his routine. Yes, I'm aware this is all just speculation, like any other theory.
But he had no wallet with him? And why agree to be picked up by someone 10 mins away if you’re suicidal?
Jason was picked up by an older closeted man who had been stalking him.