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| Jolkowski,Jason A.missing June 13,2001; Nebraska | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 16 2006, 09:54 AM (725 Views) | |
| oldies4mari2004 | Sep 16 2006, 09:54 AM Post #1 |
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/j/jolkowski_jason.html Jason Anthony Jolkowski (see website) Top Row and Bottom Left and Center: Jolkowski, circa 2001; Bottom Right: Age-progression to age 23 (circa 2004) Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance Missing Since: June 13, 2001 from Omaha, Nebraska Classification: Endangered Missing Date of Birth: June 24, 1981 Age: 19 years old Height and Weight: 6'1, 160 - 165 pounds Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair, brown eyes. Jolkowski's nickname is JJ. Clothing/Jewelry Description: A white Chicago Cubs or Sammy Sosa t-shirt, a blue or black Chicago Cubs baseball cap, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. Medical Conditions: Jolkowski has learning disabilities related to speech and language. The disabilities may make him appear to be mildly mentally retarded, but he is actually of above average intelligence. Details of Disappearance On June 13, 2001, Jolkowski was called into work early. He worked at a Fazoli's restaurant on 80th and Cass Streets in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. His car was in the shop for repairs and he initially said he would walk there, but then called back and made arrangements for a co-worker to pick him up at Jolkowski's old school, Benson High School, eight blocks from his home. Jolkowski carried his red work t-shirt with him at the time of his disappearance. On the way out the door of his family's residence, he decided to help his younger brother take trash cans into the garage. A neighbor saw him carry the cans into the garage at his house in the area of 48th and Bedford Steets. This was at 10:45 a.m. Between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m., Jolkowski's co-worker called the house to find out why he hadn't met her at the high school. This is when his disappearance was discovered. Jolkowski has never been heard from again. He left $650 behind in his bank account, which has not been touched since his disappearance. He has not cashed any of his paychecks, used his cellular phone or automatic teller machine (ATM) card, or picked up his car from the auto repair shop since his disappearance. Jolkowski was supposed to start a new job a week after he vanished, and was excited about it; he never showed up to begin work there. He had no more than $60 on his person on the day he disappeared, and no personal items were missing from his room. He did his household chores as usual up until the time he disappeared. Jolkowski's loved ones suspect foul play may have been involved in his disappearance. They say he is too responsible to have left without warning, and he was not having any problems at the time of his disappearance. He is described as a shy person who was not involved with drugs or alcohol and was close to his family at the time of his disappearance. He has no known enemies. Jolkowski was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. His mother founded Project Jason, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the families of missing people and publicizing missing person cases, after her son vanished. Jolkowski's case remains unsolved. Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Omaha Police Department 402-444-5657 Source Information The National Center for Missing Adults Project Jason Help Find Jason WOWT.com: Omaha 6 News The Omaha Channel Rino Kids Online Texas EquuSearch Mounted Search and Rescue Team America's Most Wanted The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Voice for the Missing Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated October 27, 2005; details of disappearance updated. |
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| Ell | Nov 3 2006, 05:39 AM Post #2 |
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Heart of Gold
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100,000 award offered in missing person's case By Robert Price A Pennsylvania millionaire breathes new life into a Nebraska missing person's case. More than 5 years after 19 year old Jason Jolkowski vanished from the driveway of his Omaha home, a businessman hopes a new $100,000 reward will help. The news took both of Jason’s grandmothers by complete surprise. That is because at any given time, there are roughly 105,000 open missing person's cases. November 5th through the 24th, philanthropist Joe Mammana will be offering rewards of $100,000 each for 20 of those cases. One, is that of Jason Jolkowski. It has been over five years since Jason Jolkowski's disappearance and still no leads in the case. “Not one clue at all, it is mindboggling,” said Jason’s grandmother Betty Jolkowski. Five years of being in the dark. But now a $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to a recovery or a conviction in Jason's case. Jason's grandmothers Betty Jolkowski and Donna Murphy feel there may be new light shed. “With this amount of money, possibly somebody is tired of living with the knowledge of what happened and will be willing to come forward,” said Donna. They say the family feels extremely lucky and blessed. “Very happy - a great opportunity for our family,” Betty said. “I could not believe that out of the thousands and thousands of missing persons, that Jason was picked for this,” said Donna. The family feels Jason's case was selected because of his mom's subsequent awareness work with missing persons through Project Jason. “Help them, console them, tell them what they need to do,” said Donna. Whatever the reason, they say the just want closure. “Hopefully one way or the other way we can find out about Jason,” Betty said. And once again, the $100,000 reward is being offered November 5th through the 24th. If anyone has any info about Jason, they should contact Omaha police at 402-444-5818. For more information on the case visit www.projectjason.org. http://khastv.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7195 |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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| monkalup | Feb 21 2008, 12:28 PM Post #3 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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Mother Wonders If Remains That Of Missing Son Jason Jolkowski disappeared in 2001 Feb 21, 2008 Human remains found last Sunday under the Veterans Memorial Bridge is particularly unnerving for an Omaha family still waiting for the answer to a mystery. The human skull has yet to be identified. "You have to prepare yourself." After hearing about the skull, Kelly Jolkowski contacted Omaha Police wanting to know if it is her missing son Jason. No one knows. "We've been used to waiting for over six years now." It's not the first time the question has come up. Jason Jolkowski was 19 when he got called in to work and was walking to Benson High School for a ride on June 13, 2001. He hasn't been seen since. "I've just only heard very minimal," says Kelly. Law enforcement sources tell Channel 6 News the remains are that of a man with big feet and good teeth, a description that could fit many missing people, including Jason. "That is kind of hard to hear. You always kind of hope you hear something that it couldn't be him, like it's female. When we saw him last he had no cavities and no fillings." No one is saying this is a break in the Jason Jolkowski case. It's another roller coaster of waiting for a family that's been waiting for an answer for nearly seven years. The Douglas County coroner performed an autopsy on the remains Monday, but found no cause of death. Still no word on possibly how long ago that person passed away. |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| monkalup | Feb 21 2008, 12:30 PM Post #4 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/...opic=2059&st=0& |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| tatertot | Sep 29 2009, 02:50 AM Post #5 |
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Advanced Member
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/28/grace.....project.jason/ Missing teen's parents help other families cope updated 4:39 p.m. EDT, Mon September 28, 2009 Jason Jolkowski vanished on June 13, 2001, without cashing paycheck By Rupa Mikkilineni Nancy Grace Producer (CNN) -- When their 19-year-old son, Jason, disappeared eight years ago, any concept of a normal life ceased for the Jolkowski family. Kelly and Jim Jolkowski and their other son, Michael, believed at first that Jason would walk through the front door of their Omaha, Nebraska, home at any moment. Now, every time a body is found somewhere, the news sets their hearts pounding. To this day, police say they have no evidence of foul play. Nor, they say, do they have any evidence that Jason simply ran away. It is a bona fide mystery. Kelly Jolkowski described her life in an open letter to her missing son a year ago: "We waited and hoped that you'd walk in the door ... and that the whole awful event would be over, but that didn't happen," she wrote. "It feels as if it never may end, and that we may have to wait for our life after this world to see you again." Since shortly after Jason's disappearance, the Jolkowskis have thrown their energy into raising public awareness about what to do when a loved one goes missing. After three years of lobbying, they were able to get a law passed in Nebraska creating a statewide missing persons database. They founded a nonprofit organization called Project Jason, and its Web site tracks missing persons cases across the country. According to the site, Project Jason has distributed some 50,000 missing persons fliers since 2003. "We feel that some good is coming out of Jason's story," Kelly Jolkowski told CNN. But she said she still hopes to find her son someday. The last time anyone who knew him saw him, Jason Jolkowski was bringing the empty trash cans in from the curb. That was June 13, 2001. Since then, his cell phone has fallen silent and his bank account hasn't been touched. His last paycheck was never cashed. Jason was 19 and attending community college part time. He had a job at a restaurant and wanted to be a disc jockey. On the day he disappeared, Jason and his younger brother, Michael, were on summer break from school. Their parents were at work, and the boys were home alone. Jason worked at a restaurant called Fazoli's. His boss had called him that morning and asked him to come into work on his day off. Jason's car was at the mechanic's shop, so his boss arranged a ride for him with a co-worker. She and Jason were to meet at a high school parking lot that was within walking distance from the Jolkowskis' home. According to his mother, Jason had walked that seven-block route before. It took him along quiet, residential streets with little pedestrian or vehicle traffic. Jason was last seen at 10:15 that morning, standing at the end of his driveway. Less than an hour later, his boss called and spoke with Michael, complaining that Jason had not shown up for work and had never arrived at the high school to meet his ride. His parents arrived home from work to learn that Jason had been missing all day. They called Jason's friends. None of them had seen or heard from him that day. "Jason was a quiet boy," his mother said. "He only had a small handful of friends. He was shy." Jason did not have a girlfriend and was not the sort of person to take risks, like hitching a ride with a complete stranger, his mother insisted. His parents called police the next morning. Like so many people, the Jolkowskis mistakenly believed there was a 24-hour wait before police would accept a missing person's report. "And then it took at least another 10 days before police took Jason's disappearance seriously," Kelly Jolkowski said. "They assumed this was a typical teen runaway scenario." But according to the family, Jason did not have a history of running away and was not a troubled teen. He had no reason to run off. From the beginning, his family feared an accident or abduction. Police began to interview neighbors and conducted searches 10 days after his disappearance, but valuable time had been lost, Kelly Jolkowski said. "We'd have liked to see more activity in the first crucial hours, but we do feel they stepped up to the plate to do all they could and in the end, they did a proper investigation," the Jolkowskis said in a prepared statement. "We were pleased by the meetings they had with us, following up on any leads, talking to his friends, checking the computer and conducting interviews." Despite mounted searches, ground searches, a helicopter and the use of infrared technology, there was no sign of Jason or any clues to his whereabouts. The family is not certain whether dogs were brought to track the route between the Jolkowski home and the high school. But his mother said she believes that if police had any evidence, they would have shared it with the family. Detective Jim Shields of the Omaha Police Department said the case remains an open and active investigation. "I know his parents have expressed concern about how the investigation was handled in the beginning," he said, "but in missing adult cases, often we wait a few days because adults have the right to come and go freely." Police said they have no clues or evidence in the case. It is categorized as a missing person's case, and authorities have no evidence suggesting Jason is no longer alive. "We simply don't know and really hope for more tips," Shields said. At the time he went missing, Jason would have only had about $60 on him, his mother said. She speculated in her open letter about what his life might be like now. "If you are still with us, you could be married and have children. You may have graduated from college and be pursuing a career," she wrote. "So many life events which normally happen with someone of your age may have passed by. We hope and pray that you haven't been cheated of the life you were meant to live." Jason Jolkowski is described as 6 feet 1 inch and 165 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a Chicago Cubs T-shirt, black dress pants and black dress shoes. Anyone with information leading to his whereabouts is asked to call the Omaha police at 402-444-5818. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/CRIME/09...ed.courtesy.jpg |
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| monkalup | Feb 24 2011, 10:06 AM Post #6 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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Published Monday January 5, 2004 Family still searching for missing son BY MARION RHODES WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Yellow ribbons once decorated trees and light poles along Pinkney Street, Bedford Avenue and Fontenelle Boulevard in memory of Jason Jolkowski. Today, 21/2 years later, only one lonely ribbon remains, tied to the porch of the Jolkowski house near 48th and Pinkney Streets. It's a sign that the family will not give up the search for their missing son. Since June 13, 2001 - the day 19-year-old Jason disappeared - neither his family nor Omaha police have seen any sign of him. But the Jolkowskis haven't given up hope that one day, they'll find their son. They've posted flyers and sent out chain e-mails with links to a Web site about Jason, www.missingjason.com. They've submitted his picture to Internet sites that list missing people. In the first year after his disappearance, they even received help from private investigators. "You just have to keep searching. You can't stop," said Kelly Jolkowski. Michael Jolkowski, Jason's then 13-year-old brother, was the last family member to see him. Jason was taking out the trash before heading to meet a co-worker at Benson High School, eight blocks from his house. His co-worker had offered him a ride to their jobs at Fazoli's, 80th and Cass Streets, since Jason's car was at the repair shop. Jason never arrived at Benson. Whatever happened, the Jolkowskis say, they are sure of one thing: Jason did not run away. They said he would have waited to get his car back from the shop and picked up his paycheck, and he would not have done his chores or worn his dress slacks and shoes the day he disappeared. "If he was running away, he would have worn jeans and tennis shoes," Kelly Jolkowski said. Bank and phone records, she said, show that he hasn't used his ATM card or cell phone since he disappeared. Kelly Jolkowski has lost more than 200 pounds since Jason was reported missing and has more energy than ever before. "It's like she's a bulldog," said her husband Jim Jolkowski. "She's not going to give up until she finds all the answers." The family's latest attempt in trying to locate Jason, who would be 22 now, led to the founding of a nonprofit organization, Project Jason, and another Web site, www.projectjason.org, which features pictures of missing people of all ages. Members hope to raise awareness that there are children and adults missing all over the United States, said Doug Brown of Omaha, who serves on the board of directors. Project Jason arose out of the Jolkowskis' effort to lobby for a state law on missing people. Legislative Bill 203, which proposes the establishment of a Missing Persons Information Clearinghouse, was introduced in February and remains in the Judiciary Committee. State Sen. Kermit Brashear of Omaha, who heads the committee, said he considers it likely that the bill will come up for a vote in the coming session. Meanwhile, Kelly Jolkowski said, she had thought about raising the estimated $49,000 a year to pay for the clearinghouse, but instead came up with Project Jason. On Jan. 24, project volunteers plan to distribute brochures and ID kits at Crossroads Mall as one of their first activities. Project Jason also is designed to give support to parents of missing children and to help them with the special kind of grief they face, Jolkowski said. "It's not quite like a normal death-in-the-family situation where time does heal, but you always miss that person," she said. "You're just kind of in a limbo, because you don't know what has become of them, and you keep having the ongoing loss." Amanda Goodman of Shenandoah, Iowa, a friend of Jason's, said he would not have left his family out of free will. "He loves his parents and his brother more than anything in the world," Goodman said. "He'd be talking to me on the phone, and he'd put me on hold so he could tuck his brother into bed. His family came first." Goodman said Jason always believed in working things out. She said he would have asked for help if he had a problem, not run away from it. The Omaha Police Department listed 1,850 missing people in October, the most recent month for which figures were available. Of those, 271 were 19 or older. The numbers include people who are reported missing but later returned to their families, Sgt. Kathy Gonzalez said. "There's not any time that goes by that we don't think about him and wish he was with us," Jim Jolkowski said. |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| monkalup | Feb 24 2011, 10:07 AM Post #7 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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Missing But Not Forgotten POSTED: 9:58 pm CDT June 13, 2006 UPDATED: 10:21 pm CDT June 13, 2006 OMAHA, Neb. -- There's no body, no clues, and no explanation for the disappearance of an Omaha man. Someone knows what happened to Jason Jolkowski; His mother, Kelly Jolkowski has uttered those words for five years. Tuesday marked the five year anniversary of the disappearance of Jason Jolkowski. The Benson 19-year-old was last seen in the driveway of his home. He had arranged to walk to Benson High School, seven blocks from home, where a co-worker planned to pick him up. Jason never made it to the school. His bank account was never touched. His cell phone went unused. He took nothing with him. Five years later, his family clings to hope that someone knows something about Jason's disappearance that will help them solve this mystery. On Tuesday night his parents and younger brother joined dozens of family members and friends at St. James Lake Park, at 48th and Bedford. They handed out posters with the headline reading, "Someone knows what happened to Jason," and they asked those at the gathering to to hang the posters on every block in the neighborhood. Then, they lit candles to remember the young man who disappeared without a trace. Jason's parents haven't patiently waited for their son's return. They were instrumental in passing legislation called Jason's Law in 2005, which created a missing person's clearinghouse in Nebraska. They've also made it their mission to help families of the missing, nationwide through a non-profit group called Project Jason. Now they only wish those programs would work for them. http://www.ketv.com/news/9366411/detail.html |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| monkalup | Feb 24 2011, 10:09 AM Post #8 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=...&u_sid=1119340 Published Friday June 11, 2004 Missing man's mother has hope We all know what it's like to miss someone - to long for him or her, to yearn for a touch or the sound of a voice. But what if the person we miss might never come back? Sunday will mark three years since Jason Jolkowski left home and headed for work, never to be heard from since. He hasn't called, used his cell phone or drawn money out of his account at an ATM. He just - disappeared. No clue. No trace. His mother, Kelly Jolkowski, won't give up. Jason's car still sits in the driveway of the family home near 48th and Pinkney Streets. The family has kept all his possessions. "I have hope that he is alive," she said. "If you lose hope, you stop looking. That's not fair to the person who is missing or to other family members who love him and miss him." But at this point, where do you look? Jason, a Benson High grad who worked part time as JJ the deejay at KIWR, wasn't the type to run away. Kelly is realistic. Though not abandoning hope, she knows she may never see him again. But she wants to help other families who find themselves in a similar situation. She has started the nonprofit Project Jason (www.projectjason.org), with a seven-member board. She has asked that the Legislature enact Jason's Law, a statewide missing person's clearinghouse. And Sunday, the start of Missing Persons Week in Nebraska, she and cohorts embark on tour across the state to encourage people to prepare for the unlikely - the disappearance of a family member. For example, child ID kits to give to authorities, providing vital information. "Do people stop and think about preparation and being ready in the unfortunate event a child is missing?" she asks. "No, they really don't. "When it happens to you, you are put in such a high state of anxiety, can you think straight? It's hard to think of things you need to do." The week starts with a 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Name Church, where Jason was a lector. The Sunday before his disappearance, he read Scripture from Romans, including: "We gladly suffer because we know that suffering helps us endure." Kelly has suffered, but she hasn't stopped living. To the contrary, she got her life under control. She weighed 375 pounds, but began exercising, biking and dieting and lost an incredible 200 pounds. Hence, her self-given nickname, "the incredible shrinking woman." Kelly, who works in technical support for weather data software, and husband Jim, a warehouse supervisor for Nebraska Furniture Mart, moved from Grand Island to Omaha 13 years ago. Jason, she said, was close to his family. It would be totally unlike him to run away and not call. His younger brother, Michael, saw him lugging trash cans to the curb. Jason planned to catch a ride to work at his other job at Fazoli's Restaurant, 80th and Cass Streets. Police tell her they are baffled. The best thing, Kelly says, would be for the phone to ring and to hear Jason's voice. Meanwhile, an inner voice tells her to keep working and help families, because lots of others suffer the pain of a disappearance. |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| monkalup | Feb 24 2011, 10:09 AM Post #9 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.doubleqcountry.com/artman...ter_3385.shtml PROJECT JASON VISITS ALLIANCE By KEVIN HORN, KCOW RADIO Jun 15, 2004, 21:06 JIM AND KELLY JOLKOWSKI OF OMAHA, FOUNDERS OF "PROJECT JASON" The parents and family members of a young Omaha man missing for three years are turning their grief into action by traveling the state and spreading the word about missing people. Jim and Kelly Jolkowski were in Alliance Tuesday morning to explain their mission. They have not seen their 19 year old son Jason since he disappeared on June 13, 2001. Jason was last seen in the driveway of his parent's house as he was preparing to catch a ride to his part-time job. He has not been seen or heard from since. The Jolkowski's have formed Project Jason and developed a web site at: www.projectjason.org Their mission statement reads as follows: "Our mission as a non profit organization is to create and increase public awareness of missing people through a variety of outreach and educational activities. Project Jason seeks to bring hope and assistance to families of the missing by providing resources and support." Nebraska currently has no clearinghouse to provide information about missing persons. On behalf of the Jolkowski's, State Senator Patrick Bourne of Omaha introduced LB 203, Jason's Law, in January, 2003. It creates a missing person's clearinghouse in Nebraska. If passed, the state will gather and disseminate information about missing persons of all ages. The bill remained in the Judiciary Committee for two years. It will be introduced again when the legislature reconvenes in January. Jolkowski says since the state's budget is tight, it may be some time before the bill is passed and the clearinghouse is created. The state patrol estimates it will cost $49,000 a year to run the program. LEARN MORE AT: WWW.PROJECTJASON.ORG In the meantime, Project Jason will help bridge the existing information gap. Jolkowski describes her missing son as a kind, generous and loving person. "I feel that because of the way he is, he would rush to open a door for a little old lady," Jolkowski explains. "Project Jason is the type of organization he would have wanted to start or help with." Jolkowski remains upbeat despite living with a parent's worst nightmare. "People say one person can't make a difference in the world. How about one person who is not even here and we haven't seen for three years? Look at the difference he's making. Every time we get a child I.D. kit in someone’s hands, he's made a difference!" Jolkowski remains hopeful her missing son will be found. She relates to the Elizabeth Smart case, the Salt Lake City, Utah girl who was found in March, 2003 after missing for nine months. "She's a classic example of how someday, someone spot's them," Jolkowski explains. "That's the kind of thing we look to happen with our families we work with. We look forward to that wonderful reunion." |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| monkalup | Feb 24 2011, 10:12 AM Post #10 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7000472...-ones.html?pg=1 Shattered: After public moves on, families of missing left wondering about what happened to their loved ones By Lois M. Collins Deseret News Published: Sunday, July 11, 2010 1:05 a.m. MDT When a news report says a body has been found, Suzanne Tate finds herself back 45 years, in the kitchen cooking dinner and watching her teenage brother, Reed, walk outside to feed his dogs. It was such an ordinary moment in their loving, boisterous family. She would give anything for a do-over. What would she have done differently had she known it would be the last time she'd see her strapping 15-year-old brother? And where is he? she wonders. It's a question Wanda Schmitt often asks herself about her brother, Jeff. So do Ed and Mary Sorensen of their daughter, Sheree. And Stephanie Cook has spent a lifetime wondering what happened to her mom. They are among so many others who, like them, have a person-shaped hole in their family where someone belongs. And they don't know what happened to that person. Reed Jeppson, Sheree Warren, Jeff Nichols and Bobbi Ann Campbell are all missing, now question marks whose answers have not yet been found. "We are like the body that cries in the Bible," says family practice physician Taylor Jeppson, who was 24 years old when his little brother, Reed, disappeared. "Can the arm say there's no need for the leg? The ear for the eye?" The FBI and the National Crime Information Center receive more than 800,000 missing persons reports each year. Some are quickly resolved, but about 105,000 remain missing. Kelly Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason, a nonprofit that helps families of missing people, believes it's a serious undercount. Because of their lifestyles or associations, some people have been placed in a dismal "throwaway" category that doesn't get much outside attention, though their families still search and long to know. And most missing person cases don't get advertised, don't have a website, don't hit the news, she says. "It's not like TV. There are not 20 cops out looking and a resolution in 20 minutes," Jolkowski says. "Because we see a story or two occasionally on the news, we think that a person or two goes missing. No, no. It's many more than that." Jeff Nichols was just days shy of his 41st birthday when he disappeared in Salt Lake City on June 8, 2004. Nichols was supposed to meet his ex-wife, with whom he shared custody, and their little boy, Sam. After breakfast, she was going to show him some golf clubs a friend wanted to sell. He loved golf and thought he'd probably buy them, says Nichols' sister, who lives in Madison, Wis. A police report says he never showed up at the eatery, although his family later learned his vehicle was towed from an area a few miles away more than a month after he disappeared. His bank accounts and credit cards have not been used since. Virtually everyone asked says Nichols loved his job as an air traffic controller and his life in general — that he was close to his parents, his siblings, his friends. It's inconceivable, they say, that no one has heard a peep from him, if he's alive somewhere. Mary Sorensen says the chance that her daughter, Sheree Warren, disappeared willingly is zilch as well, because she left behind her son, Adam, who was only 3, and "he was her whole world." "If she had taken him, it could maybe have been voluntary. I don't think so," Sorensen says. "But she left him here, and there's just no way she'd have done that." Warren, then 25, worked for a credit union and had gone from their Roy home to Salt Lake City for training to become a branch manager. She walked to the parking lot with another trainee that day in 1985, and they headed to their cars. She vanished. Warren's car was later found in a parking lot in Las Vegas, where it had sat at least long enough for the tires to sink into the asphalt. Her parents, brother and sisters never heard from her again. Within hours, her dad was sure something awful had happened. But what? A quarter-century later, they're still wondering. Campbell was 24 when she dropped her toddler, Stephanie, off at a friend's house on Dec. 27, 1994, so she could get her paycheck and go grocery shopping. She didn't shop, didn't get the check, didn't come back. "I remember everything about her. I can still hear her laugh, her voice. I have her voice, and my grandpa calls me Bobbi sometimes because I look like her," says Stephanie Cook, who is now 21. The little girl fell asleep by the window, waiting for the mom with whom she did everything, the mom she is certain did not leave her willingly. The next day, her great-grandparents came to get her when Campbell didn't show up. They ended up raising her in their Draper home. The car was found nearly a year later, abandoned, clothes still in it from the trip to the laundromat early in the morning of the day she disappeared. "Here we go again," Schmitt wrote when the sixth anniversary of her brother's disappearance recently passed. "It's like a roller-coaster ride filled with emotions, only you just can't seem to get off the ride. We want to find Jeff desperately. We want to know the truth. If Jeff were alive, we'd all be so happy. I want him to be alive. If he is not, I want to bring him home for all of us." While life levels out for stretches at a time, "it doesn't take much to get the ride going again." Jolkowski has been on that roller coaster. Her son, Jason, disappeared nine years ago from their driveway in Omaha, Neb. He was 19. His car remained in the repair shop, his bank account was untouched, and he never picked up his paycheck. Most days, she says, she's doing OK, bolstered by a strong marriage, supportive family and friends and work that matters to her. But "I could shatter into a million pieces tomorrow. I don't think I will. But I could," she says. Various triggers lead her to tears and periods of intense grief, she notes. But she harnessed her energy and much of that emotion to build her nonprofit group to support the families of the missing as they embark on this unwanted journey. Projectjason.org offers tips, private community boards, access to counseling, even retreats that are not about solving the case, but surviving it mostly intact. It is "about giving you tools to help you live the best life you can, whether this continues for one more day or 10 more years," she says. What they don't offer is a forum for ill-formed comments or half-baked theories from wannabe sleuths who hardly or never knew the missing person but are sure they've figured out what happened. That's something families deal with a lot. Reed Jeppson's family searched for him. His brother, Edward, a pilot, searched from the air. His sister, Sally, came home from BYU to search. The family ranged from sister Patricia, 29 and married with kids of her own, to baby Keith, who was only 7 when Reed disappeared. Reed's parents, Dr. Edward and Elizabeth Taylor Jeppson, and his brothers and sisters combed the foothills and ravines nearest their home and then beyond, with help from hundreds of volunteers. Nothing. Then came the veiled accusations, the sly glances, the innuendo. Even friends asked questions like, "What was going on in your family that was so bad he had to run away?" A half-century later, they are still occasionally zinged by thoughtless remarks. Shortly after Salt Lake police said last month that the department will re-examine Reed's cold case, Tate ran into an acquaintance. "Maybe now your brother will decide to come home," the individual said. That stings. The family has never believed he left on his own, Patricia Menlove says of her brother. Nothing supports the suggestion. He left the money he'd been earning with a paper route. And it defies belief that in the 45 years he's been gone he wouldn't have contacted at least one of his 10 remaining siblings, says another sister, Sally Mace. "It's awful what people say. We were always a close-knit family," Mace says. "We're still that way." "It's very harmful," Jolkowski says bluntly of such talk. "My thought is the investigation needs to be done by professionals, and if it isn't going to help find Johnny, it doesn't need to be said. What is needed is to encourage the family and do the best we can for them. If you really think you know what happened, tell the police. Leave the family alone when it comes to your theories." That advice also applies to people who believe they have psychic insight into a case. Jolkowski and volunteer Denise Harrison know hundreds of people with missing loved ones. And they're still stunned at the things people say and do. Among the "don'ts" Harrison has posted at projectjason.org: Don't tell someone who's pining that "he's probably in Mexico having margaritas with his friends," or that "she'll be found when she wants to be found." Other real-life examples of bad things to say: "It's time to get on with your life." "At least you have other kids." And "everything happens for a reason." Silence is brutal, too. "There were people in my life I thought were my friends," Jolkowski says. "When it happened, I did not hear a word from them. Those searching for someone who is missing need to know their friends and family support them." It's fairly easy, particularly in Utah, to get volunteers to turn up for a search. And physically finding someone is a first and important goal. But attention spans wane and resources are limited. The public moves on, and the families of the missing often find themselves abandoned emotionally, Jolkowski says. "It's easy for people in these situations to feel hopeless and that nobody cares," she says. "And it's hard to get others to understand and know how to help." There is a vocabulary unique to the missing, and it's very unlike that used when comforting those who have lost someone to death, says Duane Bowers, who is a national expert on families where someone has vanished. You speak in terms of "grief" and "loss" at your peril, says the trauma loss expert. The families of the missing will reject you. It's "missing" and "separated." Hope may be all they have. They don't want "closure," although they pine for "resolution." Individuals decide when, if ever, they believe the person is dead. That's a big and painful transition. Until then, they must plan a two-pronged future: "At Christmas, we'll do this if he isn't back. And this if he is." It's not good from a traditional mental health point of view, "but you have to understand, this is the only way one can move forward" when someone is missing, he says. Interestingly, adds Bowers, the police are often pegged by the families of the missing as the bad guys — at least until a real "bad guy" is found. They have no one else in particular to blame. And the police, doing their jobs, routinely focus first on family members. Often enough, that turns out to be the right approach. But if you're innocent and hurting, desperate to find your loved one, it's infuriating that they're wasting time on you, Bowers says. Ditto when you give them what you think is a hot lead and they don't jump on it. Some families fall apart when someone remains missing. Separation and divorce are not uncommon. Perhaps against the odds, Ed and Mary Sorensen, Wanda Schmitt and her husband, Tim, and Jeppson's many brothers and sisters have all become stronger and more committed in their loss. "You never really accept it," Mary Sorensen says. "But I think it's brought us closer together." "Very often parents will say while one child was missing, they know they abandoned their other children. They were so focused on finding the missing child," Bowers says. Extended family must step in for the children. Bowers notes that animal shows on TV repeatedly document the natural instinct of mammal parents to search for the missing child. The rest of the animal family instinctively crowds around the others to care for and nurture them. People should do that, too. Absent that, a number of studies document self-destructive behaviors — drugs, alcohol, petty crime — in adults who as children had siblings who were missing, found or not. They also find those adults, not surprisingly, tend to overprotect their own children. If there's no resolution, those who love the missing person eventually begin to believe different things, often out of synch, creating rifts, Bowers says. If dad believes Arnie is dead, but mom always responds, "How dare you say that?" it drives a wedge. That's one reason families shatter after a disappearance. When children aren't allowed to explore what they think happened, they tend to hang out with other families. They have to find ways, Bowers says, of letting each other speak, in spite of differing views. Schmitt says her family fell into a depression that has been hard to shake. Their stepfather, who adopted and raised them, spearheaded search efforts. Jeff's natural dad has not golfed since his son disappeared. Schmitt is on an endless search. She can lose herself online looking for leads and realize that hours have passed. It's hard not to let the sorrow and the search detract from the joy of her children, her husband, her life that does go on. Each of Reed Jeppson's siblings and Jeff Nichols' siblings and parents have provided blood samples that can be used to help identify his remains, should he be found. It's a donation both grim and promising, and it's often asked of those left behind. With word that a body has been found, hope and dread battle. "My hope is skewed because I want remains to be Reed, but I don't want him to have been harmed," Tate says. "I don't want him to have experienced a living nightmare, yet I want to know every detail of what happened." Americans have rituals of acceptance. When there's a body, we hold funerals or memorials. We mark spots where someone died with flowers or crosses or, for children, teddy bears and toys. For a long time, typically, the only spot for a missing person is that hole in a family's heart. Eventually, Ed and Mary Sorensen bought a headstone for their daughter near where theirs will be in a South Ogden cemetery. Reed Jeppson's siblings placed a headstone by that of his parents. This week Cook and her great-grandparents placed a marker for Bobbi Ann Campbell in the Larkin cemetery in Sandy. On Memorial Day, eight of Reed's remaining siblings and their spouses, children and grandchildren gathered at the Sunset Larkin Cemetery in Salt Lake City. Although it is one place where they know his remains do not rest, his sisters fuss over the stone, clearing away the grass that has encroached. Some say they've seen him in dreams, while others have daydreamed about who he might have become. Over the years, they have searched for him, longed for him, mourned him. On this day, they are celebrating him, laughing and telling stories as the grandkids run among the gravestones. "We mustn't be so filled with our own grief that we can't share the sunshine and joy and goodness all around us," Tate says. He is missing. But never unloved. |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Jun 18 2012, 12:44 PM Post #11 |
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Nebraska man missing for 11 years Jason Jolkowski Nebraska Radio Network - NE, USA Nebraska man missing for 11 years June 14, 2012 By Karla James On the morning of June 13, 2001, then 19 year old Jason Jolkowski had arranged a ride to work because his car was in the shop. He planned to walk to nearby Benson High School in Omaha to catch his ride, a short walk away. Jason had walked down the driveway picked up the trash cans and brought them back to the house and then went on his way to catch his ride. That was the last time the young man was seen. Video from the school shows he never arrived. On Wednesday, the eleventh anniversary of Jason’s disappearance, he is remembered by friends and family. His mother, Kelly Jolkowski says they purchased the first tree available through the Omaha Parks Foundation’s new Memorial and Tribute program and it was planted along the Keystone trail. Jolkowski says a plaque will soon be put by the tree honoring Jason. Jolkowski says their quest to solve the mystery of Jason’s disappearance continues. She says people need to be reminded that Jason is missing and someone out there knows something. The Jolkowski’s established the non-profit organization “Project Jason” to help other parents and families going through a similar situation. On their website, projectjason.org, they also keep current posters of Jason and the fact he remains missing. Those posters can be downloaded, printed and distributed to area businesses for posting. http://nebraskaradionetwork.com/2012/06/14...g-for-11-years/ Posted at 7:52 PM Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook Labels: Missing comments 0 Responses to "Nebraska man missing for 11 years" http://unsolveditn.blogspot.com/2012/06/ne...r-11-years.html |
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| Ell | Nov 7 2013, 05:40 PM Post #12 |
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Heart of Gold
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Jason "J.J." Jolkowski Jason Jolkowski was 19 years old on June 13, 2001, the day he disappeared in Omaha, Neb. Jolkowski, an employee at a local restaurant, received a call from his boss that morning and was asked to come in early. Jolkowski's car was in the shop so he arranged to meet a coworker at Benson High School, only seven blocks from his home. It is believed that Jolkowski got dressed in his work uniform and then set off for the school. Somewhere along the way Jason vanished without a trace. Jolkowski's mother, Kelly Jolkowski, has since founded Project Jason, a nonprofit organization created to assist the families of missing adults and children. For more information, visit Projectjason.org. |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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3:50 AM Jul 11