Speaker 1: All witnesses, suspects, and persons of interest are considered innocent
Speaker 1: until proven guilty in a.
Speaker 2: Court of law. Welcome to Primetime Crime. I'm your host, Kylie.
Speaker 1: Let's talk right now on true crime, and then together,
Speaker 1: we're gonna work on warming up some cold cases.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to this week's episode of Primetime Crime.
Speaker 2: It's Kylie.
Speaker 1: We are going to get into a couple of really
Speaker 1: quick little updates right now on true crime-wise before we
Speaker 1: get into... this week's case. So, Lindsay Clancy update. We
Speaker 1: are officially in Verdict Watch. The jury got the case today.
Speaker 1: I'm recording this Thursday. Honestly, just a couple of hours
Speaker 1: before it's released because I wanted to make sure I
Speaker 1: didn't miss any of the latest news.
Speaker 2: The jury officially.
Speaker 1: Has gone home for the night, so court will resume tomorrow,
Speaker 1: and we could very easily have a verdict tomorrow, meaning Friday.
Speaker 1: I really don't know the direction that this one is going.
Speaker 1: I do think it's going to be really hard to
Speaker 1: get all 12 members to agree that Lindsay was suffering
Speaker 1: from postpartum psychosis. I also think that it's going to
Speaker 1: be hard for all of them to say that without
Speaker 1: a reasonable doubt that she is guilty of murder. There
Speaker 1: is a manslaughter charge up on the table. That could
Speaker 1: be a possibility, but I don't know. There's something in
Speaker 1: my gut that tells me that it's going to be
Speaker 1: a hung jury. But stranger things have happened. Stay tuned
Speaker 1: to social media. As soon as there is a verdict,
Speaker 1: I will be sure to post it. But that is
Speaker 1: the latest. In the Jared Brinegan trial against Mario Fernandez-Saldana,
Speaker 1: he has been officially found guilty of his role in
Speaker 1: Jared's death. And that is a charge of first-degree murder
Speaker 1: and solicitation of murder. The jury deliberated a little under
Speaker 1: four hours in Mario's case, so I think they pretty
Speaker 1: quickly came to a decision that he was obviously guilty,
Speaker 1: and his sentencing is scheduled for October 5th. Now, Shana Gardner,
Speaker 1: who was the ex-wife of Jared, is scheduled for her
Speaker 1: trial to start in September. So I am going to
Speaker 1: be following that one, but I think if this one
Speaker 1: is any indication, hopefully... It will go pretty similarly to
Speaker 1: Mario's trial, and we will finally have justice for Jared.
Speaker 1: Because the gunman, the one who is the one who
Speaker 1: carried out the murder of Jared, did take a guilty plea.
Speaker 1: So two down and one to go. I will be
Speaker 1: sure to keep you guys updated on that one. So
Speaker 1: there has been a little bit breaking in the Siders
Speaker 1: family drama out of Ohio. That is the house in
Speaker 1: Ohio where they found the 16 children who were living
Speaker 1: in basically squalor, and the adults in the home were
Speaker 1: taken into custody. That includes a mother, a father, their son,
Speaker 1: and his wife, who allegedly mothered all of these children.
Speaker 1: So there has been a lot of questions about what
Speaker 1: led investigators there in the first place. I heard a
Speaker 1: lot of different rumors about why law enforcement went to
Speaker 1: that home to begin with, because it wasn't to find
Speaker 1: the children.
Speaker 2: They didn't even know the children were there.
Speaker 1: But they were in the process of investigating something else
Speaker 1: when they happened upon the kids. So this something else
Speaker 1: was two men that were connected to the extended Siders family.
Speaker 1: They are named Josh Saunders, who was 23, and Brandon
Speaker 1: Henderson Sr., who was 40. So Josh is Gary Sider Jr.
Speaker 2: 's nephew.
Speaker 1: Josh's mother, who is named Virginia Saunders, was formerly Virginia Siders.
Speaker 1: She is Gary Jr.
Speaker 2: 's sister.
Speaker 1: So that makes Josh part of the extended family of
Speaker 1: these children who were basically removed from this home. Brandon
Speaker 1: Henderson is Virginia's longtime partner that makes him also part
Speaker 1: of this family circle. So both of these men now
Speaker 1: have been arrested and are facing extremely serious allegations. Josh
Speaker 1: Saunders was indicted on three counts of rape and one
Speaker 1: count of gross sexual imposition. Court records indicate that the
Speaker 1: offenses allegedly happened on January 27th of 2020. Brandon Henderson
Speaker 1: was indicted on 21 charges that include sexual battery, gross
Speaker 1: sexual imposition, and child endangerment. Both men have pled not guilty.
Speaker 1: So in December of 2025, Ohio BCI began investigating allegations
Speaker 1: that two children had been sexually abused. And this investigation
Speaker 1: focused on these two men. While investigators were working on
Speaker 1: that case, they uncovered some information that caused them to
Speaker 1: open another investigation in March of 2026. And that one
Speaker 1: involved Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth Siders. They are the
Speaker 1: son and the son's wife of the couple that owned
Speaker 1: this home. So Gary and Elizabeth are now also charged
Speaker 1: with two counts of sexual battery and two counts of
Speaker 1: unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Prosecutors are saying that
Speaker 1: the alleged victim was more than 10 years younger than
Speaker 1: them and was not one of their immediate children. The
Speaker 1: alleged conduct happened between January and September of 2022. So
Speaker 1: upon investigating all of this, that is how they came
Speaker 1: to go to the Sider's home And that is how
Speaker 1: they found these 16 children who were not really doing
Speaker 1: well physically. They had been living in their own human
Speaker 1: waste and they were severely, severely neglected. Now, interestingly enough,
Speaker 1: despite them finding all that they found, this really wasn't
Speaker 1: the first time that the Siders family had been on
Speaker 1: the radar. In 2020, child service officials reported were involved
Speaker 1: with Gary and Elizabeth over concerns that they were not
Speaker 1: properly addressing some of their children's educational and mental health needs.
Speaker 1: Nine children were part of those cases. There was also
Speaker 1: school issues. In 2021-2022, that school year, six of the
Speaker 1: children were enrolled in school. According to court records, they
Speaker 1: missed every single day up until truancy complaints ended up
Speaker 1: being filed. Then they weren't able to find them. By
Speaker 1: early 2022, the cases were dismissed because they couldn't locate
Speaker 1: Gary and Elizabeth to actually serve them. So this story
Speaker 1: and this case obviously spans a lot of time, a
Speaker 1: lot of years, and there was probably red flags and
Speaker 1: warning signs all around, but Again, it's one of those
Speaker 1: situations where hindsight's 20-20, and once you see the bigger picture,
Speaker 1: you realize it is way more than just the four
Speaker 1: of these people who had all of these kids living
Speaker 1: in this house. This goes way deeper, and there are
Speaker 1: some real sick people out there, and they're all entangled
Speaker 1: in the Siders family, allegedly, at this point in time.
Speaker 1: I'm going to be sure to try to stay on
Speaker 1: top of this one. There is a lot of information
Speaker 1: coming out here. There was even initial reports that people
Speaker 1: thought that maybe Elizabeth herself was being abused. None of
Speaker 1: that has been officially confirmed whatsoever. But there was a
Speaker 1: lot of horrible things going on behind the doors of
Speaker 1: that Ohio home.
Speaker 2: And I'm glad that.
Speaker 1: At least for now, the kids are hopefully safe and
Speaker 1: they are being protected. So we are going to go
Speaker 1: ahead and call that good for right now in true crime.
Speaker 1: And we're going to get into this week's episode. All righty, guys,
Speaker 1: we are getting in to a brand new unsolved case.
Speaker 1: In this week's episode, I'm going to be telling you
Speaker 1: about the baffling disappearance. of 19-year-old Jason Jokowski out of Omaha,
Speaker 1: Nebraska in 2001. He remains missing to this day, and
Speaker 1: his case is referred to by one of the investigating
Speaker 1: officers as the most baffling case he has seen in
Speaker 1: 30 years.
Speaker 2: And that is a very bold.
Speaker 1: Statement coming from somebody whose job it is to investigate
Speaker 1: missing persons. So Jason's case is very much that. It
Speaker 1: is very baffling. Jason was just days away from his
Speaker 1: 20th birthday, and he just up and vanished. As always,
Speaker 1: I list all of my source material below in the
Speaker 1: show notes, and I'm also going to credit the Unfound podcast.
Speaker 1: They did an interview. with Jason's mom and also covered
Speaker 1: Jason's story. And in the interview, his mom did share
Speaker 1: quite a bit that isn't in other news articles. So
Speaker 1: I did use that as a source for this episode
Speaker 1: as well. And we're going to talk about some other
Speaker 1: things later in the episode that I'm also going to
Speaker 1: give credit to.
Speaker 2: But we are going to.
Speaker 1: Go ahead and get into the episode now. Jason Anthony
Speaker 1: Jokowski was born on June 24th of 1981 in Grand Island, Nebraska,
Speaker 1: to his parents, Jim and Kelly. Jason had a younger
Speaker 1: brother named Michael, who was 12 years old at the
Speaker 1: time of his brother's disappearance, so there was about a
Speaker 1: seven-year age gap between them. Jason lived with his family
Speaker 1: at 48th and Pinconny Street in the Benson neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska.
Speaker 1: The Benson neighborhood is described as a historic neighborhood in
Speaker 1: North Omaha. Jason was described as shy and quiet with
Speaker 1: a small handful of friends. His mom describes him as
Speaker 1: a great kid who didn't really ever cause any trouble.
Speaker 1: Even when he was entering his teenage years, he just
Speaker 1: wasn't the kind of kid that ever really was. went
Speaker 1: through anything where he was not a very nice teenager.
Speaker 2: He was always a really, really good kid. He also
Speaker 2: spent a.
Speaker 1: Now, Jason did have some learning disabilities, which did cause
Speaker 1: him to get bullied in high school. They are described
Speaker 1: by his mom, Kelly, as speech and language-related disabilities. But
Speaker 1: despite these difficulties, Jason went on to eventually get his
Speaker 1: driver's license, and he graduated from high school and enrolled
Speaker 1: in community college as a part-time student. Jason was in
Speaker 1: the radio broadcasting program at Iowa Western Community College, and
Speaker 1: that was located in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Jason's goal was
Speaker 1: to eventually become a full-time radio DJ and work for KIWR,
Speaker 1: which was an alternative rock station in Omaha. When Jason
Speaker 1: was on the radio, he very much came to life,
Speaker 1: and that is really where he was in his element,
Speaker 1: and he truly thrived. On air, he was known by
Speaker 1: the nickname JJ, and despite him being a very shy,
Speaker 1: quiet individual, when he was on the radio, that is
Speaker 1: when he was super in his element. Another thing that
Speaker 1: Jason thrived in was his interest in sports, especially sports trivia.
Speaker 1: He knew everything about everything when it came to sports
Speaker 1: and even thought that if he didn't go into the DJing,
Speaker 1: he would maybe eventually become a sports broadcaster.
Speaker 2: I am now going to insert.
Speaker 1: A clip that Kelly has shared on one of her
Speaker 1: YouTube videos of Jason on the air truly doing what
Speaker 1: he loved to do, which was to be on the radio.
Speaker 2: The River, the new music evolution. My name is JJ.
Speaker 2: We're in the middle of the row.
Speaker 1: We got music coming up from R.E.M., Papa Roach.
Speaker 2: And whatever else you want to hear. Let me know.
Speaker 2: 323-4100 or pound for 89.70 at Verizon Wireless Phone. And
Speaker 2: that's how you get it done. That's what makes you
Speaker 2: just a little bit happier. That's why I go all around.
Speaker 2: I just make everybody as happy as I can. There's
Speaker 2: some sick issues with chili peppers.
Speaker 1: So that is Jason truly in his element being on
Speaker 1: the radio and like he said, making people happy and
Speaker 1: bringing people joy. That is what he wanted to do
Speaker 1: and that is what he enjoyed. So Jason's future was
Speaker 1: bright and he was headed in a direction that would
Speaker 1: help fulfill his dreams. In order to help offset some
Speaker 1: expenses of college, he had taken a job at a
Speaker 1: Fazoli's that was located in Omaha. It was located at
Speaker 1: 8002 Cass Street. Now, that location of Fazoli's is actually
Speaker 1: still open and operational, which when I initially researched this case,
Speaker 1: I was kind of surprised to find out it was
Speaker 1: still open because I was under the impression that Fazoli's
Speaker 1: was no longer in business.
Speaker 2: I thought they had all closed.
Speaker 1: We had a Fazoli's nearby me and it has been
Speaker 1: gone since I want to say the late 90s, early 2000s.
Speaker 1: So for those that are not familiar, Fazoli's is a
Speaker 1: fast food type of take on Italian. So Jason had
Speaker 1: taken this job at Fazoli's, like I said, to try
Speaker 1: and offset some of the college expenses because college obviously
Speaker 1: is expensive. It was expensive back in 2001 and it's
Speaker 1: even more expensive now. So Jason was doing everything he
Speaker 1: could to try and help pay for college. He had
Speaker 1: also taken another job that he was set to start
Speaker 1: shortly thereafter as well. A job that would offer tuition
Speaker 1: benefits so that he could continue to go through his
Speaker 1: schooling and further his education.
Speaker 2: So that takes us.
Speaker 1: To Wednesday, June 13th of 2001. Jason's car had recently
Speaker 1: had some hail damage, so it was in the process
Speaker 1: of getting fixed at the body shop, which left Jason
Speaker 1: without a car. It was summer, so both of the
Speaker 1: boys were home while their parents were at work. Jason
Speaker 1: was set to work the 5.30 p.m. shift that day
Speaker 1: at Fazoli's, But that morning, Jason received a call from
Speaker 1: his boss asking him if he could come into work
Speaker 1: early due to them being shorthanded. Jason agreed and jumped
Speaker 1: on the opportunity, but knew that he would have to
Speaker 1: try and find a way to get there. He told
Speaker 1: his boss that he would come in, but he would
Speaker 1: have to walk to work, which was about a four
Speaker 1: and a half mile walk. He then got a call
Speaker 1: from his coworker, Teresa, who said that she could leave
Speaker 1: work for a few minutes and come pick him up.
Speaker 1: but she didn't know exactly where Jason lived, and Jason
Speaker 1: wasn't great at giving directions. Also remember, this was pre-GPS days,
Speaker 1: so looking up an address wasn't as easy as it
Speaker 1: is now. So Jason had told Teresa that they should
Speaker 1: meet at Benson High School around 11 a.m. so she
Speaker 1: could pick him up and they could go to work together. Now,
Speaker 1: Benson High School was where Jason had graduated from, and
Speaker 1: it was also a location that Teresa was familiar with
Speaker 1: because she had also graduated from there. Jason told his
Speaker 1: brother Michael goodbye and to let their parents know that
Speaker 1: he was going into work early and would need one
Speaker 1: of them to pick him up later. Then at 10.45 a.m.,
Speaker 1: Jason walked out the door. He then went to the
Speaker 1: curb and brought the trash bins up from the curb
Speaker 1: to the garage. Michael heard him outside pulling the cans
Speaker 1: up and looked out the window to see what was
Speaker 1: going on. And that was the last time that Michael
Speaker 1: ever saw his big brother again. Then Jason started on
Speaker 1: his trek to the high school, which was about a
Speaker 1: 10-minute walk and only eight short blocks away. And just
Speaker 1: like that, Jason vanished into literal thin air. Jason had
Speaker 1: about $ 60 on him when he left. In his mind,
Speaker 1: he was going to walk to the high school, grab
Speaker 1: a quick ride to work, and then work his shift
Speaker 1: at Bizzoli's. But unfortunately, he never arrived at that high school.
Speaker 1: No neighbors saw anything suspicious. But by 1130, Teresa had
Speaker 1: waited for Jason at the high school for a while.
Speaker 1: But after he didn't arrive, she made a phone call
Speaker 1: using a payphone across the street to the restaurant to
Speaker 1: see what exactly she should do. She ultimately ended up
Speaker 1: returning to the Fazoli's and called the Jolkowski home looking
Speaker 1: for Jason, but of course he wasn't there. Michael said
Speaker 1: he had left around 11.45 in order to walk to
Speaker 1: the high school. They ended up checking with Jason's parents,
Speaker 1: Jim and Kelly. but they said they hadn't heard anything
Speaker 1: from Jason, but they wouldn't have expected to. They both
Speaker 1: work jobs where they couldn't take calls during the day,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't common for Jason or Michael to call
Speaker 1: their parents at work. So this was not unusual in
Speaker 1: any way, shape, or form, especially in the summer, for
Speaker 1: them not to have contact with their parents during the workday.
Speaker 1: As the day turned to night, it was apparent that
Speaker 1: something was seriously wrong. Jason's parents reported him missing to
Speaker 1: the Omaha Police Department the next morning. And in typical fashion, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: his parents were told that given his age, he was
Speaker 1: probably just a runaway and would turn up. Although this
Speaker 1: was very out of character for Jason, he was very
Speaker 1: reliable at work and he was very close.
Speaker 2: With his family.
Speaker 1: Running away didn't exactly fit in with who Jason was.
Speaker 1: This was somebody who was making plans for his future
Speaker 1: and working hard to try and support the education that
Speaker 1: he wanted to get in order to achieve the goals
Speaker 1: that he wanted. Now, I'm going to throw it way
Speaker 1: back to one of the very first episodes I did
Speaker 1: about Allie Lowitzer. Her parents were told the exact same
Speaker 1: thing when she went missing in 2010. Law enforcement told
Speaker 1: them that they just needed to let them know when
Speaker 1: she came back. And this was a girl who was
Speaker 1: in constant communication with her friends and family. And it's
Speaker 1: been 16 years since she went missing, and she has
Speaker 1: not come back because she was not a runaway. And
Speaker 1: that is the same in Jason's case. Both of these cases,
Speaker 1: although they are miles and miles and miles apart, one
Speaker 1: in Texas, one in Omaha, Nebraska, they're treated pretty much identically.
Speaker 1: And here is where I have to push back on
Speaker 1: the police department a little bit. Because we all know
Speaker 1: the first hours of a missing persons case are the
Speaker 1: most important.
Speaker 2: And when it's.
Speaker 1: Approached as just a runaway, we lose valuable time. When
Speaker 1: families report their loved one missing, they need to listen,
Speaker 1: they need to respect, and they need to follow through
Speaker 1: on it. The worst that could happen is that a
Speaker 1: child or a missing adult returns home safely because everything
Speaker 1: was done to find them.
Speaker 2: That is of the utmost importance.
Speaker 1: And honestly, even if somebody does run away voluntarily, they
Speaker 1: could still be in major danger. And I think that
Speaker 1: that needs to be taken seriously, especially when it's somebody
Speaker 1: who's younger. So Jason left home wearing black pants that
Speaker 1: were part of his work uniform, black dress shoes, a
Speaker 1: Chicago Cubs t-shirt.
Speaker 2: And a blue baseball cap.
Speaker 1: Now, there are some sources that say the t-shirt he
Speaker 1: was wearing was a Sammy Sosa shirt, and he was
Speaker 1: also carrying his red Fazoli's work shirt. So it also
Speaker 1: doesn't make a whole lot of sense if Jason were
Speaker 1: to run away that A, he would do it with
Speaker 1: $ 60 in his pocket and B, that he would do
Speaker 1: it in his work pants and his work shoes that
Speaker 1: were probably not the most super comfortable pants and shoes
Speaker 1: to be wearing. So there really wasn't any investigation into
Speaker 1: Jason's disappearance for the first 10 days. And yes, 10
Speaker 1: days is what I said. Law enforcement didn't talk to neighbors.
Speaker 1: They didn't talk to coworkers. They didn't try and sort
Speaker 1: out what happened. They didn't retrace Jason's steps. After those
Speaker 1: 10 days passed, they realized that maybe Jason didn't disappear
Speaker 1: on his own, and they started to officially search for him.
Speaker 1: But unfortunately, they had lost 10 days of very valuable time.
Speaker 1: There were no photos that had been put out to
Speaker 1: the public of Jason missing. if somebody had seen something
Speaker 1: they were now having basically trying to backtrack, trying to
Speaker 1: figure out what could have happened to Jason. It is
Speaker 1: really difficult to backtrack 10 days after the fact, looking
Speaker 1: for somebody that might have seen something on an ordinary
Speaker 1: Wednesday morning, not realizing that they saw something. Whereas if
Speaker 1: there had been a photo of Jason put out right
Speaker 1: as soon as he disappeared, somebody might have realized, oh,
Speaker 1: I saw something Wednesday morning on my commute to go
Speaker 1: get lunch or my commute to the doctor's office. But
Speaker 1: that unfortunately didn't happen because law enforcement waited such a
Speaker 1: long time. Law enforcement retraced Jason's path as well from
Speaker 1: the home to the high school. Now, in order to
Speaker 1: get to the high school, Jason would have had to
Speaker 1: also pass by a middle school. The high school and
Speaker 1: middle school as well did have cameras, but Jason was
Speaker 1: captured on neither one. meaning that he disappeared somewhere before
Speaker 1: he passed by the middle school, which did very much
Speaker 1: narrow down the window. But unfortunately, it was 2001. So
Speaker 1: that was the extent of the cameras. And these were
Speaker 1: streets that Jason was very familiar with.
Speaker 2: He walked that path.
Speaker 1: From his home to the middle school and high school
Speaker 1: so many different times in his years of living there.
Speaker 1: But unfortunately, this time was different. It now seemed obvious
Speaker 1: that Jason had to have encountered someone along the way
Speaker 1: with not-so-great intentions. Although Jason was 19 years old, he
Speaker 1: was 6'1, he was a grown adult, he was only
Speaker 1: 165 pounds, and his mom does describe him as very
Speaker 1: trusting and gullible. So it wouldn't be out of the
Speaker 1: realm of possibility for him to trust the intentions of
Speaker 1: a random stranger. He has always been described as a
Speaker 1: very nice guy who doesn't like conflict. And he's the
Speaker 1: type of guy who just flies under the radar. Jason's mom, Kelly,
Speaker 1: describes their neighborhood differently. and the general area that they
Speaker 1: lived as a neighborhood with very well-established homes and well-taken
Speaker 1: care of homes. But if you went in three, four,
Speaker 1: or five blocks in either direction, there were areas that
Speaker 1: had started to kind of decline. And about a mile away,
Speaker 1: there was an area that had started to get taken
Speaker 1: over by gang activity. But the route that Jason would
Speaker 1: have walked to get to the high school was.
Speaker 2: A very safe route.
Speaker 1: And she said in the interview with the Unfound podcast
Speaker 1: that she would even feel safe walking that way in
Speaker 1: the daytime by herself. So with everything going on with this,
Speaker 1: law enforcement had little to go off of. They did
Speaker 1: look into some nearby local sex offenders, and there was
Speaker 1: actually quite a few living in the area. And there
Speaker 1: was one that lived right across the street from the
Speaker 1: small neighborhood park that Jason would have had to cross
Speaker 1: by on his path on his way to the high school.
Speaker 1: They also checked into an older male that was at
Speaker 1: Jason's previous job. He would often befriend and invite young
Speaker 1: males to his home. But this individual who has not
Speaker 1: been named that I am aware of has been cleared
Speaker 1: and they didn't find anything suspicious with him. They talked
Speaker 1: to all of the people in Jason's life. They talked
Speaker 1: to the people that he worked with at the restaurant.
Speaker 1: And nothing ever came of any of that. I also
Speaker 1: do want to be clear that Teresa, the co-worker who
Speaker 1: came to pick up Jason that day, was also talked
Speaker 1: to and cleared.
Speaker 2: She was young. She was a teenager as well.
Speaker 1: So she was thrust into this story.
Speaker 2: Just as much as Jason was.
Speaker 1: But she was cleared and she did exactly what she
Speaker 1: should have done. She got a hold of the restaurant.
Speaker 1: She ended up leaving, going back. She called Jason's home,
Speaker 1: and then from there, everything kind of snowballed into him
Speaker 1: being reported missing. So she did everything right in this scenario.
Speaker 1: So in Jason's case, there literally has been no suspects
Speaker 1: and no leads, nothing since 2001. Kelly talks about her
Speaker 1: mother's intuition and said that she's never really had a
Speaker 1: strong feeling either way about what happened to Jason. She's
Speaker 1: never really felt strongly about if Jason is out there
Speaker 1: still alive or not, but also said that very much
Speaker 1: could be a way of her just protecting herself from
Speaker 1: the feelings that go along with it. And I imagine
Speaker 1: it has to be so hard to let your mind
Speaker 1: go there.
Speaker 2: That is her child, her oldest son.
Speaker 1: And the not knowing, I think, has to be the
Speaker 1: hardest part of it all. And the fact that their
Speaker 1: family isn't whole anymore because Jason is gone and they
Speaker 1: still don't have answers. So unfortunately, that is where Jason's
Speaker 1: case stands. There is an age progressed photo that I
Speaker 1: will be sharing on social media. So please do me
Speaker 1: a favor and give it a look and also share it.
Speaker 1: It takes less than five seconds to share a social
Speaker 1: media post, especially an age progressed photo of somebody who's
Speaker 1: been missing for a long time. It takes no time
Speaker 1: at all to hit the share button and post it
Speaker 1: to your social media.
Speaker 2: It takes no time at all.
Speaker 1: And you really never know who's going to stumble across
Speaker 1: an image that could lead to a break in this case.
Speaker 1: So like so many other of the cases and stories
Speaker 1: I cover, the families who are left to pick up
Speaker 1: the pieces after a disappearance like this use what they
Speaker 1: have gone through to turn their tragedy into purpose. And
Speaker 1: that is exactly what Kelly has done. She started her
Speaker 1: advocacy with getting a law passed in Nebraska to set
Speaker 1: up a state database of missing persons. It passed officially
Speaker 1: in 2005, and they called it Jason's Law. Kelly also
Speaker 1: started Project Jason in honor of her son in 2003. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm going to read this directly from the description of
Speaker 1: what Project Jason is. Project Jason, founded in 2003, is
Speaker 1: a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting families of missing persons.
Speaker 1: The organization offers tactical guidance, emotional support, and hope for
Speaker 1: families continuing their search for answers. The families working with
Speaker 1: Project Jason benefit from increased public awareness of their missing
Speaker 1: loved ones through a variety of outreach and educational activities.
Speaker 1: The families are also guided towards existing resources available to
Speaker 1: help with their efforts. And this is about Project Jason.
Speaker 1: Project Jason is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and was established
Speaker 1: on October 6th of 2003. Our organization primarily focuses on
Speaker 1: case assessment, resources, and support for families of the missing.
Speaker 1: We are not an investigative agency, nor do we perform searches.
Speaker 1: We offer services we are trained to provide. Kelly Murphy,
Speaker 1: mother of missing son Jason Jolkowski, handles all interactions with
Speaker 1: family members and has over 100 hours of professional training
Speaker 1: in various aspects of missing persons, including emotional support, understanding
Speaker 1: of DNA, support tools, databases, related matters, case management, media interaction.
Speaker 2: And more. All of her services are free.
Speaker 1: As a nonprofit organization, we depend on the generosity of
Speaker 1: the public to support us so that we can continue
Speaker 1: this very important work. We ask that this support comes
Speaker 1: from other members of the community rather than the families
Speaker 1: of the missing. And this is a message from Kelly,
Speaker 1: the president and the founder of Project Jason. Before June
Speaker 1: 13th of 2001, we were just an ordinary family living
Speaker 1: a peaceful, happy existence. My husband Jim and I worked
Speaker 1: outside of the home, spent time with our two wonderful sons,
Speaker 1: attended Mass every Sunday, and enjoyed the company of family
Speaker 1: and friends. On that fateful Wednesday, our lives changed forever.
Speaker 1: Our family unit was brutally ripped apart when our oldest
Speaker 1: son Jason, then age 19, disappeared without a trace.
Speaker 2: From our driveway.
Speaker 1: His younger brother, Michael, was the last to see him
Speaker 1: dragging our trash cans up from the curb while waiting
Speaker 1: for a carpool ride for his part-time job. No clues
Speaker 1: about Jason's disappearance have been found to this day and
Speaker 1: circumstances remain. do not point to him being a runaway.
Speaker 1: Words cannot describe what it is like to have a
Speaker 1: loved one disappear. We are not allowed a goodbye or
Speaker 1: one last hug. We receive no phone calls or or letters.
Speaker 1: We long to hear Jason's voice and know that he
Speaker 1: is doing well, but have only the endless grief of
Speaker 1: not knowing. The seasons come and go, oblivious to our
Speaker 1: constant pain. When icy winter covers the ground with its beautiful,
Speaker 1: deadly blanket of snow, we can't help but long to
Speaker 1: find out if he is safe and warm, yet we
Speaker 1: are not allowed to know. Our faith in God helps
Speaker 1: us hope that he is safe and well and lets
Speaker 1: us know that we will see him again someday. We
Speaker 1: choose to go on with our lives while striving to
Speaker 1: fulfill God's plan for our family. When we were not
Speaker 1: able to locate our son, we felt that God was
Speaker 1: calling us to help other families find missing loved ones and.
Speaker 2: Cope with their disappearance.
Speaker 1: Although we will never give up hope that Jason will
Speaker 1: be found or come home, we must move forward. Along
Speaker 1: the way, we have performed other tasks to fulfill our mission.
Speaker 1: After doing much research, we discovered that unlike many other states,
Speaker 1: Nebraska currently had no true clearinghouse to provide information about
Speaker 1: missing persons. Therefore, we presented LB111, Jason's Law, to the
Speaker 1: State Judiciary Committee. On National Missing Children's Day, May 25, 2005,
Speaker 1: Jason's Law was passed. It allows for the creation of
Speaker 1: a state missing persons clearinghouse to gather and disseminate information
Speaker 1: about missing persons of all ages. Jason's Law and its
Speaker 1: benefits began on September 3rd of 2005. Project Jason, founded
Speaker 1: on October 6th of 2003, continues on its mission to
Speaker 1: help locate missing people long after the law was enacted.
Speaker 1: The Project Jason mission statement is as follows. Our mission
Speaker 1: as a nonprofit organization is to create and increase public
Speaker 1: awareness of missing people through a variety of outreach and
Speaker 1: educational activities. Project Jason seeks to bring hope and assistance
Speaker 1: to families of the missing by providing resources and support.
Speaker 1: Our motto, all missing persons are loved by someone and
Speaker 1: their families deserve to find the answers they seek in
Speaker 1: regards to their disappearance.
Speaker 2: Our creed.
Speaker 1: We are the voice for the missing, speaking for those
Speaker 1: who are not among us but who are forever in
Speaker 1: our hearts. The cause of finding the missing sometimes seems
Speaker 1: to fall between the cracks of society's sidewalk. Having a
Speaker 1: family member or close friend inexplicably disappear does not happen
Speaker 1: to everyone, yet it happens more often than you would think.
Speaker 1: There are no boundaries of age or circumstance to prevent
Speaker 1: any family from suffering this fate. We never dreamed that
Speaker 1: we would become such a family, but here we are.
Speaker 1: In the U.S., there are over 105,000 active missing persons
Speaker 1: cases altogether. All of their families deserve help in facing
Speaker 1: the tragedy of a loved one's disappearance. With your assistance,
Speaker 1: Project Jason can play an active role in providing them
Speaker 1: with comfort, assistance, and resources while educating the public and
Speaker 1: increasing awareness of missing persons cases. Take a moment and
Speaker 1: try and put yourself in the place of these families.
Speaker 1: Please open your hearts to help us help them. Thank
Speaker 1: you for your support and generosity. And I just think
Speaker 1: all of that is.
Speaker 2: So well worded the way that it is described.
Speaker 1: You are thrust into this situation and before you know it,
Speaker 1: you have a missing loved one and you never thought
Speaker 1: it would happen to you. But it happens a lot
Speaker 1: more than you think. So Kelly did retire from Project
Speaker 1: Jason in 2018, but Jason's whole family still fights for
Speaker 1: answers and remembers Jason for who he was and all
Speaker 1: that he was to them and their family. They rely
Speaker 1: on their faith in God to help them navigate the
Speaker 1: journey of missing Jason and hoping that one day they
Speaker 1: will all be reunited again. I also do want to
Speaker 1: shout out my friend Megan from A Simpler Time True
Speaker 1: Crime Podcast. She also covered Jason's case.
Speaker 2: And in her.
Speaker 1: Episode, she talks about a YouTube video where the gal
Speaker 1: basically walks you through Jason's path that day. And I'm
Speaker 1: such a visual person that this helped me a lot
Speaker 1: kind of understand what the town that Jason was walking
Speaker 1: through looked like and the path that he took to
Speaker 1: get to the high school in order to catch the
Speaker 1: ride to Fazoli's. Now, I am going to link that
Speaker 1: below in the show notes. It's about a 10-minute walk,
Speaker 1: and she tells you the story about Jason as she
Speaker 1: is taking the path from Jason's home to the high school.
Speaker 1: And keep in mind that when Jason made this walk,
Speaker 1: it was broad daylight, about 11 o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1: The video is from a creator called True Crime Treadmill,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was really well done. So I'm
Speaker 1: going to link that below as well. Jason's case is
Speaker 1: still an open investigation. Although it is baffling, I really
Speaker 1: truly do believe that someone out there knows something. And
Speaker 1: that is why sharing these stories are so, so important.
Speaker 1: Somebody had to have seen something that day. Whether or
Speaker 1: not they realize it, they had to have seen something
Speaker 1: in Jason's path. They had to have seen something. So
Speaker 1: if you happen to be in the area that day
Speaker 1: on June in 2001, it was a Wednesday, and saw something,
Speaker 1: now is the time to come forward. It's never too
Speaker 1: late to do the right thing and share what you know.
Speaker 1: If you do have any tips, please contact the Omaha
Speaker 1: Police Department at 402-444-5657. Thank you guys so much for
Speaker 1: tuning in and listening to Jason's story today. I think
Speaker 1: it's a very important one to tell. And another example
Speaker 1: of somebody that literally did just vanish into thin air.
Speaker 1: But there is and has to be answers out there
Speaker 1: to what happened to Jason. And I'm hopeful that the
Speaker 1: more his story is shared, hopefully there will be somebody
Speaker 1: that comes forward with information that could literally break the
Speaker 1: case wide open. So thank you guys. Jason, I know,
Speaker 1: had a bright future ahead of him. He had so
Speaker 1: many plans for his future. And I truly do not
Speaker 1: believe that he willingly disappeared on his own, that that
Speaker 1: was a plan that he had. It doesn't make any
Speaker 1: sense to me whatsoever. He was very close to his family.
Speaker 1: So I personally think that the runaway claim is just
Speaker 1: unfound and it doesn't really make any sense in the
Speaker 1: grand scheme of the investigation. So I hope you guys
Speaker 1: will take a minute to look at Jason's age progress
Speaker 1: photo and please share it. Like I said, you never know.
Speaker 1: If somebody is going to see something, that could break
Speaker 1: the case wide open. This is how cases are getting
Speaker 1: solved all of the time. So as always, I appreciate
Speaker 1: you guys. I hope you have a great weekend up ahead,
Speaker 1: and I will see you next week for a brand
Speaker 1: new unsolved case.
Speaker 2: Have a good one, and I will see you then.
Speaker 1: Bye.