Jason Jolkowski

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