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.

Jason Jolkowski
Jason A. Jolkowski
• Height: About 6' 1"
• Weight: 165 pounds.
• Age: He would be 22
• Features: Brown hair and brown eyes. Last seen wearing black dress pants and black dress shoes, a white Chicago Cubs or Sammy Sosa shirt and a blue Chicago Cubs hat.
• Help: Anyone with information about Jason is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (402) 444-STOP.

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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