Jason Anthony Jolkowski - Missing Since June 2001

Field	Details
Name	Jason Anthony Jolkowski (Nickname: J.J.)
Date of Last Contact	June 13th, 2001 (Wednesday)
Missing From	Omaha, Nebraska, Douglas County (Pinkney and N. 48th Street) Was walking a short walk from his home to his former high school, Benson High School.
Age at Disappearance	19 Years
Current Age	44 Years
Birthdate Range	June 24th, 1981
Biological Sex	Male
Race / Ethnicity	White / Caucasian
Height	6'1" (73 inches)
Weight	165 lbs
BMI	21.8 (Lean, average build, suggesting a tall, slender frame)
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Brown
Clothing and Accessories	Blue "Cubs" cap, white "Chicago Cubs" or "Sammy Sosa" T-shirt, black dress pants, black dress shoes, carrying a red work T-shirt with "Fazolli's" on it
Circumstances	Jason was last seen leaving his home in Omaha, Nebraska, to walk to Benson High School to meet a coworker for a ride to work. He never arrived at the school and has not been heard from since.
NamUs Case Number	MP73
NamUs Case Created	December 12th, 2008 (Friday)

Body Mass Index (BMI) Insight: Jason’s BMI of 21.8, calculated from his height (6'1") and weight (165 lbs), places him in the healthy weight range. This suggests he had a tall, slender physique, which could help visualize him as someone who appeared lanky but fit, possibly noticeable in a crowd due to his height but not overly imposing due to his lean build. This detail can aid in reconstructing his appearance for witnesses or readers trying to picture him on that day in Omaha.

AI image generated from Grok.

By: Shane Lambert
Original Publication Date: October 17th, 2025

On June 13th, 2001 (Wednesday), 19-year-old Jason Anthony Jolkowski, known as J.J., vanished in Omaha, Nebraska, under baffling circumstances. The tall (6'1"), slender (165 lbs) Caucasian male with brown hair and eyes was last seen leaving his home (near N. 48th Street and Pinkney) to walk less than a mile to Benson High School, where he was previously a student. He was to meet a coworker for a ride to his job at a Fazoli’s restaurant.

A neighbor, Chester Link, reported seeing Jason pulling back garbage cans to the house. Jason's younger brother also saw this. But there is no evidence Jason ever reached the school, which would be just a 20-30 minute walk. No signs of struggle, phone activity, or CCTV footage (unavailable in the area) surfaced.

Theories range from an opportunistic abduction to an accident (e.g., falling into a construction site), but no evidence supports any scenario. This is one of the most baffling disappearances I've come across while operating this blog and the opinion is supported by true crime enthusiasts in general.

Timeline

The snippet below is the best description of the sequence of events from that day that I could find in local journalism from the summer of 2001. It appeared in the July 13th, 2001 edition of the Omaha World-Herald.

To summarize:

@10:30AM on June 13th, 2001: Fazoli's phones Jason and asks him to come in early. Jason agrees and states that he would walk to work. (Note: I took the timing of the call to mean that Fazoli's anticipated needing help with the lunch rush).

Soon after: A co-worker phones him and offers a ride, Jason says to meet at Benson High School.

@ about 10:45am: Jason leaves his home. His meeting time is scheduled for 11am with the co-worker at the high school.

At about that time: Redd arrives at Benson High School and waits 30 minutes for Jason and then returns to Fazoli's. The restaurant calls his home twice that day. 

Abduction by Unknown Actor(s)?

If Jason was abducted by an unknown actor, then it calls into question how someone abducted a man Jason's size in broad daylight at a time of day when people would have been out and about in a residential area. Jason was not a heavy person, but he was tall at 6'1" and taller people naturally have some power.

It would be hard for a normal person to abduct a 6'1" and 19-year old male without causing a commotion as people with these demographics are able to mount counterattacks more effectively than some other groups (ie. short and modestly athletic women). Even if we are talking about an abductor who is 6'5" and 250 pounds, then it would still be a struggle to abduct someone who is 19 years old and 6'1".

Therefore, I find an abduction involving force at about 11AM in a populated area hard to picture. That does call into question the size of the unknown actor and, presumably, his strength. It also calls into question the presence of a weapon to coerce silence. But that weapon could simply be trust.

I wondered if Jason entered someone else's vehicle voluntarily, meaning he entered the vehicle of the unknown actor, someone that he knew, before getting to Benson High School. Since he had to get to work, we can reasonably assume that Jason would only voluntarily enter a vehicle if the driver would either take him to work or at least take him to the meeting point at Benson High School. However, this scenario loses some momentum when you consider that he only verified that he would go to work at 10:30am that morning and disappeared sometime around 11AM. That's not much time to plan an abduction, lending support to "Wrong place at the wrong time" kind of scenarios.

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

The phrase "Wrong Place at the Wrong Time" is an English idiom that describes bad luck. People in the wrong place at the wrong time are people who are not doing anything particularly wrong but just happen to be conducting their affairs in the random crossfires of clandestine life. Someone who dies from a stray bullet might be said to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also, someone walking down the sidewalk who encounters some kind of clandestine event and suffers a mishap for it would be described in the same way.

It's still amazing that no clue as to what happened to him has surfaced. That in itself is a bit of a clue. Something happened to Jason that police, family, and scores of online true crime fans have not been able to trace.

The Restaurant That Jason Worked At: Fazoli's

The Fazoli's that Jason worked at was on 80th Street and Cass Street in Omaha. This restaurant still appears in Google Maps as of recent updates and it appears in archives with the site but those archives only go back to September 2008. I did see an update in an Omaha newspaper which claimed the Cass Street location would open in September 1996, meaning it was fully operational by the time Jason worked there.

September 4th, 1996. Omaha World-Herald

In the media coverage from 2001, Jason's home address, the high school, and his workplace appeared in a map, confirming that he worked at the 80th Street and Cass Street location.

July 13th, 2001.

Recommended source: There's a transcript at ListenNotes.com that is worth reading for this case.

What Makes This Case So Baffling

Aspect	Details
Time Window	Jason disappeared within a 15-minute window (10:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.) on June 13th, 2001 (Wednesday).
Safety of Time	The time of day was safer-than-average for being out in public, with clear weather (84°F, partly cloudy) and low traffic in the Benson neighborhood but still enough people out to deter anything overtly clandestine.
Physical Profile	As a 6'1", fit 19-year-old male, Jason would be harder to abduct than most, suggesting a swift or strategic approach was used -- but something that seems difficult given the conditions.
Neighborhood Safety	He was not in a dangerous neighborhood, disappearing from 3425 N 48th St, near James Lake Park. I did the walk on Google Maps using maps from 2009 to 2011, the earliest available. Nothing stood out at all. I recommend doing this walk yourself just to get an idea of how innocent the neighborhood seems.
Personal Conduct	Jason was not engaged in anything clandestine, with no involvement in drugs, alcohol, or crime, per family reports.
Coworker Behavior	The coworker who was to pick him up at Benson High School, did not behave suspiciously, calling at 11:15–11:30 a.m. concerned when he didn’t arrive.

Samuel Sherman Disappearance - A Red Herring

Samuel Sherman was a male who was the same age as Jason. He, Sherman, went missing at about the same time in the same vicinity. This case is commonly mentioned in online forums. But Sherman was found alive in 2020.

Lisa Marie Beste - Mysterious Disappearance in Early 1991, Active Serial Killer in Area

Lisa Marie Best - Missing Since 1991

Category	Details
Missing Person	Lisa Marie Beste (NamUs MP19739)
Biological Sex	Female
Race / Ethnicity	White / Caucasian
Missing Age	24 Years
Current Age	58 Years
Birthdate Range	Between January 8th, 1967 and January 7th, 1968 (Websleuths forum says DOB was January 23rd, 1967, confirmed via public information at Ancestry)
Date of Last Contact	January 7th, 1992 (Tuesday), last seen in the morning.
Missing From	Affton, Missouri (4300 Block of Seibert Avenue)
County	St. Louis County
Missing From Tribal Land	No
Circumstances of Disappearance	Subject was last seen on the morning of January 7th, 1992, little is known about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
Height	5' 3" - 5' 5" (63 - 65 Inches)
Weight	110 - 130 lbs
BMI	Approximately 19.5 - 23.0 (calculated using average height of 64 inches and weight range; BMI = weight in kg / (height in m)^2)
BMI Explanation	This BMI range falls within the normal weight category (18.5-24.9), suggesting a slender to average build. It helps visualize the person as having a healthy, non-obese frame, likely appearing fit and of medium slenderness at the time of disappearance.
Hair Color	Blond/Strawberry
Eye Color	Green (Left and Right)
Distinctive Physical Features	No Known Information
Clothing and Accessories	Black leather coat; Blue jeans; Tennis shoes
NamUs Case Created	March 22nd, 2013 (Sunday)

By: Shane Lambert
Original Publication Date: October 16th, 2025

Lisa Marie Beste was last seen on Tuesday, January 7th, 1992, in her home. A friend, who was a male, visited her on the 4300 Block of Seibert Avenue. After he left, she was not seen again with her 6-year-old son arriving home from kindergarten about an hour later.

The first journalism I found on the case was on January 11th, 1992 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The friend that visited her was referred to with the masculin pronoun, she was described as living with her boyfriend, and it's stated that her purse was also missing. Furthermore, she had a bunch of Christmas presents in her car that she planned to return to Kmart but the car did not leave her home.

The case appeared to be treated as a suspicious disappearance from the early going.

There was not a lot of journalism on this case following the original article above. Furthermore, this individual did not have a large presence in Ancestry. 

UP149967 is not a bad match but this Jane Doe case does not have many details available.

Active Serial Killer in the Area in the Early 1990s

Gary Muehlberg, the "Package Killer," is a compelling suspect for Lisa Marie Beste's 1992 disappearance in Affton, Missouri, due to several overlapping factors.

Active in St. Louis County from 1990–1993, Muehlberg targeted women, strangling or smothering them and disposing of their bodies in "packages" like trash cans or mattresses along roadsides.

His confirmed victims were four women aged 18–40, killed in 1990–1991. This would place his spree precisely around Beste’s January 7th, 1992, disappearance.

Affton, in St. Louis County, lies within Muehberg's operational area. 

Beste, a 24-year-old white woman, broadly fits the age and gender of his known victims, though no evidence confirms she was a sex worker, unlike his typical targets.

Despite the fact that Beste was not known to be a prostitute, her disappearance resembles some of Muehlberg's very early crimes. In the 1970s, he attacked two women in their homes, supporting the notion that he could have attacked Beste in her home.

August 13th, 1972. The Salina Journal.

He gained access to one woman's phone simply by asking to use the telephone.

Furthermore, he was a thief, which would explain Beste's missing purse. I think Muehlberg is someone that should be looked at in relation to Beste's disappearance, especially since Beste claimed to have killed an unfound woman.

Attempt to Match: NamUs #UP149967 Compared to Local Missing Women

Thank you for reading. Below, I look at a Jane Doe who was found in St. Louis City, Missouri, and compare the case details to the missing women in the area. - Shane Lambert

Table 1: Summary of Jane Doe (NamUs #UP149967)

Field	Details
NamUs Number	#UP149967
Biological Sex	Female
Race/Ethnicity	Uncertain
Estimated Age Group	Adult - Pre 50
Height	5'4" (64 inches), Estimated
Weight	Cannot Estimate
Date Body Found	September 21, 1993 (Tuesday)
Location Found	St. Louis City, MO (near Hall St & Humboldt Ave, 38°41'59.8"N 90°13'11.2"W) Google Maps goes back to October 2009 for the area, well after the remains were found. I did note some train tracks with bushes nearby in what looks like an industrial area.
County	St. Louis City County, MO
Condition of Remains	Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton
Estimated Time of Death	I would think likely March–August 1993 (1–6 months prior), possibly earlier if the remains were well hidden
Circumstances	Decomposed remains discovered in St. Louis City
Physical Description	No hair, eye color, or distinctive features reported
Clothing/Accessories	No information entered
ME/C Case Number	CITY-1993-1948

Table 2: Missing Women Ranked by Likelihood of Matching Jane Doe

I looked at missing women who were 5'1" to 5'7", aged 50 or younger, from St. Louis City County or neighboring counties (St. Louis County, Jefferson County, St. Charles County, Franklin County, Madison County, St. Clair County), and who went missing before the Jane Doe was found on September 21, 1993. With few details on the Jane Doe's demographics, I developed the list below. The list only reflects my speculation and opinion.

I deemed a missing person more likely to be the Jane Doe based on the time of disappearance (early 1990s, 1990–1992, is most likely, as the ruled-out cases of Janice Dietz and Donna Jenson suggest a death around that time), age (closer to 50 is more likely, given the pre-50 designation), and proximity to the discovery location. The Jane Doe did not appear in the newspaper archives I have access to, nor did she have many details in her NamUs profile, making this a difficult case.

Two cases below have been included with the strikethrough feature. These are missing women in the area, but they are already listed among the rule-outs at NamUs for this Jane Doe.

Janice Dietz would be the most-likely match for the Jane Doe but the authorities have already ruled her out. My top guess would be that the Jane Doe was Lisa Beste, meaning I will take a close look at her case.

	Name	NamUs #	Last Contact	Age	Location	County	Miles	Score
1	Janice Dietz	MP84771	09/10/1991	33	St. Louis, MO	St. Louis City	~5	83.0
2	Lisa Beste	MP19739	01/07/1992	24	Affton, MO	St. Louis County	~9	75.4
3	Nancy Brannon	MP228	11/26/1986	34	Shrewsbury, MO	St. Louis County	~8	74.4
4	Deborah Dean	MP1506	05/03/1985	23	St. Louis, MO	St. Louis City	~5	70.8
5	Donna Jenson	MP43420	04/22/1990	30	Collinsville, IL	Madison, IL	~20	68.3
6	Patricia Girou	MP3871	06/11/1975	45	St. Louis County, MO	St. Louis County	~10	63.0
7	Donna Mezo	MP6401	02/18/1992	16	Belleville, IL	St. Clair, IL	~20	59.6
8	Pauline Szwedo	MP43418	01/14/1975	46	East Saint Louis, IL	St. Clair, IL	~15	58.6
9	Diana Braungardt	MP3253	03/11/1987	18	Festus, MO	Jefferson, MO	~15	57.8
10	Mary Weekly	MP24532	03/03/1978	25	St. Louis, MO	St. Louis City	~5	55.9
11	Sandra Stanek	MP43419	05/01/1986	23	O'Fallon, IL	St. Clair, IL	~20	55.8
12	Kathy Pendelton	MP108901	05/31/1976	22	St. Louis, MO	St. Louis City	~5	54.2
13	Marie Mueller	MP33954	03/05/1972	43	Frontenac, MO	St. Louis County	~10	53.8
14	Phyllis Corbin	MP50556	11/01/1963	16	St. Louis, MO	St. Louis City	~5	38.5
15	Tammy Surdam	MP34986	08/10/1979	13	St. Charles, MO	St. Charles, MO	~15	38.8

How You Can Help

Try to enhance the details of the Jane Doe's case. Finding a newspaper article would help with that. At time of writing, the Websleuths forum for this Jane Doe was not well developed.

Why is Lisa Marie Beste the Top Pick?

Lisa Marie Beste, missing since January 7, 1992.

Lisa Marie Beste (NamUs #MP19739) is the top non-ruled-out candidate to match the Jane Doe (NamUs #UP149967), found skeletonized on September 21, 1993, in St. Louis City, Missouri, due to her weighted-average alignment with key criteria: time of disappearance, age, and geographic proximity. 

The exclusion of Janice Dietz (missing since 1991) and Donna Jenson (missing since 1990) suggests investigators estimated the Jane Doe’s death in the early 1990s, making Beste’s disappearance on January 7th, 1992, highly relevant. Skeletonization could occur fairly rapidly in St. Louis due the warm and humid climate but the exact conditions aren't available.

Beste was 24 years old when she went missing from Affton, St. Louis County. That's not the best age for the Jane Doe, who was listed as pre-50. I assumed that their designation of pre-50 implied that they had some reason to think she might be closer to 50 than other Does, who receive lower-age estimates (ie. pre-40).

Beste's height was also a close match, NamUs says she was 5'1" to 5'3" and the Jane Doe was estimated at 5'4". The difference is not significant as morticians often struggle with height estimates when looking at skeletonized remains.

Beste was last seen just 9 miles from the Jane Doe’s discovery site at Hall Street and Humboldt Avenue. Beste’s temporal and geographic alignment makes her the strongest candidate, though her younger age slightly tempers the match. Further forensic analysis, like dental records, could confirm or refute this hypothesis. Furthermore, more case details that may be available in newspapers or online would be welcomed to improve match potential.

NamUs UP14691: San Mateo County Jane Doe (2015) (ATTEMPT TO MATCH)

NamUs UP14691: San Mateo County Jane Doe (2015)

Category	Details
NamUs Case Number	UP14691
ME/C Case Number	15-01649
Date Body Found	October 19, 2015
Location Found	Stulsaft Park, Redwood City, San Mateo County, CA 94061
GPS Coordinates	N37°27'.404" W122°14'.943"
Biological Sex	Female
Race / Ethnicity	Uncertain
Estimated Age Range	20-35 Years (Adult, Pre-40)
Estimated Year of Death	~2010 (Estimated PMI: 5 Years)
Condition of Remains	Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only (torso, one or more limbs, one or both hands not recovered)
Circumstances of Recovery	Skeletal remains found wrapped in white cloth near a pedestrian walking trail in Stulsaft Park, Redwood City.
Physical Description	Height/Weight: Cannot estimate; Hair/Eye Color: Unknown (skeletal remains only); No distinctive features noted
Clothing and Accessories	None; remains wrapped in white cloth near the body
NamUs Case Created	January 16, 2016
Last Updated	September 20, 2024
Additional Notes	Not found on tribal land; no NCMEC number; case remains active with San Mateo County Coroner

By: Shane Lambert
Original time of writing: October 11th, 2025

The San Mateo County Jane Doe is a case stemming from the October 2015 discovery of human remains in Stulsaft Park. This park is located in Redwood City, which is between San Francisco and San Jose. The remains of this person, thought to be female, were only partially found. Her skeletal remains were found wrapped in a blanket near a hiking or walking trail in the park.

It was thought that she died in 2010, but these estimates are difficult to make. Her age estimate is broadly considered to be 20-25 years old. While her ethnic background is not listed, the artistic renderings do suggest a black individual. But anyone cross referencing this case will need to be careful with assumptions.

Attempt to Match: San Mateo County Jane Doe/Eduviges Prado

The potential match between NamUs UP14691 (San Mateo County Jane Doe, found October 19, 2015, in Stulsaft Park, Redwood City) and MP23709 (Eduviges Prado, missing from Menlo Park since March 15, 2009) is compelling but not conclusive. I independently identified this connection based on timeline, location, and demographic alignment, later discovering a Websleuths user, Melt71, who suggested the same link in a May 19, 2020, post in a thread. Below, I analyze the strengths and weaknesses of this potential match, drawing on the provided NamUs data and regional context.

Strengths:

The timeline is a significant strength. Prado disappeared in March 2009, and UP14691’s estimated postmortem interval (PMI) of ~5 years places her death around 2010, a mere one-year gap within the margin of error for skeletal remains exposed to Stulsaft Park’s environment.
Location is another strong factor: Menlo Park is only ~3 miles from Redwood City, both in San Mateo County, a compact urban area with high mobility, especially among transient populations.The missing person was last seen in Menlo Park, which is a short drive from where the Jane Doe was found.
Prado’s age (22) fits neatly within UP14691’s estimated range (20-35), and her female sex matches the skeletal analysis. Her Hispanic/Latino ethnicity aligns with San Mateo County’s demographic (25% Hispanic in 2010) and doesn’t conflict with UP14691’s "uncertain" race, as skeletal remains often require DNA for ancestry confirmation. The proximity and timeline make it plausible that Prado, if deceased, could have been moved to or died in Stulsaft Park.

Weaknesses:

The primary weakness is the lack of detailed circumstances for Prado’s disappearance. NamUs only states she was "last seen in Menlo Park," with no mention of lifestyle, mental health, or risk factors (e.g., transient status, employment, or relationships). This vagueness hinders connecting her to the park or the cloth wrapping, which could imply homicide but lacks context in Prado’s case.
UP14691’s partial remains (missing torso, limbs, hands) prevent height, weight, or feature comparisons. Prado’s brown hair and eyes can’t be verified against skeletal remains, and her reported height (5’0”-5’2”) and weight (145 lbs) remain untestable.

In conclusion, the match is moderately strong due to timeline, location, and demographics, supported by my independent analysis and Melt71’s post. However, without forensic confirmation or detailed circumstances, it remains speculative.

Comparison: UP14691 (San Mateo County Jane Doe) vs. MP23709 (Eduviges Prado)

Category	UP14691 (Jane Doe)	MP23709 (Eduviges Prado)	Match Notes
NamUs Case	UP14691	MP23709	Unidentified vs. missing person; no confirmed forensic link.
Timeline	Found: Oct 19, 2015 Est. Death: ~2010 (PMI ~5 years)	Last Seen: Mar 15, 2009	Strong: 2009 disappearance aligns with ~2010 death (1-year gap within PMI error).
Location	Stulsaft Park, Redwood City, CA 94061	Menlo Park, CA 94025	Strong: ~3 miles apart in San Mateo County; high mobility in urban area.
Sex	Female	Female	Exact match.
Age	20-35 years	22 years (at disappearance)	Strong: Prado’s age fits within Jane Doe’s range.
Race/Ethnicity	Uncertain	Hispanic/Latino	Plausible: Uncertain race doesn’t exclude Hispanic; for some reason, the artistic rendering depicts dark skin.
Physical Traits	Height/Weight: Unknown Hair/Eyes: Unknown (skeletal)	Height: 5’0”-5’2” Weight: 145 lbs Hair/Eyes: Brown	Neutral: Skeletal remains limit comparisons; Prado’s traits don’t conflict.
Circumstances	Partial skeletal remains in white cloth, near trail; possible foul play.	Last seen in Menlo Park; no details on lifestyle or risk factors.	Neutral: Vague circumstances for each case.

Tara Faye Grinstead - Murderer Convicted, Body Not Found

Field	Details
Name	Tara Faye Grinstead (Called "Ms. Grinstead" in some newspaper articles from the of her disappearance, suggesting she was unmarried).
Biological Sex	Female
Race / Ethnicity	White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact	October 22nd, 2005 (Saturday)
Missing From	Ocilla, Georgia
County	Irwin County
Missing Age	30 Years
Current Age	50 Years
Birthdate Range	October 23rd, 1974 - October 22nd, 1975 (Probably November 14th, 1974)
Height	5' 3" - 5' 5" (63 - 65 Inches)
Weight	100 - 110 lbs
BMI	17.7 - 20.2
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Brown
Distinctive Physical Features	Pierced ears, pierced navel, small tan-colored birthmark on front of shoulder
Clothing	Possibly black sweatpants
Footwear	Possibly gray New Balance sneakers
Circumstances of Disappearance	Tara was last seen at approximately 11:00pm at an acquaintance's residence in the vicinity of the 700 block of W. 3rd St. in Ocilla, GA. She left the residence and arrived at her home in the vicinity of S. Alder St. and W. Park St. in Ocilla, GA. It is unknown at what time she arrived. Her vehicle, the clothes she wore, and cell phone were found at her residence which was locked. Supplemental details: she attended a cookout the night she went missing, when she got home there was a robbery in progress, and alarm bells were raised on Monday she did not report to work (she was a high school teacher).

By: Shane Lambert
Original Publication Date: October 10th, 2025

Tara Faye Grinstead was a high school teacher who went missing in October 2005. The first newspaper coverage I found of her disappearance discussed a large reward for information leading to her whereabouts. That dated to December 2005 and it seemed that this was considered a likely abduction scenario in the early going.

USA Today. December 21, 2005.

December 21st, 2005. Anderson Independent Mail.

This is a case where there is a conviction with the body. In 2017, Ryan Alexander Duke was convicted of charges related to her death, including felony murder. The same article suggests that the missing person's body was destroyed. It appeared as though she arrived home and stumbled onto an active crime scene as there was a robbery in progress once she got there.

April 13, 2017. Atlanta Constitution.

The second page of the article above stated that the robbers were former students of the high school that Grinstead taught at.

I think that this is a case that online researchers can basically leave alone. It's not that mysterious as to what happened to her thanks to the convictions. It is also a well covered case. The mysterious is where her remains are but if they were destroyed, as suggested in the article above, then any work attempting to aid locating her by online researches could be entirely futile.