In this week's edition of "The Missing," we will be revisiting the mysterious disappearances of Jason "J.J." Jolkowski, a 19-year-old resident of Omaha, Nebraska, who vanished in 2001 and 20-year-old Branson Kayne Perry of Skidmore, Missouri, who also vanished in 2001.
Jason "J.J." Jolkowski
On the morning of June 13, 2001, Jason was called in to work at Fazoli's, a local restaurant at 80th and Cass Streets. Since his car was in the shop for repairs, Jason made arrangements to catch a ride with Teresa Redd, a co-worker at Fazoli's. Jason told Teresa he would meet her at 11:00 a.m. at Benson High School.
After a quick shower and change of clothes, Jason walked out the front door of his family's home at about 10:45 a.m. Jason's 13-year-old brother, Michael, saw Jason dragging the garbage cans back in from the curb before walking away from his N. 48th Street house.
Teresa waited 30 minutes for Jason, but he never showed up at the school. Jason's employer called his house looking for him, but no one had seen Jason since he left earlier that day. Somewhere along the eight-block walk to the school, Jason Jolkowski vanished without a trace.
"No one has seen or heard from Jason since then," Jason's mother, Kelly Jolkowski, wrote in an e-mail. "He has not touched his bank account, used his cell phone, picked up his checks from work, or inquired about or attempted to pick up his car from the body shop."
According to Jason's mother, he had a close relationship with his family and had no reason to run away. The week he disappeared, he was excited about starting a new job and looking forward to going to college. Despite the fact that Kelly does not believe her son ran away, she prefers that scenario to most others.
"We hope that it is just a case of Jason just wanting to get away from life's pressures for a while, as the alternative to that scenario is unbearable to think about," Kelly wrote. "It just seems odd that if he had run away, that at the very least, he would have taken his checkbook or picked up his checks from work. As we have no leads, we are trying to reach every citizen because someone has to have seen him. We love our son and just want him back home with us."
Jason is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes. He is 6'1" and weighs 165 lbs. He was last seen wearing a blue Cubs hat and a white Cubs or Sammy Sosa t-shirt, black pants, and black dress shoes.
Following Jason's disappearance, Kelly and her husband founded Project Jason, a nonprofit organization that works to increase public awareness of missing person cases. The organization's Web site can be found at www.projectjason.org.
Anyone with information about this case should contact the Omaha Police Department at 402-444-5818.
Branson Kayne Perry
Branson disappeared on the afternoon of April 11, 2001. The circumstances of his disappearance remain sketchy and, unfortunately, his father, Bob Perry – a person who may have been able to shed some light on the case – has since passed away.
"At the time of Branson's disappearance, Bob and I were divorced, and I was living in a small town about 20 miles from Skidmore," Branson’s mother Rebecca Perry wrote in an e-mail. "Bob had been in the hospital and was due to come home that Friday. Branson wanted the house to be clean when his father came home, so a friend was helping him that Wednesday. The alternator had also gone out of Bob's car prior to this day and there were two men replacing it where it was parked on the street in front of the storage shed that sat on an adjacent lot to the house. It is still unclear to me as to who asked them to fix it, whether it was Bob or Branson."
According to Rebecca, the story related to her was that a friend of Branson's was at the house that day and she witnessed several strange behaviors on the part of both Branson and the men who were working on his father's car.>
"At one point, the friend saw Branson run into the kitchen and take something out of one of the cabinets, then run out the back door. She said that when Branson returned, he wouldn't tell her what he was doing and acted like nothing had happened. She said later she had taken a shower and when she came out of the bathroom, she saw one of the men that had been working on the car going through the cabinets in the kitchen. She said she asked him what he was looking for and he told her, 'Nothing,' and went back outside."
At about 3:00 p.m. that afternoon, Branson's friend said Branson told her he was going to put some jumper cables in the shed and that he would be right back. For reasons unknown, Branson never returned and he has not been seen or heard from since.
"The friend just thought Branson had gotten sidetracked, so she left after she finished what she was doing," wrote Rebecca. "Bob did not come home that Friday, so his mother had come to the house to check on Branson, since she hadn't heard from him for a couple days. When she got to the house, all the doors had been left open and the radio was on. She went to check again Saturday, and still nothing. She became concerned and started making phone calls to his friends. No one had heard from him. I called Bob on Sunday and he called me that evening. Bob got out of the hospital Monday morning and I met them at the police station to file a missing person's report."
According to Rebecca, investigators were unable to find any clues suggesting what might have happened to Branson. However, one thing that still troubles her is the mysterious disappearance and eventual reappearance of the jumper cables Branson had gone to put away when he vanished.
"When they (the police) checked the shed for the jumper cables, they were not there," Rebecca wrote. "Two weeks after the investigation started, they mysteriously showed up in the shed, just inside the door."
The investigation eventually came to a standstill, and the case remained cold until April 2003, when police began to focus the investigation on a man from Fulton, Missouri, who had allegedly bragged about the kidnap, torture, and murder of a blonde-haired man from Skidmore. That man, who remains behind bars for unrelated crimes, denied any involvement in the case. Investigators have yet to completely rule him out as a suspect; however, they continue to explore other scenarios.
"I have never been a person to ask for much," Rebecca wrote. "I am asking, pleading, even begging for your help in finding my son or finding out what happened to him. I need for this nightmare to end. It is a roller coaster that doesn't ever stop. From the outside, I may appear to be fine. Inside, I will never be ok. If you have ever lost someone who has died, then you know that feeling of complete despair. Over time, it eases and becomes bearable."
Branson is described as a white male, 5'8" tall, 140 lbs., with blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Nodaway County Sheriff at 660-582-7451 or the Missouri Highway Patrol at 816-387-2345.
For more information on this case, visit www.bransonperry.com.
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If you are a family member of a missing loved one and have a case you would like covered here, contact me via e-mail.