John Thomas Jamelske (born May 9, 1935) is an American serial rapist-kidnapper who, from 1988 to his apprehension in 2003, kidnapped a series of girls and women and held them captive in a concrete bunker[1] beneath the yard of his home in DeWitt, a suburb of Syracuse, New York, United States.

Jamelske and his wife lived in a three-bedroom single-family home at 7070 Highbridge Road in Fayetteville, New York.

[5] In approximately March 1995, Jamelske abducted a 14-year-old Latina runaway[6] whom he lured under the premise of paying her to deliver a secret package.

The victim wanted to write home to her parents letting them know she was alive, and while Jamelske did agree he insisted she tell them that she was in a drug rehabilitation clinic.

Police searched for registered vehicles matching this description in the New York area and came up with a single hit.

It is noted that, despite that body style being available from 1971 to 1977, police failed to search any other year, as the car Jamelske drove was a 1975 Mercury Comet of the same color.

[11] Representatives from the Syracuse police appeared on Dateline NBC and criticized the woman for providing insufficient information.

The girl's sister checked the caller ID and dialed the number back, which turned out to be a bottle return center located in Manlius.

In a prison interview with MSNBC, Jamelske said that he should not be punished for what he did and that, once arrested, he had thought he would at the most spend a couple of days in jail, pay a fine, or perform community service.

He said that his lawyers had to spend several days after his arrest to make it clear to him that taking women and holding them in a dungeon is kidnapping.

The case is also covered in the book True Stories of Law & Order: SVU: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Hit TV Show by Kevin Dwyer and Juré Fiorillo.

[18][19] Police found Jamelske's residence to be systematically filled with miscellaneous items of little or no value: newspapers, magazines, beer bottles, receipts spanning two decades, etc.

When police found the dungeon they contacted one of the known victims to link Jamelske to her testimony by asking what three words were written on the wall.

A crucifix hung by the door, next to "PEACE TO ALL WHO ENTER HERE", as well as the words "HATE" and "READY TO RUCUSS [sic], SO BRING ON THE PAIN" in deep crimson.

Next to a yellow extension cord which ran out from a hole in the top of the walls was an eight inch (203 mm) aluminum hose that pumped warm air from the house furnace.

Jamelske often told his captives that he was a part of the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department and had shown a fake badge he had found on the street years earlier, as well as telling them that he was under certain bosses that were making him do this.

He told his victims under this story that the easier the daily rapes could occur the faster his bosses might let the girls out.