Jelani Day, a graduate student at Illinois State University (ISU), went missing one year ago, and his family and many people in Bloomington are still unsure of what happened to him.
There are still a lot of unsolved questions one year later.
Dr. Carla Campbell-Jackson, first vice president of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP, stated that research “shows that sadly African-Americans who are victims of crime; those incidents go unreported and unsolved.”
Linda Foster, president of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP, said: “This young man is gone, all of that potential, all of that life that he had.”
Who Was Jelani Day?
Jelani Day, who was 25 years old and pursuing his master’s in speech pathology at Illinois State University, was well-known as a graduate student.
His car was discovered in a remote area miles from where he was last seen two days after he disappeared on August 24.
Day’s cause of death seems suspicious in light of the fact that he was reportedly interested in becoming a doctor and a devoted swimmer for his high school swim team.
What Happened to Jelani Day?
Jelani Day was found dead on September 4, 2021, a week after his car was located in Peru, Illinois. While noting that “the way in which Mr. Day went into the Illinois River is now unknown,” LaSalle County Coroner Richard Ploch announced on October 25 that his cause of death was drowning.
According to a Chicago Sun-Times story, Day’s corpse merely had sockets for eyes. According to reports, the front top and bottom teeth on the body were gone. His jawbone may have been “sawed out,” according to a private forensic pathologist’s examination.
Days’ family and legal representative claimed that the pathologist was unable to locate any organs, including the brain, liver, or spleen. The pathology report stated that the organs were “totally liquefied.” Unrecognizable genitalia was found. Attorney Hallie M. Bezner stated that she is looking for scientific answers for Day’s highly deteriorated remains.
In September, John Fermon from the Bloomington Police Department commented, “Foul play or not, it’s unique.” “Right away was unique. Do I want to say that there was suspicion of foul play? It was just so out of the ordinary and a little strange that it kind of aroused our curiosity because, “Hey, this is not generally how a missing persons go,” “This isn’t one that we suddenly stopped doing when his body was found,” Fermon continued. Simply put, it is not how we operate here at law enforcement. We’re still going to look into it, considering the circumstances.”
According to a report on Fox News on October 1, the FBI is investigating Day’s case as a possible suicide.
Jelani Day Mother Denied Suicide Narratives
Day’s mother, Carmen Bolden Day, disapproved of the narrative after the coroner’s report was made public and said that it is inaccurate.
“My son allegedly did something to himself, according to this story. In contrast, “CNN cited what she reportedly said.
“Someone is going to be held accountable for what they did to my son because they did this to him,” the man said.
A few days prior to the publication of the report, the Alabama A&M University Nu Epsilon chapter of Omega Psi Phi launched an online petition calling for state and federal authorities to take over the investigation from the Bloomington Police Department.
According to the fraternity’s appeal, “This agency has demonstrated its inability to manage a case of this magnitude.”
“Jelani is loved and symbolizes the finest of our cherished fraternity, thus bringing those guilty for this horrible murder to justice is not a request, it is a requirement.”
We won’t stop until those responsible for Jelani’s killing are brought to justice, the message added, “and the person(s) responsible for Jelani’s death are now walking our town free.”
Jelani Day Case Status in 2022
No decision has yet been made regarding whether the Department of Justice and Attorney General become involved.
A foundation has been established in Jelani Day’s name by his family. According to Bolden Day, the family is taking donations to support other minority families whose loved ones go missing.
Bolden Day declared, “I want to make sure Jelani is a symbol for change. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, and I wouldn’t want to see another mother, father, or family go through what we have gone through and are going through.”
The family hosted an “All-White affair” at ISU’s Bone Student Center to officially launch the foundation.
The Jelani Day task team is still accepting tips about the case at 1-800-CALL-FBI, according to the FBI. The task force offered a $10,000 reward in December of last year for information that might aid their investigation.
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