While one year has passed since Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day disappeared and many questions remain, his family is unrelenting in their search for answers. NBC 5’s Regina Waldroup reports.
While one year has passed since Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day disappeared and many questions remain, his family is unrelenting in their search for answers.
On the campus of Illinois State University this weekend, relatives of Day organized a celebration honoring his life and launched a foundation in their loved one's name.
Day disappeared on Aug. 24, 2021 and was reported missing soon after by his family and a professor after he did not show up for class for several days. Day's car was found days later in a wooded area near where his body was ultimately discovered in the Illinois River near Peru, miles from where he was last seen.
Day's cause of death was ruled a drowning, and the manner of death - homicide, suicide or accident - remains undetermined.
The morning of his disappearance, Day grabbed a coffee at Starbucks in the student union and walked outside. Then, suddenly, something caused him to leave campus. He went home to his apartment in Bloomington and changed clothes.
By 9:12 a.m., Day was next seen walking into the Beyond Hello dispensary wearing blue shorts and a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt. He bought one joint and left.
Relatives say they're convinced Day was murdered.
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"I will not stop until I found out what happened to my son," his mother, Carmen Bolden-Day said.
A multijurisdictional task force composed of multiple police and sheriff's departments, the FBI, Illinois State Police and Illinois Attorney General's Office is leading the investigation.
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The FBI is offering up to $10,000 for “substantial information” regarding Day's death, and relatives have announced an additional $25,000 in reward money. Tips can be submitted anonymously via 1-800-CALL-FBI.
