Police investigating the disappearance of an Illinois State University graduate student are asking the public for tips as the search for the young man continues nearly a month after he vanished.
Jelani Day, 25, was last seen Aug. 24. His family in Danville and a faculty member reported him missing after he did not show up for class for several days.
Bloomington police said Monday they need tips from the public to aid the ongoing search for Day, whose car was found Aug. 26 in a wooded area in Peru, about 60 miles (96.6 kilometers) north of Bloomington.
“What we want is any factual tip, even as simple as. ‘Hey, you know, we saw him walking last month on the quad’ or something. That would be a good tip,” said John Fermon, a public information officer for the Bloomington Police Department.
Day's mother, Carmen Bolden Day, said it’s not like him to disappear without telling someone about his whereabouts.
She said her son wants to become a doctor and he was attending Illinois State to get his master’s degree in speech pathology.
“I need him to come home so that he could continue his journey of becoming Dr. Jelani Day,” she said.
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Illinois State President Terri Goss Kinzy referred to Day in a speech Tuesday.
“In consultation with Jelani’s family, we will continue to provide support to them and as a community, I ask that we all provide support to each other," she said.
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