Missing graduate student Jelani Day has tragically been confirmed dead after he was first reported missing one month ago. Unfortunately, there is still much left unknown in the case…
For those that don’ t know, Jelani, a grad student at Illinois State University , was last seen on campus on August 24, according to NBC News . His family soon filed a missing person report when he did not get in contact for several days, which was very unusual behavior for him.
Sadly, on Thursday, the LaSalle County Coroner’s Office in Indiana confirmed a body found in the Illinois River on September 4 was that of the aspiring speech pathologist. While no cause of death has been determined yet, according to the press release, the coroner was able to match the particular remains to the student by using dental records and DNA testing.
Jelani was just 25 years old.
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Now, his family is still fighting for justice as they believe the case has already been mishandled, especially in light of the mainstream attention Gabby Petito ’s homicide has received.
So far, the Bloomington Police Department ‘ s investigation has turned up little to no leads. They did discover via security cameras that he had visited a cannabis dispensary early on the morning associated with his disappearance. But two days later, his white Chrysler was found about an hour north regarding Bloomington, in Peru, Illinois. NBC News added that his clothes were left in the car. Police searched the area with the help of dogs and drones, but they found no sign of typically the missing person.
As for how the family knew something was wrong after not hearing from Day for multiple times, his mother Carmen Day previously told Dateline :
“I call him my ‘bill collector child. ’ Because he just calls me and calls me, nonstop, a number of times a day. So to not hear from him in a week is very unlike your pet. Something’ s not right. ”
Unfortunately, this family doesn’ t think these people received the same amount involving support as others — specifically calling out the FBI for their involvement in Gabby’ s viral case, which saw nationwide attention as TikTokers and police worked to find the white YouTuber’ s body. Those efforts have continued as they will now seek to find her fiancé Brian Laundrie , who is on the run. While speaking to NBC New s, Jelani’s brother D’ Andre Day insisted:
“Police can do a lot more. ”
He also urged:
“The same manpower that they gave her, I want often the same manpower for my brother. ”
Obviously your difference between the cases goes beyond race and sex. Gabby and her boyfriend’ s constant social media posting made the exact mystery of her disappearance the very perfect case for internet sleuths to dive into. But it still must be infuriating in order to have your own family member’ s death go under a radar like this.
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Though he doesn’t blame the main Petito family for garnering so much attention — he can understand the intense pain and grief they are feeling in the wake of her death — D’ Andre says he just wants the same assist in uncovering what happened to be able to his brother.
He compassionately added:
“I understand what [Petito’s] family is going through because we are going through that right now. Jelani just didn’ t disappear. Somebody knows what happened. Somebody needs to report what happened. We need everybody involved, finally, the same way they were involved with Gabby. ”
Upon learning of the devastating news that Jelani was dead, the family issued a statement for you to NBC Chicago , making it very clear they don’t intend to settle until they have answers. They wrote:
“Throughout these 30 days and nights, our very first concern has been finding Jelani, and now we need to find out #WhatHappenedToJelaniDay. At this moment there are more questions than answers surrounding Jelani’ h disappearance and death, and that will is where we will focus our energy. As of this moment, we do not know what happened to Jelani and all of us will not stop until we all do. ”
And, of course , they will fight for this justice while grappling with the unimaginable loss, many people noted:
“There are no words to clearly communicate our devastation. ”
Truly so, therefore sad… We hope all that amateur sleuths on social media can help uncover some answers to this mysterious case. The family is exactly right — simply as so many have come forward with stories about interacting with Brian , somebody must know something about Jelani. We’ll be thinking connected with this family as they continue to help search for the truth.
[Image via Bloomington Police Department/ Facebook ]
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