Hundreds of people marched in Peru, demanding answers about Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day’s death. Meanwhile, Congressman Bobby Rush is asking the DOJ and the FBI for a federal investigation into the ISU grad student’s death. An autopsy reveals he died of drowning, but it remains unclear how Day got into the Illinois River where his body was found.
“The call is for truth and justice for my son. I need more than oversight in this case. We need to get this case handled in a direct manner to find out what happened to Jelani.
They’ve done nothing proper from the beginning,” said Carmen Bolden-Day.
Bolden-Day said law enforcement and the Day family haven’t been able to piece together the whereabouts of Jelani since after 9:20 p.m. Aug. 24.
“That in itself says a lot. In Bloomington-Normal where there are cameras on the stoplights. I reported him missing and his car was found two days later,” said Bolden-Day. “He didn’t put his car there. He wasn’t known to go there. You had to be from there, you had to be familiar with this area to know where the car was found. His lanyard was found in one place, his wallet in another place. Clothes that he was wearing were found half a mile from where his body was found. He was found face down in the water.”
Bolden-Day said Jelai was a swimmer.
“People who want to commit suicide who are swimmers do not do so by drowning. These are things I need answers for He could have drowned, but could have been drowned. He was found in a river” said Bolden-Day. “They wouldn’t allow me to see [Jelani], because he was so severely decomposed. How do you find trauma on someone who doesn’t have skin? I’m not a scientist, but I’ve been reading and things don’t add up.”
Bolden-Day said the cause of death has been solved, but the manner of death needs further investigation. Bolden-Day said although the LaSalle County coroner did not rule it a suicide, the report that states there ‘was no foul play’ suggests Jelani killed himself.
When the body was found, Bolden-Day had asked to see her son’s body to identify him, Bolden-Day said she was denied by the LaSalle County coroner.
So what’s the motive Bolden-Day believes is behind the mismanagement of the investigation?
“That’s my only answer to it, they have been incompetent. The FBI has proven that they’ve been successful in finding things, they found Gabby [Petito]. Then they found Brian,” said Bolden-Day. “The body that was found and later identified as Jelani was found Sept. 4, they didn’t identify [his body] as Jelani until Sept. 24. They found Gabby and identified her within 72 hours.”
Bolden-Day said her plea is for the US Attorney General Merrick Garland to become involved.
“We want answers. Jelani didn’t deserve this and we don’t deserve to be here in the dark . The things privileged to Gabby should be privileged to my son as well,” said Bolden-Day.
