The search for the missing Jelani Day at Illinois State University continues into the fourth week | Local news
BLOOMINGTON – The search for a missing Illinois State University graduate enters week four.
Watch Now: Loved Ones Keep Searching For Missing Illinois State University Student Jelani Day
Jelani “JJ” Day, 25, was last seen entering the Beyond / Hello pharmacy in Bloomington on August 24th. According to police, his 2019 Chrysler 300 was in the woods south of Peru’s Illinois Valley YCMA, which is 60 miles north of Bloomington, on Aug. 26.
The Pantagraph reported that an unidentified body was found on September 4 by a team searching the Illinois River east of the Illinois Route 251 bridge, and the Bloomington Police Department responded to aid the investigation.
The LaSalle County coroner told The Pantagraph Friday that his office was still awaiting DNA results from an Illinois State Police Department crime lab. The ISP forensics department was unavailable for comment on Saturday.
The coroner previously said it could take weeks to identify the body.
The data published on the ISP website showed that there was a backlog of 3,670 orders for the analysis of biological data from crime scenes and perpetrators in June. The report found a 14% increase in orders closed for the fiscal year that ended in June.
The Bloomington Police Department asked the public not to speculate about the discovery of the unidentified body, as the investigation is still active and could take “significant time”.
BPD official John Fermon previously told The Pantagraph that without positive identification of the body found in Peru, city police would not give preliminary opinions.
Fermon said Saturday the investigation into Day’s disappearance was still active.
He previously said that The Pantagraph investigators are combing digital data to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the case.
New pictures of Missing Illinois State University student Jelani Day released
Day’s family announced that a $ 25,000 reward would be available for information leading up to him, and a GoFundMe was created to match that amount.
ISU hosted an event on September 3 to show its support for Days’ family and search effort, which was attended by over 100 people. The missing person’s mother, Carmen Bolden Day, said at the event that she wanted people to know: “Jelani is not dead and we will find him.”
Bolden Day also said her son was strong and asked people to pray for his continued strength.
Jelani Day is a black man, six feet tall, weighs 180 pounds, has short black hair, brown eyes, and some facial hair. Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Paul Jones at 309-434-2548 or [email protected].
Photos: Inside the ISU lab where students’ COVID tests are being analyzed
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Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison