Found Deceased IL - Jelani 'JJ' Day, 25, ISU grad student, missed class, Bloomington, 23 Aug 2021 #2

[Seattle1]

I’ve actually been reading more of the posts it’s very interesting bc they don’t have a manner of death…it’s soooo sad

Exactly-- this remains an open death investigation (and why we're still here on this thread). Also sad that the FBI reward has not resulted in any leads that we know of. I was hoping to hear from a witness in Peru that saw Jelani walking from the area his vehicle was located, and that could confirm whether or not Jelani was alone.

 

[branmuffin]

I just finished reading the first thread and haven't really started this one yet but I just want to mention a few things while they are fresh in my mind. I think LE is caught between a rock and a hard place with JD's tragic passing. I feel for his family trying to make sense of the incomprehensible.

My experience with people affected by suicide is that it doesn't always portent itself. Life goes on for the sufferer; they make dinner plans, drop off dry cleaning, and rarely leave behind a note. A reason why. The survivors have to navigate the loss without any kind of signage. Because nothing survives in a vacuum they provide their own oxygen, they create a narrative that makes sense to them.

My first thoughts about Jelani is that he must have been under a lot of pressure either real or perceived from his family. To become a doctor, a success story. People asked was that his dream or his mom's? My second is that Jelani's repeated offenses for speeding that ultimately ended in a suspension isn't mentioned by his family, probably because they think any whiff of impropriety of a young man they have on a pedestal would take away from either his memory or result in LE not pursuing their belief that his death was the result of foul play.

Fulfilling expectations can be really difficult for someone who may be having second thoughts about their professional trajectory. Just a few months ago on WS there was a case of a young man who went missing from his university. He was eventually found drowned in a lake, I think. He hadn't attended classes for months. His parents never knew; he kept up that facade till he couldn't do it anymore. I get that vibe here with JD.

I don't remember what post it was in the previous thread but it mentioned that JD used to live or visit someone who lived at the YMCA in Bloomington. So I'm not really sure if it is a coincidence that his car was found almost on the grounds of the Y in Peru. Judging by the aerial views it seems like an area someone might be able to take a short cut through to the Y without actually parking in the lot.

I feel that JD may have had some demons he was dealing with; ones that perhaps were too great to discuss or disclose to his family. His mom wouldn't even acknowledge that he bought weed.

The day JD went to Peru the temperature was 36C (96.8F) so it was really hot and humid. JD was an athlete; he'd been involved in track. What if he met someone he knew at the Y, ended up in an argument, went back to the car to leave but decided to take a run instead, even in such oppressive heat? What if he left his hat and t-shirt in the car, wearing only his shorts and shoes. Did he run down to the river? Did he run to a bridge but which, the 251 or the 351? His body was found between the two bridges on the south side of the river, his clothing slightly southeast, I don't know what side of the river.

I automatically thought that the Illinois River flowed into Lake Michigan, from west to east. But it doesn't. Lake Michigan is more of a watershed lake and the water from the Michigan actually flows into the Illinois River ultimately meeting up with the Mississippi. So it flows east to west. There are several dams still on the Illinois further north toward Chicago, and I don't know if they release water every now and then. If they do release water changing water levels it may account for the different type of insect activity during the decomp phase. It could also explain how his clothing ended up in a different area than the body.

If JD did commit suicide from a bridge it makes more sense he went in from the smaller bridge and his body moved with the river flow and ended up on the south side of the river closer to the 251 bridge.

This is all just speculation on my part. The idea of foul play is very low on my probability chart. Although, I do wonder if there is a person out there who may be able to offer some explanations as to the circumstances that led up to the final hours of JD's life. IMO

 

[5W's]

The legal amount listed by the dispensary is quite generous and seems to be based on IL law. It looks like you can buy far more than any experienced user would ever consume at one time. My opinion is that if he consumed an excessive amount he never would have made it driving as far as Peru.

From the Beyond/Hello web site:
Illinois Adult-Use Cannabis - Beyond / Hello

Illinois residents 21 years of age and older can possess:

• 30g of marijuana flower (smokable marijuana)
• 5g of “concentrated” forms of marijuana
• Marijuana-infused products that contain a total of 500mg of THC

Thanks for posting this its informative. I could be wrong but I believe the percentage of THC in the amount is what will make the product potent. And again I could be wrong but the infused products have a lower potency I believe. I thought I read this somewhere. Perhaps I read something about this on Weed Maps or is it WeedMaps. I would like to link it but I have to get that part straight on my part. I also believe cannabinoid oil is most potent. The dried flowers to smoke are usually 10% potent they are the least. CBD as opposed to THC has almost no high. Forgive me if I made a mistake on anything here.

 

[Kittybunny]

I just finished reading the first thread and haven't really started this one yet but I just want to mention a few things while they are fresh in my mind. I think LE is caught between a rock and a hard place with JD's tragic passing. I feel for his family trying to make sense of the incomprehensible.

My experience with people affected by suicide is that it doesn't always portent itself. Life goes on for the sufferer; they make dinner plans, drop off dry cleaning, and rarely leave behind a note. A reason why. The survivors have to navigate the loss without any kind of signage. Because nothing survives in a vacuum they provide their own oxygen, they create a narrative that makes sense to them.

My first thoughts about Jelani is that he must have been under a lot of pressure either real or perceived from his family. To become a doctor, a success story. People asked was that his dream or his mom's? My second is that Jelani's repeated offenses for speeding that ultimately ended in a suspension isn't mentioned by his family, probably because they think any whiff of impropriety of a young man they have on a pedestal would take away from either his memory or result in LE not pursuing their belief that his death was the result of foul play.

Fulfilling expectations can be really difficult for someone who may be having second thoughts about their professional trajectory. Just a few months ago on WS there was a case of a young man who went missing from his university. He was eventually found drowned in a lake, I think. He hadn't attended classes for months. His parents never knew; he kept up that facade till he couldn't do it anymore. I get that vibe here with JD.

I don't remember what post it was in the previous thread but it mentioned that JD used to live or visit someone who lived at the YMCA in Bloomington. So I'm not really sure if it is a coincidence that his car was found almost on the grounds of the Y in Peru. Judging by the aerial views it seems like an area someone might be able to take a short cut through to the Y without actually parking in the lot.

I feel that JD may have had some demons he was dealing with; ones that perhaps were too great to discuss or disclose to his family. His mom wouldn't even acknowledge that he bought weed.

The day JD went to Peru the temperature was 36C (96.8F) so it was really hot and humid. JD was an athlete; he'd been involved in track. What if he met someone he knew at the Y, ended up in an argument, went back to the car to leave but decided to take a run instead, even in such oppressive heat? What if he left his hat and t-shirt in the car, wearing only his shorts and shoes. Did he run down to the river? Did he run to a bridge but which, the 251 or the 351? His body was found between the two bridges on the south side of the river, his clothing slightly southeast, I don't know what side of the river.

I automatically thought that the Illinois River flowed into Lake Michigan, from west to east. But it doesn't. Lake Michigan is more of a watershed lake and the water from the Michigan actually flows into the Illinois River ultimately meeting up with the Mississippi. So it flows east to west. There are several dams still on the Illinois further north toward Chicago, and I don't know if they release water every now and then. If they do release water changing water levels it may account for the different type of insect activity during the decomp phase. It could also explain how his clothing ended up in a different area than the body.

If JD did commit suicide from a bridge it makes more sense he went in from the smaller bridge and his body moved with the river flow and ended up on the south side of the river closer to the 251 bridge.

This is all just speculation on my part. The idea of foul play is very low on my probability chart. Although, I do wonder if there is a person out there who may be able to offer some explanations as to the circumstances that led up to the final hours of JD's life. IMO

Very well written and compassionate opinion. Wholeheartedly agree.

 

[branmuffin]

But when circumstances are ambiguous in a case that's what it is. As a result anything could have happened, Its not necessary for the victim to be victimized by a serial killer/s. One killer who does not want to get caught will conduct themselves in that manner and that is to not leave a trace behind of their killing.

There's nothing ambiguous about finding a body in the water. It happens all the time. All over the world. People fall in accidentally; they fall off cliffs, slippery rocks, off bridges while doing a dare, they get caught up by rogue waves, swim out too far, misjudge the danger, fall out of their own canoe, fall off a fishing boat in a storm, misjudge their own abilities, are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, are great swimmers but die of hypothermia, jump in the water to die, die elsewhere and end up in the water during spring run off, get murdered and dumped in the water.

Of all those scenarios only about two could be considered foul play. How do investigators separate the accidents from foul play? I can answer that. By not getting caught up in hyperbole.

On WS there currently are about 5 or 6 cases I've followed where an inebriated person (male) has ended up in the water. Except for one, all of them just appear to be an affliction that hits young men in their early 20s: bar+booze+drunkeness+turfed from bar+nearby water source = drowned.

I don't know whether JD falls within those parameters but I think the law of averages suggest his death was misadventure without any real evidence to support foul play. The law of averages also suggest if foul play did occur, it would be by someone known to him. I haven't heard anyone come forward, other than the mother and family members, who can say they know JD in the present and can give investigators a glimpse of the man as a separate entity away from his family. I feel we are getting the photoshopped version of JD.

Wherever JD was going it appears he might have been driving while under suspension for prior convictions. It's been mentioned by his family that he wouldn't let anyone else drive the car. So if he knowingly left the car somewhere where it might have been tagged it's possible he took the plates off himself. Not being an American I don't know what would happen to someone caught driving while under suspension. I presume the vehicle would be impounded and I can imagine all the difficulties that would entail for JD.

What I do know is that the American justice system is based in British common law and one of the tenets of that is that guilty men go free rather than imprison an innocent person. IMO, people ostensibly looking for Justice for Jelani have done nothing to stop the character assassinations and death threats toward peripheral people in the Jelini Day disappearance. They have done nothing to stop the false narratives being offered on FB websites. It is so incredibly shameful, no amount of grief should condone it.

 

[branmuffin]

What, on a hot day Jelani was wearing a sweatshirt tied around his waist? Why? How tight was this sweatshirt tied around him? After 11 days it didn't come off? It must have been very tightly wrapped maybe to the point of asphyxiation. Why didn't it come off? When I wear something like that I have to be careful that it doesn't slip off unless its fastened real good. If he was in a tank top and shorts then why wear a sweatshirt on a hot day. Odd.

The gases in a decomposing corpse can make the body swell. They can appear double even triple their normal size.

 

[5W's]

The gases in a decomposing corpse can make the body swell. They can appear double even triple their normal size.

I was thinking especially in the beginning when he first got into the water when the body wasn't bloated, after that the copse would get more and more bloated.

 

[5W's]

There's nothing ambiguous about finding a body in the water. It happens all the time. All over the world. People fall in accidentally; they fall off cliffs, slippery rocks, off bridges while doing a dare, they get caught up by rogue waves, swim out too far, misjudge the danger, fall out of their own canoe, fall off a fishing boat in a storm, misjudge their own abilities, are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, are great swimmers but die of hypothermia, jump in the water to die, die elsewhere and end up in the water during spring run off, get murdered and dumped in the water.

Of all those scenarios only about two could be considered foul play. How do investigators separate the accidents from foul play? I can answer that. By not getting caught up in hyperbole.

On WS there currently are about 5 or 6 cases I've followed where an inebriated person (male) has ended up in the water. Except for one, all of them just appear to be an affliction that hits young men in their early 20s: bar+booze+drunkeness+turfed from bar+nearby water source = drowned.

I don't know whether JD falls within those parameters but I think the law of averages suggest his death was misadventure without any real evidence to support foul play. The law of averages also suggest if foul play did occur, it would be by someone known to him. I haven't heard anyone come forward, other than the mother and family members, who can say they know JD in the present and can give investigators a glimpse of the man as a separate entity away from his family. I feel we are getting the photoshopped version of JD.

Wherever JD was going it appears he might have been driving while under suspension for prior convictions. It's been mentioned by his family that he wouldn't let anyone else drive the car. So if he knowingly left the car somewhere where it might have been tagged it's possible he took the plates off himself. Not being an American I don't know what would happen to someone caught driving while under suspension. I presume the vehicle would be impounded and I can imagine all the difficulties that would entail for JD.

What I do know is that the American justice system is based in British common law and one of the tenets of that is that guilty men go free rather than imprison an innocent person. IMO, people ostensibly looking for Justice for Jelani have done nothing to stop the character assassinations and death threats toward peripheral people in the Jelini Day disappearance. They have done nothing to stop the false narratives being offered on FB websites. It is so incredibly shameful, no amount of grief should condone it.[/QUOTE

There's nothing ambiguous about finding a body in the water. It happens all the time. All over the world. People fall in accidentally; they fall off cliffs, slippery rocks, off bridges while doing a dare, they get caught up by rogue waves, swim out too far, misjudge the danger, fall out of their own canoe, fall off a fishing boat in a storm, misjudge their own abilities, are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, are great swimmers but die of hypothermia, jump in the water to die, die elsewhere and end up in the water during spring run off, get murdered and dumped in the water.

Of all those scenarios only about two could be considered foul play. How do investigators separate the accidents from foul play? I can answer that. By not getting caught up in hyperbole.

On WS there currently are about 5 or 6 cases I've followed where an inebriated person (male) has ended up in the water. Except for one, all of them just appear to be an affliction that hits young men in their early 20s: bar+booze+drunkeness+turfed from bar+nearby water source = drowned.

I don't know whether JD falls within those parameters but I think the law of averages suggest his death was misadventure without any real evidence to support foul play. The law of averages also suggest if foul play did occur, it would be by someone known to him. I haven't heard anyone come forward, other than the mother and family members, who can say they know JD in the present and can give investigators a glimpse of the man as a separate entity away from his family. I feel we are getting the photoshopped version of JD.

Wherever JD was going it appears he might have been driving while under suspension for prior convictions. It's been mentioned by his family that he wouldn't let anyone else drive the car. So if he knowingly left the car somewhere where it might have been tagged it's possible he took the plates off himself. Not being an American I don't know what would happen to someone caught driving while under suspension. I presume the vehicle would be impounded and I can imagine all the difficulties that would entail for JD.

What I do know is that the American justice system is based in British common law and one of the tenets of that is that guilty men go free rather than imprison an innocent person. IMO, people ostensibly looking for Justice for Jelani have done nothing to stop the character assassinations and death threats toward peripheral people in the Jelini Day disappearance. They have done nothing to stop the false narratives being offered on FB websites. It is so incredibly shameful, no amount of grief should condone it.

Yes the case has taken a turn into negativity mostly from comments on social media. I disagree however, about the case not being ambiguous because if the context of what is being stated was suggesting accidental its possible also. Drowning deaths usually are difficult to establish a method or manner of death, although there are some indicators to say the person was alive for example when they went into the water, sometimes even that isn't possible. Often times drowning deaths fall into indistinguishable. So IMO thats where the ambiguousness stems from. In this case so many things are off for example the phone being turned in for cash at Walmart. If I found a smashed phone on the side of a road I would take it to LE instead of getting cash for it. There are so many things that could have happened to the owner of the phone. Red flags, one too many IMO in this case.

 

[5W's]

The gases in a decomposing corpse can make the body swell. They can appear double even triple their normal size.

Also if it wasn't on tightly then if the sweatshirt got caught up in things in the river then it would have ripped and not resembled a swearshirt anymore in those 11 days. So I think the sweatshirt was on tight originally. And may have helped with the decompsition process of the body like getting caught up in things in the river and helping damage the corpse as it floated along. MOO.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

I haven't heard anyone come forward, other than the mother and family members, who can say they know JD in the present and can give investigators a glimpse of the man as a separate entity away from his family. I feel we are getting the photoshopped version of JD.

rsbm bbm
@branmuffin, very well said.

We know nothing about his life in Bloomington except that he went to grad school, until he missed classes, then he stopped at a dispensary, then he disappeared. I'm afraid that if anyone stepped forward now with any public comments about his social life or mental state while at Bloomington they'd be shouted down and harassed just like the dispensary security guard and professor were.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

If I found a smashed phone on the side of a road I would take it to LE instead of getting cash for it.

rsbm
Sorry, but until LE starts paying $80 for smashed phones, I think nine out of ten people are going to be taking it to Walmart. It ended up in LE's hands anyway.

 

[BeckyF]

There's nothing ambiguous about finding a body in the water. It happens all the time. All over the world. People fall in accidentally; they fall off cliffs, slippery rocks, off bridges while doing a dare, they get caught up by rogue waves, swim out too far, misjudge the danger, fall out of their own canoe, fall off a fishing boat in a storm, misjudge their own abilities, are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, are great swimmers but die of hypothermia, jump in the water to die, die elsewhere and end up in the water during spring run off, get murdered and dumped in the water.

Of all those scenarios only about two could be considered foul play. How do investigators separate the accidents from foul play? I can answer that. By not getting caught up in hyperbole.

On WS there currently are about 5 or 6 cases I've followed where an inebriated person (male) has ended up in the water. Except for one, all of them just appear to be an affliction that hits young men in their early 20s: bar+booze+drunkeness+turfed from bar+nearby water source = drowned.

I don't know whether JD falls within those parameters but I think the law of averages suggest his death was misadventure without any real evidence to support foul play. The law of averages also suggest if foul play did occur, it would be by someone known to him. I haven't heard anyone come forward, other than the mother and family members, who can say they know JD in the present and can give investigators a glimpse of the man as a separate entity away from his family. I feel we are getting the photoshopped version of JD.

Wherever JD was going it appears he might have been driving while under suspension for prior convictions. It's been mentioned by his family that he wouldn't let anyone else drive the car. So if he knowingly left the car somewhere where it might have been tagged it's possible he took the plates off himself. Not being an American I don't know what would happen to someone caught driving while under suspension. I presume the vehicle would be impounded and I can imagine all the difficulties that would entail for JD.

What I do know is that the American justice system is based in British common law and one of the tenets of that is that guilty men go free rather than imprison an innocent person. IMO, people ostensibly looking for Justice for Jelani have done nothing to stop the character assassinations and death threats toward peripheral people in the Jelini Day disappearance. They have done nothing to stop the false narratives being offered on FB websites. It is so incredibly shameful, no amount of grief should condone it.

Excellent post.

 

[BeckyF]

Yes the case has taken a turn into negativity mostly from comments on social media.
rsbm

I would call what the family is stating on SM more than just ‘ negativity’. Some family members are publicly accusing employees of the dispensary of being involved in his death. I’m sure you know that. That is much more than ‘negativity’. IMO, it is harassment.

 

[branmuffin]

I'd have to go back and look but I think he worked at the clinic for sometime in my mind that has some significance. Everyone likes vacations. Just the fact that he worked there could hold some information for LE. Let's see he wanted to become a speech pathologist because his friend was being bullied when they were kids and he helped his friend with the condition to try and overcome some aspects of his condition. He didn't like people bullying others. This to me points towards someone who is a person who would go and help people who needed help. A lot of the average public wouldn't want to get involved and ignore the issue that's one of the reasons bullying is so prevelant.

Excellent post.

Thanks. I try to understand the processes of grief that would allow the attacks to continue on individuals who have done nothing more than sound the alarm of Jelani's disappearance or provide information to LE. It makes me wonder whether the silence surrounding JD's disappearance has less to do with no one really knowing him or those who do know him have chosen to remain silence because they worry about their own personal safety.

 

[5W's]

Thanks. I try to understand the processes of grief that would allow the attacks to continue on individuals who have done nothing more than sound the alarm of Jelani's disappearance or provide information to LE. It makes me wonder whether the silence surrounding JD's disappearance has less to do with no one really knowing him or those who do know him have chosen to remain silence because they worry about their own personal safety.

It may be a combination of both.

 

[5W's]

rsbm
Sorry, but until LE starts paying $80 for smashed phones, I think nine out of ten people are going to be taking it to Walmart. It ended up in LE's hands anyway.

That's sad because the owner could be in trouble and time is of the essence and then the monetary gain comes in without consideration of what could possibly help or impede. Even though it did end up with LE in the end it wasted important time. Maybe there were fingerprints on it maybe there was DNA on it. As someone who is interested in helping its important for me to focus on what may be the consequences of what I could do to help because I wouldn't want to jeapordize an investigation or inquiry.

 

[Seattle1]

JD's family was so fortunate to have their loved one located in 10 days. I'm sure most have never heard of Brendan that had been missing for months:

Police recovered the body presumed to be 18 yr old student Brendan Santo from the Red Cedar River in Lansing, MI. He'd been missing since last October and was last seen at MSU --about 1.5 miles from where his body recovered. The family's PI was reviewing video when he spotted something submerged in that area and suspected it was Santo’s body. Before the tip from the PI, authorities had plans to clear debris and log jams to make it safe for divers to get a boat in the area.

Sometimes a body recovered from a river is just that... not a hate crime or a homicide.

Found Deceased - MI - Brendan Santo 18, visitor, Michigan State University campus, East Lansing, 29 Oct 2021 *Reward*

 

[5W's]

JD's family was so fortunate to have their loved one located in 10 days. I'm sure most have never heard of Brendan that had been missing for months:

Police recovered the body presumed to be 18 yr old student Brendan Santo from the Red Cedar River in Lansing, MI. He'd been missing since last October and was last seen at MSU --about 1.5 miles from where his body recovered. The family's PI was reviewing video when he spotted something submerged in that area and suspected it was Santo’s body. Before the tip from the PI, authorities had plans to clear debris and log jams to make it safe for divers to get a boat in the area.

Sometimes a body recovered from a river is just that... not a hate crime or a homicide.

Found Deceased - MI - Brendan Santo 18, visitor, Michigan State University campus, East Lansing, 29 Oct 2021 *Reward*

Its good this family was able to have some closure. Some families don't unfortunately. I'm not familiar with Brendan's case, however, its sad nonetheless.

 

[housewife]

That's sad because the owner could be in trouble and time is of the essence and then the monetary gain comes in without consideration of what could possibly help or impede. Even though it did end up with LE in the end it wasted important time. Maybe there were fingerprints on it maybe there was DNA on it. As someone who is interested in helping its important for me to focus on what may be the consequences of what I could do to help because I wouldn't want to jeapordize an investigation or inquiry.

To approach this from a different angle...
If Jelani had spent time with someone in Peru, they pushed him in the river, held him under until he drowned, and then fled...
Should Peru PD review anyone who got a speeding ticket the night of August 24th?

 

[housewife]

Why kill Jelani but not take his car and/or wallet? That would mean the killer was:
- Personally invested (snapchat meetup gone wrong?)
- Mentally ill/inebriated/not cognitively functioning (who might use the YMCA's services?)
- Not aware wallet/car existed (met victim elsewhere)

If Jelani was still wearing his shoes when he entered the water, I would be skeptical of suicide. But we still don't know for sure if his shoes were found or where?