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

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rainyday412 said:
just curious if there is any truth to the rumor that the spot the car was found is known by teenage drug users? Have u heard that in Peru? I also think it’s very possible jelani left his car somewhere else in Peru. I have read that Peru does have some stolen car cases in the past few years…so there is some crime of that sort.
Click to expand...

That part is true, yes. I have definitely smoked a few blunts in those woods when I was a teen. There is a trail where Jelani's car was found, two trails actually. Both start at the same point which would have been very close to the car; one goes straight up to the YMCA and the other is kind of winding and goes up to the skatepark on the edge of the YMCA property. Note that these are not official trails of any sort, they were just created naturally from people walking on the same spot hundreds of times a month and killing the grass. The YMCA has cameras EVERYWHERE on their parking lot. So the skaters would go to the woods there and smoke weed or chug a couple beers before going back up to the the skatepark. The main purpose of the trails though is to be used as a shortcut for people from the high school or Lasalle to get up to the YMCA quicker (It cuts off roughly 5 minutes of walk-time). I can almost guarantee that at least two people would have passed his car every hour that the YMCA was open (my opinion). The local that spotted the car allegedly saw it being parked and didn't call it in to police until the next day when he noticed it was still there (this is what he claimed on Facebook but the comment has since been removed). So the car was there for at least one day. I'm not sure if the man was being completely truthful though because I think that would mean that the car wasn't parked there until the day after Jelani went missing which could absolutely mean that the car was taken by somebody from somewhere else in the area and moved to the YMCA. But if Jelani or someone he may have been with did park the car by the YMCA and multiple teens would have walked by, evidence may be contaminated if the car was not locked up. If a teen saw that the car was unlocked and saw Jelani's wallet, they could have stolen the wallet which could be why the wallet was found in the opposite direction of the river from the YMCA. I do hear a lot of stories of theft from unlocked vehicles in Peru and Lasalle.

And yes, there surely is crime here but I wouldn't consider it to be much higher than any other town with a similar population. I maybe hear of one or two stolen vehicles per year- usually from a gas station while the owner of the vehicle is inside the store and they left their car running. Just about a week ago, there was a violent car jacking though at the Shell gas station near Walmart in Peru. An adult male ran up to two teens that were sitting in their car after getting gas. A man ran up to them and said "Get out of the car! There's a shooter and you have to run!" The two teens got out of the vehicle and the guy went to get into the driver seat. One of the teens realized he was stealing the car and she ran to the driver seat and tried to pull him out of the car by his shirt. The man stepped on the gas and dragged her for a good 10-15 feet and partially ran her over (she is doing well now and is currently healing at home). He drove the car about 10 miles to Ladd and he stole a chicken truck from an alley and went on his way stealing more cars until he was finally caught and arrested. That was probably one of the worst crimes we have had in this area in a long time but he wasn't actually from the area.

Two Injured During Reported Carjacking In Peru
 
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@WrinkleInCrime - I'm interested in the road being discussed in YT by RPC (upload 11/1/2021). Allegedly, this is a state-owned road that was allegedly open during Aug/Sept 2021 (i.e., gate open). Are you familiar with the access and is it possible that swimmers might enter the river here or jump off the bridge?

Seems to me that the agency with easement/access would be IDOT-- or at least that would be consistent with bridge/shore access in my state.

Also, I take exception to the description that state "dumps things" back there. It's most likely a staging area (mats/equipment for summer maintenance work and not to be confused with allegations that a state agency and/or police are out and about routinely dumping criminal evidence or bodies. MOO

YT Transcript of relevant statements at :00 - 1:50 mins:

00:06
found so this is the illinois route 351
00:08
bridge okay and just on the east side on
00:11
the north shore bank is where his
00:13
clothing was found if you look here this
00:15
access road where the gate is blocked
00:17
off is owned by the state okay it was
00:19
open
00:20
in august and early september because
00:22
the state i dot i believe was dumping
00:24
they dumped things back there they owned
00:25
that so it would have been open so you
00:28
can actually you could before the river
00:30
was flooded you could drive back there
00:32
and that road kind of ends
00:35
right where it meets the river
00:36
just on the west side of the bridge okay
00:38
so they would have to walk underneath
00:40
the bridge
00:41
to get to where the clothing was just on
00:42
the east side we were at the foothill of
00:45
the ymca
00:46
where the car drove in
00:48
you all were at the top of the parking
00:50
lot of the ymca where the family saw the
00:53
car
00:54
so we were at the same spot in two
00:56
different locations
00:58
this is where the
01:00
chief of police had taken me to show me
01:03
where
01:04
state road begins where the
01:07
clothes were found
01:09
the family has had some discrepancy
01:12
because of the inconsistency
01:14
and the
01:15
total disastrous weight the police
01:18
department has kept the family informed
01:20
they've given them different coordinates
01:23
to where the bodies were found where
01:24
clothes were found so we're putting this
01:27
information together so i know it's
01:29
confusing for you it's been confusing
01:31
for the family and that's why they're
01:33
asking for information we're three miles
01:36
from where the car was found by the
01:39
ymca
01:41
to this location
01:44
they're saying another mile and a half
01:47
from the close
01:48
and the id and the lanyard were in
01:51
different places and the license plates
01:53
have been removed from the car
 
Seattle1 said:
@WrinkleInCrime - I'm interested in the road being discussed in YT by RPC (upload 11/1/2021). Allegedly, this is a state-owned road that was allegedly open during Aug/Sept 2021 (i.e., gate open). Are you familiar with the access and is it possible that swimmers might enter the river here or jump off the bridge?

Seems to me that the agency with easement/access would be IDOT-- or at least that would be consistent with bridge/shore access in my state.

Also, I take exception to the description that state "dumps things" back there. It's most likely a staging area (mats/equipment for summer maintenance work and not to be confused with allegations that a state agency and/or police are out and about routinely dumping criminal evidence or bodies. MOO

YT Transcript of relevant statements at :00 - 1:50 mins:

00:06
found so this is the illinois route 351
00:08
bridge okay and just on the east side on
00:11
the north shore bank is where his
00:13
clothing was found if you look here this
00:15
access road where the gate is blocked
00:17
off is owned by the state okay it was
00:19
open
00:20
in august and early september because
00:22
the state i dot i believe was dumping
00:24
they dumped things back there they owned
00:25
that so it would have been open so you
00:28
can actually you could before the river
00:30
was flooded you could drive back there
00:32
and that road kind of ends
00:35
right where it meets the river
00:36
just on the west side of the bridge okay
00:38
so they would have to walk underneath
00:40
the bridge
00:41
to get to where the clothing was just on
00:42
the east side we were at the foothill of
00:45
the ymca
00:46
where the car drove in
00:48
you all were at the top of the parking
00:50
lot of the ymca where the family saw the
00:53
car
00:54
so we were at the same spot in two
00:56
different locations
00:58
this is where the
01:00
chief of police had taken me to show me
01:03
where
01:04
state road begins where the
01:07
clothes were found
01:09
the family has had some discrepancy
01:12
because of the inconsistency
01:14
and the
01:15
total disastrous weight the police
01:18
department has kept the family informed
01:20
they've given them different coordinates
01:23
to where the bodies were found where
01:24
clothes were found so we're putting this
01:27
information together so i know it's
01:29
confusing for you it's been confusing
01:31
for the family and that's why they're
01:33
asking for information we're three miles
01:36
from where the car was found by the
01:39
ymca
01:41
to this location
01:44
they're saying another mile and a half
01:47
from the close
01:48
and the id and the lanyard were in
01:51
different places and the license plates
01:53
have been removed from the car
Click to expand...

I honestly didn't know that road existed even though I have driven past it hundreds of times. I like to think I'm a fairly observant person but I just never knew it existed. When I was asking friends and family from the area about the whole "lover's lane" thing (for my own research), only 1 of the 23 people I asked even knew there was a road there or river access.

Yes, I'm pretty sure IDOT would be who would be in charge of all of that but I know they also hired union workers for some tasks/jobs when they put up a new bridge in Spring Valley a couple years ago (one town over from Peru). So it's possible other people would have had access as well besides IDOT. I can not confirm or deny that the gate was open in August because I didn't know it existed. BUT the one person I asked that did know of the location of that road and that it had river access is a union worker of some kind. He said he went down there in either June or July to drop off materials of some sort (I didn't ask for much clarification because I didn't feel it was important) and the gate was locked and he had to call his supervisor when he got there so that whoever was in charge could open the gate.

In regards to the dumping thing, my opinion is the same as yours. In the video you're referencing, you can see stacked concrete slabs beneath the bridge. They do appear to be in the river, but that is only because of flooding since and active flood warning was in effect on the date they were down there. I think it's just mainly construction equipment and things of that sort.

And to answer your question about if it would be an area where swimmers would enter or jump off the bridge, definitely not in my opinion unless they are completely wasted. Sure, people COULD do that but I highly doubt it. The Vermillion river is close-by and that is where all of my friends and aquaintences go for swimming, tubing, etc. Also, Mattheissen State Park and Starved Rock State Park have much cleaner and secluded bodies of water. The two local(ish) places that teens/young adults commonly go to to jump off of anything would be an off-trail location right outside of Starved Rock in Utica, IL and an old pump house near Tonica, IL. I have some crazy, impulsive friends but I have never heard of any of them to jump off of any of the Illinois River bridges near Lasalle/Peru.

The reasons, in my opinion, that sober people wouldn't choose the route 351 bridge or the Illinois River area of Lasalle/Peru are:
1.) The river is very narrow and it highly trafficked by barges
2.) The Asian Carp population is HUGE and hundreds- if not thousands- of the carp will jump out of the water whenever a barge is near which would be quite scary for nearly anybody. There are local boat clubs that will pay $50 for each dead asian carp people bring to them because they're so desperate to decrease their population. I was hit directly by 4 and literally knocked off of the boat by 1 during a 3-hour boat trip on the river in that area; I had multiple bruises, a bloody nose, and a fat lip.
3.) The smell down there is just awful in the warmer months

I do know people that have swam in the Illinois river in that area when boating, but they were extremely drunk at the time and didn't much care about their health or safety. I couldn't see a sober person getting in that water unless it was for a bet with a high reward.

This is all mostly just my opinion though so obviously don't take any of this as absolute fact.

Here are a couple of articles that I found about the carp being invasive and dangerous though:

In Illinois, latest Asian carp tactic is to tempt the fish with candy - Outdoornews
‘Redneck Fishing’ for Flying Asian Carp on the Illinois River
 
Last edited:
I tried going to google earth, but I am not sure if I am looking at the right spot for where his car was found. Is there a way to drop a google earth picture on here showing the location?
 
WrinkleInCrime said:
I honestly didn't know that road existed even though I have driven past it hundreds of times. I like to think I'm a fairly observant person but I just never knew it existed. When I was asking friends and family from the area about the whole "lover's lane" thing (for my own research), only 1 of the 23 people I asked even knew there was a road there or river access.

Yes, I'm pretty sure IDOT would be who would be in charge of all of that but I know they also hired union workers for some tasks/jobs when they put up a new bridge in Spring Valley a couple years ago (one town over from Peru). So it's possible other people would have had access as well besides IDOT. I can not confirm or deny that the gate was open in August because I didn't know it existed. BUT the one person I asked that did know of the location of that road and that it had river access is a union worker of some kind. He said he went down there in either June or July to drop off materials of some sort (I didn't ask for much clarification because I didn't feel it was important) and the gate was locked and he had to call his supervisor when he got there so that whoever was in charge could open the gate.

In regards to the dumping thing, my opinion is the same as yours. In the video you're referencing, you can see stacked concrete slabs beneath the bridge. They do appear to be in the river, but that is only because of flooding since and active flood warning was in effect on the date they were down there. I think it's just mainly construction equipment and things of that sort.

And to answer your question about if it would be an area where swimmers would enter or jump off the bridge, definitely not in my opinion unless they are completely wasted. Sure, people COULD do that but I highly doubt it. The Vermillion river is close-by and that is where all of my friends and aquaintences go for swimming, tubing, etc. Also, Mattheissen State Park and Starved Rock State Park have much cleaner and secluded bodies of water. The two local(ish) places that teens/young adults commonly go to to jump off of anything would be an off-trail location right outside of Starved Rock in Utica, IL and an old pump house near Tonica, IL. I have some crazy, impulsive friends but I have never heard of any of them to jump off of any of the Illinois River bridges near Lasalle/Peru.

The reasons, in my opinion, that sober people wouldn't choose the route 351 bridge or the Illinois River area of Lasalle/Peru are:
1.) The river is very narrow and it highly trafficked by barges
2.) The Asian Carp population is HUGE and hundreds- if not thousands- of the carp will jump out of the water whenever a barge is near which would be quite scary for nearly anybody (There are local boat clubs that will pay $50 for each dead asian carp people bring to them because they're so desperate to decrease their population).
3.) The smell down there is just awful in the warmer months

I do know people that have swam in the Illinois river in that area when boating, but they were extremely drunk at the time and didn't much care about their health or safety. I couldn't see a sober person getting in that water unless it was for a bet with a high reward.

This is all mostly just my opinion though so obviously don't take any of this as absolute fact.

Here is an article from 2018 that I found about the carp being invasive though:
In Illinois, latest Asian carp tactic is to tempt the fish with candy - Outdoornews
Click to expand...

Thanks again for your insight @WrinkleInCrime - it's much appreciated. And yes, any contractor (probably mostly union) hired by IDOT would have scheduled access so I think you were provided credible information. The bridge pilings/structure require much maintenance which is not usually visible to every day drivers or commuters.

IL-251 Bridge, Peru, IL

https://www.isacoil.org/Resources/59ec25bd-800b-43ee-8034-ec06ac581a53/FY 2021-2026 Proposed Highway Improvement Program Summary .pdf

https://idot.illinois.gov/Assets/uploads/files/Transportation-System/Reports/OP&P/STIP/2021-2024/FY 2021-2024 Draft STIP.pdf

https://www.idot.illinois.gov/Asset...ports/OP&P/HIP/2021-2026/ilcounty/lasalle.pdf
 
Last edited:
WrinkleInCrime said:
I honestly didn't know that road existed even though I have driven past it hundreds of times. I like to think I'm a fairly observant person but I just never knew it existed. When I was asking friends and family from the area about the whole "lover's lane" thing (for my own research), only 1 of the 23 people I asked even knew there was a road there or river access.

Yes, I'm pretty sure IDOT would be who would be in charge of all of that but I know they also hired union workers for some tasks/jobs when they put up a new bridge in Spring Valley a couple years ago (one town over from Peru). So it's possible other people would have had access as well besides IDOT. I can not confirm or deny that the gate was open in August because I didn't know it existed. BUT the one person I asked that did know of the location of that road and that it had river access is a union worker of some kind. He said he went down there in either June or July to drop off materials of some sort (I didn't ask for much clarification because I didn't feel it was important) and the gate was locked and he had to call his supervisor when he got there so that whoever was in charge could open the gate.

In regards to the dumping thing, my opinion is the same as yours. In the video you're referencing, you can see stacked concrete slabs beneath the bridge. They do appear to be in the river, but that is only because of flooding since and active flood warning was in effect on the date they were down there. I think it's just mainly construction equipment and things of that sort.

And to answer your question about if it would be an area where swimmers would enter or jump off the bridge, definitely not in my opinion unless they are completely wasted. Sure, people COULD do that but I highly doubt it. The Vermillion river is close-by and that is where all of my friends and aquaintences go for swimming, tubing, etc. Also, Mattheissen State Park and Starved Rock State Park have much cleaner and secluded bodies of water. The two local(ish) places that teens/young adults commonly go to to jump off of anything would be an off-trail location right outside of Starved Rock in Utica, IL and an old pump house near Tonica, IL. I have some crazy, impulsive friends but I have never heard of any of them to jump off of any of the Illinois River bridges near Lasalle/Peru.

The reasons, in my opinion, that sober people wouldn't choose the route 351 bridge or the Illinois River area of Lasalle/Peru are:
1.) The river is very narrow and it highly trafficked by barges
2.) The Asian Carp population is HUGE and hundreds- if not thousands- of the carp will jump out of the water whenever a barge is near which would be quite scary for nearly anybody. There are local boat clubs that will pay $50 for each dead asian carp people bring to them because they're so desperate to decrease their population. I was hit directly by 4 and literally knocked off of the boat by 1 during a 3-hour boat trip on the river in that area; I had multiple bruises, a bloody nose, and a fat lip.
3.) The smell down there is just awful in the warmer months

I do know people that have swam in the Illinois river in that area when boating, but they were extremely drunk at the time and didn't much care about their health or safety. I couldn't see a sober person getting in that water unless it was for a bet with a high reward.

This is all mostly just my opinion though so obviously don't take any of this as absolute fact.

Here are a couple of articles that I found about the carp being invasive and dangerous though:

In Illinois, latest Asian carp tactic is to tempt the fish with candy - Outdoornews
‘Redneck Fishing’ for Flying Asian Carp on the Illinois River
Click to expand...

I finally figured out the area where the car was found on google earth. It seems to have a fairly large entrance area with gravel, but I assume his car wasn’t visible from the main road if driving by?

Does this spot happen to be a ‘gay’ spot? It reminds me of the type of place our own locals hook up…most towns have such a place. just curious.
 
rainyday412 said:
I finally figured out the area where the car was found on google earth. It seems to have a fairly large entrance area with gravel, but I assume his car wasn’t visible from the main road if driving by?

Does this spot happen to be a ‘gay’ spot? It reminds me of the type of place our own locals hook up…most towns have such a place. just curious.
Click to expand...

We have a similar area near the Univ of WA and the Floating Bridge. It would be seen as toxic to most but that's what makes it attractive for privacy, hidden access, and minimal public exposure.
 
rainyday412 said:
I finally figured out the area where the car was found on google earth. It seems to have a fairly large entrance area with gravel, but I assume his car wasn’t visible from the main road if driving by?

Does this spot happen to be a ‘gay’ spot? It reminds me of the type of place our own locals hook up…most towns have such a place. just curious.
Click to expand...

It is a fairly large entrance with gravel and the two trails to the YMCA and skatepark are stemmed off of that gravel entrance. From what I understood from the guy that reported the car to police, the car was very much visible to 12th street but it was concealed enough that you'd have to be looking that direction to have seen it. That area doesn't have quite the same amount of police patrolling as other parts of Peru because it is on the edge of Peru and Lasalle. Just 1.5 blocks east of the location his car was found is where Peru ends and Lasalle begins. So it's possible it was there for 1-2 days without a cop ever seeing it but some people surely would have seen it if what the caller said was true.

I wouldn't think it would be a "gay spot" or a hookup location of any kind unless one of the parties lived close-by and is a teenager that has nowhere else to go. I think there are too many people around to do anything like that unless they want the thrill of possibly/probably being caught. A big thing to understand is we have a fairly large skater population and the next closest skate park to Peru is in Ottawa which is a solid 25-30 minute drive. So the skatepark in Peru in the summer is consistently at max capacity so MANY people would have likely been near Jelani's car before it was finally reported.

If people are looking for a hookup location with a low probability of being caught, they would probably go to a cornfield or one of the less commonly-known pull-offs near Starved Rock. If someone was going to the location Jelani's car was found for something like that, it most likely means that one of the parties lives VERY close to that location or their mom or dad is in the YMCA for a workout. There truly are no "common" areas for anything like that around here. It would simply be a matter of convenience in my opinion/experience.
 
BeckyF said:
Per CBD’s own words, Jelani asked for money frequently. If she declined to give him money, he called his siblings until someone gave in. Why didn’t she give him the money he asked for?

In addition, when Jelani stated he wanted to make enough money so that his mom would not have to work, I didn’t take that as him saying she expected him to save her, more that she might be able to retire early if Jelani had a good paying job.
Click to expand...

I heard both of those things differently. When Carmen told the story, she did so in an endearing way that led me to believe she took pride in spoiling Jelani, and he knew he could get anything he wanted from her, even when she said no, he just kept asking with puppy dog eyes until she gave in. I also got the sense he had the same relationship with his siblings, especially being a broke college student that they were all very proud of.

On the same token, a lot of first generation, or close to, college students have that same story that they want to be successful as a way to repay family for their unwavering support. Not that family expects such, but it's almost like a token of gratitude for sacrifices family makes to help them get through college.

I don't think anyone actually puts pressure on themselves to do it though. It's really just a thing to say to show gratitude for their sacrifices.
 
rkendmar said:
What is your theory of what happened to Jelani?
Click to expand...

I haven't fully formulated a theory. But I don't believe it was suicide. I think someone hurt Jelani and he was either dead or close to dead when he entered the water. I think his car and body were dumped. I think his tags were removed, his phone destroyed, and wallet tossed to scatter/hide evidence.

I'm also not sure Jelani arrived at the river in his own car. I think his car was placed along with his body and belongings at the river by someone who knew the area well enough to know the carp would destroy his body and any evidence it held.
 
JustCommonSense said:
The google route from Bone Student Center to the apartment would put Jelani passing right in front of the parking lot of the Dollar General on S Main in Bloomington.
Click to expand...

My Google Map route has Vernon -> Historic U.S 66/Veteran's -> Oakland Ave -> Hershey -> Hamilton Rd.

Main St. doesn't look ideal - more small streets/lights, probably more traffic. The other thing is that it appears that the GPS seems to prefer getting there from the north off Hershey (which turns into Hamilton) an approach from the eastern side, not the west (otherwise you need to do a U-turn).
 
scriabina said:
Could you provide a working link? This one just takes me to a small local CBS logo.
Click to expand...

Police Navy unit retrieves body from Lake Michigan near 31st Street Harbor – CBS Chicago – 711Web
Chicago (CBS) – The Chicago Police Marine Unit was working to recover a body found in Lake Michigan late Thursday morning near 31st Street Harbor.

No more information was immediately available about recovery efforts, but earlier this week the family and friends of 26-year-old Uribe Kontin were conducting a search for him on 31st Street Beach.

Kontein, who lives in Avondale on the northwest side, has been missing since October 26, and his family and friends said he was last seen that day crossing DuSable Lake Shore Drive on foot after parking his car at 31st Street Beach.

police Issue a missing person alert to Kontein On October 30, ask anyone with information to contact Fifth District investigators at (312) 746-6554.
 
SolR1 said:
I haven't fully formulated a theory. But I don't believe it was suicide. I think someone hurt Jelani and he was either dead or close to dead when he entered the water. I think his car and body were dumped. I think his tags were removed, his phone destroyed, and wallet tossed to scatter/hide evidence.

I'm also not sure Jelani arrived at the river in his own car. I think his car was placed along with his body and belongings at the river by someone who knew the area well enough to know the carp would destroy his body and any evidence it held.
Click to expand...

At what point in time does this unknown person(s) enter the picture?
It would have to be after Jelani left Beyond/Hello.
 
rkendmar said:
At what point in time does this unknown person(s) enter the picture?
It would have to be after Jelani left Beyond/Hello.
Click to expand...
There would need to be video of him leaving the dispensary and driving alone to say that for sure.
 
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