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

[LotusPawprint]

While previously I considered that someone had taken his car's plate to use on their own cars to commit crimes (which is pretty common especially with abandoned cars which may still have insurance attached), I'm also considering that it's possible that he removed his own license plate and hid it somewhere because he thought the car couldn't be traced back to himself otherwise (didnt know about vin number?) and he wanted to hide a potential suicide Perhaps he went for a walk a few blocks away and tossed his plate and wallet (and that's why the wallet was found around that area, someone had removed it from where-ever it was tossed and looked thru it for cash).

Personally I'd rather have my family know I killed myself then to go missing forever and my family never knowing, but judging by what I know from his family and the comments his mother has made about suicide being a sin in their religion, perhaps he DID think that simply going missing would cause his family less grief and perhaps less shame directed towards him.

I struggle with the idea of him walking a few blocks (possibly in broad daylight) tossing personal effects. Especially if the area was truly unfamiliar to him, it seems risky... Even if the area isn't highly trafficked, finding the spot for the car and removing the plates then walking around getting rid of items would look suspicious if anyone did see him. Not to mention, no one reported seeing him (that we know of) when he was a missing person.


The phone is missing too and presumably hasn't been powered on at all. Did he do a great job getting rid of the phone and plates but a terrible job of tossing the wallet?
After his car was found, there was a search done with drones, k9s, etc that turned up nothing.


(just adding that I'm not rejecting your theory but trying to make sense of any scenario)

 

[LotusPawprint]

This is perhaps trivial and I can't remember if it was discussed, but if he removed his license plate, did he bring a screwdriver and then dispose of the screwdriver along with everything else?
That would indicate some forethought went into a theoretical plan.

 

[Seattle1]

According to the interview I recently posted of his mother, the car belonged to his grandfather. Safe to guess it wasn't registered to Jelani.

From page 1:

The vehicle was one belonging to Mr. Jelani J. Day, age 25 of Bloomington, Illinois. According to Bloomington Police Mr. Day is a graduate student at Illinois State University with family from Danville, Illinois. Jelani has been missing for several days in unexplained suspicious circumstances. Jelani is described as a male black, 25 year of age, 6 feet, two inches tall, 180 pounds with short black hair, brown eyes, and some facial hair.

^^rs&bbm

 

[Seattle1]

Early this morning the vehicle was removed and transported to a secure facility pending further processing.

Bloomington and Peru detectives are asking the assistance from Illinois Valley residents that may have seen the vehicle or Jelani or any else operating the vehicle in the area since sometime this past Monday.

Jelani is depicted in the attached photos and the vehicle is a white 2010 Chrysler 300 4 door. It may have had license plates of CH74067 on the vehicle when travelling in the Illinois Valley. It is also possible there were no plates on the vehicle.

Anyone with information can call Peru Police Detective Commander Dennis Hocking 223-2151 extension 2804 or Detective Brad Jones 223-2151 extension 2816.

^^ rsbbm

Facebook

We know that authorities are viewing hundreds of hours of video which likely includes the IllinoisValley roadways.

Good possibility there is now evidence of the vehicle itself and route driven to Peru. Another question for authorities is whether or not they've located the missing car tags.

 

[Seattle1]

Peru Police -- Log In or Sign Up to View

 

[Seattle1]

More on Jelani's possible route: -- On 9/3 -- a day before his body recovered from the Illinois River, Peru Police requested the public to look at their security cameras from Tuesday, August 24th from 7a-7p and Wednesday, August 25th from 7a-7p for a male black walking along Airport/Chartres St and/or a white Chrysler 300 with a black roof.

Peru PD
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[Seattle1]

https://www.cityblm.org/home/showdo...X6J7MzDuFhGnuokxnc0JVEdAGM5tR9V1rWyzjyXI-E1Jc

City of Bloomington BPD press release pages 1 -5.

Correction to page 1 -- it was the clothing described below that was located inside JD's vehicle, not his clothing seen in the Dispensary surveillance video.

Jelani and his clothing from a security camera at ISU's Bone Student Center on Tuesday, 8/24/2021 at approximately 7:20 a.m. The photograph shows Day wearing a blue button-up collared dress shirt, black pants, black belt, black dress shoes, and a blue face covering.

 

[rkendmar]

I've been following the story of Jelani Day for a while now and I initially believed foul play was involved but was never able to formulate a 'foul play scenario' which would hold together and make sense.

The following is my theory of what happened to Jelani Day. It is speculation and I invite everyone to point out flaws and inconsistencies in my reasoning.

On 8/24/21 at 7:30am, Jelani Day was in Bone Student Center on the ISU campus. He had purchased coffee at Starbucks and had a scheduled meeting with the SLP Clinical Education Director at 7:45am in Fairchild Hall. He was wearing dress slacks, black shoes and a button down blue shirt. He never showed up at the meeting that morning.

At 9:15am, Jelani Day arrived at the cannabis dispensary in Bloomington, IL. He had changed clothes at his apartment and was now wearing a ball cap, a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt, shorts, black socks and black sneakers with white trim.

After leaving the dispensary, he drove North on I-39 and eventually ended up in the public parking lot at the I & M Canal Boat at Lock 14 in LaSalle, IL ("Lock 14 along the Illinois and Michigan Canal in La Salle — Day’s last known location").
Balloons released in La Salle for Jelani Day

Jelani left his hat, shirt, wallet, keys, and phone in his car. His socks and Student ID Lanyard were later located East of the parking lot. It is unknown what happened to his shoes.

He started walking/running West on the Illinois and Michigan Canal Trail and entered the water somewhere before the end of the trail.
/
The river flows west.
Jelani's body was discovered on the south bank of the IL River. east of the 251 bridge on 9/4/21.

His car was stolen from the Lock 14 parking lot and taken to a wooded area behind the Peru, IL YMCA, where it was located on 8/26/21. The area where the car was located is known for being a 'hangout' for drug use and other activities.

Jelani's shirt and cap were found in the car. His wallet was found (without cash or cards) several blocks away. His iPhone and keys have not been found and the license plates had been removed from his car and have not been found.

My opinion only / JMO / Speculation

 

[Seattle1]

After leaving the dispensary, he drove North on I-39 and eventually ended up in the public parking lot at the I & M Canal Boat at Lock 14 in LaSalle, IL ("Lock 14 along the Illinois and Michigan Canal in La Salle — Day’s last known location").

His car was stolen from the Lock 14 parking lot and taken to a wooded area behind the Peru, IL YMCA, where it was located on 8/26/21. The area where the car was located is known for being a 'hangout' for drug use and other activities.

What is the basis for believing that JD parked his car in the public lot at Lock 14 and the car stolen from the lot only to be driven 3 miles and abandoned? From the perspective of a car thief, that makes no sense to me.

Also, I believe the marina to have surveillance of this area providing evidence time/date of the vehicle arriving and leaving the marina. MOO

ETA: and...

In other words, I think authorities would ask for the public's help of anybody at the Lock 14 on certain between hours xx to contact LE. I don't think this scenario plausible with the known information.

 

[rkendmar]

What is the basis for believing that JD parked his car in the public lot at Lock 14 and the car stolen from the lot only to be driven 3 miles and abandoned? From the perspective of a car thief, that makes no sense to me.

Also, I believe the marina to have surveillance of this area providing evidence time/date of the vehicle arriving and leaving the marina. MOO

1) I believe Jelani parked his car in the Lock 14 lot because some of his belongings were found in the area.

2) I believe the car was stolen from the lot at Lock 14 and taken ??? somewhere in the local area. The thieves abandoned the car in the woods behind the YMCA because Jelani was reported missing on the 25th and the car was too hot for them to keep after the 25th.

3) There may be cameras at Lock 14. Perhaps that is why Jelani's mother stated that Lock 14 was his "last known location."

Edited to add: My Opinion Only.

 

[SimplyCass]

Vermillion county in illinois has its own website…not judici. When searching for him, type his last name first…then first name. Birth year is 1996, and middle name is J. These would be violations on the illinois side. The uninsured vehicle ticket was in April.

while the suspended license and uninsured vehicle aren’t ‘huge’ violations, they aren’t typical of a college graduate…

Ahhh. Got it now. Link in case anyone else wants to look it up: Case Search - Vermilion County

All three cases ended as nolle pros? (State decides to drop the charges.) Is that common?

ETA: (Somewhat open) question: Lock 14 is a tourist destination; the area used to be a canal and is now the Illinois/Michigan Canal Trail. I'm not sure how strong the flow is but it's not a typical river, that's why I considered the IL-351 bridge more likely, even though that's farther down.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

1) I believe Jelani parked his car in the Lock 14 lot because some of his belongings were found in the area.

2) I believe the car was stolen from the lot at Lock 14 and taken ??? somewhere in the local area. The thieves abandoned the car in the woods behind the YMCA because Jelani was reported missing on the 25th and the car was too hot for them to keep after the 25th.

3) There may be cameras at Lock 14. Perhaps that is why Jelani's mother stated that Lock 14 was his "last known location."

Edited to add: My Opinion Only.

The car was processed for evidence. I would bet a lot of money that there is evidence of Jelani being the only driver. If the car was wiped down, by Jelani or a criminal, that would have been a major point of contention with the family, evidence of "foul play". In photos of the car, you can clearly see through the windshield. I'm guessing that in at least some of the videos, which we aren't being shown, you can tell that Jelani is alone in the car.

LE is trying to find any and all videos relating to Jelani and that car. If there are more images of him being the only person in the car, it will show he acted of his own free will.
I don't think the family will accept fingerprints as enough evidence to show he was the only driver.

There is an unidentified witness that saw the car being driven into the turnout/woods where it was found. Obviously, it did not mean much to them that the car was there. The date and time aren't given as they reported it later and believed it was 24 hours or so before it was recovered. No way for us to know if the car was put there on the 24th or 25th (as far as I can find). We don't know if that witness is the same person that reported an abandoned car there.

The Hendrix shirt and the hat, that he had on at the dispensary, were in the car, I believe the trunk. No report of anything suspicious in the car, blood, clothing ripped, etc.

There should be a navigation system in that car, again, if anything pointed to foul play, I think the family would have disclosed it. They are not disclosing if they have this information, where all the went on the days in question.
The wallet- Several blocks east of car location, a witness saw a person wearing an item of red clothing, drop unknown item. They didn't notice it was a wallet, didn't report it for 2 days. If you follow a direct walking route, of about a mile (not 2 miles, not 3 miles, just 1) to the river, you may walk south on Chartres St, the street that LE asked for residents to check cameras/videos. This is one of the reasons the video of the young man knocking on a door was released. The ID was found in a ditch, south of the wallet location. I think that he walked there at night but I wouldn't think it strange if no one paid attention to him walking through there in the daylight.

I don't know what to think about the clothing was that found by the river. Jelani's mom has said they weren't, then "I don't know, maybe." I don't think it matters, as long as the clothing shows no sign of trauma to the person that wore it.

Jelani's last known location, before his death, was at Hello/Beyond. His phone pinged at that area, there is a video of him there, I don't know how anyone could say he himself didn't power off his phone. Again, if anything showed anyone else had been in the car, his family would be sharing that.





.

 

[rkendmar]

Ahhh. Got it now. Link in case anyone else wants to look it up: Case Search - Vermilion County

All three cases ended as nolle pros? (State decides to drop the charges.) Is that common?

ETA: (Somewhat open) question: Lock 14 is a tourist destination; the area used to be a canal and is now the Illinois/Michigan Canal Trail. I'm not sure how strong the flow is but it's not a typical river, that's why I considered the IL-351 bridge more likely, even though that's farther down.

The 351 bridge is a good possibility but I have 3 questions/comments:

1) Where would he park?
2) He would most likely be noticed (no shirt/socks/shoes) walking along the highway to the bridge (probably) in the middle of the day...but no reports of this, that we know of.
3) The IL/Mich Canal Trail provides quite a bit of privacy, especially on a Tuesday in the heat of August.
4) The flow in the canal is not strong like the river (I assume) but the body was in the water for 11 days and didn't have to travel far especially if Jelani entered the water near the western end of the trail.

 

[rkendmar]

The car was processed for evidence. I would bet a lot of money that there is evidence of Jelani being the only driver. If the car was wiped down, by Jelani or a criminal, that would have been a major point of contention with the family, evidence of "foul play". In photos of the car, you can clearly see through the windshield. I'm guessing that in at least some of the videos, which we aren't being shown, you can tell that Jelani is alone in the car.

LE is trying to find any and all videos relating to Jelani and that car. If there are more images of him being the only person in the car, it will show he acted of his own free will.
I don't think the family will accept fingerprints as enough evidence to show he was the only driver.

There is an unidentified witness that saw the car being driven into the turnout/woods where it was found. Obviously, it did not mean much to them that the car was there. The date and time aren't given as they reported it later and believed it was 24 hours or so before it was recovered. No way for us to know if the car was put there on the 24th or 25th (as far as I can find). We don't know if that witness is the same person that reported an abandoned car there.

The Hendrix shirt and the hat, that he had on at the dispensary, were in the car, I believe the trunk. No report of anything suspicious in the car, blood, clothing ripped, etc.

There should be a navigation system in that car, again, if anything pointed to foul play, I think the family would have disclosed it. They are not disclosing if they have this information, where all the went on the days in question.
The wallet- Several blocks east of car location, a witness saw a person wearing an item of red clothing, drop unknown item. They didn't notice it was a wallet, didn't report it for 2 days. If you follow a direct walking route, of about a mile (not 2 miles, not 3 miles, just 1) to the river, you may walk south on Chartres St, the street that LE asked for residents to check cameras/videos. This is one of the reasons the video of the young man knocking on a door was released. The ID was found in a ditch, south of the wallet location. I think that he walked there at night but I wouldn't think it strange if no one paid attention to him walking through there in the daylight.

I don't know what to think about the clothing was that found by the river. Jelani's mom has said they weren't, then "I don't know, maybe." I don't think it matters, as long as the clothing shows no sign of trauma to the person that wore it.

Jelani's last known location, before his death, was at Hello/Beyond. His phone pinged at that area, there is a video of him there, I don't know how anyone could say he himself didn't power off his phone. Again, if anything showed anyone else had been in the car, his family would be sharing that.
.

Jelani's phone was not on after the stop at the dispensary in Bloomington.

1) How would Jelani find the woods behind the YMCA in Peru?
2) How would Jelani find his way to the river from the YMCA in Peru?
3) As the crow flies, it's a short distance from the YMCA to the river but it looks pretty developed and congested on maps.

Just my opinion.

Edited to add: I agree with you that Jelani was the only driver. His mother said he had a charger in his car so, I agree, that Jelani was the one who intentionally turned the phone off. IMO, I'm sure LE has quite a bit of video that the family and the public have not seen.

 

[Seattle1]

Ahhh. Got it now. Link in case anyone else wants to look it up: Case Search - Vermilion County

All three cases ended as nolle pros? (State decides to drop the charges.) Is that common?

ETA: (Somewhat open) question: Lock 14 is a tourist destination; the area used to be a canal and is now the Illinois/Michigan Canal Trail. I'm not sure how strong the flow is but it's not a typical river, that's why I considered the IL-351 bridge more likely, even though that's farther down.

In all states including Illinois, driving is not a right but a privilege where a suspended license does in fact mean that your driving privileges are suspended for cause and you have no right to operate a vehicle.

Take note that nolle pros for each of the charges were not entered until 5/19/21.

And it is NOT common for all three cases to end nolle pros -- especially for a 25-year-old college graduate of Jelani's caliber.

IMO, JD was advised to wait it out (i.e., suspended privilege until 5/19/21) most likely to avoid possible jail time if he was convicted for each charge. Taking this option would act more like a deferred prosecution provided that the defendant incurs no additional violations during this period, and where the state agrees to move forward by dropping the charges on a certain date.

From the public record, it's also evident that JD did not honor this agreement given his violation of driving while his license was suspended. IMO, this risky maneuver likely extended the nolle pros by another year to 2021. (And I'm sure this was costly for Jelani since somebody had to convince the court to save the prior agreement).

For real-life examples of my opinion above, I suggest checking out Illinois Avvo archive Q & A. Multiple examples beginning with "my son...he was waiting to see what the first judge was going to do and the first judge said that she was running the case concurrent with the second case...."

MOO

 

[Seattle1]

The Hendrix shirt and the hat, that he had on at the dispensary, were in the car, I believe the trunk.

^^rsbm

I don't believe this correct: Recent reports state the Hendrix t-shirt was located on the bank which was also corroborated by JD's mom citing how she was sent photos of the t-shirt to identify and agreed it was her son's shirt as seen in the Dispensary surveillance video.

I posted earlier today where the confusion happened with the BPD indicating that the clothes seen in surveillance (meaning the blue button-down, slacks, etc.) were found inside the vehicle-- which was incorrectly assumed to mean the clothes seen in the Dispensary surveillance.

MOO

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

Jelani's phone was not on after the stop at the dispensary in Bloomington.

1) How would Jelani find the woods behind the YMCA in Peru?
2) How would Jelani find his way to the river from the YMCA in Peru?
3) As the crow flies, it's a short distance from the YMCA to the river but it looks pretty developed and congested on maps.

Just my opinion.

Edited to add: I agree with you that Jelani was the only driver. His mother said he had a charger in his car so, I agree, that Jelani was the one who intentionally turned the phone off. IMO, I'm sure LE has quite a bit of video that the family and the public have not seen.

I don't believe his family could know if Jelani had ever been to Peru. By the time we are that age, most of us have done some driving around, exploring, without our family knowing. Then, there's a navigation system in the car Maybe he looked at online maps or printed something. Or just having a vague idea of going to a big river, maybe thinking it was far enough away that if a body was found, they might not think of him. He may have parked a mile from the river, thinking the search would be there first. maybe he hoped his body not be found, but he definitely didn't risk his car being spotted and someone finding him close by, either before or after being in the river.
Jelani could have spent many hours looking for just the right place to conceal the car. Walk two blocks east, head south to the river. I think we don't know for a fact exactly when or where he entered the water, but I think it was at night. I have no idea what means he used to assist/ensure drowning.

Up and down the streets on google, south, and east of the car location, it looks like a very quiet residential area with some small apartments, then businesses closer to the water. Very few cars. I think if he had parked his car out in the open, it would have been noticed and reported much sooner. I don't even see a lot of cars in the driveways or at the businesses. I don't know what day of the week or time the video was taken.
The YMCA was just used as a landmark, it's not on his walking route.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

Jelani's phone was not on after the stop at the dispensary in Bloomington.

1) How would Jelani find the woods behind the YMCA in Peru?
2) How would Jelani find his way to the river from the YMCA in Peru?
3) As the crow flies, it's a short distance from the YMCA to the river but it looks pretty developed and congested on maps.

Just my opinion.

Edited to add: I agree with you that Jelani was the only driver. His mother said he had a charger in his car so, I agree, that Jelani was the one who intentionally turned the phone off. IMO, I'm sure LE has quite a bit of video that the family and the public have not seen.

I don't believe his family could know if Jelani had ever been to Peru. By the time we are that age, most of us have done some driving around, exploring, without our family knowing. Then, there's a navigation system in the car Maybe he looked at online maps or printed something. Or just having a vague idea of going to a big river, maybe thinking it was far enough away that if a body was found, they might not think of him. He may have parked a mile from the river, thinking the search would be there first. maybe he hoped his body not be found, but he definitely didn't risk his car being spotted and someone finding him close by, either before or after being in the river.
Jelani could have spent many hours looking for just the right place to conceal the car. Walk two blocks east, head south to the river. I think we don't know for a fact exactly when or where he entered the water, but I think it was at night. I have no idea what means he used to assist/ensure drowning.

Up and down the streets on google, south, and east of the car location, it looks like a very quiet residential area with some small apartments, then businesses closer to the water. Very few cars. I think if he had parked his car out in the open, it would have been noticed and reported much sooner. I don't even see a lot of cars in the driveways or at the businesses. I don't know what day of the week or time the video was taken.
The YMCA was just used as a landmark, it's not on his walking route.

^^rsbm

I don't believe this correct: Recent reports state the Hendrix t-shirt was located on the bank which was also corroborated by JD's mom citing how she was sent photos of the t-shirt to identify and agreed it was her son's shirt as seen in the Dispensary surveillance video.

I posted earlier today where the confusion happened with the BPD indicating that the clothes seen in surveillance (meaning the blue button-down, slacks, etc.) were found inside the vehicle-- which was incorrectly assumed to mean the clothes seen in the Dispensary surveillance.

MOO

I knew that the dress clothes were in the apartment, his brother posted that early on. His brother also posted that the Hendrix shirt was in the car. Mom said to the police, re the clothes at the river, those are not Jelani's, but later, she looked at the picture of him at the dispensary and thought "maybe" but she said nothing about the distinctive shirt. Some have said he only changed his shirt, and wore the same shorts, socks, shoes, after he left his car. I'm guessing if they thought the clothes are Jelani's they would treat them as evidence would attempt to prove this with DNA.
I missed it if, amongst the hundreds of articles and posts, someone has made an official anouncement about the clothes.

 

[Seattle1]

I knew that the dress clothes were in the apartment, his brother posted that early on. His brother also posted that the Hendrix shirt was in the car. Mom said to the police, re the clothes at the river, those are not Jelani's, but later, she looked at the picture of him at the dispensary and thought "maybe" but she said nothing about the distinctive shirt. Some have said he only changed his shirt, and wore the same shorts, socks, shoes, after he left his car. I'm guessing if they thought the clothes are Jelani's they would treat them as evidence would attempt to prove this with DNA.
I missed it if, amongst the hundreds of articles and posts, someone has made an official anouncement about the clothes.

^^rsbm

Please see 8/31/21 Press release re. last known clothing (Detroit Lions cap, black Hendrix t-shirt, white/silver shorts, black shoes, white sock), and brother SD 8/31 Instagram post on Justice FB confirming that the dress clothes were found in his vehicle on 8/26 -- no statements about any clothing located in his apartment.

9/29/21 GMA - JD's Mom and Attorney HB confirm Hendrix t-shirt found on the river bank belonged to JD.

Jelani Day's family suspects foul play in son's death, urges public for answers: 'Somebody knows something'

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

^^rsbm

Please see 8/31/21 Press release re. last known clothing (Detroit Lions cap, black Hendrix t-shirt, white/silver shorts, black shoes, white sock), and brother SD 8/31 Instagram post on Justice FB confirming that the dress clothes were found in his vehicle on 8/26 -- no statements about any clothing located in his apartment.

9/29/21 GMA - JD's Mom and Attorney HB confirm Hendrix t-shirt found on the river bank belonged to JD.

Jelani Day's family suspects foul play in son's death, urges public for answers: 'Somebody knows something'

"the area with some clothes that were found last week," Bezner said. No mention of what the clothes are. Justice facebook is not an official source of any information.