Why is that?ĭAY: Because I don't trust them at this point. You do not want the police to search Jelani's phone. Someone else finds the phone, someone else found the car, his clothes, his wallet, that it's just been very piecemeal and different people involved. SEALES: This kind of falls into a pattern, I think is what you're saying. I made all of those concerns aware to the Bloomington police. Actually I found a Dollar General in that area that let me sit in that store for four hours to watch their cameras where I believe I saw Jelani's car and I did let the police know that I saw that exit that was on that road and I wondered is this a way that my son's car could have went. I had spent an entire day looking, going to different businesses. I didn't search that area, but the exit that the road leads to get off on that, I was there and I had told the police that that is an area that needs to be looked at, cameras need to be looking at that on that road.ĭAY: That was in Bloomington. SEALES: Overall, does the story sit right with you? You know, a mother's feeling or intuition that a man happened to stop on the interstate and Jelani's phone happened to be at that exact spot on the interstate?ĭAY: The area that the young man described the phone found in, was the same area that I originally had searched that exit. I need them to not provide oversight, not to be engaged but to take over this case. So, if they can turn it over to the FBI and not mess with it - because at this point, I need the FBI involved. I questioned why they would go through the phone and she said to me, "Carmen, if you don't want us to go through the phone let me know now and we'll turn it over to the FBI," and I told her that's what I prefer for her to do. They then told me that they were going to look into Jelani's phone to see what was on there. When I contacted them today, they told me that they didn't tell me about the phone because they wanted to be sure. According to Peru, in Bloomington, the FBI is assisting and providing resources. So, the police have been aware of this, they've known about the phone. However, the young man had let me know that he got questioned two days ago. I found out about the phone, that the phone had been found and had been identified as Jelani's phone early this morning, maybe about one or two o'clock this morning. He ended up taking it to a kiosk at a Walmart because he said that the phone didn't work. He said that the phone had been shattered. He stopped his truck to secure the mattress back on the truck. SEALES: Can you explain how it came to be in their custody? Because you wrote on Facebook about this, that apparently a guy says his friend or acquaintance found it on the side of the road, turned it in at Walmart, they took it to police - it's this really convoluted chain of custody.ĭAY: Well from what I understand, the gentleman was going down the interstate and a mattress fell off the back of his truck. Carmen, since we began talking - a few months ago at this point - a big question always lingered in our conversations: Where is Jelani's cellphone? What clues could it hold? And now you tell us the Bloomington, Illinois, police have it?ĬARMEN BOLDEN DAY: Yes, the Bloomington police have it in their possession and I'm just wondering why they have it in their possession. Someone who's been leading the fight, pushing for answers surrounding Jelani's disappearance and death is his mother, Carmen Bolden Day, and she joins us again. Now, his mother says it's been found, it's in police custody and Jelani's family wants a say in the upcoming process. Throughout this investigation, Jelani's cellphone has been missing, along with any clues it might hold. 26, police told the public Jelani's cause of death was drowning with no signs of homicide. 4, an unidentified body was found in the river in LaSalle County, Illinois. His vehicle was found just two days later in a wooded area in Peru, Illinois, nearly 60 miles away. Jelani, an Alabama A&M graduate and an Illinois State University grad student was last seen at Beyond Hello Cannabis Dispensary in Bloomington, IL on Aug. Thursday saw a major development in the case and has Jelani's family and friends hopeful for new information and somewhat skeptical of police. NEWSY'S CHANCE SEALES: "Newsy Tonight" is continuing to follow the disappearance and death investigation of graduate student Jelani Day.
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