Fraternity calls on feds to take over Jelani Day investigation. ‘We will not relent’
Nearly six weeks after Jelani Day’s body was pulled out of an Illinois river, his former fraternity is calling on federal officials to help in the death investigation.
Day, a 25-year-old graduate student at Illinois State, was missing for two weeks before his body was found Sept. 4 in the Illinois River. Officials did not positively identify his body until Sept. 23.
Within a week of the identification, the Nu Epsilon chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Alabama A&M University petitioned for a formal investigation to be launched. Day graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Alabama A&M in 2018 and was a member of the fraternity.
The fraternity said last month it was extremely concerned the Bloomington Police Department had “shown the inability to handle a case of this nature.”
In an update to the petition Thursday, the Nu Epsilon chapter demanded a formal investigation by federal and state authorities. More than 27,000 people have signed the petition as of Friday morning.
“Unfortunately, our work and support of the Day family are not complete,” the chapter said. “Until the person responsible for killing Jelani is prosecuted and convicted, we will not relent or rest.”
Day’s mother, who goes by Larae Bolden on Facebook, shared the petition and said, “We need answers!!”
Day was reported missing Aug. 25 — two days after family members said they last spoke to him, McClatchy News previously reported. Surveillance footage showed him entering a retail store in Bloomington on Aug. 24.
A day later, about 60 miles north of Bloomington in the town of Peru, his Chrysler 300 was found in a wooded area near a YMCA. The clothing he was wearing at his last known location was found in the car.
Officials determined on Sept. 23 that the body pulled out of the Illinois River near Peru was Day, McClatchy News reported. The body was recovered “floating near the south bank of the Illinois River,” the coroner said.
A cause of death has still not been determined as of Tuesday, LaSalle County Coroner Richard Ploch said in a statement to WMAQ. Ploch told the outlet he needs help from police to piece together ”how he came to be in the water.”
LaSalle County Sheriff Adam Diss said Wednesday multiple agencies are reviewing hundreds of hours of surveillance footage as a part of the investigation. The Illinois River was searched a second time, but divers did not find any new evidence to aid in the case, Diss said.
This story was originally published October 15, 2021, 7:49 AM.
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