Carmen Bolden Day, the mother of missing Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day, has made a plea to the public to help locate her son.
“Since they found that unidentified body, it doesn’t seem to me that they are pushing to continue to look for my son,” Bolden Day said.
A body was found in the Illinois River on Sept. 4. but even though the authorities collected DNA samples from her and other members of the family on Sept. 6 — they were told that “the state lab does not have the chemical that is needed to process the DNA.”
In comparison, Gabby Pepito, a 21-year-old white aspiring blogger, went missing last month. Since then, the mainstream media has been paying close attention to the case and law enforcement did not stop until they found her. Her dead body was identified and the cause of death as a homicide shortly after.
The process was relatively seamless.
Day was last seen in Bloomington on Aug. 24 and is still considered a missing person.
“I understand that there are other crimes that they have to investigate, but it seems like I only have this one detective and I understand he has a life outside of his work. But once he stops, does that mean we stop looking for my son?” Bolden Day asks
.
“At one point during the investigation, five detectives, crime scene detectives, and CID supervisors were helping comb through digital evidence, physical evidence, and helping with investigation,” Officer John Fermon told WGLT.
Day’s abandoned vehicle was recovered in a wooded area on Aug. 26. “I don’t know maybe if it was their child there would be an urgency on this. They would still be looking.”
Bolden Day wants the media to give the same attention they gave Pepito to her beautiful, Black son.
“But do you not see us? Do you not see me? Do you not see my son? He is loved,” Bolden Day said. “He is wanted. He is important.”
