The mother of the Illinois State University graduate student, Jelani Day is asking that people stop spreading misinformation. Carmen Bolden Day is the mother of Jelani Day. His story has rocked the nation as we await answers. In the midst of people trying to connect the dots, horrible stories have come into play. Jelani Day’s mother is looking to put a stop to these and refocus on finding real answer about her baby’s disappearance.
Jelani Day was last seen August 24 2021. He was later was found more than a week afterward in the Illinois River in LaSalle County. He was last videotaped going into the Beyond/Hello cannabis dispensary off Veteran’s Parkway in Bloomington, Illinois. If you recall, Jelani’s mother was very critical of the lack of effort that was taken to find her son, claiming “to them he meant nothing.” During an interview with CNN, Bolden was asked about the lack of attention on her son’s disappearance compared to Gabby Petito. “It kinda bothered me because, not that Gabby isn’t important because she is. Because I know what it feels like to sit in her mothers seat and to not know where your child is. And want to know where your child is.” She later went on to tell CNN, “There is no effort. There is no push. There is no nothing that was being done about my son.”
The last time she seen her son was a week before he went missing. “He gave me a big ol’ hug. He laid down on the couch […] we just talked about little stuff […] It was nothing out of the ordinary.” Following his discovery, many people began to speculate on what happened to the young man. Jelani’s mother has turned to social media to confirm the accuracy of an article written by John Fountain, but also ask people to stop spreading false information. According to Bolden, although Fountain’s work has been done ‘accurately and with grace and honesty,’ many people were pulling out what they wanted and quoting his work incorrectly. “This article is ACCURATE, however as people do, they take what they want out of the conversation, in this case, a article and say or quote things incorrectly. John Fountain is telling Jelani’s story, and so far he’s done that accurately with grace and honesty… and I APPROVE.
Jelani’s mother then goes on to explain the toll it has taken on her family to mourn the loss of her son, but also deal with the misinformation. “I don’t know if any of you even remotely consider how draining and emotional this s for MY ENTIRE FAMILY, WE ARE NOT OK, I’M NOT OK, so please continue to pray with and for us, pray for the community and people that are helping us seek answers, so that means let’s pray for EACH OTHER as we continue to find out what happened to my baby. See her full statement below:
