Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day, who disappeared before being found dead, died from drowning, a coroner said Monday.

       Day, 25, was last seen Aug. 24. His family in Danville and a faculty member reported him missing after he did not show up for class for several days, and his car was found Aug. 26 concealed in a wooded area in Peru, in LaSalle County.

       ISU student Jelani Day had been missing since Aug. 24, 2021. (Family photo)

       On Sept. 4, a body was discovered floating near the south bank of the Illinois River, just east of the Illinois Route 251 bridge, Bloomington police said, and it was identified as Day’s body Sept. 23.

       “The cause of death of this positively identified 25-year-old male, Jelani Jesse Javonte Day, is drowning,” LaSalle County Coroner Richard Ploch wrote as the cause of death opinion that’s part of the forensic autopsy report for the case, The Pantagraph reported.

       The Rev. Jesse Jackson has said Day’s case looks similar to other racially motivated killings.

       Ploch said “there was no evidence of antemortem injury, such as manual strangulation, an assault or altercation, sharp, blunt or gunshot injury, infection, tumor, natural disease, congenital abnormality or significant drug intoxication.”

       It’s not clear how Day ended up in the Illinois River, Ploch said.

       A multi-jurisdictional task force including the Illinois State Police, the Bloomington and Peru police departments, LaSalle County sheriff’s office and the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit continue to investigate Day’s death.

       Day’s mother, Carmen Bolden Day, posted in the Justice for Jelani Day Facebook group that she does not believe Day committed suicide by drowning and wrote that the narrative the task force is creating is “DISRESPECTFUL, INSENSITIVE, LAZY.”

       “These police departments want an EASY way out,” the post read. “They DIDN’T do their job, so they want to look at surface details.”

       She wrote that her son had no history of mental illness or suicidal ideation and was an “AVID swimmer.” She called upon the Illinois Attorney General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, or Department of Justice to take over the case and ensure her son gets justice.

       Day’s family will be joined by Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition on Tuesday for a march from the Peru Police Department to near the location where his car was found on Aug. 26 in Peru, about 60 miles north of Bloomington.

       Coming today: Results of Chicago Blackhawks’ investigation related to 2010 misconduct allegations against a former video coach

       15m

       4 states removed from Chicago’s COVID-19 travel advisory

       27m

       News Men shot by Rittenhouse can be described as ‘rioters’ and ‘looters’ but not ‘victims,’ judge rules ahead of trial

       Oct 25, 2021

       Chicago Bears Chicago Bears QB rewind: The struggles for Justin Fields and the offense were every bit as bad as they looked in the ‘all-encompassing’ Week 7 loss

       6:00 AM

       Nation & World Facebook froze after learning anti-vaccine misinformation was swarming users’ newsfeeds

       5h