cover of episode Jaliek Rainwalker Re-release

Jaliek Rainwalker Re-release

Publish Date: 2024/5/2
logo of podcast Voices for Justice

Voices for Justice

Chapters

Shownotes Transcript

What's something that works so well that it's basically magic? It's summertime, so how about air conditioning? Noise-canceling headphones? Meeting-free Fridays? Well, what about selling with Shopify?

Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the "launch your online shop" stage, to the first "real life store" stage, all the way to the "did we just hit a million orders" stage, Shopify is there to help you grow. Whether you're selling trained detective t-shirts or advocacy gear, Shopify helps you sell everywhere.

From their all-in-one e-commerce platform to their in-person POS system, wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered.

What I love about Shopify is no matter how big you grow, Shopify grows with you. And they give you everything you need to take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial at shopify.com slash justice, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash justice now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash justice.

In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one. A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.

Hear the story on Where's Dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder.

This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney, and this is Voices for Justice. Today, I am discussing the case of Jalik Rainwalker. Jalik was only 12 years old when he went missing from Greenwich, New York in 2007.

His adoptive parents told police that they believed Jalik ran away to join a gang, but not long into the investigation, Jalik's adoptive father would be named a person of interest, and almost every item he said Jalik took with him when he left was later found in the family's homes. This is the case of Jalik Rainwalker.

Jalik Rainwalker was born on August 2, 1995. Unfortunately, his life was never easy. His mother was battling drug addiction and alcoholism. As a result, Jalik was born with cocaine in his system, and was taken from his mother's custody to be placed in the foster care system in New York.

Many who cared for Jalik over the years have described him as a highly intelligent, happy kid who enjoyed skateboarding, soccer, reading, and dinosaurs. However, many have also said he had behavioral issues while in their care, mostly violent outbursts.

Over the years, Jalik would bounce from six different foster homes before finally being adopted. Now, if you've been listening to me for some time, and especially if you're a member of the Voices for Justice Patreon, you know I worked with children in the foster care system. So I do want to take a second and talk a little bit about how the foster care system works for these kids, because I think it's extremely relevant to this case.

Now, it could be different in New York where Jalik was from, but in my experience, there are just so many reasons kids transfer between caregivers and homes. I couldn't find if every home Jalik lived in was a foster home with a foster family, or a group home where he would have lived with many other children and been taken care of by a set of paid employees. Or

Where I worked, the kids lived in group homes. They are usually large homes with up to 10 children living there while a set of paid staff comes in and out to care for the kids. They live in these group homes while waiting for a foster family to become available.

and in the best case scenario, later be adopted by that family. So, like I said, I couldn't find if Jalik was exclusively cared for by different sets of foster families, or if some of these transfers were to and from different group homes. The point I'm getting at is that the media has, at times, portrayed Jalik as having severe emotional problems, bouncing from home to home. So, I wanted to give some context here.

There are so many different reasons kids are moved between different homes. There could have been staffing issues. A house may have closed. A family may have decided that they just weren't ready for a child. Jalik could have transferred schools and been sent to another house closer to that school. They may have moved him to make room for the sibling of another child.

Like I said, the reasons for a child to be moved in the foster care system are seemingly endless, and it's not always a result of bad behavior or someone simply not wanting Jalik. In my research, I also found that Jalik was abused while in the foster care system. In that situation, it's very likely that Jalik was moved from one placement to another. Unfortunately, abuse in the foster care system is very common.

Also, I want to note that when children are in the foster care system, their caregiver, be it a paid staff member or a foster family, is required to report basically every small indiscretion these kids make to their assigned social worker.

For example, when I worked with kids in foster care, if I heard one of them even cussing or saying anything that could be deemed as abnormal or a behavioral issue, I was expected to write an entire report about it. If a child talks about how they hate their body, that's an incident report. If a child shoves another child, that's an incident report. If a child cries and says they miss their parents, that's an incident report.

See where I'm going with this? Children in the foster care system are essentially under a microscope, and a very detailed record of their behavior is created to get them any services they may need such as counseling, but also so whoever may care for them in the future is aware of their past behavior. This record follows the child until they are adopted, or age out of the system.

I'm not saying Jalik didn't have any genuine issues that needed to be addressed. Obviously, being abused can have lifelong ramifications. Just being in the foster care system can cause lifelong issues that could require special care or treatment. What I am saying is that we don't really know the extent of his behavioral problems or why he bounced between so many different placements. I just don't want you to have a preconceived notion that he was a bad kid.

But what we do know is that eventually, Jalik is placed with married couple Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald in Greenwich, New York. A few years later, they adopt Jalik. We also know that Jalik was not on any medication or receiving any services for any behavioral issues or mental health concerns. In addition to Jalik, Kerr and McDonald had three biological sons and an adopted daughter.

Because both Jalik and their adopted daughter were classified as children with special therapeutic needs requiring special care, they received about $3,000 a month to care for the children, which is about $36,000 a year. Jocelyn McDonald's mother, Barbara Reilly, has told several news outlets that she fully believes the couple cared for these children solely for the money.

which, just like abuse, is very common in the foster care system, unfortunately. Jalik's living situation with his family before he went missing was also less than ideal. Now again, I'm going to dive into some of my experience here. In order to foster or adopt children, you have to go through a rigorous process with the state. You are evaluated, your house is inspected from top to bottom, and everyone who lives in the home is interviewed.

Kerr and McDonald obviously went through this process and passed. But after an adoption is finalized, that's really it. Jalik was legally their child. And unless Child Protective Services is called, they wouldn't have social workers stopping by to inspect the living situation.

The reason I'm bringing all of this up is because sometime after both adoptions were finalized, the family moves into a different home that I don't believe would have ever passed an inspection. This new home was comprised of two rooms total, and has often been compared to a shack in the media. Both parents and all five children slept together in a single room upstairs. The house also didn't have any running water,

and their electricity came from a single generator on the property. Jalik was very sheltered in this environment. He often didn't have access to television or the internet, and he attended a homeschool program in the area. So basically, all access to the outside world was closely monitored by Kerr and McDonald.

Jumping forward a bit, near the end of October 2007, Jalik is 12 years old, and reportedly gets kicked out of his homeschool program after threatening to harm another child. Some reports say he threatened to rape a 4-year-old. An hour after this incident, Jocelyn McDonald calls her mother Barbara, and tells her she wants to reverse Jalik's adoption and have him placed back into foster care.

Jalik's parents also call a crisis hotline to report that he's out of control, and again express their wishes for Jalik to no longer be in their care. The crisis hotline explains that this just isn't possible. Adoptions are permanent. There's no giving back a child you adopted. Essentially, their only option was to terminate their parental rights.

The crisis hotline suggests that the couple put Jalik into respite care while everyone just kind of cools down a bit. Now, respite care is a short-term care solution used for children in foster care or who have been adopted. It's used for a variety of reasons. If perhaps the parents were very sick and needed extra assistance caring for the child. Or, like in Jalik's case, if there are concerns about safety or the family just needs a few days away to decompress.

In this case, Jalik's parents call a woman named Elaine Persons to care for Jalik. Persons had previously cared for Jalik before he was placed with Kerr and McDonald. They initially ask her to take him for two weeks, but she can only take him for about a week. While Jalik was with Elaine Persons, she says he had good behavior and was apologetic for what he'd said to the child in his class.

According to Persons, Stephen Kerr asked Jalik to write apology letters to his class while in her care. On November 1, 2007, Elaine Persons drives Jalik to Stephen Kerr. They meet in a parking lot. Kerr says he planned to take Jalik to his father's home in Greenwich for a few days until they could figure out what they were going to do. Around 8 p.m., Stephen Kerr and Jalik are spotted at a Red Robin restaurant.

After dinner, Kerr says he and Jalik went to his father's home and went to sleep. Now, I've seen some conflicting reports about this house. Some reports say the house was unoccupied, and other reports say that Kerr's father was just out of town. Either way, he isn't in the home with Kerr and Jalik that night. At 7am on now November 2nd, Kerr checks on Jalik, and it appears he's still asleep in bed.

However, at 7.30am, he goes to wake Jalik up, and discovers that Jalik had apparently just placed items in the bed and covered it with a blanket to make it look like he was still sleeping. Then Kerr finds a note that reads, Dear Everybody, I'm sorry for everything. I won't bother you anymore. Goodbye, Jalik."

He also finds a sign with the word Albany written on it, a sign like one that might be used by a hitchhiker. Both the sign and the letter appear to be in Jalik's handwriting. Stephen Kerr would wait an hour and a half before reporting Jalik missing. When Kerr spoke with police, he told them the only items that appeared to be missing from the home were a duffel bag, some clothing, and Jalik's favorite stuffed animal.

Jalik had no cash and hadn't taken any of Kerr's bank cards. He added that Jalik was likely wearing jeans and a bright yellow fleece jacket when he left. The Cambridge Greenwich Police Department responded to the call with extreme urgency, and Police Chief George Bell worked the case personally.

Stephen Kerr told the police that he believed Jalik ran away, likely to join a gang, or possibly to take his own life, citing that Jalik had severe behavioral problems and made both homicidal and suicidal threats in the past. These statements made by Kerr severely impacted the search for Jalik.

While it seems the police never believed Jalik left to join a gang, because of these statements and because of the note Kerr found, no Amber Alert was issued, and the search expanded past the immediate area to areas they believed Jalik may have taken his own life. But the search for Jalik was massive. By all accounts, the police utilized all the resources at their disposal.

and partnered with several other agencies so they could do the same. They used dogs, helicopters, infrared cameras, boats, divers, and more. The family home and Jalik's grandparents' home where he was last seen was also searched as a possible crime scene. Jalik's case gained traction in the media fast. For the first few weeks, Jalik's picture was on the front of the local paper at the Post Times almost every single day.

They closely monitored and reported on this case as it unfolded. Specifically, reporter Don Lehman, who wrote many of the articles I used to create this episode. It seemed like all of New York was on the lookout for Jalik and his bright yellow fleece jacket. In my research, I found that there was a boy about Jalik's age who looked a lot like Jalik and lived in New York.

So many people called in sightings of this boy thinking he was Jalik, that law enforcement had to give him a note he could show police to prove it wasn't him. It seemed like the entire world was looking for Jalik when he first went missing. So where did he go? In any investigation of a missing child, you have to look at the parents, and especially the last person seen with the child, in this case, Stephen Kerr.

One of the first things police noticed was that his parents weren't involved in any of the searches for Jalik, which in and of itself isn't a crime. Everyone grieves differently. Everyone deals with these situations differently. But it is something the police have been outspoken about. On day two of the investigation, authorities asked them to take polygraph tests. Jocelyn McDonald agreed, though the results have never been made public.

And Stephen Kerr ultimately refused to take the test altogether. By November 5th, three days after Jalik was reported missing, Police Chief Bell made a public statement that this is not just a typical runaway case. November in New York is absolutely freezing. Jalik would be cold and hungry. If he was alive, there was no way he didn't surface somewhere.

Four days later, Chief Bell announced they were scaling back the search for Jalik. They just didn't really have anywhere else to search. He added that should they be made aware of more areas to search, they would be happy to do so. He also stated he was contacting the FBI and the television show America's Most Wanted to ask for their assistance. In the days and weeks after Jalik went missing, a lot of statements would be made and a lot of things would happen.

Elaine Persons would come forward with her suspicion that the alleged runaway note left by Jalik looked a lot more like a possible apology letter that Stephen Kerr asked him to write to his class. This is something many who cared for Jalik would also come to believe and speak out about.

In addition to this speculation, in one search of Jalik's grandfather's home, police found the duffel bag and Jalik's favorite stuffed animal Stephen Kerr told them was missing from the home when Jalik supposedly ran away. However, Jalik's parents maintained that they believed he ran away, that maybe he got a ride to New York City and joined a gang, or maybe he went to Vermont to be with two of his biological brothers he'd met once a few years prior.

Police continued to work the case, even partnering with a psychic deemed credible by another police department. She made several public statements about where she felt Jalik was. A rather famous golden retriever named Duke, who'd found several missing people in the past, was also brought in. But none of this led them to Jalik.

Like Chief Bell promised, as more leads surfaced in the case, the searches continued. They searched a local hydroelectric plant, they went to Vermont to investigate an area where the family used to go camping, and just like the other searches, they found zero trace of Jalik.

Now, during all of this, Jalik's parents, specifically Stephen Kerr, gave several interviews to local news media, and those interviews have been harshly scrutinized. Police eventually got subpoenas for the recordings and the transcripts of all the interviews done by Jalik's parents. They also got subpoenas for their phone, bank, life insurance, and credit card records, as well as similar records for other members of Kerr's family.

Eventually, both Kerr and McDonald would speak out publicly about the police focusing on Kerr as a possible person of interest in Jalik's case. In one interview, McDonald said that they were accusing Kerr of sexually abusing and killing Jalik in their interviews. By the end of December 2007, so about two months after Jalik went missing, five foster parents who had previously cared for Jalik created their own task force to help find him.

This initiative was led by Elaine Person, the woman who cared for Jalik in the days before he went missing. She actually took a leave of absence from her position as an executive director for a local non-profit to do this. Also included in this task force were Jalik's maternal grandparents, so Jocelyn McDonald's parents.

This task force did things like hold fundraisers for case needs, they managed a tip line and a website, they put up a reward for Jalik, and they held educational events focusing on the foster care system and adoptions. However, it should be noted that Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald were not asked to join this task force.

And Jocelyn McDonald's parents, specifically her mother Barbara, as well as Elaine Persons, continued speaking out against them, saying they didn't believe Jalik's parents were telling the police everything they knew. In January 2008, the police announced that Stephen Kerr was now an official person of interest in the case.

This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by June's Journey. June's Journey is a hidden object mystery game, and you step into the role of June Parker and search for hidden clues to uncover the mystery of her sister's murder. Basically, you engage your observation skills to quickly uncover key pieces of information that lead to chapters of mystery, danger, and romance.

Throughout your investigation, you also customize your very own luxurious estate island. You collect scraps of information to fill your photo album and learn more about each character. But my favorite part is chatting and playing with or against other players by joining a detective club and putting my skills to the test in a detective league.

So, there's kind of two times that I find myself playing June's Journey. One is kind of throughout the day when I just need like a little decompression break, I play a few scenes and get back to work. Or more often than not, when I'm laying down for the night, I tend to play then too. For me, it's a nice way to unwind, decompress, and get lost in a mystery. Discover your inner detective when you download June's Journey for free today on iOS and Android.

This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by CB Distillery. If you're anything like me, my medicine cabinet was filled with things that just didn't help me. I still couldn't sleep, I was still in pain, and I was still stressed out. So I gave CB Distillery a try, and it has been a real change. And in two non-clinical surveys, 81% of customers experienced more calm.

and 90% said that they slept better with CBD, and I'm a part of that 90%. I've had trouble sleeping for most of my life, and after trying every tea, every pill that I could get my hands on, CBD distilleries' deep sleep gummies have actually worked for me. It not only helps me fall asleep, but it helps me stay asleep, which has been my big problem in the past.

So if you struggle with a health concern and haven't found relief, make the change like I did to CB Distillery. And with over 2 million customers and a solid 100% money-back guarantee, CB Distillery is the source to trust. I have a 20% discount to get you started. Visit cbdistillery.com and use code JUSTICE for 20% off. That's cbdistillery.com, code JUSTICE. cbdistillery.com

This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by Quince. I can't believe that we are rolling into fall, but we are, which means it's time to refresh your wardrobe. And luckily, Quince offers timeless and high-quality pieces that will not blow your budget.

Like cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops, and more. All Quince items are priced 50-80% less than similar brands. And they do that by partnering directly with top factories. That way they cut out the cost of the middleman and pass those savings on to us. At this point, I've tried a little bit of everything from Quince.

and I'm still in love with their 10-Cell Jersey Fit and Flare dresses. Especially in Arizona, it's really easy to dress them up or dress them down and add some layers if it gets colder.

Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high-quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash justice for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash justice to get free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash justice By the beginning of 2008, 12-year-old Jalik Rainwalker has been missing for two months.

Despite exhaustive searches, no trace of Jalik has been found. His adoptive parents believe he ran away, and have mostly stopped cooperating with police. The other adults in Jalik's life are now becoming very outspoken that they believe his parents are not telling the police everything they know about Jalik going missing. It's at this point that Chief Bell announces that Stephen Kerr is now an official person of interest in Jalik's disappearance.

Let's talk about how this happened. Now, in addition to Stephen Kerr refusing a polygraph...

And acting odd in his interviews with the media, often focusing on Martin Luther King instead of Jalik, there is some real weight behind making this determination. Stephen Kerr also refused to give his DNA to help eliminate himself as a person of interest. On top of that, when police checked Stephen Kerr's cell phone records, his phone pinged off towers that were inconsistent with the story he told police about the night Jalik went missing.

If you remember, Stephen Kerr says he got Jalik, a witness confirms they ate at Red Robin around 8pm, and he says they both went to Jalik's grandfather's house for the night and stayed there until the next morning when he discovered that Jalik was missing. Stephen Kerr told investigators that he received a call at 8.15 on the night Jalik went missing, and took this call along Route 40 in the town of Shattacook.

However, when Chief Bell got the location information from Verizon Wireless, it showed that Kerr was about 30 minutes away in South Troy. Chief Bell told the Postar, quote, he was nowhere near the route he told us he took home, end quote. Chief Bell wouldn't elaborate on who made the call, but he did say that the person who called Kerr later told police that he was very agitated on the phone.

In addition to this, when police pulled surveillance video from businesses in the area on the night Jalik went missing, they saw a gold van that was identical to Kerr's father's van driving down Main Street at 12.16 a.m., when Kerr alleges he and Jalik were sleeping, and his father was far away from the home.

Police can't say without a doubt that that was Kerr's father's van in the video, but they believe it was. When they asked Kerr if they could look at his father's van to compare to the surveillance video, he refused. The police would even hold an entire press conference to discuss these new revelations, and to ask the public for any information specifically about Stephen Kerr's whereabouts on November 1st and November 2nd.

But near the end of January 2008, numerous news outlets in the area would receive an anonymous typed letter that, if accurate, would point the investigation away from Stephen Kerr. The letter reads, quote, Jalik still alive. Needed a foot soldier for this war on drugs. Picked him up Route 40, Post 30. He's okay. No fake. He says ask his mama and papa.

Now, this letter appears to contain information that only Jalik and his immediate family would know. It also seems to reiterate the idea that Jalik possibly ran away and joined a gang.

and was now a, quote, foot soldier for the war on drugs. But the timing of this letter was definitely odd. The world was looking at Stephen Kerr as a person of interest in Jalik's case. And then bam, the media gets this letter allegedly confirming Kerr's beliefs about where Jalik was. The letter was postmarked Westchester, New York, and the police did search the area, but didn't find anything helpful.

In the end, the letter only made police more suspicious of Stephen Kerr, and ultimately aided them in obtaining search warrants for any typewriters or computers in his possession that may have been used to create the letter.

Ultimately, they couldn't find any evidence of Kerr or anyone else creating and sending this letter. But with that being said, as far as I could find, they still don't have a DNA sample for Kerr to eliminate him as the possible sender.

It's also worth noting that they do have DNA from Jalik's biological mother that could eliminate him as the possible sender. As far as I could find, no one has spoken publicly about any testing of the letters or any results of testing the letters. About a month later, by March 2008, Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald moved their family about 30 minutes away to West Rupert, Vermont, and they never spoke publicly about Jalik's case again.

However, this move would ultimately lead to another major discovery in this case. Because Jocelyn McDonald's mother Barbara believed her daughter and son-in-law weren't being forthcoming with police, she actually tried to get custody of Jalik after he went missing. She did this for two reasons. One, so she could obtain things like school and medical records his parents refused to give to the police. Two, so she could obtain things like school and medical records his parents refused to

And two, so that just in case Jalik really did run away, he might come back if he realized he could come home to her and not his parents. So, Barbara really went to her daughter's now-abandoned house to look for any evidence of foul play, and to gather items of Jalik's she suspected may have been left behind. She says the door was unlocked.

So she went in, took a look around, and almost immediately, something bright yellow caught her eye, and her heart just sank. She picked it up and knew right away. It was the bright yellow fleece Stephen Kerr told police he was likely wearing when he went missing.

Now, this really got me. I mean, even if Stephen Kerr was just mistaken about what Jalik was wearing when he went missing, it doesn't explain why this wasn't reported to police when the fleece was found. If Barbara found it almost immediately when going through the house, surely one of the six people who lived in that home after Jalik was gone saw it before they moved out.

So why not tell police, hey, I was wrong. He wasn't wearing a bright yellow fleece, I just found it. For months, the entire state of New York and much of Vermont were on the lookout for a 12-year-old boy in a bright yellow fleece. And here it was staring Barbara in the face. This article of clothing was sent to the New York State Police Crime Lab for testing. But it doesn't appear that anything came of it.

However, Chief Bell told the media he has no doubt that despite how the item was found, its discovery could be used in a court of law.

Jalik's parents' lawyer, on the other hand, stated he and his clients believed the fleece was planted in the home by Barbara, and they did press charges against her for trespassing and burglary as they still owned the property. She would later plead guilty to the charges in court, though nothing would come of the allegations that she planted the yellow fleece jacket in the home.

This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by Ibotta. Are you planning your dream vacation but dreading the cost?

With Ibotta, you get cash back on all your purchases, so you can spend more time making memories and less time dreaming about them. Ibotta is a free app that lets you earn cash back every time you shop. You can earn on hundreds of items you buy every day, from groceries to beauty supplies and even toys. The average Ibotta user earns $256 per year.

That's a plane ticket, a shopping trip, or even a fancy dinner. And they have so many brands, over 2,400. Lowe's, Macy's, Sephora, Best Buy, and more. I've been using Ibotta for a really long time. It's one way that I make every penny stretch. And right now, Ibotta is offering our listeners $5 just for trying Ibotta by using the code CRIME when you register.

Just go to the App Store or Google Play Store and download the free Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CRIME. That's I-B-O-T-T-A in the Google Play Store or App Store and use code CRIME. This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series Back in Crime.

If you're a follower of true crime, you're probably familiar with some of the most shocking stories from our history. Horrific tragedies like the Columbine Massacre. And notorious criminals like cult leader Charles Manson.

In a scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird religious rite, five persons, including actress Sharon Tate, were found dead at the home of Miss Tate and her husband, screen director Roman Poliansky. But what if we were to turn back the hands of time and relive these events as they unfolded? Follow along each week as we take a fresh look at crimes from the past. Back in Crime is available now.

Unfortunately, like we see in a lot of these cases, the leads began to dry up, and not much would happen in the case over the next few years.

In 2012, the status of Jalik's case was officially changed from a missing persons case to a homicide investigation. In 2013, former Washington County DA Kevin Courtright said he believed they could make an arrest. But Courtright lost the election that year, and charges were never brought. New DA Tony Jordan asked police to review the file for the case.

and Chief Bell pushed for a grand jury review, but that doesn't appear to have happened either. Now, I do have to give a huge shout out to Chief George Bell of the Cambridge Greenwich Police Department. He was the lead on Jalik's case until he died in 2018. When he passed, Jalik's grandparents as well as his former caregivers spoke out about Chief Bell, saying he was like family to them, and they knew how much he cared about Jalik.

You just don't always see that in these cases. So I just wanted to thank Chief Bell for his dedication to getting justice for Jalik.

Another huge hero in this case is Barbara Reilly, Jalik's maternal grandmother. She did and still does everything she can for Jalik. She has kept this case in the media for over 14 years as of recording this episode. She also hasn't spoken to her daughter or grandchildren in over 14 years because of these efforts. She's given up a large part of her family for Jalik,

which I can tell you is a very hard thing to do and continue to do over the years. To give up most of your family for someone who you know will likely never come back to you is a special type of hell. But of course, I completely understand why she did it. While Jalik obviously fell through the cracks of the very flawed foster care and adoption system in this country, he has never been forgotten.

Just last year in 2021, Barbara Reilly provided hundreds of pages of documents about Jalik's case to students at the College of St. Rose to analyze. They pulled out the most relevant information and gave it to police. There was also a fundraiser to provide scholarships to students of St. Rose in Jalik's name.

I have to remain hopeful that these fresh eyes on the case will lead somewhere. But that is pretty much where the case is today. We are left with a lot of questions about what happened to Jalik.

While neither Stephen Kerr or Jocelyn McDonald have ever been charged with anything in relation to Jalik's case, there's no denying it just doesn't look good. Now, I do want to note here that Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald did put up their own $25,000 reward for Jalik. However, one of the conditions of this reward was that for every month after December 2007, they would subtract $5,000 from that reward.

So it's long gone at this point. I also want to state that Police Chief Bell was very outspoken about Jocelyn McDonald being much more forthcoming than Stephen Kerr, and McDonald has never been publicly named a person of interest by the police. Most runaway children return home. While it's a possibility that Jalik left on his own accord and stayed away, it's incredibly unlikely.

As for Jalik joining a gang, Jalik had no arrest record and was extremely sheltered. The odds of him leaving to join a gang felt slim to Chief Bell, and the odds that no one in that possible gang would have turned him in for the reward money felt even slimmer to him. While Jalik's parents painted a picture of a very disturbed, violent young man, they never provided him with any services to help.

Though Jocelyn McDonald did speak out publicly to state that she tried to get him services but was unable to find any in their area, I'd argue that $1,500 a month to care for a child with special needs should be able to fund a trip outside of your immediate area, especially if Jalik was as bad as they paint him out to be. Not to mention, there are transportation services available for children like Jalik.

Another possibility is that Jalik took his own life or was met with foul play, which again is possible, but that doesn't give us any explanation for some of the odd pieces of evidence in this case, or Stephen Kerr's inconsistent statements about what happened when Jalik went missing.

What we know is that Jalik has been missing for 14 years. Shortly before he went missing, his adoptive parents expressed their desires multiple times to give up custody of Jalik. Stephen Kerr was the last person to see him, and the story he told police is not consistent with where his cell phone was that night.

Almost everything Jalik was believed to have taken when he went missing has since been recovered from his home and the home he was last seen in.

Just like Chief Bell, I see enough evidence here to at least present this case for prosecution to a grand jury. No body does not mean no crime. If you want more information on that, in season one of this podcast, I had a great conversation with Tad Tobias. He is the foremost authority on no-body murder cases and honestly just a wealth of information on the subject.

The bottom line is, circumstantial evidence is evidence. This year will mark 15 years that Jalik Rainwalker has been missing. But I see a lot of hope here for justice for Jalik. 15 years is a long time. People change. Kids grow up and see things they didn't see before.

and DNA testing has advanced immensely. I have to hold out hope that someone will come forward with more information, or they will finally be able to link those anonymous letters to someone and figure out what happened to Jalik. Cases like Jalik's are solved every single day. I just hope it's someday soon.

That brings me right to our call to action. Please share Jalik's picture and story. Barbara Raley, Elaine Persons, and many others who knew Jalik are still fighting for him. Let's let them know that they aren't alone, and Jalik will never be forgotten.

As a reminder, Jalik Rainwalker was 12 years old when he went missing from New York on November 1st or 2nd, 2007. At that time, Jalik was 5'6", and weighed approximately 105 pounds. Jalik is biracial. He is an African American and Caucasian male with

with brown hair and green eyes. At the time of his disappearance, Jalik's hair had blonde highlights and was styled in a two-inch afro. He has several moles on his back. He may also go by the nickname J. Anyone with information is urged to contact their local FBI office. If you wish to stay anonymous, you can also submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney. For more information about the podcast, to suggest a case, to see resources used for this episode, and to find out more about how to help the cases I discuss, visit VoicesForJusticePodcast.com. And if you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show in your podcast player.

It really does help more people find the podcast and these cases in need of justice.

Welcome to the Voices for Justice secret aftershow. Wow, these past two cases have been really, really rough. I mean, all the cases are rough, but Jalik's case hits really close to home, I think, for obvious reasons. And because it hits so close to home, I feel like I shouldn't really comment on it further. But I really just hope that Jalik gets justice because I really do feel like it is within reach.

That being said, I don't have a ton of personal updates for you guys this week. I have been grinding away trying to prepare, get these episodes done. I've been grinding away.

But with that being said, I do have an update for you in the Juby Monsiv case. It's actually a statement written by Juby's father. If you guys don't remember, I did cover Juby's case. Let me look. Hold on. I covered his case back in October of 2021. It was pretty much right after he went missing in September.

Later on, of course, his body was found, and I did tell you guys about that, but I want to read to you an update from the family's Facebook page. Specifically, this comes from Juby's father. It states, quote, My dear friends, the mystery surrounding Juby's disappearance from our home on September 23, 2021 remains the same today as it was back then. We received the toxicology report, which indicated the cause of Juby's passing as undetermined.

Juby's skull and left arm are still missing, and we believe that his missing remains are most likely in one of the canal branches from the Mesa pumping station. We ask you, my friends, to please help us spread the word throughout social media. Finding his skull is essential in determining whether this is evidence of foul play, as we strongly believe that someone is responsible for what happened to our son.

We are offering a $20,000 reward for any information leading us to who is responsible for Juby's disappearance and death. An additional $10,000 reward to whomever may find his skull. You are our family's hope to get justice for Juby."

That is obviously extremely tragic and just traumatizing, and I can't even imagine what his family is going through right now. But the most important part is they're still asking us to share. So please take a moment to go back through my social media. I did just share the update on social media as well, but please share Juby's episode, share his picture. They're just looking for a resolution, and someone out there knows something.

I know this was a real serious after show, but sometimes life is just like that. But as always, thank you for tolerating me. I love you and I'll talk to you next time.