Car of missing graduate student found in wooded area near YMCA, Illinois cops say

Police in Illinois are searching for a 25-year-old graduate student who went missing this week under “unexplained suspicious circumstances.”

Not long after police reported Jelani Day missing, his Chrysler 300 was found Thursday abandoned in the woods near a YMCA in Peru, Illinois. The town is about 60 miles from where he was first reported missing in Bloomington, police said.

Family members last spoke to Day on Monday evening and he did not show up for class for several days at Illinois State University, Bloomington police said. Family members and an ISU faculty member reported him missing Wednesday.

Day is described as a 6-foot, 2-inch tall Black male who weighs 180 pounds and has short black hair, brown eyes and some facial hair.

Law enforcement officials in multiple towns are searching for Day with help from a K-9 crew and drones, Peru police said. The university also said it is aware of Day’s disappearance and its police department is working in conjunction with the Peru and Bloomington police departments in the search.

Anyone with information can contact the Bloomington Police Department at 309-820-8888.