What I’m thinking

For the last month my blog has consisted mostly of articles surrounding the Jaliek Rainwalker missing person case.  Usually I have some funny stories and mishaps to write about from my daily routine but I’ve put that aside for now.  Why should I dedicate my blog to a missing child whom I  do not know?  I have always been interested in missing persons stories but this one is different, mainly because it’s local but also because it’s a 12 year old boy who is either lost or worse.  Perhaps it’s because I’m a mother and have a 13 year old daughter.  The thought of her being out on her own as a runaway or abducted …I don’t know how I would deal with it.  It’s true that we all react differently to situations and who am I to say I wouldn’t be withdrawn in a case like this.  While it’s possible that I could react that way I believe I would be out searching for my child and wouldn’t rest until she was brought home (one way or another). 

Jaliek’s case leaves me with many questions.  First to Stephen Kerr, if you have nothing to hide then you should be able to answer any and all questions thrown your way.  Why do you refuse to take a polygraph?  Why aren’t you in direct communication with law enforcement?  Why aren’t you actively searching for Jaliek?  Again, if you have nothing to hide then the truth cannot incriminate you.  To the mother, Jocelyn McDonald, you did take a polygraph.  Why haven’t we heard the results?  Is it true that your own parents doubt your husbands story?  Other questions I have: If you believe that Jaliek is with 3 teens in Albany, do you know who these teens are?  If so, why doesn’t anybody confront them?  Has law enforcement been made aware of this or did they find this out in yesterdays article?  How could a 12 year old boy who’s face has been on TV and in the newspapers not be seen by somebody …anybody in over a month?  If Jaliek did run away and hasn’t been seen do you think it’s for a reason?  Was living with the adoptive family so bad that a boy of 12 would want to fall off the face of the earth?  Or was living with a boy who has emotional issues too much for the adoptive parents to deal with?  Was it an accident?  Could it be that things got heated and out of control and someone snapped?  If it was an accident why not come forward to let Jaliek rest in peace.  Let others who cared about the boy grieve properly. 

I want to be wrong about what might have happened to Jaliek.  Someone please prove me wrong!

Jaliek Rainwalker missing for a month

Father of missing boy speaks out
Updated: 12/2/2007 12:37 PM
By: Curtis Schick

ALBANY, N.Y. — It’s been a month since anyone saw 12-year-old Jaliek Rainwalker. The last person who did was his adoptive father Stephen Kerr.

“My wife and I in our hearts feel like he is alive,” said Stephen Kerr.

Kerr spent most of Saturday afternoon putting up reward posters in Albany. He says he believes his son could be in the city with three teens he befriended after leaving a respite home the day before he disappeared.

“I don’t think it is a coincidence. I think these 16 year old boys have some information about where he is,” said Kerr.

For the last month, searchers have combed sections of Washington County and Bennington County in Vermont. So far those searches have turned up nothing. Kerr says he has cooperated with police. When asked if he had anything to do with Jaliek’s disappearance, Kerr said he had no comment.

Kerr says his family is not holding up well and some have questioned Kerr’s cooperation in the search. To date, he has not taken a lie detector test. Still, he says he has not lost hope his son will be found.

“He is a survivor. He has survived more in his life than anything in his life than anyone is his life would be capable of surviving,” said Kerr.

The family is offering a $25,000 reward for any information leading to Jaliek homecoming.