To be fair, Jaliek’s father speaks out

Jaliek’s father speaks out
Updated: 12/7/2007 7:47 AM
By: Jessica Mohkiber

GREENWICH, N.Y. — Stephen Kerr said, “My wife and I took in a child who was mentally ill in foster care, who was thrown away by the State of New York, by the citizens of New York, and we chose to try to care for him and we’re doing the best we can.”

Jaliek Rainwalker’s adoptive parents say they believe he’s still alive. And while police comb Washington County looking for any signs of his whereabouts, Jaliek’s parents have put up a reward and are focusing their search efforts on the Albany area. They say Jaliek got caught up in a street gang. Stephen Kerr, who in recent weeks had been tightlipped with the media, has opened up.

“I was not involved in his disappearance,” he said. “I have nothing to hide.”

Kerr also said while the police haven’t ruled out foul play or even suicide, he and his wife remain hopeful.

“Every person we’ve talked to outside of the police believe that he’s alive,” said Kerr.

Perhaps a new direction in the Jaliek Rainwalker case

Search for missing boy takes new tack National experts and a fresh dog team will join effort to find Jaliek Rainwalker, missing since Nov. 1

National experts and new search dogs will join the hunt for Jaliek Rainwalker, the 12-year-old boy from Washington County who has been missing for more than a month.

Investigators from the local police, the FBI, state troopers and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have followed leads throughout the Capital Region but found no sign of Rainwalker.

Speculation surfaced recently that Rainwalker might be in Albany with a gang, a lead police have followed to no avail.

On Thursday, searchers examined the screens inside a drained hydroelectric dam on the Batten Kill River near Middle Grove, downstream from where Rainwalker’s adoptive father, Stephen Kerr, last saw him.

Greenwich-Cambridge Police Chief George Bell said they looked at the dam because dogs trained to find dead bodies have repeatedly returned to the area. This weekend, a new set of dogs unfamiliar with the terrain will work the area that drew the attention of the previous dogs.