Comment on my previous post

I received a comment on my previous post that I would like to make sure that others read.  I have also included my response.

Truthonsoares said:

Kim, your work is terrific and thank you!

I just want to add that there can be two opposite reasons for moving, and you covered one. The other can be wanting a break from accusations/repression. Cops can go far overboard and say stupid things to people that the rest of us never hear. And we northeastern New Yorkers know that going “across the border” to Vermont is just going to a new place, a different police jurisdiction, and not very far from Greenwich. Finding Jaliek is the far most important thing. The crime part can wait. There is no statute of limitations on murder in NY. Let’s find Jaliek.

Kim responded with:

Thank you for your comment Truthonsoares! I am interested in what you username means although I have a pretty good idea

You are correct, I’m sure part of the reason Kerr and McDonald are moving is to get away from the pressure that is being put on them. It’s coming from LE and probably the state in regards to finances for Jaliek. I’m not going to put down the Greenwich police for any of their efforts. LE does what they have to do to get the answers they need, it’s not an easy job. Yes there are those who might say some dumb things and it may or may not be fair to the POI.

Vermont is just a few steps away and I don’t think Kerr is going to make some great escape. It’s his actions that are very telling in this move, regardless of the reason. People react in different ways to a given situation but there are things that Kerr is doing that goes over the top. He can very easily take some pressure off himself by taking the polygraph. I wasn’t born yesterday and I know that they aren’t reliable however the willingness to take the test speaks volumes. Again, actions speak louder than words. Some simple cooperation with LE is all it will take. If Kerr has nothing to hide then he has nothing to worry about.

Kerr and McDonald are the one’s not concentrating on finding Jaliek. Moving further away, even if it’s only a half hour, takes them that much further from searching for Jaliek. Or perhaps they’re moving closer to Jaliek. Yet another possibility not discussed. LE took the search to VT, maybe Kerr is going there to protect himself from the truth. Just saying. All I have to go on is theroy and speculation.

But as you stated, what matters here is finding Jaliek. Once Jaliek is found the rest will unfold.

Thank you again for your comment, very insightful.

Cold Hearted!

I heard news the other day that Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald were planning on moving to Vermont but hadn’t found it in writing until today.  Just when you think they couldn’t possible care any less than they do, they go and prove you wrong!  If your child is missing and you believe that they are still alive, as Kerr and McDonald do, then you don’t just pick up and move! 

For the sake of argument, let’s say that Jaliek is still alive and he ran away.  He out there on his own, probably afraid to come home because of what he has done.  Let me stress that this is a hypothetical.  Jaliek decides to come home one day only to find that his adoptive family isn’t there, they moved out of state.  How would that make a child, who already has emotional problems, feel? 

This act is as cold as it gets!  Aside from murder that is. 

Here’s the article from Capital News 9:

Jaliek’s parents moving out of state

GREENWICH, N.Y. – There is yet another twist in the Jaliek Rainwalker case. Rainwalker’s adoptive parents are now in the process of moving out of the state.

Police confirm that Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald have put a bid on a house in West Rupert, Vermont, which is right across the Vermont-New York border.

They had been living in a home in East Greenwich, but most recently had been staying in Kerr’s father’s house on Hill Street in the Village of Greenwich.

Greenwich Police Chief George Bell said he has received calls from people in Rupert expressing concern that the couple and their children plan on moving into their neighborhood. He said he received a call from the woman who owns the house as well, expressing her concern.

Kerr was named a person of interest in the case on Monday because he was the last person to see Jaliek alive, and police said he has been uncooperative with them in their investigation.

He has refused two lie detector tests and will not give police access to his father’s van, which he was driving the night Jaliek disappeared. Police want the van to try and match it to a van shown in a bank surveillance video back on the night Jaliek disappeared.

Calls out to Kerr and McDonald have not been returned. 

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?SecID=33&ArID=229791

Psychics in search for boy

“Intuitives” fail to turn up new information in Jaliek Rainwalker case

Three psychics joined the search for 12-year-old Jaliek Rainwalker last week, but information they offered officials about the missing boy failed to best anything offered by basic police science.

According to relatives, two of the psychics, or “intuitives” as they prefer to be called, had similar visions of where Rainwalker’s body might be, which led to a meeting with police, relatives, a third psychic and searchers last Thursday.

The group visited wooded sites in Greenwich not far from the Cossayuna home Rainwalker shared with his adoptive parents and four siblings.The search turned up nothing.But it highlights the fact that 10 weeks since the boy was last seen, police still have virtually no clue as to where Rainwalker, missing since Nov. 1, might be.

“If someone contacts us and says they have a vision, and it fits in to where we believe (Rainwalker) might be, and we have someone who can go with them, yes, we’ll do a search,” said George Bell, chief of the Greenwich-Cambridge Police Department, who is in charge of the Rainwalker investigation. He readily admits his frustrations with the case.

Elaine Person, who has provided respite care for the emotionally troubled Rainwalker and saw him a day before he disappeared, said she appreciates any help she can find. She defended the use of psychics.

“I like to keep an open mind,” she said. “When you have a child who is missing, you owe it to that child to use every resource at your disposal,” she said. “And, who’s to say that maybe people have access to a kind of information that the rest of us don’t have?”

So many psychics have been contacting Rainwalker’s relatives and police that the Web site about the search, www.findjaliek.org, includes a link inviting intuitives to contact them by e-mail.

Meanwhile, Rainwalker’s adoptive father, Stephen Kerr, is trying to move the family to West Rupert, Vt., about 10 miles east of their Washington County home. That information was reported by WNYT NewsChannel 13 and confirmed by Bell, who said he has been speaking with Kerr daily for the last several weeks.

Someone who answered Kerr’s cellphone on Thursday said Kerr was not available to talk.

Rainwalker went missing after spending the night of Nov. 1 alone with Kerr at Kerr’s father’s home in Greenwich. Kerr’s father, Graham, was out of the country at the time.

Rainwalker, who has a long history of emotional problems and outbursts, had just spent five days with Elaine and Tom Person of Altamont, who cared for Jaliek for several days at a time to provide respite to the family.

The relationship had grown so stressful, in fact, that Kerr and wife Jocelyn McDonald were planning to undo their adoption of Rainwalker at the time he disappeared. It’s not clear how far along they were in that process the night of Nov. 1.

When Kerr awoke Nov. 2, he said he found a note in Rainwalker’s handwriting, in which he apologized for hurting people. Kerr said the note is proof his son ran away from home. Elaine Person believes the note was a homework assignment Rainwalker completed while at her house. Rainwalker had to apologize for allegedly making a sexually explicit threat to a 4-year-old in the family’s home-school group.

Kerr has said he believes that his son is living with an “African-American gang or family” in Albany, Schenectady or Troy. Rainwalker is biracial and has always been fascinated with black culture, said Kerr, who is white. Police said there is no evidence to support Kerr’s theory.

On Monday, Bell and State Police investigators announced Kerr is a person of interest in the case, though there is not enough evidence to charge Kerr with a crime. Police said they have an image from a surveillance camera that captured the image of a van similar to one Kerr was driving on the night of Rainwalker’s disappearance. Police want to re-examine the van but Kerr has denied their request.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=656294&TextPage=2

MLK Bake Sale for Jaliek

There will be a bake sale held next Monday, Jan 21st.  It will be held at the Greenwich Kmart from 11:00am-4:00pm.

100% of the proceeds will be deposited into the Find Jaliek Reward Fund at Trustco bank.

For more information visit www.findjaliek.org

Michigan Primary

Call me confused but, it was my understanding that the Democrats pulled Michigan’s delegates because they changed the date of their primary.  In turn most of the candidates did withdrew their names from the ballet.  Clinton did not withdraw her name and as a result received votes and won!  Someone please confirm for me that she did NOT receive any delegates from this state. 

On the other side of the race it’s clear cut who the top 3 are.  Ummmm …Rudy, you’re not one of them.  It’s a tight race for the number 2 spot so I think it’s anyone’s game at this point. 

Jaliek’s Maternal Grandparents

 Video from News Channel 6

http://www.cbs6albany.com/video/?bcpid=1137806146&bclid=1143371293&bctid=1378322780

Article from News Channel 6

Jaliek’s Maternal Grandparents Blame Stephen Kerr for His Disappearance

In a press conference Monday police named Stephen Kerr a person of interest, news that Barbara Reeley and her husband Dennis Smith, Jaliek’s grandparents, believe will lead to the truth coming out.Barbara Reeley says she believes Kerr harmed Jaliek. She also believes Jaliek is no longer alive.

Since Jaliek’s disappearance a cloud of suspicion has been over his father Stephen Kerr.

Kerr was the last person to see Jaliek alive. He’s refused to take a polygraph test and cooperate with police.

Police have obtained surveillance video of a van that resembles a vehicle Kerr was traveling in.

Kerr’s attorney has denied investigators’ request to examine the vehicle.

Police already conducted forensic tests on the vehicle.

Police say if they can prove the van in the surveillance video is Kerr’s it will prove an inconsistent with what Kerr told police.

http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/kerr_1253490___article.html/police_jaliek.html

Police doubt Kerr’s story

Surveillance photo of van prompts questions over adoptive father’s account of the night Rainwalker went missing

GREENWICH — New evidence in the case of missing 12-year-old Jaliek Rainwalker has hurt the credibility of his adoptive father, police said Monday. Investigators have uncovered an image of a van that looks like the one Stephen Kerr was driving the night Rainwalker disappeared.

The image, taken from a surveillance photo, was captured at a time Kerr said he was asleep at his father’s home with Rainwalker, officials said.

Greenwich Police Chief George Bell and State Police Lt. Scott Coburn revealed the findings at a news conference called to update the public into the investigation into the disappearance of Rainwalker, who has been missing for 2 months now.Meanwhile, authorities for the first time described Kerr, 37, as “a person of interest” in the case.

Stephen Kerr Person of Interest!

Police say Jaliek’s father is a person of interest

GREENWICH, N.Y. — No one has been formally charged yet in the disappearance of 12-year-old Jaliek Rainwalker, but at a news conference on Monday, authorities said the boy’s adoptive father, Stephen Kerr, is a “person of interest” in the case.

Jaliek was last seen on Nov. 1 with Kerr.

Police said there are not only inconsistencies with Kerr’s story but that he has not been fully cooperative with authorities.

He has reportedly refused to take a polygraph test from the FBI and has also failed to answer a questionnaire from them.

Cambridge-Greenwich Police Chief George Bell said, “With a missing 12-year-old, it’s his son, he should be more forthcoming. There should be no reason for him not to cooperate with the police at this point.”

State Police Lieutenant Scott Coburn said, “He was the last one to see Jaliek. His wife has taken a polygraph. He has declined so, yes, he has set himself apart from everyone else.”

For his part, Kerr has suggested that Jaliek may be involved in gang activity in the Albany area.

But police said with a $25,000 reward being offered, they believe gang members would have come forward by now to collect the cash if they knew where the boy was.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Jaliek Rainwalker is asked to contact the Cambridge-Greenwich Police Department.

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?SecID=33&ArID=229485

“New Developments” in Jaliek Case Will See Release Soon

 

There are apparently new developments in the case of missing Greenwich boy, Jaliek Rainwalker. Right now police are saying little about the new information, but what they are saying is that they expect to reveal the details to the public soon.

NEWS10’s Anya Tucker spoke to the Chief of Police in Greenwich, who says they are making some headway in the case.

“It’s just something that’s an ongoing investigation and I can’t jeopardize this investigation at this point by making mention of what’s come up,” said a very tight lipped George Bell, Chief of the Cambridge-Greenwich Police Department.

While he will not release any of these “new developments” now, he said however that the media will know more about them by the beginning of next week.  When asked about how important they were to the case, Chief Bell responded, “I think it is [important, ] every little bit we get. But this is a pretty decent bit to this puzzle,”

One new piece of information the Chief will release, is that a once-$1,500 stipend given to Jaliek’s adoptive parents has now been cut off.

“It was my understanding that Albany County was still paying the family for Jaliek, even though he was not in the family these [past] couple of months. We thought that that should stop,” he said.

All of these developments, those released and those still yet-to-be, come as good news for Jaliek’s maternal grandparents, Barbara Reeley and Dennis Smith, who were spending more time in Greenwich keeping up the search efforts for their missing grandson.  They believe their son-in-law Stephen Kerr is not being completely forthcoming about what happened to the mentally-ill boy.

“There have been so many hours when people have not known where Stephen could not be found, and those things will come out next week,” Reeley said.

Smith shared Reeley’s sentiments by saying, “Bottom line is a 12-year-old boy that’s lived in a little sheltered community [...] does not [just] disappear [...] that story just does not hold any water,”

Reeley also said that she now worries for the four other children still living with Kerr, and regrets never calling authorities about the treatment of them, including Jaliek.

“There were times when, emotionally, they were treated very badly. And now I know I should have called Child Protective Services,” she said.

The 12-year-old with a troubled past disappeared back on November 1st. Since then, there have been a number of searches on land, and in the water, for the boy. Jaliek’s adoptive father, Stephen Kerr, was the last to see him, and has been under suspicion by police.  He says he believes his son is alive and ran away to Albany.

http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?s=7611295

Two communities unite for Rainwalker

ALBANY, N.Y. — “Look at this baby, he isn’t even gang material,” said Doreathea Brace, a concerned Albany resident.

And even though she never knew missing North Country boy Jaliek Rainwalker, she knows in her heart he isn’t in Albany.

“He’s never been here and we’ve been asking around. We want the authorities to find the person that committed the crime against this young boy,” said Brace.

Rainwalker’s disappeared from his adoptive family’s Greenwich home in November. The last person who saw him was his adoptive father Stephen Kerr.

“I was not involved in his disappearance. I have nothing to hide,” said Kerr on December 6th.

No one has been charged, including Kerr, with any crime associated with Rainwalker’s disappearance. He told Capital News 9 in December that his son could be in the Albany area with a gang or a black family, specifically with three teens Rainwalker 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,” Kerr said on December 1st.

But neither Brace, who confronted Kerr on the street in Albany two weeks ago as he handed out reward flyers, believe it.

“He’s trying to use that reverse psychology and say he is down here,” said Brace.

“It was something that was perpetrated in the very first days of Jaliek’s disappearance as a smokescreen, as some sort of story,” said Dennis Smith, Rainwalker’s Grandfather.

Barbara Reeley, Jaliek’s grandmother, says investigators will make announcement about the case this week. But she says no matter what the announcement is, they will continue their search for Jaliek, a boy no one has seen in two-and-a-half months.

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?SecID=33&ArID=229429