By HOI ABC

BLOOMINGTON – Family members are still searching for missing Illinois State University graduate student Jelani “J.J.” Day more than a week after he was reported missing.

Carmen Bolden Day, Jelani’s mother, said she last spoke to him Aug. 23. She said they were planning a family trip for Thanksgiving.

“He said ‘Mama, I sent you the money to pay Aunt Ruby’ and he told me he was going to class and that he will talk to me later,” Bolden Day said.

“He called me, told me he put the money in my account and told me ‘Mama, I just want to hear your voice,” she added. “I just want to hear him call me and say that again.”

The next day, Jelani was spotted at the Beyond/Hello Cannabis Dispensary in Bloomington Tuesday morning, according to surveillance footage obtained by Bloomington Police.

That’s where volunteers began their search Wednesday afternoon.

They are looking for Jelani’s red and white ISU lanyard, his blue iPhone 12 Max Pro and the license plate missing from his car, which was found in Peru last Thursday.

Bolden Day said they are also looking for Jelani’s old black wallet and said he may have on a purple and gold Omega Psi Phi bracelet.

“At this point, all I know is that my son has on a pair of shorts and his tennis shoes,” Bolden Day said.

“Because his hat and his T-shirt were still in his car that he had on from the last place that we know that he was at,” she added.

Bloomington Police spokesperson John Fermon said they need the public’s help to track down Jelani’s next steps.

“We’re just hoping that somebody can call in and say ‘Hey, I saw him yesterday or Hey I saw him last week in this area,'” Fermon said.

“That’s kind of what were looking for so we can narrow down specifically where he’s at,” he added.

Bolden Day said the family has searched in his hometown of Danville, Illinois, Peru and the Twin Cities.

She is steadfast in her belief that her son will come home.

“Know that you are strong, you are a fighter, and that your mom is coming to get you,” Bolden Day said. “And you just hold on until mama gets there.”

Jelani’s family has set up a GoFund Me to raise money towards a cash reward for anyone who comes forward with information about Jelani’s whereabouts. So far, they have raised nearly $6,000.