Jaliek Rainwalker was only 12 years old when he went missing from his adoptive parents’ home in Greenwich, NY. Jaliek was born into a difficult life, born into a crack/cocaine addiction, and entering and leaving 6 different foster homes before being adopted by Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald in 2002. Jaliek, because of the abuse he suffered in his early childhood, was not an easy child to take care of. His parents stated that he would have violent outbursts and temper tantrums and that his siblings said that they were sometimes afraid of him. Jaliek’s former foster family had planned on adopting him before he attacked their daughter, forcing them to decide he could no longer live with them. However, he was still a wonderful child when he was not having one of his outbursts. His parents described him as a very intelligent and happy boy, usually seen with a smile across his face.
Jaliek’s life with the Kerrs was not by any means traditional– they lived together in rural New York with no running water and limited electricity, where the family slept together all in one room. This may have had a negative impact on Jaliek’s emotional well-being, causing him to lash out even more at the family. Jaliek did not receive treatment or medication for his emotional issues, and his parents stated that at the time of his disappearance he was both suicidal and homicidal– a week prior to his disappearance, his adoptive mother called a crisis hotline stating that Jaliek had become unmanageable and that they wished to un-adopt Jaliek and send him back into foster care.
Upon the time of Jaliek’s disappearance, he had been living in the home of another foster family for a week when he was sent back to the Kerr family, where he would then be sent to another foster family the next day. His father, Stephen, would spend the night with Jaliek to watch over him while he was going through this transition. When Stephen awoke the next day around 7:30 in the morning, Jaliek was gone, leaving a note behind. The note stated, “Dear everybody, I’m sorry for everything. I won’t be a bother anymore. Goodbye, Jaliek.” Around 9 am, Jaliek Rainwalker was reported as missing.
That day, a search of the area was conducted, turning up nothing of significance. The police have since made little progress on the case, announcing that they believe he may have been met with foul play, although they have not ruled out suicide or voluntary disappearance.
Almost all of the speculation in this case has been made towards the parents of Jaliek, specifically his father, Stephen. Upon the time of his disappearance, the police requested him and his wife to take a polygraph. Jocelyn agreed and passed, but Stephen has since refused. Jaliek’s adoptive grandmother, since his disappearance, has been advocating nonstop for him and his safe return and has stated that she believes Stephen harmed Jaliek on the night of his disappearance and has covered up what occurred. Some of Jaliek’s former foster parents have agreed with this and have continued to advocate for him. Jaliek’s former foster parent, Tom, has alleged seeing Jaliek writing a letter apologizing for the harm he had caused, after being instructed to do so by Stephen. He believes that this may be the note left behind by Jaliek after his disappearance. The Kerr family, alternatively, suggests that Jaliek may have run away to live with an African-American family, as they state that Jaliek has always identified himself as black instead of biracial, and had expressed his desire to live with other African-Americans after being placed within white families, feeling out of place.
Since Jaliek’s disappearance, the police have named Stephen Kerr as the main person of interest in his case, conducting searches on the places he has been staying, as well as seizing a computer belonging to him. Inside their home, the police have found a yellow fleece jacket belonging to Jaliek that he was reported to have been wearing on the night of his disappearance. His grandmother has also claimed to have seen Stephen acting in violence towards Jaliek in the past, dunking him in a creek and dragging him outside following one of his outbursts towards the family.
The police now say that they believe Jaliek has been met with foul play, but do not have enough evidence to charge anyone in relation to the case. His grandparents and foster families continuously fight for answers and advocate for Jaliek, trying to keep his case and his story alive.
This is very sad I certainly hope there was no foul play but it sure doesn’t sound good.
They should recheck the property they left when they moved away tbh excavate it !
It’s obvious who did this….he and they will burn for this….
Feel free to join us at Justice For Jaliek Rainwalker on FB
Watching Stephen being interviewed he comes across as insane. How did he ever get approved to adopt Jaliek.. it’s heartbreaking to think of Jaliek being gone. It sounds like Jaliek was one day away from getting a better family.
Please join the Town Hall on 3/10/24. Here is the information. https://fb.me/e/1jKbYEBD9
Does anyone know if any of Jaliek’s family or family friends lived in the city of Watervliet NY??? Bones were discovered behind a home on 13th street.
Just read an update and those bones were from an infant 🙁
https://www.news10.com/top-stories/newborn-remains-found-in-yard-on-13th-street-in-watervliet/amp/
How can you foster a child with no running water, limited electricity & everyone sleeping in one bedroom? Of course a 12 year old would have outbursts seeing as tho they took him & didn’t make his situation any better. The state was wrong for even placing him there. I believe both his foster parents know what happened to him!
This, this, this! You’d think that having running water and electricity would be on the list of must haves when accepting foster parents. This is so incredibly sad.
Also he was not in therapy and not on medication? No psychiatric treatment for this boy who had severe behavioral and emotional problems?
I grew up on a commune and this sounds off to me. Even Amish foster parents do better. This poor child was just passed around. And unfortunately is probably no longer alive.
The family lived somewhere else (obviously acceptable) while fostering him up until adopting him. Then apparently moved to the shack they lived in when he disappeared. Per Crime Junkie podcast.
Easy. I worked with a woman who’d worked forDCFS in Ohio for 20 years. The system is so taxed there were social workers who let kids sleep in their cars sometimes. She said there’s no place to put them and that as much as thry don’t want to, they put them in homes that aren’t great because they have nowhere else to go. She also said she’d been prolife her whole life and that seeing literally hundreds of kids end up in prison, the sex trade (after running away), being sexually molested and abused changed it. She said her conservative family had a falling out wiyh her about ger shift in viewpoint. She told me there are a half million kids in the foster system and so few get adopted, that 9 times out of 10 familues want white infants with no health issues.
And I can’t wait to see how much better this gets after the Supreme Court’s recent decision. Ha!
This makes me sad because everyone failed him.
That’s sad ❤️🩹❤️🩹 that’s been 5,000 some days he been missing for 🥺🥺😪😪😭😭
I grew up in a small town and I remember every time I went to the bulletin board outside the convenience shop, there was his picture. His face is a picture engraved in my mind and I hoped that he would be found after all those years, but it seems as though that won’t happen anytime soon. So I want to say, rest in peace Jaliek Rainwalker, your story shall live on. And to the members of his family, may you all be blessed. Rest in Heaven Jaliek.
I went on the FBI missing list and this face just sat out to me and made me want to google his name. After doing more reading this story is so odd in so many ways I hope Justice is found for this little boy.
Everyone in this sad saga were extremely let down by the state, including the foster/adoptive parents who probably killed him.
How the heck are people with no running water or electricity who all sleep in a single room approved for being able to care for a high-needs kid and then left to fend for themselves with no support or intervention when the kid proves unmanageable by everyone who tries to live with him?
Why wasn’t Jaliek placed with a black family as he stated wanting to be?
A black family in an urban or suburban setting with running water and electricity and with ongoing state sponsored and monitored supports to help with his obviously severe behavioural issues.
It beggars belief and my heart goes out to him as well as the foster parents who may have killed him in a desperate moment of an impossible situation they were put in and left to fend for themselves in.
the system has failed yet another child. how on earth, was this child placed in a home with n water or lights? you may as have stuck him on the streets. this is crazyyyy. no doubt the father killed him. this story is just so sad.
Supposedly, they moved to the home after adopting him. Since he was homeschooled no one would probably report them.
Because they don’t care! As a former foster child I know that once you enter the system you become a number, a case number. You’re not even a human being to them. And if one does try to speak out no one believes the “mentally ill” child over the foster parent.
I thought South Africa is bad but I really think Children all over the world are failed by Social Foster Care systems. FOSTER CARE is not the answer because those families are not monitored properly..
Children’s Homes is a much better Option.
How can a 12 yr boy go missing at night and the Foster care father, whom the boy was last seen with, has the right to refuse a Polygraph test? No-no. That is confusing. Very confusing. What happened to the right of the child? Jaliek Rainwalker was removed from his parents and thrown into a “Foster Grant Hungry” System.
At the same time the FBI or State Police let the child down. What kind of country turn a blind eye? This is exactly the same as the Pope of the Roman Catholics, turning a blind eye to Priests sexualy abusing children.
This story makes me cry. The system failed this poor boy so badly. And led him into the hands of monsters.
Can’t you report unsafe living conditions to the health department. Why are they not receiving help from Social Services and other organizations. Why wasn’t Jaleik receiving SSI, Medicaid, therapy, Medication and anything else he could get. Were the foster parents alcoholics or drug addicted and can’t receive government assistance.The state of NY laws need to be changed. Why do the government or state allow people to live in proverty like that????
There is a cemetery near where they are searching. I wonder if there were any burials the day he was in the area that could have hidden the body.
The Albany NY newspaper November 1, 2022. “The Times Union” has on its first page Part One of Jaliek Rainwater story.
I know for a fact it was the adoptive parents. When I was in foster care one of my foster siblings was his sister. When he was adopted we all drove out there so he could reunite with his sister for the first time in a long time. We pulled up to see this poor child scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush. He was dirty from not being allowed to bathe, his clothes were dirty from no one cleaning them, he was emaciated and in bad shape, and even then they claimed he was just to hard to manage so they treated him like the wild child that he was. I was to young to really understand and I heard my foster parents discussing the awful living conditions and discussing if they should report. I remember the mother saying, well this time he actually has a family whose willing to adopt him, are you really going to ruin that for him? The reality is this poor kid only ever wanted to belong and have unconditional love, just like any other child. But because of his circumstances that was denied from him. This child died without ever feeling like he belonged. I’m outraged. That’s no way for a child to live.
The foster parents don’t care enough to provide assistance they have too many kids to manage. As is most cases in foster care around the upstate area. He was receiving SSI and that was directly going into his adopted parents pockets. That’s how it works you either are foster kid and the parents get money for you or they adopt you and they get money for you. It’s like you’re a commodity to be bought and purchased, and sold when no longer wanted. They even claimed he was too difficult. And he died because of this.
I am heartbroken. The sadness this poor baby experienced in such a short life is beyond my scope of imagination. If I could protect these little ones I would. 😪
How were they even able to adopt him? No running water, everyone slept in one room?
Unfortunately, “non adult” human remains (bones) were found in Troy, NY, yesterday. This was in an area close to another that had been previousy searched, but a human skull was found yesterday. Jaliek’s granmother has been notified that remains were found and is waiting. This is just so sad.