Rainwalker: The Lost Boy

The abduction of a 9-year-old girl in Saratoga County late last year made national headlines. She went missing the evening of Sept. 30 while riding her bicycle alone in a New York State park campground. State Police issued an Amber Alert, and along with the FBI and other local authorities, conducted a massive two-day search of the park and surrounding area. Police found the girl nearly 48 hours later on a property in Milton, New York. Her alleged abductor has been charged with kidnapping and several counts of predatory sexual assault.

The case happened just a county away from where Jaliek Rainwalker went missing 16 years earlier. In this episode of “Rainwalker: The Lost Boy,” we’ll examine the similarities and differences between the two cases, and explore a much larger question: Why do children go missing in America?

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There have been no updates in the investigation of Jaliek Rainwalker’s disappearance since late June 2022, when a tip launched a search near some ballfields in Troy, New York — more than 30 miles south of the upstate New York town where Jaliek was last seen. After 15 years, law enforcement insists the boy’s presumed homicide is still an active case. But they’ve never named a suspect, and they’re unwilling to reveal any more details.

If a suspect is ever named, the fact that Jaliek’s body has never been found creates a difficult situation for prosecutors. Based on what they’ve said publicly, if they were to pursue a case against someone involved in Jaliek’s disappearance, it would be what’s known as a “no-body” or bodiless prosecution. But how do you prove murder without the most direct evidence of murder — aka a body?

In this bonus episode of “Rainwalker: The Lost Boy,” we’ll look back at how we put this podcast together, and we’ll talk to an expert in bodiless prosecution.

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The search continues for Jaliek Rainwalker 15 years after he disappeared. Students from the College of Saint Rose Cold Case Analysis Center recently explored a property in Washington County they believe could provide clues about what happened to Jaliek. 

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Four months after his disappearance, a bizarre note sent to local media says Jaliek is alive. But there’s no proof to accompany it. The investigation takes several twists and turns, stretching out over 15 years. The case is classified as a probable homicide, but no suspects have been named and no body has been found. Yet law enforcement agencies insist it’s still a very active case.

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About 38 percent of missing children in America are Black, yet their cases receive disproportionately less media coverage and law enforcement attention than missing white children, according to the Black and Missing Foundation. The initial days of the investigation into Jaliek Rainwalker’s disappearance saw his case treated as a runaway by both law enforcement and his parents. But after 48 hours, Cambridge-Greenwich Police Chief George Bell began to doubt he was dealing with a runaway. 

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It was winter in upstate New York, and the child on the school playground wasn’t wearing a coat. A concerned teacher sent him to the nurse’s office, where they found him a yellow fleece jacket to wear. That piece of outerwear would play a crucial role in the search for the boy after he went missing. On this episode, recollections of Jaliek Rainwalker’s life with Jocelyn McDonald and Stephen Kerr from family and friends paint a conflicting picture of the quality of the boy’s final years before he vanished.

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Jaliek Rainwalker’s life was not an easy one. Born to a drug- and alcohol-addicted mother, he was placed in foster care immediately. He would live with 5 foster families before he landed with Jocelyn McDonald and Stephen Kerr, the Washington County couple that adopted him in 2003. He was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, a behavioral condition that makes it hard for children to form attachments to caregivers. It can result in violent outbursts and erratic behavior, something that his last two foster families said was too much to handle. 

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The upstate New York village of Greenwich is tight-knit and proud. But it’s also haunted. People on the streets of the sleepy town on the Battenkill River remember the disappearance of Jaliek Rainwalker in 2007, and the story doesn’t sit well with them. A group of Greenwich residents and others formed during the pandemic to keep interest in the case alive, and they’re determined to find out what happened to the 12-year-old boy who went missing from their hometown.

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More than 15 years ago, Katie Bonesteel was a waitress at a Red Robin Restaurant in upstate New York. She was in her first weeks on the job, and she wasn’t yet sure of herself. On the evening of Nov. 1, 2007, she messed up an order. It was the order for Jaliek Rainwalker and his adoptive father Stephen Kerr. Days later, Katie was called in to talk to New York State Police, only to discover that she was one of the last people to see Jaliek before he vanished.

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On the night of Nov. 1, 2007, Jaliek Rainwalker and his adoptive father ate dinner at a Red Robin in upstate New York. The next day, the 12-year-old boy was reported missing. 15 years later, no trace of Jaliek has been discovered, and no one has faced charges related to his disappearance. In this true crime podcast, Times Union journalists examine Jaliek's short — but difficult  — life, investigate what is known about the night he disappeared from the small rural village of Greenwich, New York, and join those who are continuing the effort to find the lost boy. 

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